Demetria Taylor – Doin’ What I’m Supposed To Do
Delmark Records
12 tracks
Demetria Taylor is a woman destined to sing the blues. Daughter of Eddie and Vera Taylor, she aptly carries on her family’s legacy in mastering the blues. Her second Delmark album, featuring Mike Wheeler and Deitra Farr. Is a great addition to the catalogue and needs to be heard by blues fans!
Demetria Taylor’s new album features some great original tracks and some tasty covers of her family’s songs and one of Magic Sam’s. Mike Wheeler and his bassist Larry Williams co-wrote half the tracks and have created some great new songs in addition to the two Demetria wrote and added to the album.
Demetria handles the vocals through out and Deitra joins Demetria on the fourth track. Mike Wheeler is on guitar and is joined on guitar by Billy Flynn on two cuts and Carlos Showers on the remaining tracks. Larry Williams shines on bass, Brian James is on keyboards and Melvin “Pookie Styx” Carlisle is on the drums.
“83 Highway” kicks of the album, featuring a ringing guitar solo followed by Taylor delivering her first gutsy performance. She sings with passion and edge as the piano and Billy Flynn’s guitar back her on her father’s song. A funky groove makes “Baby Be Good” cool and interesting. Mike Wheeler’s guitar lays out a nice grove and the organ backing is slick; Wheeler and Williams wrote the song. Taylor sings with feeling on another cut penned by Wheeler and Williams as she takes us for a high powered ride. More stinging guar solos also add a great dimension. There is more funky fun in “Bad Girl Day” as Taylor shows her chops and gives another super performance.
“Blues Early This Morning” follows, a straight up, Chicago blues with more excellent guitar and vocals. Here Demetria does an outstanding duet with Dietra Farr. The two give us their all and make for another exceptional rendition of Taylor’s mom Vera’s song. “Welfare Blues” was written by brother Eddie Jr. and features some great guitar and Brian Williams doing some organ magic.
Wheeler and Williams wrote the next three tracks. “Doin’ What I’m Supposed To Do” is another funky song with a great groove and Taylor singing with feeling. Wheeler blazes on guitar and the bass line is heavy and cool. “Done” is a slow blues with Taylor showing cool restraint and Wheeler laying out some tasteful licks. “I’m Gonna Tell It” is a more powerful slower to mid-tempo cut. The organ backing adds depth and the guitar is powerful. Taylor sings with firm resolve about a failed relationship and moving on in life.
Demetria continues with “Nursing My Kitty Cat,” a funky cut she wrote with some fun innuendo about taking care of her “pet” despite her cheating man. A slick groove, nice lyrics and some great piano by James make this one interesting. “Stay Gone” is the final cut penned by Wheeler and Williams; Taylor continues her vocal conquests of these great tunes an the guitar soloing continues to me solidly superb.
Magic Sam’s “You Belong To Me” gets an excellent cover as Taylor and company give it their all. More staunch guitar and organ soloing and great vocal work sell this one. The album finishes up with a song Taylor and James co-authored entitled “Young Gun Taylor.” A biographical cut about Demetria continuing to carry the family torch, it’s a cool cut with great guitar to boot and a nice conclusion to this set of tunes.
This is a great new album and Taylor shows us what she can do. Demetria shines throughout. The band is superb and the songs are well crafted and chosen. Chicago blues and some funky R&B make this an album fans can thoroughly enjoy. This one is well worth many a listen!
