Chris O’Leary – Blue Collar
11 songs – 48 minutes
From time to time, one gets a sense that an artist knows their moment in the sun has arrived, and that’s certainly the case on harmonica maestro and singer Chris O’Leary’s new release, Blue Collar, his second release on the Alligator label. With a background that includes seeing combat with the Marines, serving as a Federal police officer, holding down the lead singer position with Levon Helm’s Barn Burners for six years, as well as mentorship and friendship from the likes of James Cotton, O’Leary has plenty of experiences to draw upon for these 11 self-penned numbers, wryly noting in the opening number, “Bad Decisions” that “sometimes the best stories start with a bad decision.” The result is a belting album of blazing modern blues – informed by the past but absolutely in the present.
O’Leary is a stellar harmonica player, but also a top drawer vocalist and astute songwriter of smart, modern Chicago-influenced blues. He receives first class support from a core band comprising Pat O’Shea on guitar, Shiela Klinefelter on bass and Chuck Cotton on drums, together with a whole host of guest musicians. O’Leary also produced Blue Collar, which was recorded by Kid Andersen’s at his famous Greaseland studio with mixing by Brian Leach at Joyride Studios in Chicago and mastering by Colin Jordan and Bruce Iglauer at the Boiler Room in Chicago.
Highlights abound, from the swinging, tongue-in-cheek “Justice Must Be Blind” to the Muddy Waters-esque “Ain’t Nothing But A Memory” (with stellar slide guitar from Bob Margolin) and the irresistible shuffle of “After 2 a.m.”. Lil’ Ed Williams adds his wild buzz saw slide guitar to the raucous “One More Cup Of Coffee” which feels like someone has injected a serious amount of caffeine into Taj Mahal’s “Six Days On The Road” and let it loose on an empty highway in the middle of the night. “One Way Street” has a swaggering New Orleans edge to it (and a killer harmonica solo), while Wayne Toups’ accordion lights up the rambunctious “Live Baby Gators”. Bronson Hoover’s keyboards feature on a number of tracks, but his playing on the slow blues of “How’d I Ever Get Along?” is particularly sublime.
O’Leary has that knack of inhabiting a song from the narrator’s perspective in a way that recalls the likes of James Harman and William Clarke, whether recounting with total sincerity a preposterous tale that beggars belief or straddling a line that leaves the listener wondering how much truth is being hidden by the dry humour in the lyrics. The closing track, “Daddy Was A Wolfman” sticks in the memory for exactly that reason.
Grab a copy of Blue Collar. No fillers. Just pure blues, played with passion and skill.
