Guitar Shorty – Live, Birmingham, Alabama
Master-Tex Records
www.facebook.com/sam.pemberton.50409
7 tracks/73 minutes
Sam Pemberton played rhythm guitar for Guitar shorty for over 600 shows. He spent 30 hours in the studio massaging and remastering the music contained on this CD. He has captured the essence of Shorty live with this album. It captures the sound and talent of a great bluesman who is in his prime and playing his heart out. If you are a Guitar Shorty fan, this will certainly trip your trigger. It is an outstanding listen that allows you to hear music from a couple of decades ago that is otherwise not available.
You can download or steam the album HERE
Guitar Shorty was born David William Kearney in Houston, Texas, 92 years ago. He was moved to Kissimmee, Florida, at a very young age and was raised there by his grandmother. Mentored by his uncle Willie Quarterman who hailed from the Mississippi Delta, he developed his unique style listening to the likes of Guitar Slim, T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, and Willie Dixon. His style takes pieces and parts or the Delta, West Coast blues, rock, soul and more all fused together in the raw and powerful music that Shorty delivered to us to savor.
Shorty’s career began in the late 1950’s and 1960’s and was phenomenal. He disappeared from the scene for a while, but his return in the 1990’s for Blacktop Records and and then Alligator Records heralded his talents and fame. He won a pair of Blues Music Awards, first for My Way Or The Highway, an English release, and then with We the People. His storied career ended in 2022 when he departed this existence at age 87. His legacy lives on, and with this release it is embellished even further.
The driving and powerful guitar on the opening cut “We the People” showcases the depth and power of his guitar work. Stratospheric runs and vibrant phrasing give us Shorty at his peak to savor for almost eight minutes. It’s primal and oh-so cool.
Then we get over nine minutes of “Roll Over Baby” to enjoy. A moderately paced mid-tempo song, Shorty takes us to new heights with his licks. It builds and builds in the extensive solo where he gets raunchier and more distorted as he gets further into it, giving the listener something to remember. It’s a primal and totally slick performance that moves from the almost sublime start to a totally wild ride.
Then it’s time for “Jody’s Git Your Girl,” a fifteen and an half minute musical romp as only Shorty can deliver. By the time we get seven minutes in we can forget about vocals. The soulful and wild guitar grows and grows in intensity and distortion. It’s not for the faint of heart. High energy licks abound as Shorty gives it his all.
Up next is the classic “Ain’t Gonna Worry My Life No More.” Slow blues, soulful and passionate give the listener an earful. The piano is pretty and the guitar is delightful. Shorty again builds into a powerful and gutsy slow blues with torrid licks.
We get almost a dozen minutes of “Let Me Love You Baby” next. It starts out slow and soulful, with piano and greasy guitar licks and some moaning and groaning as Shorty’s delightful wails paired with his outstanding guitar give the listener pause. The long solo grows in intensity and leaves the listener wanting even more.
“Hey Joe” follows, and we get to hear it for almost eighteen minutes. Shorty goes off on tangents galore and it’s another exceptional guitar ride to just hang on to and just enjoy. He picks some interesting stuff out first, and then transitions into a more Hendrix-like world with extended fuzz and distortion and other cool effects.
He concludes with “The Star Spangled Banner/The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” He gives us the anthem for the first half of the cut and then transitions into the hymn. It starts out familiarly and then Shorty jazzes up the conclusion with some dirty and distorted stuff to draw the song and album to a close.
Shorty does all the vocals and lead guitar. Pemberton is solid on rhythm guitar and serves as band leader. The bass duties were handled by John Morris. On drums we have Mandriel “Big Driel” Allen. Matt Farrell plays keys. It’s a great set of musicians and they support Shorty well here.
It’s a wild album. Shorty live removes the studio restrictions that never allow the listener to hear Shorty in all his glory. As I noted earlier, this is not an album for those who want complacent music. This is wild and driving stuff that showcase what Guitar Shorty was all about. He improvises and makes his guitar groan and moan and shine brightly as he delivers one superb performance after another.
This is not a 2026 studio quality recording. It’s music that someone got a hold of and made available for the masses. While the dynamics and frequencies get packed into a lesser sound, we still get the impact and power of a man and his instrument doing what he can do as only he can do. If you like Shorty then grab a copy of this. You will not be sorry. The man who became legend shines brightly within the constraints of the recording. As you listen more and more, the flaws fade and you become fully absorbed into the music of David William Kearny, AKA Guitar Shorty. You can download or steam the album HERE
