Dusty Dave & The Heart Attacks – One Beer Left
14 songs time-50:02
This German band has absorbed the essence of the blues and infused it with a new energy. It’s all good, but the shining star here that can’t be ignored is the super-charged harmonica ace Dynamite White. His wild force on the Mississippi saxophone can’t be contained. Dusty Dave’s rough hewn voice is perfectly suited to the songs contained here. Lucky Steve’s guitar is spot on whether it be Chicago blues, jump blues or other. He can conjure up that crude sound of some of the earlier players when the need is there. Rockin’ Bende’s drumming is as authentic as all get out. The use of the upright bass of Ray Black harkens back to the early Chess recordings. At first shudder the band posing in stereotypical blues attire lead me to thing there is some hokey music contained inside. Oh contraire. That can’t be farther from the truth. The originals and covers breathe with a new life.
Chicago blues melds with jump blues on the hard driving “Candyman Boogie”. Driving harmonica battles it out with the guitar and we get our introduction to Dusty Dave’s husky and commanding vocals. Rockabilly tinged blues is the stuff of “Good Rockin’ Mama”. Here as elsewhere Dynamite White’s command and sureness of his harp playing is truly a marvel. The blues-rockabilly groove shows up again on “Come Inside”, a song that sports a relentlessly good riff. Slide guitar powers the hard driving Chicago blues of “Worried Mind”.
Chuck Berry-ish guitar kicks off “Tough Enough”, a song that chugs along quite nicely with piano way down low in the mix. Lucky Steve plays his guitar in a crude manner that is authentic to purveyors of old time blues on “Champion Of the Blues”. It contains the only German reference with “I’m the Kaiser of the blues”. The band handles a hard boogie with ease on the title track “One Beer Left”. Speed freak slide guitar and harmonica make “Ride & Roll” fly right by before you notice.
The traditional “In My Time Of Dying” sometimes called “Well, Well, Well” is rearranged and slowed down here. The upbeat “Love-Hate” contains the ominous lyric “She had no chill, she just wanted to kill”, sounds like a dream date. Slapped bass underscores the hot slide and harmonica groove of “Big Mouth”. Slim Harpo’s “Hip Shake” is interjected with new life in the hands of The Heart Attacks. I can’t get enough of Dynamite’s infectious harp blowing.
No idea what it’s about, but “Dead Cat” sounds mysterious enough. The jump blues instrumental “Rocker” closes out the show in grand style and short but sweet at just a tad over two minutes.
It’s a heart warming thing that authentic but not museum piece blues seems to be emanating from disparate parts of the globe. This band takes the roots of blues and turns it into something fresh and invigorating. I sure hope Dusty Dave and crew keep their high quality blues thriving.
