Listen to Bad Dog Blues

Little Freddie King: You Don't Know Like I Know
(Fat Possum)

Little Freddie King's rough, ragged brand of gut-bucket blues seems to be the perfect match for the Fat Possum label which has built it's reputation on just that kind of sound. "You Don't Know Like I Know" is a bracing, infectious set of electrified juke joint blues and welcome addition to Freddie's slim discography.

Little Freddie King is a local New Orleans legend who's called the city his home since hopping a train from his sharecropper farm in Mississippi for the bright lights of New Orleans. Freddie earned his moniker in the early 60's when he would play Freddie King songs during his live sets. He even played bass with King on a few gigs. The 60's were a busy period as he played with the likes of Babe Stoval, Snooks Eaglin, Billy Tate, Harmonica Williams, Boogie Bill Webb and many others. He recorded his first album in 1969 entitled "Harmonica Williams and Little Freddie King" and more recently cut "Swamp Boogie" (1996) and "Sing Sang Sung" (2000) both for the Orleans label.

Freddie describes his brand of electrified country blues as "Gut Bucket Blues" which seems a pretty apt description. Freddie's blues aren't pretty as he practically revels in a raw, dirty sound with plenty of distortion and an unflinching groove that is reminiscent of amplified country bluesmen like Lightnin' Hopkins, and on the more up-tempo numbers like Frankie Lee Sims and John Lee Hooker. Freddie is backed by a tough little combo who keep it in the groove on the throbbing "Crack Head Joe" featuring a distorted, evil sounding guitar vamp, locks into a hypnotic groove on Frankie Lee Sims' classic "Walking With Freddie", stomps through the irresistible boogie of "Tough Frog To Swallow" and delivers a blistering instrumental in "Cane Special." Freddie is also very effective on some intimate sounding solo numbers like his charming version of "You Rascal You" and the tough "Dig A Hole" ("Yeah, I'm gonna get up in early in the morning/Dig me a hole way down in the ground/If they should drop a bomb around/I won't hear that bomb when it sounds") a number that had some currency in the immediate post-war era.

Little Freddie King is one of the few authentic electric country bluesmen still active and judging from this record and reports of his live shows, is playing better than ever these days. Hopefully the leap to a high profile label like Fat Possum will get the word out about this great bluesman.

-Check out these related links:
Fat Possum Website

(Jeff Harris)


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Kermit Ruffins & The Rebirth Brass Band: Throwback (Basin Street)
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band Collection (Shout! Factory)

The New Orleans music scene has a long and rich tradition of brass bands. The city still boasts a thriving, competitive brass band scene that includes such notable groups as the Olympia Brass Band, NewBirth, Tremé, Storyville Stompers, Lil Rascals and New Wave among numerous others. One of the most storied brass band is the Dirty Dozen who have been going strong for some 30 years and are credited with revitalizing the whole tradition. The Rebirth Brass Band came along in the early 80's and quickly became one of the hottest bands on the scene. "This Is The Dirty Dozen Brass Band Collection" collects representative tracks from the band's entire career into a fine overview while "Throwback" is a sizzling new outing by Rebirth as they reunite with founding member Kermit Ruffins.

"Throwback" finds the charismatic trumpeter/singer Kermit Ruffins collaborating with his old group, Rebirth Brass Band, for a gloriously swinging reunion. Kermit formed the group with several of his fellow students from high school back in the early 80's but left the band to do his own thing. Ruffins now leads the Barbecue Swingers who are well know throughout New Orleans and has cut a number of well received records, the last five being with the locally based Basin Street label. "Throwback" is a joyous, swinging record as Kermit leads the band through a mostly traditional program that's filled out with a good dose of funk, blues, R&B and a good sense of humor to boot. This is good time music as the three trumpets, two trombones, tuba, two drums and sax blast through red hot originals like the frenetic "Make Way For The Rebirth", the wailing "Here To Stay", the party blues of "Happy Weekday Blues" and "What Is New Orleans Part 2." They put their unique second line stamp on covers like Jean Knight's "Mr. Big Stuff", Dr. John's Big Easy anthem "Mardi Gras Day" and a knockout cover of brother Ray's "I Got A Woman." As always Kermit's Louis Armstrong styled vocals inject a warm, good time air as he blows up a storm with the rest of the boys.

If Rebirth plays more traditionally grounded music the opposite can be said for the Dirty Dozen who revitalized a dying tradition when they emerged in the 70's. Along with playing the traditional brass band staples, the band incorporated a wide range of more innovative influences like Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk plus James Brown, Marvin Gaye and just about everything else. In doing so they inspired a generation of younger brass bands. The Dirty Dozen became more conventional over the years but in the late 90's re-emerged in classic form with "Buck Jump" followed by fine follow-ups like "Medicated Magic" and 2004's stellar "Funeral For A Friend." "This Is the Dirty Dozen Brass Band Collection" makes for a good introduction to the band collecting tracks from 1984 to 2004. "My Feet Can't Fail Me Now" kicks things off in rousing, funky fashion, the joyous "Oop Pop A Dah" features Dizzy Gillespie playing trumpet and scatting and they deconstruct classic numbers like the Meters' "Cissy Strut" featuring pedal steel wizard Robert Randolph, "John The Revelator" and take a more traditional approach on "Don't You Feel My Leg" featuring New Orleans legends Danny Barker on vocals/guitar and Eddie Bo on piano.

There's nothing like heading down to New Orleans live and in person with the big brass rattling the windows, the folks dancing in the street and a huge pot of crawfish boiling on the sidewalk. In the meantime close your eyes, slip on these two fine records and let the sounds transport you to the Big Easy.

-Check out these related links:
Basin street Records Website
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band Website
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Medicated Magic Review

(Jeff Harris)

Helge Tallqvist & Groovy Eyes:
Plays George "Harmonica" Smith (Q-Records)

George "Harmonica" Smith, although sadly under recorded during his lifetime, was one of the last of the truly great harp men who had a vast and lasting influence on a generation of blues harmonica players. Smith obviously had a profound effect on Finnish harp ace Helge Tallqvist whose "Plays George "Harmonica" Smith is a heartfelt and fabulously executed tribute to his idol.

Tallqvist was just getting interested in playing harmonica when he got an opportunity to witness George Smith who was making a rare trip to Sweden in the winter of 1982. Tallqvist met and struck up a friendship with Smith which led him to make the pilgrimage to Los Angles that summer to visit Smith on his home turf. On this memorable trip he met numerous top harp players, all influenced by Smith, such as Rod Piazza, William Clarke, Mark Hummel, Rick Estrin and many others. All these events are wonderfully and warmly retold in the 24-page booklet that accompanies this disc featuring some fine photos of Smith and other pictures of the trip. The whole package (the disc and booklet come in a cool metal tin) is a real labor of love.

Tallqvist is a terrific amplified harp player and a master of the difficult chromatic harmonica which he picked up listening to Smith who was a virtuoso on the instrument. Tallqvist has a huge tone and blows with passion and intensity on the fourteen tracks here which were all recorded by Smith at some point during his lengthy career. Tallqvist is backed by a very strong Finnish band called Groovy Eyes and a very fine guitarist by the name of Sidekick Johnny who adds plenty to the session. Singing is handled by Groovy Eyes frontman/guitarist Jussi Raulamo who proves to be a very good blues singer (no accents even!). The record had a loose, swinging and spontaneous vibe achieved by recording live straight to a 2-track tape recorder. The results are a sound and ambience reminscent of those classic sounding 50's Chicago blues records. The record sizzles from start to finish opening with the stomping instrumental "Hawaiian Eye" from Smith's fine 1969 Bluesway album and wraps up with the atmospheric slow blues "Blues For The Reverend King" drawn from the same album. In between we get some brilliant performances including covers of Smith's 50's Modern classics like "Telephone Blues" and the instrumental "Blues In The Dark", the song that unleashed Smith's chromatic technique on the world, plus fine workouts on lesser know numbers like "Soul Feet" and the wild "Loose Screws." The moody "Nobody Knows" features lead vocals/harmonica from Pepe Ahlqvist another fine Finnish harp player and very good singer.

"Plays George "Harmonica" Smith" is a passionate and moving labor of love that does a terrific job paying tribute to the memory of the late great George Smith. This is everything and more a great tribute album should be and fans of blues harmonica will definitely want to seek this one out.

-Check out these related links:
Helge Tallqvist Website

(Jeff Harris)

Buy From Amazon.com

Carlos Del Junco: Blues Mongrel (NorthernBlues)

As any Blues historian will tell you, Jazz, Rock ‘n Roll and Hip Hop are all hybrids of the Blues. Taking all of this one step further Carlos Del Junco (harpist, singer, songwriter, frontman) presents himself as a "Blues Mongrel" and I’m not quite sure who or what Mother Blues hooked up with to create this man, but I will say that it’s a very refreshing approach, albeit a little scary sometimes. His music is probably the most sense-intensive music I’ve heard in a long time. It conjures up visions, feelings, thoughts and emotions that require some attention when you experience this.

The opening track of "Blues Mongrel" presents at least three distinct textures all at once making the mind wander around as it sets into a groove. Pursuant to this treatment, a relatively traditional tune, "Blues with a Feelin’", grows into an entirely different song. The song goes beyond most folks imaginations as to how this it would be performed and that’s what makes it intriguing. Carrying things into heavy traffic, the second track, "No Particular Place", an instrumental, emphasizes Del Junco’s unique sense of humor. This fast moving tune, penned by guitarist Kevin Breit, would do well to accompany a Peter Sellers chase scene through Paris.

Things get a little more swanky with the third track appropriately entitled "Plain Old (Down Home) Blues". This song and the fourth track, "Skatoon", written by Del Junco, seem to follow more of his claimed influence by Kim Wilson, especially when comparing these tunes to Wilson’s latest outing, "Looking for Trouble". Nice vintage harp sound throughout Del Junco’s and Wilson’s albums, the difference here is that Carlos takes you down that dark path in the woods with no compass, and a full moon creeps in and out from behind the clouds.

The path turns quite a bit on a wonderful tune called "Don’t Bring Me Down" (by guitarist Kevin Breit) that reminisces modern New Orleans, ala Robbie Robertson, Keb Mo, the Subdudes, Sonny Landreth and my friend Kraig Kenning (KraigKenning.com). This is a lovely ballad that wrings out sadness and hope at the same time.

OK, Carlos scores huge points with me on this next tune, "Our Man Flint" (Jerry Goldsmith). Yes, this is the theme song from the movie starring James Coburn back in the 60’s. I love these Flint movies (yes even to this day) and especially love the title songs to the 60’s spy flicks. This is a marvelous arrangement that showcases the band and Carlos’ fine harp playing. "Run Me Down" is a rockabilly romp that shows off guitarist Kevin Breit’s talents. It’s credited to "Brown", I’m wondering if it’s Junior Brown.

"Let’s Mambo" starts out exactly as you’d imagine it to start and then throws a few wild dance moves along the way. Nice solo work by Carols on this track, very sophisticated note work that shows he has quite a command of his instrument – the phrasing is phenomenal. This emphasized well by the fact that there’s only bass and percussion on the track. "Long Highway" is another ballad with some clever time changes.

"Blues Mongrel", the title track, is a bizarre instrumental that starts, stops and wails and presents Del Junco’s dirty Blues harmonics. Frenzy would be a good word to describe this song as it reaches several crescendos throughout the piece.

"Nine Below Zero", by Sonny Boy Williamson II, displays Del Junco’s ability to breath of out both sides of his mouth at the same time – at least is sounds that way. He’s completely solo on this tune and you hear his moanin’ and groanin’ on this track. Again this guy proves he’s quite a talent. "Don’t Worry Your Pretty Little Head" ends the album with a lullaby. I guess it’s time for the beast to go to sleep.

The cover art is very well done depicting Carlos’ transformation into a mongrel, Lon Chaney Jr. style, in living color. The packaging is environmentally friendly in card stock instead of those awful plastic jewel cases that I tend to drop and crack all of the time. You can tell just from the photos that Carlos is a real character.

Overall the entire CD is a very fine work of art and proves that Carlos Del Junco is not just a great musician but also a true artist. This is one of the most refreshing works to come along since the early Fat Possum releases. This work is very sophisticated, but not at all pretentious and at times quite beastly, albeit the title "Blues Mongrel". Definitely a ‘must have’ for the collection.

By Dave Glynn
Lead Singer of the Empty Can Band found at www.emptycanband.com

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