Cover photo © 2023 James Todd Miller In This Issue Anita Schlank has our feature interview with Carly Harvey. We have six Blues reviews for you this week including new music from Delta Wires, Jimmy Bennett, Michael Jerome Browne, Howard “Guitar” Luedtke & Blue Max, John Oliver and The Incoming Groove Band and Johnny King & Friends. Scroll down and check it out! From The Editor’s Desk
We are excited about all the artists coming to the Blues Blast Music Awards. We will have an announcement of the full list of the weekend’s activities and artists next week. Here is a preview of just a few of the artists coming to perform on September 23rd: John Primer, Cash Box Kings, Alastair Greene, Annika Chambers & Paul DesLauriers, Bob Margolin, Lady J Huston and Bob Corritore! Ticket for the 2023 BBMA ceremonies are available now at https://www.thebbmas.com/tickets/ We are also busy planning a fundraiser for the The Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bipolar Research on Friday night September 22nd at the 3300 Event Center. Details and the artists performing for the fundraiser will be announced soon so reserve the date now! Wishing you health, happiness and lots of Blues music! Bob Kieser |
Featured Interview – Carly Harvey
“My mom was a singer who did a lot of theater in her youth, with a real emphasis on jazz, and my father was a funk bassist, who had a band based in the DC area. They both had to get day jobs and eventually stopped their musical careers, but we always had great music in the house—you know, Cab Calloway, Mahalia Jackson, Tower of Power and even Led Zeppelin and Hall & Oates. My mom’s taste was especially eclectic. She liked the cabaret type of blues that I never liked, so I grew up deciding I would never play the blues. And I didn’t like funk until I got older, but eventually found them both.” Carly started out playing violin, and then taught herself to play piano despite being dyslexic and having synesthesia, (a neurological condition in which stimulation of one sense leads to involuntary experiences in a second sense). In Carly’s case she sees colors associated with numbers and letters and also experiences odors associated with them. “It is very challenging, especially when the colors of the letters on the musical staff are different from the colors I would see with those same letters in a book. For example, an “A” in a book is pale yellow, but when an “A” is on the music staff it is spinach green. But as I’ve grown, I have trained myself to adapt and see beyond the colors and see black letters on the page. My violin teacher used to say I didn’t have what it takes to be a musician. But I have a good ear, and I stopped going to that teacher (and stopped playing violin), and just taught myself to play the piano and the guitar. Initially I would play chords and not know which chord I was playing. My parents were musicians, but they took a ‘hands off’ approach and taught me to be autonomous as a musician. I’m grateful that they had the approach they did. I don’t think I would appreciate it as much if it was just handed to me.” Carly sang in five different choirs plus performed in musicals in her high school. She then attended St. Mary’s College of Maryland where she sang in their concert choir and an acapella group called The Nightingale Acapella. She was classically trained in school, and she found that singing blues songs sometimes contradicted that classical training, so she resisted it at first. “One day I was singing a Bonnie Raitt song and my friend said there was something in my voice that wants to be expressed. He played me a Susan Tedeschi song from her Live in Austin DVD. I played that DVD every day for five months and watched her interviews to learn about those who influenced her. I realized I did love the blues. She was modernizing it while keeping true to its origins. She was there singing raw and from her soul, and that resonates with me. So, my friend and I started playing coffee houses and people were very receptive to it. I guess you could say I was nineteen years of age when the blues chased me down, even though I was trying to run far from it.” Carly noted that she was only 19 when she started singing blues songs, but it took a little bit of painful life experience before she could really sing it the manner it was meant to be sung.
She noted that the man she had been dating would undermine her confidence in herself and tried to direct her away from her passion. “He used to say terrible things to me. He would say I was a fine singer, but I was meant to be a teacher and not a famous person. He would discourage me from making a career singing because he wanted a hold on me. The bigger I dreamed and the more I came into myself, the more threatened he felt by that. It was a way for him to dim my light, so I had to leave that person. Then I felt very alone, and it triggered some abandonment issues, so I was just teaching and maybe singing at a few weddings, but I still wasn’t working on my career. I was defeated. My journey to self-discovery felt lonely at times and I wasn’t pursuing my career fully because of those abandonment issues. Then I won the Battle of the Bands in 2016, and Dr. Nick Johnson (of WPFW radio) called me and said ‘no woman has won in ten years. You are DC’s Queen of the Blues. You’ve earned the title.’ I was afraid older people would think I hadn’t paid my dues because I was too young. And some people close to me asked if I was sure I wanted to call myself that. But it’s not my job to please other people. It’s my job to live my biggest and most amazing life. It really motivated me, so I told Dr. Nick that I would accept, and I just started cranking, and the push-back people gave me actually encouraged me. I decided to try to live up to this title, so I did. But it contributed to the dissolution of many relationships in my life. When you start living in your highest frequency, they start interpreting it like you are leaving them behind, or you think you are better than they are. But it was healthy self-love, not selfishness. I learned that it’s ok to want amazing things for yourself and that’s the path I’m still on.” In 2013, Carly formed her band, Kiss and Ride, a name taken from the signs often seen near metro stations in the Northern Virginia/DC/MD area. “So, after I got out of the toxic relationship, I was homeless for about three months, and I underwent a spiritual ass-kicking and had to stop feeling sorry for myself. I decided to start my own band—no more excuses. I didn’t have a car because I’m a city girl and I ride the bus and the metro, so I would have these gigs and would always ask my band members to pick me up at the Kiss and Ride. I thought it was a great name—sounds a bit raunchy and dirty and could mean something else. It’s also a very DC thing, because other cities call it ‘Park and Ride’.
“Both of my parents are Afro-Indigenous. My Mom’s side is Eastern Band Tsalagi (which is the decolonized way of saying Cherokee), and my dad’s side is Tuscarora (part of the Haudeno Sanee family). My mom is also part Chinese, and my dad is part Mexican, but culturally I grew up with Native and Black as my identity. I started to incorporate the indigenous influence into my music during the pandemic. As a mixed-race person, a lot of people expect you to fulfill some of their expectations based on what you look like. You can get push-back from both sides. Some will ask if I am ashamed of being Native, while others will ask if I’m not content to just be Black. I used to float in the middle, but I’m really growing, coming into myself. And I am deeply connected to my Native background. So, I was sitting in my house alone during the pandemic, having just gotten divorced, and I had a lot of time to reflect. I had recently bought a hand drum and I started drumming and chanting and something different was coming out of me, just naturally. I call it ‘Native Scat’. I was in a meditative space, connecting with the Earth, and it just came out of me naturally. It’s a beautiful fusion of both of my cultures. I don’t do it every time. If I scat while I’m singing the blues and bring in Native vocables, it’s because it’s the right frequency and the right time.” During the pandemic, Carly also wrote a beautiful and extremely powerful song about social justice entitled “Human Too”. In that song, she discusses three marginalized groups of people, Black Americans, Indigenous people and the children put in cages at the border. The song invites people to heal through increased communication. “We had huge riots in DC shortly after the incident with George Floyd, so not only were we quarantined from the pandemic, but DC had to go on lockdown because of the crazy riots. And if you looked online, people were saying ignorant things like, ‘well he had a bag’. I wondered if those people would see it as a threat if it was their mother or father. The lyrics just came to me. It’s more about just asking a question. Do you know the deeply seated and ingrained reasons why you jump to these conclusions? I was in a very contemplative and reflective place, being alone in the house. That’s where the lyrics come from—not making accusations and not speaking from a place of anger. The song was actually a lot longer originally, and I shortened it. It used to contain a verse about how the blues industry doesn’t acknowledge that Black people created the blues from having a forced disconnection from their ancestral music. Of course, anyone can sing the blues like anyone can pick up a sitar or a bagpipe or play Flamenco guitar. I could pick up a Sitar, but I would be aware that I was in someone else’s space and be grateful to be in that space and learn from people in that culture. It was mainly because of that song that I received seven nominations and a win at the Wammies.” When asked about the most therapeutic song she ever wrote, Carly noted that it was likely to be the very personal song, “You Don’t Have to Buy Me”.
Carly still teaches, including songwriting classes, voice lessons, piano lessons, and master classes about the Native influence on the blues. However, her main focus is currently on performing her music, and she is very excited about some new opportunities happening in the near future. For example, she has been booked for the upcoming Waterfront Blues Festival (and Sail on Sister Cruise that is part of that festival), and also at the Big Blues Bender. In addition, she is about to release a new album. “It’s really surreal. Last year I went to the Waterfront Festival and the Big Blues Bender as a patron and this year I am booked there. Where I invest my time and energy and currency, it comes back around. And the new album is self-produced and being funded by sponsors. The sound is like the Dap Kings met Otis Redding and had a baby with the Teskey Brothers. It’s going to be a timeline of blues creation, with a blues rock song, a classic blues shuffle, and by the end of the album it will come back to Native space in the blues. We have a horn section and I’m excited because the horn section will help to convey the energy of a live Carly Harvey performance. It’s going to have a version of ‘Worth Waiting For’ with horns. Those lyrics are a testament to me. I’m a queen and I’m worth waiting for. That might be my favorite song because it’s a strong empowering message to myself. We get all these societal messages that loving yourself is selfish. But you have to love yourself to love others, so you can pour your love from a full cup. If you give your love to others when you are half empty, then you’re resentful. It’s more loving to take care of yourself first and then give to others.” DC’s best blues secret is a secret no longer and Carly Harvey is definitely one of the top blues musicians under 40 to watch. Attend one of her performances and you’ll see why London (Ontario) Hall of Famer, Dawn Tyler-Watson says, “Carly’s got a natural stage presence, a genuine vibe, and she’s definitely got scat skills!” and Dave Keller is also a big fan, noting, “Carly is one of the most soulful people I know, and the way she brings her Indigenous roots into her music is unique and beautiful”. You can find out more about Carly’s new album and her tour dates at www.carlyharvey.com. And you can check out her powerful social justice song, “Human Too” at Carly Harvey – Human Too – YouTube. Writer Anita Schlank lives in Virginia, and is on the Board of Directors for the River City Blues Society. She has been a fan of the blues since the 1980s. She and Tab Benoit co-authored the book “Blues Therapy,” with all proceeds from sales going to the HART Fund. |
Featured Blues Review – 1 of 6
Mud Slide Records – 2023 10 tracks; 53 minutes Delta Wires is a Bay area institution, having released seven previous albums over 30 years. The band grew out of leader Ernie Pinata’s college project on the evolution of the blues and the band’s name is intended to reflect the roots of the blues played with modern technology. Pinata handles the vocals and plays harp and is supported by guitarist Richard Healey, bassist Tom Gerrits, drummer Tony Huszar and keyboardist Richard Sylvester; horns are an integral part of the band’s sound, provided by David Bowman (trombone), John Christensen (trumpet) and Caleb Murray (sax). The material here includes three originals written by band members Pinata, Healey, Gerrits, Huszar and Bowman, plus seven covers from a diverse set of sources. The originals are front-loaded as three of the first four cuts. “Can’t Win For Losin’” is a strong opening track as Pinata leads from the front with searing harp over a bouncing riff well accented by the horns while lyrically the song describes the life of the musician: “always pushing, never giving up the fight”. The title track is a sombre affair, the lyrics reflecting the tragic loss of Pinata’s son, the music a ballad featuring guitar. Pinata is not a great vocalist but all credit to him for stepping up to sing such a personal song, apparently recorded in a single take. The third original is “Bring Me Up”, a song about staying positive, a bouncy jump blues with great piano and a fine horn arrangement, producing a tune to which it’s impossible to stay still; the horns enjoy themselves with short solos for each man. The covers start with Larry Davis’ “I Tried”, driven by the rhythm section and overlaid with hot horns. “Voodoo Cadillac” is a song by Rick Miller of Southern Culture On The Skids and barrels along well, something of a step away from blues sources but effective, bringing possibly guitarist Healey’s best work of the album. “I Pity The Fool” is a more familiar choice but Pinata is no Bobby Bland! The band tackles two songs associated with Sonny Boy Williamson: “Sloppy Drunk” was also a hit for Lucille Bogan and Delta Wires’ version hurtles along, propelled by the urgent horns while the slow blues “Hand Outta My Pocket” features Pinata’s harp. Sticking to classic blues artists the band gives us a seven minute version of John Lee Hooker’s “Dimples” which is based round the guitar riff but also incorporates some fine harp blowing and horn flourishes. The album closes with a lengthy reading of a Count Basie tune, “Blues In Hoss’ Flat”, but blues fans need not feel scared by the name of a jazz great because this one is a gently swinging blues with a solid base from the rhythm section, over which the horns and harp all get solo spots. This is an enjoyable album from the veteran San Francisco band and will appeal in particular to those who enjoy bands with strong horn sections. Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK who enjoys a wide variety of blues and roots music, especially anything in the ‘soul/blues’ category. Favorites include contemporary artists such as Curtis Salgado, Tad Robinson, Albert Castiglia and Doug Deming and classic artists including Bobby Bland, Howling Wolf and the three ‘Kings’. He gets over to the States as often as he can to see live blues. |
Featured Blues Review – 2 of 6
Junkyard Dog Productions www.thebennettbrothersband.com 10 tracks – 32 Minutes Jimmy Bennett and his younger brother Peter have been performing together for decades in The Bennett Brothers Band. Their sound has been compared to Hot Tuna. The duo is originally from Brooklyn, New York. After performing a show with Rick Danko and Levon Helm of The Band, Levon invited the duo to become part of his “The Midnight Ramble” series and performed close to 100 shows in the series. Guests in that series included Hubert Sumlin, Johnnie Johnson, and Alexis P. Suter among many others that the brothers backed. The brothers then joined Suter on the first seven albums from the Alexis P. Suter Band. Jimmy, the group’s guitarist, is now 70 years old. In recent years he has played on albums from Bruce Katz and more recently with John Ginty. John joins Jimmy on this album as producer and plays piano, Hammond organ and drums. Jimmy sings and plays acoustic guitar and dobro. The album was recorded during the Covid crisis. He states that on the morning of Easter Sunday, 2020, “Feelings of fear, dread and hopelessness were spreading, as contagious as Covid itself. That Sunday morning, I recorded a song I wrote – “Easter Morning Melody” and put a video on Facebook in hopes of spreading a little musical joy during these dark days.” The response was instantaneous and led to the full sessions found here consisting of eight original songs, one co-written with his brother and three covers. That song that started this production is the opening track of the album. The song is a quiet instrumental exercise in fingerpicking. He moves from there into the spiritual “Will I See You Again”, another solo effort which includes his vocals. “Snow Sliding” is another instrumental featuring Jimmy on dobro and Ginty on drums. “Bay Ridge Blues” is another quiet effort with Jimmy singing about past remembrances and Ginty providing some acoustic piano backing. He pulls the dobro back out for a more animated tale of “Katy Mae” that brings reminiscences of old porch recordings. That energy carries over into the first cover, Delbert McClinton’s “New York City” with John Ginty getting a chance to take a lead on a Vintage Vibe piano. Jimmy then demonstrates a faster picking style on the instrumental “Broken River Stream”. The second cover is of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”, which is given a traditional vocal with some slight change in the guitar style. “Mr. Charlie” has an old-time country blues vibe as he seeks advice from an older man “who is going to make things right tonight”. The album concludes with Jimmy’s dobro lead on a “Serenade for New Orleans” noting “Big Easy is gone forever”. As might be expected from an album called Sunday Morning Sessions, the music is tranquil. Jimmy’s vocals are equally restrained, although certainly pleasant. The album would certainly serve for a calm listening experience on a Sunday morning. Writer John Sacksteder is a retired civil engineer in Louisville, Kentucky who has a lifelong love of music, particularly the blues. He is currently the Editor of the Kentuckiana Blues Society’s monthly newsletter. |
Featured Blues Review – 3 of 6
14 Tracks – 51 Minutes Michael Jerome Browne was born in South Bend, Indiana. His English professor parents loved music and took their young son to all of the great jazz and blues clubs in their adopted home of Montreal. At age 14, Michael was already playing regularly in the coffee house scene and showing a mastery of various guitar types, banjo, fiddle, mandolin and harmonica. Since 1999, he has received 33 nominations for Maple Blues Awards and received the Blues with a Feeling Award in 2020, He is also a three- time winner of the Canadian Folk Music Award (Traditional Singer, 2015; Solo Artist, 2012 and 2018) and a five- time nominee in both the Roots/Traditional and Blues categories at the Juno Awards. He has worked with many blues artists over the years including playing with and co-producing Eric Bibb’s 2017 Grammy nominated album, Migrant Blues. His style is frequently referenced as country blues. On this album, he self-produced and gathered many of his old friends together to perform a historical cross-section of old-time blues songs. He kicks things off with an acoustic version of Mississippi John Hurt’s “Monday Morning Blues”. He plays a 12-string guitar with his friend Harrison Kennedy on harmonica. Michael then pulls out a tenor guitar with Eric Bibb playing 9-string guitar and J.J. Milteau adding harmonica on Booker White’s “Shake ’em On Down”. Mary Flowers joins on lap slide guitar with Michael’s traditional guitar for the instrumental “I’ve Got the Big River Blues”, first recorded by the Delmore Brothers, adapted by Doc Watson and later played by Lonnie Johnson. Mary and Michael then offer a duet with both on guitar and John Sebastian’s harmonica for Mississippi John Hurt’s “Coffee Blues”, which was Hurt’s version of the classic “Spoonful”. Colin Linden and Michal both play guitar on Rube Lacy’s “Ham Hound Crave”. Colin and Michael first met in the 70’s and Michael has played with him many times over the years. Michael pulls out the 12-string guitar again for J.B. Hutto’s “Please Help” with Stephen Barry on string bass and John McColgan on drums. Michael says in his liner notes that his version is utilizing a version played by J.B. Lenoir. He next moves into what he calls a “mountain banjo-fiddle duet” on Booker White’s “Fixin’ To Die Blues” with Teilhard Frost on fiddle and Michael playing a gourd banjo. Michael follows that with a original solo instrumental, “Reverend Strut” on a 6-string banjo. He said he was given the chance to play the banjo originally used by Rev. Gary Davis, which is currently stored in Montreal. Michael discovered a lost 1936 song, “Married Man Blues” from the relatively unknown musician Harold Holiday aka Black Boy Shine. Mary Flower joins him again on lap slide and Michael plays the 12-string guitar. Another obscure artist, Bayless Rose, recorded “Black Dog Blues” in the 1920’s. Mary Flower again joins on guitar with Michael on 12-string on what he references as mountain ragtime. Peetie Wheatstraw (actual name, William Bunch) and also known as the Devil’s Son-in-Law and The High Sheriff from Hell first recorded “Six Weeks Old Blues” in the 1930’s. Michael on guitar and Harrison Kennedy on harmonica delivers a fine version. Mary Flowers and Michael join together for another instrumental, this time a new song, “Wisecrack” written by Mary for the album. “Diamond Joe” comes from a collection of music recorded by John Lomax at the Mississippi Parchman Prison Farm in the late 1930’s. The song was performed by Big Charlie Butlers, but an earlier version exists that was performed by the Georgia Crackers in the 1920’s. Teilhard again joins on fiddle with Michael on gourd banjo. The album ends with a rollicking version of Brownie McGhee’s “Living with the Blues”. Michael again playing the 12-string is joined by John Sebastain on harmonica, Happy Traum on lead guitar and John McColgan on washboard. Michael’s slightly strained vocals well represents the old-time artists he honors with this recording. He and his guests offer very traditional interpretations of all of the songs. This would be a must for those who love the sound of those old-time artists and maybe a revelation of a few long-forgotten musicians and songs. Writer John Sacksteder is a retired civil engineer in Louisville, Kentucky who has a lifelong love of music, particularly the blues. He is currently the Editor of the Kentuckiana Blues Society’s monthly newsletter. |
Featured Blues Review – 4 of 6
False Dog Records 13 tracks – 76 minutes Wisconsin native Howard “Guitar” Luedtke has been playing guitar since 1964 in various bands and styles. But as he moved into the 1970’s, he became fascinated by the classic blues musicians and eventually formed his own band, Blue Max. Howard has a strong reputation in the upper Midwest as one of the best guitarists around and Blue Max quickly settled in as one of the top bands in the area playing blues rock. But as usual with many bands, the original band members dropped out. Minnesota native Deb Klossner started playing in several different rock bands in southern Minnesota in 1982. In 1987, she joined Blue Max to play bass and add backing vocals. Eventually the two married and became the backbone of Blue Max with a rotating lineup of drummers that is currently filled on the album by Bill Weiss, who also adds some backing vocals. The band has had several previous album releases dating back to their first in 1992. The trio now operates out of Eau Clair, Wisconsin. The By Request album is a live studio production of many of the songs that the band has received as requests over the years. They have a regular group of followers that make the repeated requests for certain songs at their shows. Most of the songs on the album are covers, but Howard recreates the songs to fit the band’s blues rock mold. They note that the album is exactly as you would hear the band in concert, with no overdubbing or high production. The album opens with a hard-rocking version of The Kinks’ “I’m Not Like Everyone Else”, perhaps to make a point about the direction of their music. This version is certainly their own with little that would remind about the original song. Howard’s strong vocals drives the song as well as the bombast of his guitar in an instrumental run. The band then moves into more of a blues mode as Big Joe Williams’ “Baby Please Don’t Go” is next up with a dynamite six-minute version. That is followed by a more laidback version of Skip James’ “Look at the People Standing at Judgement” with Howard’s plaintive vocals offering a gospel feel but with his guitar ringing out. Willie Dixon’s “Back Door Man” is given the full blues rock mode. This grouping is rounded out by B.B. King’s “Sweet Little Angel” and again slows down the pace with some very tasteful guitar. “House of the Rising Son” has been in the public domain and performed by many artists over the years including the 1964 version performed by The Animals. The seven-minute Blue Max version is given a traditional approach but with more soaring guitar work. “Thought I Heard a Train” is the sole original song on the album. Howard says he thought the “train will bring my baby back, she done left me” and he’s “been traveling, the highway has been my home”. “The Thrill Is Gone” is best known as the hit by B.B. King, but it was originally written by Rick Darnell and Ray Hawkins and Hawkins had a hit with the song in 1951 when it reached #6 on the music charts. Howard adds his own guitar touch to the well-known song. Another B.B. King Song, “Rock Me Baby” follows with Howard’s rocking guitar having a touch of a surf sound added to his run. Howlin’ Wolf’s “Who’s Been Talking” which might have a link to Howard’s original song as it cites that “My baby has left me, taking a train and never coming home”. Howard provides some unique slide work and vibrato on this song. “Ghost Riders In the Sky” was originally written and performed by Stan Jones in 1948. Many versions of that song have been performed over the years by Johnny Cash, The Outlaws, The Doors and many others. Here Howard uniquely blends the song with “Apache”, which was originally a hit by The Shadows in the early 60’s, into an all-instrumental version. The song “Sorrow” was originally written as hit for The McCoys in 1965. It was moved to UK where it became a hit for The Merseys in 1966 and ultimately David Bowie provided his own version in 1973. The Blue Max variant certainly feels like an older rock and roll number. The album ends with “Wildwood Flower”, which was written by A.P. Carter and most famously performed by The Carter Family in 1928 and later performed by Maybelle Carter and later still June Carter and by many folk artists over the years. Here Howard again presents an instrumental version of the song letting his guitar do all of the talking. This is a fun album that breaches many older songs but offers an original approach that makes them immediately accessible. Howard’s vocals match well to all of the songs, but it is certainly his fine guitar work that will bring you back to the album again. And for the car enthusiasts out there, the album includes a picture of Howard’s 1957 Packard Hawk on the back cover. Writer John Sacksteder is a retired civil engineer in Louisville, Kentucky who has a lifelong love of music, particularly the blues. He is currently the Editor of the Kentuckiana Blues Society’s monthly newsletter. |
Featured Blues Review – 5 of 6
Independent 8 tracks – 36 minutes John Oliver was born in Chicago and grew up developing his musical roots in the electric blues and rock of that city. He moved from Chicago to Colorado but carried his blues sensibilities to his new home. Per the album’s release notes, “The Incoming Blues Band blends influences of Chicago electric, blues, rock, funk & R&B into the album track. John says that the album is deeply personal to him as the songs “capture the journey from John’s Chicago roots to Colorado with the emotive blues style relatable to everyone – the good, the bad, the low and high feelings in life”. According to the credits, John Oliver does the lead vocals and plays guitar on all tracks. He also wrote all songs. However, the Incoming Groove Band is noted as two distinctly different groups. The first group plays on three songs and consists of Jim Dodgen on bass, Guy Wadas on keyboards, Steve Quinn on drums, and featuring Mike Conley on rhythm guitar and Jim “Griff” Griffin on harmonica. The remaining five songs are performed by Steve Miller on keyboards, and Rick Yale on bass. John Oliver also plays the drums with this second group. The album revs up immediately with John singing that he is “Going Home”. Wadas’ keys and Griff’s harmonica leads into John’s first guitar solo. “Bluffing Man’s Blues” follows with John’s guitar ringing out as he sings that “he was a big man, about 6’2″, but you better watch your back.” Don’t trust that man, he will steal your money.” Steve Miller’s organ is a highlight of this song and John’s guitar is certainly up to Chicago standards as he rips through another solo. The mood slows down on the R&B styled “This Is My Neighborhood” as John sings about listening to Marvin Gaye on the radio and reminiscing about the things he grew up with in his neighborhood. John’s guitar provides a funky feel to the song with Miller’s soft piano underscoring his guitar. John immediately gets the joint jumping again as he declares that he was “Blindsided” and “he can’t breathe” because he “did not see what was coming at all” and “girl, you used me up”. The music slows down again with “Leave Me Alone” as John’s guitar moans and Wadas’ organ blends in. John cries “You done me wrong. You told me lies.” Steve Miller’s piano leads the drive as John says “Betty Lou” sure has the blues. “She is a sweet tea, with lots of sass and spice” and “I love everything about you.” His notes states that the song is dedicated to his mother, Betty Lou Oliver. John brings the funk again with Steve Miller’s organ again driving the song with John saying that e will have “No More Boxing Shadows”, “my gloves are on the ground”. The album ends with a rocking “Way Down Low” as John growls that he ‘has no dime in my pocket, no cents at all.” “No place to call my own”. John’s vocals are constantly warm and comfortable. The band in both variations are certainly well accomplished musicians and meets John’s liner note declaration that they “infuse a unique scene mood into each song”. While I certainly enjoyed the album, if I have one criticism it is that the lyrics are somewhat repetitive through every song. Writer John Sacksteder is a retired civil engineer in Louisville, Kentucky who has a lifelong love of music, particularly the blues. He is currently the Editor of the Kentuckiana Blues Society’s monthly newsletter. |
Featured Blues Review – 6 of 6
Sol Island Music 12 songs time – 56:12 Clifton Forge, Virginia native Johnny King and a cast of tens assembled this project with a combination of new and/or older sessions. Johnny sings and plays guitar, wrote or co-wrote eleven of the songs, as well as producing the proceedings. A vast array of musicians contributed, too many to list, but the end result is very satisfying. Johnny’s gruff vocals and aggressive blues guitar attack covers a varied spectrum of music, be it blues, roots music, New Orleans R&B or combinations of the above. Johnny and his cohorts dive in feet first on the title track with guitar, Bobby Rush’s harmonica and the horn section merging for a full frontal attack. Buddy Miles’ drums were reclaimed from an earlier set of sessions. Another of the reclaimed tunes is “Lyric Fountain Station” that begins life as Southern Rock before switching to trumpet-fired Salsa music. New Orleans “mythology” has been mined for songs ad infinitum, as seen in “Savannah Red”. The horn driven vibe is fine, but I find the lyrics a bit on the lame side. Johnny’s vocals are intertwined with the gospel choir Roanoke Voices Praise Team on “Oh My Captain”. The acoustic guitar and Bobby Rush’s harmonica lend a haunting quality. A prominent bass line moves through the instrumental “That’s It” along with organ and biting electric guitar. TC Coleman unleashes a blues shuffle on this one. Muscular B3 organ and the horns permiate “Recognition Blues”, a plea to be noticed by a woman. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, New Orleans stalwart George Porter on bass and Shannon Wickline of The Charlie Daniels Band support Johnny as he gives testimony to his life’s mission on “God’s Own Blues”. Rush, Coleman and King deliver a sermon on “Political Blues”. Coleman and The Dirty Dozen blaze through the funky jam of “Freedom Freedom” that features jazzy B3 organ. An old Buddy Miles vocal is exhumed for “Itchin’ At The Root” that also includes some fine organ playing. “Walking Water Blues” alludes to the fact that much of our human bodies consist of water. In my opinion Bobby Rush’s version of Slim Harpo’s “I’m A King Bee” takes the wind out of its’ sails as he drags out the original groove. Johnny King has delivered a project that mostly works. Being an assertive singer and ace guitarist doesn’t hurt one bit. He has assembled quite a crew that integrates new recordings with a few older tracks. The blues is good news! Reviewer Greg “Bluesdog” Szalony hails from the New Jersey Delta. |
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