Billy Price – Random Madness
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11 Tracks – 48 minutes
Pittsburgh’s Billy Price got his start as the vocalist for Roy Buchanon and appeared on two of his albums, That’s What I’m Here For in 1974 and Live Stock in 1975. He released his first solo album, They Found Me Guilty in 1979. This is his 22nd solo album. In 2016, Billy was an inductee into Pittsburgh’s Legends of Rock ‘n Roll Award. Also in 2016, a collaboration with Soul-singer Otis Clayon on This Time for Real won the Blues Foundation’s Blues Music Award for Best Soul Blues album. Between 2019 and 2025, he has received eleven Blues Music Award nominations, including five nominations for Best Soul Blues Male Artist, two for Best Vocalist, and nominations for Best Soul Albums for Reckoning in 2018, Dog Eats Dog in 2020, and Person of Interest. in 2025. The latter album was also a nominee for Album of the Year.
Billy cites this album as his most personal release. Tony Braunagel produced the album and plays drums on a several tracks. Billy is supported by Ian Arthurs and Steve Delach on guitar, Jim Britton on keyboards, Dave Dodd on drums, Joe Herndon and Sam Jones on trumpet, Eric Spaulding on sax, Tom Valentine on bass, Reggie Watkins on trombone, and Lenny Castro on percussion.
The album opens with a Latin-tinged rhythmic blast of soul, “I Was A Fool” because “for the things I said”. “Good intentions die at the gates of Hell. My epitaph will be – he thought he meant well.” “Hungry Ghost” continues with a Latin rhythm as he declares “an unrequited love leaves a residue. It’s haunting you. Something’s been missing since the day you began. Tied yourself to a whipping post”. ”I Got That Dogi n Me” opens with a funky guitar lead and advises she “should keep me on a short leash, always sniffing around…I’m looking for a poodle in every yard.” “I start to salivate, spoiling for a fight with everyone I see.” with the horns punctuating his admission.
In a smooth soul keyboard led song he declares “I Said What I Said” “no holding back. It don’t matter to me how you react”. “it was obvious to me you were living a lie after all the hearts you’ve broken, might be your time to cry.”. The jazzy horn-driven “Curiosity” states “you put me on display and examine me, interrogate me closely, dig inside my brain”. “Appears you never tire of pulling me apart”. “To you, I am just a curiosity, an inscrutable mystery.” “Rent Free” opens with a tinkling piano as Billy says “In the years since we parted, I never think what used to be. I have no regrets, cancelled all the debts. But your still living in my mind rent free.” Reggie Watkins’ trombone lends a New Orleans fee to the song.
The band gets things jumping as Billy declares himself a “Creature of Habit” “with a negative attitude” and warns “You won’t find people skills on my resume”. and concludes “The definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior and expecting a different result. I ain’t going to change.” The horns roar as Billy cautions you should always have an “Exit Strategy” “…on the move that’s where you want to be”. “Know what you’re gonna do, when and where you gonna do it, who you gonna do it to, and how you will get through it,” “Dirty Knee Revelation” is another slow soulful horn-led exclamation noting “I made my last move, told my last lie. Lifted my head and looked to the sky. Burned all my bridges, ran out of hope” as he begs “Please set me free”.
He asks her “Whatcha Doin’, how’s your day. If you don’t have nothing else goin’ on, come out to play unless these “Stickers on My Suitcase” scare you away.” but notes that sticker “might be my final stop”. “Random Madness” has a touch of New Orleans and an eerie touch as Billy provides a social concern “Keep your eyes on the road”. “A rock through a window, somebody with a gun, a hopeless diagnosis. Who will be the next chosen one”. “Professional enablers tell you what you want to hear”. “When the noise dies down, all that remains is random madness”. Sean Jones solo trumpet cries through the song providing a woeful tone.
Billy proves again why he has received his many nominations as one of the best soul blues singers currently performing. As can quickly be determined from some of the album titles and the cited lyrics, the album displays some sharp wit and humor among his personal anecdotes and concludes with a real-world observation of our modern society in the title cut.
