BB & The Bullets – High Tide
12 tracks – 44 minutes
Whanganui, New Zealand guitarist Brian Baker performed solo throughout Australia before returning to New Zealand and joining with bassist Stu Duncan and drummer Brad McMillan to form the present band. All three have had extensive musical careers prior to joining together and gaining international recognition. That recognition led to the iconic French label Dixie Frog Records release of this debut album. The album includes seven originals and five covers. Brian says they included the covers to establish their blues credentials.
They open with a blues rocker “Something in the Water” citing changes in his life as he wished, “I’d never left home”, notes a new woman in his life as he tells her “You’re something special. Ain’t Seen nothing like you” and concludes that he is “Holding onto hope that the world don’t go to pieces in a little rowboat”. A cover of Albert King’s 1967 “Born Under a Bad Sign” is next. Eddie Rayner guests on organ as Brian tells the tale of a man trying to build walls to protect his land and worries that “High Tide” will ruin my land”. noting that “my father’s hands were in this mud and his fathers before him. What kind of son would I be? Who else could I be”.
On Bo Diddley’s 1962 “I Can Tell” as he explains “I know you don’t love me no more”. He then examines “Seven Ways to Sin” as he notes “The devil is on my shoulder whispering. It sounds so gleaming good like a politician’s promise of a velvet ride, like a fridge that’s full of food.” “I’ve seen how people tempt each other but I never thought I would be one.” Rufus Thomas’ 1963 dance move that offers to teach you “Walking the Dog” is the next cover.
On “Little Fishes”, Brian declares “It don’t matter what you do, in the end the little fish gonna feast on you”. The Beatles’ 1969 “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” is given a straight interpretation. He proclaims, “Letting Go” of you is the hardest thing I ever had to do”. “As the distance between us grows only tomorrow knows whether we’ll be together again.”
“The Thrill is Gone” was written by Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell and recorded by Hawkins in 1951, nonetheless B.B. King’s 1969 release of the song is the best- known version and is the basis of their final cover. “Brian’s Boogie (Hurry Home)” is a rocking and funky instrumental. “Big Boot Running” starts with a spoken word music backed intro and makes several New Zealand references including “Hills with their guts spilling out to make gravel roads that lead north to nowhere and lowdown towns are drowning like Ruawai returning to the salty swamp”, another apparent reference to the high tide issues raised in the title song. He pleas “Kahikatea teach me. “Let me stand beside you our roots will pierce the clay”. To save you from having to look it up like I did, the kahikatea is New Zealand’s largest tree growing to heights of 80 meters (about 250 feet) and is considered to be one of the oldest surviving species in the world.
The band’s covers are well executed but certainly keeps in line with the original versions. The Beatles song is definitely not a song that would come in mind for the blues, but they make it fresh sounding and seems to fit the tone of the album. Their own original songs feature some intriguing thoughts among their lyrics particularly in line with issues in their country. Brian’s vocals are pleasant, and the band delivers solid instrumentals throughout. BB and The Bullets demonstrate a very capable band worth following for future releases and a deep dive into this one.
