Bad Dog Blues Radio

Hosting a weekly radio show and and putting out this monthly website gives us at Bad Dog Blues a pretty good idea what's going on in in the blues world. We started the Bad Dog Blues website at the beginning of 1999 and have been doing these yearly wrap ups each year since. So how does 2004 stack up to previous years? Well 2003 was dubbed the Year of the Blues with Martin Scorsese's much hyped film series on PBS, a 13-part The Blues - Radio Series plus several other high profile blues events. There was high hopes that this would give a lasting boost to the blues but alas there's seems to be no evidence of that at all. In fact from a recording standpoint many artists formerly on bigger labels have issued CD's on smaller labels or independently this year and all in all a somewhat mediocre year for new releases with very few real standouts. Since Bad Dog Blues is a radio show our focus will be on the year's most notable recordings. The records mentioned below are only based on promos we've received for airplay in the past year and it should be noted that there are many import labels that don't service us (although that doesn't stop us from buying them!).

More than any other year the best releases came out on small labels. Many artists formerly on bigger labels issued records on smaller labels or independently. 2003's Year of the Blues seems to have no long standing benefit on the blues community. Let's take a look at some of the year's top releases on smaller labels: One of the year's best records was issued by veteran blues shouter Tommy Brown whose "Remember Me" (Bonedog Records) proved he's still a terrific blues singer and should be a strong candidate for comeback artist of the year. Ernest Lane issued the fabulous "The Blues Is Back!" (Acoustic Music). Lane has played with Robert nighthawk, Earl Hooker, Ike Turner and many others and proves he's a major artist in his own right. Speaking of piano (and organ), ace session man Bruce Katz delivered perhaps his best record in the mostly instrumental "A Deeper Blue" (Severn). Other standouts include John Lee Hooker Jr.'s knockout "Blues With A Vengeance" (Kent) a great blend of urban blues, the soulful and very bluesy "Make it Talk" (Ecko) by Dr. Feelgood Potts, Percy Sledge's excellent "Shinning Through The Rain" that shows the veteran soul singer in marvelous voice on perfectly produced comeback, a bonafide super group called The Mannish Boys whose "That Represent Man" (Delta Groove) featured an all-star cast of Finis Tasby, Kirk Fletcher, Johnny Dyer, Johnny Dyer, Mickey Champion and others and perhaps veteran Bobby Rush's finest outing in "Folk Funk" (Rush Records), a seamless meld of old school blues, R&B and soul. In fact Rush was the only one of three artists on last year's list who made it again this year. The other two were Ronnie Earl's "Now My Soul" (Stony Plain) and a fine outing from youngster Nathan James (mentioned below).

A number of blues veterans are still releasing good music including fine records, most notably Jimmy Dawkins' tough "Tell Me Baby" (Fedora), Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers are one of the best and hardest working bands in the business and their "Keepin' It Real" (Blind Pig) was another winner, a pair of good ones by Detroit Jr.: "Live At The Museum Of Toledo Art" (Blue Suit) and "Internet Blues" (Delmark), the ageless Jerry McCain's on "Boogie Is My Main" (Music Maker) and the belated return of Cincinnati piano man Big Joe Duskin on the marvelous "Big joe Jumps Again" (Yellow Dog). Other veterans putting out fine new records were Artie "Bluesboy" White, James Cotton, Henry Gray, Pinetop Perkins and Dr. John.

There were only a handful of newcomers who made our list this year: Long time ace session man Alex Shultz made his debut with the classy "Think About It" plus two veterans making their belated debuts:Lee Gates emerged with his sizzling self titled debut on Music Maker showing that he picked up plenty from his cousin Albert Collins and Chief Shabuttie Gilliame with a tough old school record in "Snakes Crawls At Night" (Random Chance). The most notable sophomore releases include fine ones from traditional guitarist Nathan James and blues belter Nora Jean Bruso. As far as Rochester blues artists there were a couple of strong releases by The New Trendsetters and the sophomore release from the eclectic White Hots. Both bands are well worth catching live. In addition our main studio for having live bands is officially up and running. We celebrated our 15th anniversary in October with a terrific live performance by Joe Beard backed by steve Grills & The Roadmasters and in December had the great John Cole Blues Band perform. 2005 should see several live in-studio performances so stay tuned.

A couple of other records that are technically new and made our year end list are a collection of various posthumous recordings by Hound Dog Taylor culled together on the scorching "Release The Hound" (Alligator) that is a must have for Hound Dog fans, Charles Brown's "A Life In The Blues" a CD/DVD package capturing a marvelous 1990 performance at the cusp of his comeback and a previously unreleased album from 1995-96 by great Chicago bluesman Jimmie Lee Robinson in his terrific "Chicago Jump" (Random Chance).

Reissue/Historical Recordings

With 2003's Year of the Blues there was a flood of reissues last year but 2004 saw that slow down to a trickle at least as far as domestic reissues.

The year's best vintage reissue series goes to Sony-Legacy who continued their Roots N' Blues series with a batch of classic blues and gospel. In this series were terrific release by Lucille Bogan, Rev. J.M. Gates, Mississippi Sheiks and a 2-CD Leroy Carr set. Sound quality on these recordings are the best these ancient sides ever sounded and the booklets and period photos are first class. Also under the Sony umbrella were three great Muddy Waters reissues: "Hard Again", "I'm Ready" and "King Bee." What added to these already fine CD's was the addition of previously unreleased material, remastered sound and excellent notes by Bob Margolin who played in Muddy's band during this era.

The UK based Sanctuary label sent us some great 2-CD volumes culled from the Big Bear label. The best of the bunch was a terrific collection of forgotten 70's recordings by Snooky Pryor & Homesick James plus excellent collections by the under-recorded Big John Wrencher and great guitarist Eddie Taylor.

Last year Shout! Factory celebrated the Year of the Blues with their excellent "Heroes Of The Blues" series. This year they served up reissues of Bukka White's wonderful "Big Daddy" album and Rev. Gary Davis' strong final recording in "From Blues To Gospel."

Yazoo can be consistently counted on to release a few exceptional reissues each year. This year they issued "The Best Of Charlie Patton" boasting some of the finest sound ever for these well worn sides and "Back To The Crossroads: The Roots Of Robert Johnson" featuring classic sides by Scrapper Blackwell, Kokomo Arnold, Peetie Wheatstraw, Lonnie Johnson and others.

Other reissues/historical releases that topped our year end lists include: Savoy's long overdue collection of Gatemouth Moore's seminal sides ("Cryin' And Singin' The Blues"), the 2-CD Mississippi John Hurt set "D.C. Blues: Library Of Congress recordings" (Fuel 2000) which finally collects all these fine sides in one place, "Windy City Blues" (Stax) notable for the inclusion of four previously unissued Albert King sides, a pair of good ones on Delmark including Byther Smith's blistering "Hold That Train" and a collection of mostly unreleased J.B. Hutto sides on the tough "Stompin' At Mother Blues."

Blues Labels

There were a number of blues labels that deserve special mention for consistently putting out fine releases in 2004:

Most of the year's best records came from smaller labels this year although there were a a few by the more well known labels that made there way onto our end of the year lists. Among them include Alligator who who issued two exceptional acoustic records with "Second Nature" by Carrie & Lurrie Bell and "Double Take" by Kenny Neal & Billy Branch plus a typically fine outing from soulful bluesman W.C. Clark in "Deep In The Heart." The long running Stony Plain label issued top notch records by Duke Robillard and Ronnie Earl, Delmark is still going strong with fine new records by Detroit Jr., Steve Freund & Dave Spector and Severn Records turned in a very good year with top flight albums by Nora Jean Bruso, Roy Tyler & New Directions, Tad Robinson, Bruce Katz and Alex Shultz all of which landed on our year end "best of" list.

Once again we have to spotlight the Music Maker organization which helps older, neglected artists get back on their feet. In addition they consistently issue fine recordings by many of these lesser known artists and we've received first rate records this year by Etta Baker, Lee Gates, Jerry McCain and Beverly "Guitar" Watkins. Music Maker recieved some great national exposure this year with an article in the New York Times, features on NPR and ABC News among others.

Another label who impressed us this year was Mountaintop who issued three excellent records late in the year by Johnny Dyer, Fillmore Slim and a the fantastic "Blues Harp Meltdown Vol. 2."

Other labels worth mentioning include Yellowdog who issued the funky and soulful Bo-Keys album and a real gem with piano man Big Joe Duskin's "Big Joe Jumps Again", Fedora with strong releases by veterans Jimmy Dawkins and Fillmore Slim, Blind Pig with new records by the ever solid Rod Piazza and young hot shot Nick Curran, Electro-Fi with records by Paul Oscher Snooky Pryor and Sam Myers, Random Chance with records by the late Jimmie Lee Robinson and the debut by Chief Shabuttie Gilliame.

Blues Literature

In the last few years we've see some very well researched blues books, particularly biographies, being issued. 2004 saw this saw this trend slow down a bit. Here's a list of some notable books we've reviewed on Bad Dog Blues this year: "The Truman And Eisenhower Blues", "Escaping the Delta", "Trumpet Records: Diamonds On Farish Street", "Moanin' At Midnight: The Life And Times of Howlin' Wolf."

Blues DVD's

2004 saw the release of some exceptional blues DVD's including some fabulous historical footage. The following notable ones were reviewed on our website: "The Howlin' Wolf Story", "Honeyboy", "John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers: 70th Birthday Concert", "The Blasters Live: Going Home", "John Lee Hooker: "Come See About Me - The Definitive DVD", "American Blues Festival Vol. 3", "Memphis Slim & Sonny Boy Williamson: Live In Europe", "Soul To Soul", "Gunsmoke Blues", "Ike & Tina Turner: Live In '71", "Henry Gray & The Cats: Live In Paris."

Blues Obituaries

Unfortunately there have been a number of deaths in the blues world this year. 2004 has seen the following pass away: legendary radio personality E. Rodney Jones, Jimmy Coe, Stax Records co-founder Estelle Axton, A.C. Reed, JJ Malone, Ella Johnson, Flash Terry, Gene Allison, Hank Marr, Claude "Fiddler" Williams, Porky Cohen, Nap Turner, Ray Charles, Gatemouth Moore, Noble "Thin Man" Watts, legendary disc jockey Hunter Hancock, Willie Egan, Cal Green, Big Boy Henry, Son Seals.

2004, The followup to the year in blues, wasn't really a banner year for blues as labels, touring blues acts and blues magazines continued to struggle. Still for those willing to sift through the year's recordings there were many gems to be found mainly on small labels and really good vintage material being issued at cut rate prices on primarily European labels. The blues needs your support more than ever so keep buying the music, going to the shows and of course checking out Bad Dog Blues!

(Most of the recordings mentioned in this article have been reviewed on the Bad Dog Blues website during the past year. Check the archive section for full length reviews)