Lil’ Ed and The Blues Imperials – Slideways
Alligator Records – 2026
13 tracks; 49 minutes
Lil’ Ed sets the tone right away on his first album in ten years. On the lead track, “Bad All By Myself”, he’s come home late with whiskey on his breath and it’s the final straw for his baby. She’s headed out of town on the Greyhound bus. Forevermore the mystery of the blues is: why do we laugh and dance to others’ misfortune? Escapism, a word to the wise, commiseration, the groove is just that good? We can see the banana peel, but Lil’ Ed, that loveable, raffish ne’er-do-well in the fez doesn’t see it coming.
The Blues Imperials have been around for almost 40 years, but their music is refreshing. They harken back to an era that some of us fell in love with the blues, real barroom Chicago blues. The addition of young buck Ben Levin on piano on four tracks like “The Flirt In The Car Wash Skirt” and “13th Street and Trouble” adds to that timelessness and authenticity. Levin also contributes organ ably to four other tracks. Whether he’s tearing it up on “Car Wash Skirt” or letting it weep on the Willie “Longtime” Smith tune “Homeless Blues”, Lil’ Ed Williams’ trademark slide guitar is still the affecting, identifiable centerpiece of the band. He’s got his mojo workin’ on the up-tempo, silver lining tune “Make A Pocket For Your Grief”. 12 of the 13 songs are originals, written or co-written by Williams.
“Wayward Women” is a warning to stay away from those curvy sirens looking lure you in and break up your marriage. “Crazy Love Affair” and others have a vintage Hound Dog Taylor feel. You know a record is important to the label when Alligator President (Bruce Iglauer) produces it himself, along with the artist. Slideways is a late-career highlight, it compares very favorably to the other nine albums in Lil’ Ed’s Alligator discography. Slideways was recorded, mixed, and mastered in Chicago. It sounds like the band just plugged-in and turned it loose, no studio tricks here. It’s a fun, organic record. Many of the songs are enjoyable, but it’s probably “Bad All By Myself” that will hang around in the general blues repertoire.
Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials were elected to the Blues Hall of Fame in 2024 and continuity has been key, with James “Pookie” Young (Ed’s half-brother), guitarist Mike Garrett, and drummer Kelly Littleton have been in the band for over 30 years and are all present and accounted for on this one. In a challenging environment for professional musicians, they’ve kept the train chugging joyfully down the track. They continue to tour, with a nationwide trek this spring starting in mid-March and rolling through late June. Are these guys just your favorite band from the bar down the block or are they superheroes from another blues dimension? Yes and yes.
