Dave Peabody – Right Now Blues
Blind Lemon Records
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/dave-peabody-mn0000962983
CD: 14 Songs; 42:34 Minutes
Styles: Blues Covers, Traditional Acoustic and Electric Blues
In the music world, the “British invasion” refers not to a forcible entry of our country by its former colonizers, but a peaceable importation of bands from the UK, such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. All of these groups turned rock into a worldwide phenomenon, but that’s not the only genre that has benefited from our neighbors across the Atlantic. So has the blues, in both the acoustic and electric varieties, and Southall’s Dave Peabody knows it. For over 50 years, Dave has been performing in the studio and on tour. Perhaps his greatest feat is being voted “Acoustic Blues Artist of the Year” three times by the British Blues Connection and Blues in Britain magazine. Peabody realizes that what fans around the globe want is Right Now Blues.
A mixed bag of three original songs, renowned standards, and a popular ballad from the 1920s, this release is akin to a Lifetime Achievement Award. It may not be the one with dynamite vocals or guitar solos that would register on a seismograph, but that’s not the point. Dave’s paid his dues in the world of the blues, and his newest CD is a testament to that fact. The covers he plays include “Muddy Water”, “Ducks Yas Yas Yas”, “Evil Hearted Woman Blues”, and the title track. His overall style is like Heinz 57 sauce – “ketchup with a kick”, according to an old commercial. Where Dave shines most is in his original tunes, but his covers are worth perusing.
Accompanying Dave is classically-trained violinist Regina Mudrich, According to his promotional info sheet, Dave first met her on the evening of one of his own concerts, in October of last year, in Gewoelbe Vegesack, Germany. “Although blues was not previously part of her repertoire, her sensitivity and immediate grasp of the music adds a fresh feel to the selection of songs that Dave had chosen to record.”
Besides Regina, Peabody has also shared the stage with such greats as Charlie Musselwhite, David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Sonny Terry, Memphis Slim, Sonny Rhodes, Bick Lucky Carter, and Roy Bookbinder. Dave has released ten previous CD’s under his own name, and has also appeared on over thirty albums with other blues and folk musicians, such as the ones just mentioned. The following song is one of his three catchy originals on his current album:
Track 03: “Dark Side of Town” – Nearly every city, no matter how small, has two sides: the side that the locals want visitors to see, and the side they don’t. Track three concerns this latter half: “House there selling fornication, house there is selling bad booze. Den over there selling opium, anything that you might use…Who’s going to pray to the Lord above the day that the Devil comes?” Salvation by any means is nowhere to be found in these parts, but sorrow is plentiful.
Few musicians of any kind are popular and resilient enough to last as long as Dave Peabody, who is still performing Right Now Blues!
