Raphael Callaghan – Always in Arrears
Blue Cee Recordings
14 tracks – 50 Minutes
Raphael Callaghan is from Liverpool, England. In 1964, at age 14 or 15, he heard Alexis Korner’s Blues, Inc. play in a basement club. After attending multiple concerts by them and followed afterwards with blues concerts from Howlin’ Wolf with Hubert Sumlin and with Big Joe Tuner, he became hooked on the blues. He continued his blues affair with rapidly acquired blues albums and publications. His father brought him a Hohner harmonica which he learned to play. By 1966, he joined guitarist Jim James for a blues duo act called Jm and Raphael. The act became the resident players for six years at a local club. In 1969, Vocalist Jo Ann Kelly saw them perform and recommended them to Tony McPhee. Tony records four of their songs and selects two of them to include on his album “I Asked for Water, They Gave Me Gasoline”. Things did not work out for that, and other opportunities likewise fell apart. In 1987, he traveled to Chicago with side trips to Memphis and the Mississippi Delta. While there he got the chance to play harmonica with Jesse Mae Hemphill.
In the 1990’s, he joined with his partner, Christine” in a group they called Blue C. That group made the circuit for many British festivals in the next 20 years. Over the years, he received opportunities to play harmonica with Luther Grosvenor, Eric Bibb Otis Taylor and even Bonnie Raitt. In 2010, Christine had to give up playing and Raphael reinvented himself as a solo act playing his own slide guitar and harmonica. In 2016, he celebrated 50 years as a performer with the release of a cd, Said and Done”.
This new album includes 11 original songs and three covers. He declares “I’ve Got a Secret” “It’s mine alone to tell…I’ve got to keep it to myself” in a soft, folksy acoustic opener. “Rolling Stone – Part 1” was written by Robert Wilkins in 1928 and has nothing to do with the Muddy Waters song that came along later. “Don’t care how long she is gone, how long she stays”. “She’s a rolling stone, roll back home someday.” Mike Rimmer joins him on bass on “Run Through Sand” as he adds his harmonica to the mix and determines that “it takes more than soap and water to clean my doggone soul”. “I’ve got no gas in the tank; I’ve got no cash in the pot. I go to the bank to check how much I haven’t got.”
He explains that “Fish Deep in the Ocean” is a collection of verses that are put together to form a cohesive narrative with the last verse “borrowed” from a 1928 Charlie Lincoln recording as he notes “In the winter you found you didn’t know me at all” and “The more I want you, the more I drive you away”. The next song was written during the pandemic lockdown as he asks when “Love on Furlough” “what we are going to do” and “wants to find out what’s been going on”. “Be Ready When He Comes” is a gospel song written by D.O. Teasley in 1907 and recorded by Skip James in 1931. “Jesus is coming again to judge the soul of men.”
“Blues for Carole King” is included as a tribute to the singer, songwriter and states her music got him through his school years. “Black is the Colour” is a traditional folk song with lyrics from a Nina Simone record. He breaks out his slide guitar as he explains that is “the color of my true love’s hair” and “looks forward to the day she and I are one.” He brings out the harmonica again for “The Runaround” as he asks, “Who are you going to run to when you are done running over me?”
The names of all the singers and groups who played the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool are etched into bricks on the Cavern Wall of Fame. The harmonica again leads off “Name on the Wall” as he tells the tale of “an old rock and roller reliving his youth. He doesn’t care if he’s long in the tooth. He’ll ask you no questions, do you no harm….old man looking for his name on the wall”. Mike Rimmer again joins on bass as Raphael wonders “Can We Work It Out?” While not credited, I assume the female singing with him on the song is Christine. “Lean and Slow (For Skip James)” is a tribute to his favorite blues singer.
The cd shows the final two songs as bonus tracks. He notes that he used to perform Duke Ellington’s song “Do Nothing ’til You Hear from Me”. He wrote the response song “I’ll Do Nothing ’til I Hear from You”. “I’ll do nothing ’til you say the word. I’ll do nothing ’til the day you dare to take the risk of a stolen kiss”. After moving from Liverpool to South Wales, he got a gig back in Liverpool that was billed as a return of the “Prodigal Son”, which prompted him to write a song with that title. he states, “Today I am the prodigal son you can see it in my face. Tomorrow I will be back on the run if I can only stand the pace” and he throws in a verse relating to the pandemic. “I thought I was immune to all the stuff that goes around. Lately I’ve changed my tune. Caught with my defenses down.”
Raphael offers soothing acoustic guitar with warm, comforting vocals and easily understood and relatable lyrics. However, the songs are more in tune with folk music than what I would consider the blues. Nothing wrong with that but just offered as an awareness of the music style presented on this album.
