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Junior Wells: Live At
Theresa's 1975 (Delmark) 
He
came across as one bad dude, a cross between Sonny Boy
Williamson and James Brown. By the 70’s he achieved
international blues stardom (whether on his own or in
with pal Buddy Guy). Despite his wide acclaim when he
was in Chicago he held court at a tiny basement joint
called Theresa’s. If you always wondered what a typical
night might sound like at the fabled Theresa’s, Delmark
has granted your wish with the terrific "Live At
Theresa’s 1975" a sweaty, rough and tumble performance
capturing Wells at his peak.
Wells began playing at Theresa’s in the late 50's
until the club was finally shuttered in the early 80’s.
By this 1975 date Wells was a seasoned pro having waxed
a slew of seminal cuts in the 50’s including "Hoodoo
Man," "Little by Little", "Messin'
with the Kid" and in 1965 his seminal Delmark LP
"Hoodoo Man Blues" which was in effect a studio
version of a typical night at Theresa's. By the mid-60's
he was injecting some serious James Brown funk into
his act (quite effectively) and just prior to this recording
had waxed impressive efforts for Delmark including "South
Side Blues Jam" with Buddy and "On Tap."
"Live At Theresa’s 1975" was recorded for
Chicago’s WXRT an intended to capture a typical night
at his favorite haunt. Mission accomplished.
This is a steamy, warts and all performance, a
little frayed at the edges but oozing plenty of atmosphere.
What comes across more than anything is a palpable bond
between Wells and his audience with his outsize personality
front and center. Wisely Delmark has left in the between
the song chatter as Wells and the audience good naturedly
banter back and forth. If you've ventured out to the
other side of the tracks you know exactly what this
joint was like: "…Theresa’s could barley hold 40
people, and most nights it cost only a dollar to get
in. The drinks were cheap, and there was no minimum.
There was no stage as such. The musicians simply set
up at one end of the room, with their amps and mike
stands on the floor. There was no sound system. A string
of blinking Christmas lights hung from the ceiling and
framed the performing space." Captured over two
nights Wells is in fine form backed by a trio of great
guitarists: Phil Guy, Sammy Lawhorn and Byther Smith
plus a rock solid rhythm section. Well runs through
a typical repertoire including a swaggering "Little
By Little", a storming "Messin'' With The
Kid", a passionate romp through the crowd pleasing
"Love Her With A Feeling" and steps into his
funk bag for "Snatch It back And Hold It"
and "Scratch My Back." Perhaps the highlight
is a smoldering version of his "Come On This House"
featuring some staggering harmonica blowing. Sound throughout
is good, if a bit muddy.
Not long after this recording Wells seemed to
lose interest in recording, sitting most of the 80’s
out of the studio and recording some lackluster records
for Telarc in the early 90’s although 1997's "Come
on in This House" was a magnificent return to form.
"Live At Theresa’s 1975" is a reminder of
just how good Wells could be and is a most welcome addition
to his slim batch of live recordings. Delmark has also
unearthed a prime 70’s live club date from Otis Rush
so let’s hope this trend continues. I for one can’t
wait to see what they dig up next.
(Jeff Harris)
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Piney Brown: One Of
These Days (Bonedog)
It’s
hard to keep a good bluesman down. Just ask 80+ year
old Piney Brown who’s obviously feeling a bit restless
in his old age and has launched a full blown comeback.
Blues shouter Brown sounds surprisingly good some
sixty years after making his first record on "One
of These Days", his energetic second outing for
the Pittsburgh based Bonedog label.
Brown waxed his first record back in 1947 and
his roaring voice was very much in the blues shouters
mold of more famous peers like Big Joe Turner, Wynonie
Harris and Roy Brown. Brown cut a slew of strong rocking
sides for labels like Apollo, King, Par, Atlas, Duke
and Sittin" In With although nothing never hit
the charts. He was versatile enough to sail into the
60’s and 70’s by updating his sound for the soul market,
cutting sides for the legendary Sound Stage 7 label.
He was also a noted songwriter, penning "Popcorn"
for James Brown and "Just A Little Bit"
for Rosco Gordon. Brown continued to perform on a
regular basis throughout the 1970's before disappearing
from the music scene. Brown recorded the excellent
"My Task" a few years back and "One
of These Days" finds him once again in inspired
form.
"One of These Days" is a fine showcase
for Brown’s still expressive, soulful vocals and top
notch songwriting. Brown tackles blues, soul and funky
R&B with ease backed by booting band with a strong
horn section. The results are timeless yet contemporary.
Brown revisits some old numbers like the slinky blues
of "(They Call Her) Rosalee" and swinging
jump blues of "Talkin’ ‘Bout You" and "Walk
A Block And Fall", two cooking numbers that bring
to mind the glory days of jump blues. Backed by a
punchy, funky horn section Brown delivers wonderful
originals like the surging "Ain’t It A Shame",
he pours on the funk on the 70’s sounding "Super
Bad" and delivers superb ballads in "In
The Evening (When The Sun Goes Down)" and the
aching "One of These Days" backed by just
organ and piano.
With "One of These Days" Piney Brown
continues a remarkable, totally successful comeback.
Brown has already recently toured Europe (who have
a better appreciation for old blues singer then we
do) and hopefully will get some well deserved gigs
around the States.
(Jeff
Harris)
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Roosevelt Dean: Don't
Leave Me (Z-K records)
Roosevelt
Dean is one of many talented older generation bluesmen
who reside in cities around the country who, while
treasured in their own communities, have received
little in the way of national recognition. It’s certainly
not for lack of talent as Dean reminds us by regularly
issuing high quality records like "Don’t Leave
Me", yet another well produced soulful, hard
hitting blues record.
Dean
has been a fixture on the Syracuse blues scene since
leaving Alabama in the 1960’s. Locally he’s received
just about every award imaginable; best blues vocalist,
best band, best blues recording and even got the key
to the city by the Mayor. Dean issues his own CD’s,
having racked up quite a few of them including 2000's
"Blue Heaven", 2003's "Somewhere 'Round
Georgia" and 2005's "Touch Somebody's Hand"
which was best effort to date. "Don’t Leave Me",
while not quite as ambitious as his prior outing,
is yet another in a long line of first class recordings
that makes his lack of national recognition all the
more inexplicable.
"Don’t
Leave Me" is a seamless blend of timeless sounding
blues and R&B delivered with plenty of conviction.
Dean's earthy, utterly soulful vocals are heard to
good effect on nine originals and some well picked
covers. Once again Rosie, as his friends call him,
plays guitar and keyboards backed by a tight band
featuring some punchy horns, spot on female background
vocals and also spotlights the soulful Carolyn Kelly
who duets on a few numbers. There's a nice mix on
the album between soulful R&B, like the surging,
hook laden "I'm Gonna Wait" and "When
It Rains" to harder edged Chicago blues styled
numbers like the menacing shuffle of "Jack Daniels",
the loping bounce of "I'll Sing The Blues"
with echoes of Little Milton's "Hey Hey The Blues
Is Alright" and the stop time of "You Should’ve
Been There" a humorous mother-in-law song sporting
some blistering guitar work. Carolyn Kelly is a gritty,
soulful singer with her and Dean turning in great
duets on the aching title cut and the grittier "Driving
All Night." Among the covers highlight go to
the gospel stoked "Night & Day" a retitled
version of Ray Charles’ "Night Time Is The Right
Time" and Denise LaSalle's funky "Juke Joint
Man."
Roosevelt
Dean is a talented singer, guitarist, writer, producer
who keeps plugging away, issuing great records year
after. "Don’t Leave Me" is filled with passion
and grit and like all his records is well worth investigating.
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Ronnie Baker Brooks:
The Torch (Watchdog)
Ronnie
Baker ‘Monster Guitar’ Brooks delivers another knock
your socks off CD with "The Torch", his
latest CD release on Watchdog Records. My MP3 player
started smoking and lighting my shirt pocket on fire
the first time I played "The Torch".
As
much as Ronnie touts the passing of the torch from
his father Lonnie and other Blues greats to younger
guys like him, we all know that Ronnie is a rock ‘n
roller at heart. Ronnie draws more references on this
CD to Vernon Reid/Living Color, Hendrix and Frank
Zappa ala "One Size Fits All" than his Dad,
Muddy, Luther and the rest of his Blues family. That’s
not to say that there aren’t Blues on this record,
but there’s also rock ‘n roll, R & B, country
and even a little Asian sound on a ballad called "Love
Again".
Once
again, producer Jellybean Johnson and Ronnie create
a wall of sound that would make Phil Specter envious.
The songs were produced and recorded in Memphis, Minneapolis
and Chicago and mastered in Nashville. The arrangements
are very strong and reveal a maturity that has come
about from years of touring and fine tuning.
Ronnie
is anchored by the usual suspects on the record: Maurice
‘Moe’ Taylor on drums, Carlton Armstrong on bass and
Daryl Coutts on keyboards. Guest artists include Jelly
Bean Johnson on vocals, Stephanie Bolton who does
a great job on vocals, the Acme Horns (Scott Thompson
on trumpet, Jim Spake on saxophones). The title track,
"The Torch of the Blues" features vocals
by father Lonnie, the late and great Willie Kent,
Eddy ‘The Chief’ Clearwater and Jimmy Johnson.
Songs
that stood out for me were "Born in Chicago",
a steady Chicago Blues number, "Are You Free
For Me" for its guitar anthem theme, "A
Long Goodbye" a steady rockin’ Blues number,
and "Be A Good Man", an R & B number
where Stephanie Bolton supports Ronnie with a beautiful
duet. This is a well-arranged catchy song that breaks
up some of the edgier songs on the album.
"Train"
is a fast-paced instrumental that features some fine
chicken pickin’, bouncing bass lines and intricate
percussion. This song shows off the core RBB band
at its best and pays homage to Scotty Moore (Elvis’
guitarist) – that Memphis sound rubs off on the band
on this one.
Following
"Train" is "Other Side of Love",
an intricately arranged number that is probably one
of the strongest written songs on the album. It shows
off the finest sides of all the musicians, especially
Ronnie and Daryl Coutts on keyboards.
It
helps to have the Blues in your blood, but it’s a
whole other thing to take to the next level. Ronnie
Baker Brooks is hitting the roof with "The Torch".
"The Torch" is fiery hot my friends, better
get it while you can!
(Dave
Glynn)
About
the author: Dave Glynn is the front man for the
Empty Can Band found on the Web at www.emptycanband.com.
Dave writes reviews for MNBlues.com and Baddogblues.com.
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Kilburn Alley Blues
Band (Blue Bella)
Every
once in a while a Chicago Blues band comes along and
when you hear them you say, "That’s it!" They
have just the right sound and just the right feel to
place you virtually in a corner tavern full of cigarette
smoke and stale beer smell. The Kilborn Alley Blues
Band takes you right into that back end bar with their
Hubert Sumlin (Josh Stimmel) guitar licks, Mick Jagger-style
vocals (the Bluesy, good Jagger from Andrew Duncanson)
and back alley, cavernous Blues sound, equipped with
haunting harmonica from Jose Asselin and tin pan alley
percussion from Ed O’Hara. Their self-titled debut on
Blue Bella Records – www.bluebellarecords.com
- is a strong introduction to this group.
Not
only do they have the sound down, but the songwriting
is solid gold. This is evident in the first cut "[I
Wanna Be] Your Next Baby’s Daddy" that provides
a humorous twist on hitting on the opposite sex. Each
cut on the record is nicely arranged with a mixture
of fast and slow tunes. "Thousand Miles" is
an excellent slow Blues number that produces a lonely
picture painted with a crying harp solo. There’s a nice
Sam and Dave feel to "Got Dues to Pay". "Home
to My Baby" is a jump number that’ll get you boppin’
on the dance floor.
"The
Breakaway" has the drama one would expect in a
crescendo of an evening out with the Blues as the lead
singer declares he "can’t go on living" and
you believe him. A little organ is added to "Blues
Boy From Illinois" a Chicago Blues walk down number
that has a nice guitar lick throughout. "I Like
to Live" has an Otis Redding feel.
The
overall sound is spontaneous and sounds like it was
recorded live to 2 track – but in a good way. I personally
like bands that sound live in the studio and don’t have
that heavily produced, choppy feel with a thousand overdubs.
The guitar is distinctive, clean and tubular, the harp
is just right for Blues - distant and scary. There’s
nothing particularly unusual about these guys, they
just have that magic chemistry that thrusts them above
about a hundred other Blues bar bands.
Blue
Bella Records is gaining some steam with the leadership
of Nick and Kate Moss. They should be very proud of
offering this selection in the Blue Bella catalog. Make
sure you add this one to your own collection – you won’t
be disappointed.
(Dave Glynn)
About the
author: Dave Glynn is the front man for the Empty Can
Band found on the Web at www.emptycanband.com.
Dave writes reviews for MNBlues.com and Baddogblues.com.
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