Listen to Bad Dog Blues

Antone's Home Of The Blues

"Antone's Home of the Blues" chronicles Clifford Antone and his legendary Antone's music club. For some thirty years Antone supported the blues with a single minded passion and zeal, treating blues legends like royalty and encouraging a generation of youngsters to carry the torch. Antone died a month before this film was released on DVD and one couldn't think of a more fitting epitaph. All of Antone's burning passion and love for the music is brought to life through amazing live performances, photographs and reminiscences all stitched together in this heartfelt tribute.

What made Antone's so special for blues lovers and especially musicians was Antone's absolute love and respect of the music which is so deep it's almost hard to put into words. As Antone himself states: "We never thought of ourselves as a club owner or promoter. We were blues fanatics period." Like car salesmen, club owners have a bad reputation but Antone ran his club less as a business and more as place to honor the music he loved; he overpaid the musicians, didn't bother with contracts and even helped with medical, bills, instruments and the like. He treated them with all the reverence and respect they should have got during their careers but never did. This was true not only of artists such as Jimmy Rogers, Otis Rush and Albert Collins but also of those unsung heroes like Eddie Taylor, Luther Tucker and Hubert Sumlin who were so influential yet were ripped off and marginalized most of their careers. As B.B. King related: "He was a guy that long before other people latched on to the blues ...he knew about them, supported them, promoted them. He did it all. So I think we that play the blues ...owe him alot."

The film is narrated by Clifford himself, Derek O'Brien, Angela Strehli, Kim Wilson and others intercut with interviews with Jimmie Vaughan, Willie Nelson, B.B. King as well as mixing in some priceless archival performance footage of Albert King, Muddy Waters, Albert Collins, Eddie Taylor, Sunnyland Slim, Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Rogers, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and many, many others. In addition to these legends, Austin itself was a hotbed of young talent boasting the Vaughn brothers and Kim Wilson among others, all who Antone actively encouraged. Antone brought these two groups together, a dream come true for these youngsters who got a chance to play with their idols. The whole atmosphere was like a family affair and the film is particularly good at illustrating this point. As Kim Wilson notes: "Muddy Waters took us in like family."

"Antone's Home of the Blues" evokes a magical atmosphere of stunning performances, mutual respect and one man's boundless passion for a music that too often was disrespected and marginalized. Antone loved the music and the musicians and they loved him. The bond between the two is perfectly illustrated at the film's end as we see Pinetop playing a gorgeous solo version of "How Long Blues" as Antone looks over his shoulder, his head in his hands, in tears. It's a moment that sums up his feeling for the blues, a feeling that was mutual and brought out the very best in the artists who gave it everything they had, night after night. After watching this film it's easy to agree with Joe Ely who said: "We thought it was the greatest place on earth."

-Check out these related links:
Antone's Home of the Blues Website

(Jeff Harris)

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Texas Harmonica Rumble (Dialtone)

For the past few years the small Dialtone label based in Austin has been quietly issuing some superb Texas blues records by deserving lesser knowns like Lil Joe Washington, Ervin Charles and Earl Gilliam among others. On "Texas Harmonica Rumble" the label spotlights a batch exceptional harp players, both well known and obscure, all with a pronounced down home feel.

In response to the "Battle of the Harmonicas" in San Francisco label owner Eddie Stout created a local version called the Texas Harmonica Rumble. The event has been going on for some ten years, first out of the Prohibition Room in Dallas and then over to Antone's in Austin. In addition the Rumble has hit the road with three European tours and one in Russia. What we get here is an excellent collection of harmonica blues from six veteran harmonica players making for a harmonica blues collection that clearly stands out from the pack.

Three of the performers are well known to blues fans: Lazy Lester, Sammy Meyers and Bobby Rush who all turn in fine performances accompanied by an excellent small group. Lester has been popping up all over the place with tracks on "Blues Harp Meltdown Vol. 3" plus a fine new recording with Paul Orta. There's a certain charm that makes Lester's swamp blues so appealing and he still sounds great as he delivers terrific versions of "That's All Right" and "Honest I Do." Bobby Rush has been playing lots of harmonica lately and lays down some fine chromatic harp on "Poison Ivy" and "High Tempter." Sammy Myers has been in poor health lately but sounds great on a pair of high energy cuts including the wailing instrumental "Brain Dead." The rest of the program is reserved for less well known performers who nearly steal the show. Orange Jefferson puts down one of the disc's highlights with the stripped down and moody "Hey Warden" as well as a fine instrumental. Joe Jonas plays an extroverted brand of blues with a harmonica style clearly inspired by Little Walter as he cooks on "Blues For Beaumont Texas" and the steamy "Take Off Your Shoes" featuring Lil Joe Washington on vocals/guitar as he eggs on Jonas to really cut loose. Mel Davis gets three tracks and simply smokes on the closer, "19 Naught Naught" a knockout solo harp piece that wraps things up on a strong note.

While there's no shortage of harmonica discs, "Texas Harmonica Rumble" is one that really stands out featuring featuring great playing from well known performers and a bunch that should be better known. Let's hope Dialtone sees to fit to record more by guys like Orange Jefferson, Mel Davis and Joe Jonas - they deserve to be heard.

-Check out these related links:
Dialtone Website

(Jeff Harris)

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Chicago Blues: Portraits And Stories By Dave Whiteis
(University of Illinois Press)

For the past twenty-five years or so David Whiteis has been a presence on the Chicago blues scene, actively haunting both well known blues establishments and those off the beaten path. He's gotten to known the musicians, both big name stars and local favorites as well as the audiences who come out to see them. In "Chicago Blues: Portraits And Stories" Whiteis takes the reader on a tour of the Chicago blues scene of the past quarter century giving us intimate portraits of artists such as Sunnyland Slim, Lurrie Bell, Billy Branch, Harmonica Khan, Artie White and an insiders view of venues such as Florence's, Maxwell Street and the Starlight Lounge. Along the way Whiteis pauses to speculate on issues like the changing face of the blues, blues and the African-American community and authenticity. Overall it's an engaging, well written, overview of the Chicago blues scene filled with both colorful portraits and some probing questions that challenge many common blues assumptions.

One of Whiteis' main premises is show that despite the doomsayers who bemoan the music's demise, blues still plays a vital role in the cultural life of many African-Americans. He also points out that the definition of the blues is a malleable concept and among African-Americans it encompasses a much wider category than the standard twelve bar blues shuffle. The more gutbucket blues many white fans seem to favor is in direct contrast to the soul-blues many African-Americans actually favor.

He gets his points across through his artist and venue portraits but gets bogged down when attempting to lay out his case in the introduction. One gets an uneasy feeling, at least in the introduction, that he sees himself as cultural explorer, daring to go "where few white men have gone before" as he writes. It's hard to believe he was as ever as naive as when he writes: "...one of the many preconceptions I found upended when I began to explore the Chicago Blues world was my romantic concept of the blues musician as heroic troubadour of the soul, a pure 'folk' artist somehow removed from crass day-to-day concerns such as remuneration." A statement like this seems more of a device to use as he goes on to tell the naive reader the way it really is. It doesn't help when he writes something like: "Like Eshu-Eleggua, the Yorba trickster God who resides at the crossroads and controls the portal between this realm and the spirit world, he [Junior Wells] jolted me out of complacency and into a stare of uncertainty and confusion-the better to prepare me for insight as I began to immerse myself more deeply into the world..." Really? Thankfully, if you can get past the introduction, the reader will be rewarded with some sensitive and insightful portraits of both musicians and venues, although patches of similar overwrought writing occasionally intrude.

Whiteis is at his best in chapters devoted to character portraits of artists, providing thorough historical perspective on the artists mixed with his own personal reminisces that give a more well rounded view than standard dry biographies. In the first section, Elder Spirits, he gives us insightful looks at Sunnyland Slim, Junior Wells, Walter Horton, all sadly departed now. In Junior's chapter he discusses Junior's well honed "tough-guy image" but also shows us another side as someone capable of spontaneous acts of deep kindness, his loyalty to mentors and friends and his deep respect for the blues tradition itself. He writes of Sunnyland's deep faith, his legendary generosity and his indomitable spirit that only finally began to crumble as he entered his mid-eighties. He gives us a particularly good portrait of the difficult Walter Horton, a harmonica genius who was combative, elusive and "spent most of his life wrestling demons." In Torchbearers he focuses on those keeping the tradition alive and gives us particularly good chapters on Jody Williams and the troubled but ultimately uplifting story of Lurrie Bell. The Soul Side of Town provides us three portraits of soul-blues performers, the best on the largely unknown Little Scotty, a fascinating character, great blues singer and performer who I had the privilege of witnessing one memorable night at Lee's Unleaded.

Whiteis gives us an equally keen eyed view of blues joints like the fabled Florence's, Starlight Lounge, East of the Ryan and a snapshot of Maxwell Street on it's last day of existence. Florence's is evocatively described: "The entire place probably couldn't have held more than seventy-five people comfortably, but it was so dark you could barley see across the floor. ...the air was thick with cigar smoke, the smell of cheap perfume, and a mixture of raw blues, laughter, and conversation that seemed headier and more richly seasoned than the most potent whiskey or exquisitely prepared soul food imaginable." Whiteis sets a scene well, describing the blues players both famous an unknown as well as the patrons who mingle in places like Florence's and form a distinctive, tight knit community. He occasionally dips into hyperbole and romanticism which only highlights his outsider status, a status he never mentions but might effect some of the observations and comments of those he questions.

While Whiteis probes some provocative issues, few answers are given and his attempts at a wider scope, while admirable, occasionally overreach. Still, "Chicago Blues: Portraits And Stories" is a valuable book filled with many colorful, heartfelt stories and provides much that will challenge some of those hoary old blues stereotypes.

(Jeff Harris)

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Nick Moss & The Flip Tops: Live At Chan's (Blue Bella)

In just a few short years Nick Moss & The Flip Tops have garnered a reputation as first class traditional Chicago blues band and a sizzling live act. The band's four prior records were filled with passionate, vintage Chicago blues and they deliver more of the same on the high energy "Live At Chan's", a record that's sure to enhance their reputation as a knockout live outfit.

Good old 12-bar Chicago blues never really goes out of style although the formula can grow trite in the wrong hands. You can still hear the music in Chicago of course although many African-Americans view the music as old fashioned, favoring the slicker sounds of soul-blues. Moss plays the music exceptionally well and has a deep sense of tradition as he notes: "I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel, or trying to bring things into the new millennia. I'm just playing what was handed down to me and do it justice. I have a lot of respect for the guys who taught it to me—I played with Jimmy Dawkins, I played with Willie Smith, I played with Jimmy Rogers—and in my heart I love [this music] and I don’t feel it has to be changed much." That pretty much sums up what you'll hear on "Live At Chan's", a sweaty high energy set of vintage blues.

Nick Moss & The Flip Tops play the kind of raw, vibrant blues that harks back to the golden era of Chicago blues of the 50's and 60's when Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Junior Wells and Magic Sam still haunted the clubs. For his part Moss is a fine blues singer, while his range is a bit limited it's quite effective, and he's a terrific guitar player who's plays with taste, spirit, and swing. The band locks in behind him laying down a deep groove with some rock solid old school ensemble playing. This is a mostly uptempo affair as Moss delivers a a number from 2005's "Sadie Mae" including the romping "Check My Pulse" featuring stomping piano from Willie Oshawny, "I Never Forget" and the steamy "One-Eyed Jack" featuring some blistering slide which brings to mind Robert Nighthawk's live Maxwell Street style. Moss puts down some fine covers including a moody update of Freddie King's classic "I Love That Woman", he revives "Your Red Wagon" a song he cites as a song Jimmy Witherspoon did (also a song associated with Count Basie) and puts down some boogie-woogie with Big Joe Turner's rollicking "Wine-O-Baby Boogie" with Oshawny doing his best Pete Johnson impersonation. As mentioned this a predominantly uptempo set although a couple of slower or mid-tempo numbers would have added a bit more variety.

Nick Moss & The Flip Tops have been generating lots of buzz in recent years and "Live At Chan's" is a good way to find out what all the noise has been about. Fans of good time, well played Chicago blues will find Nick Moss right up their alley.

-Check out these related links:
Nick Moss Website
Sadie Mae Review
Count Your Blessings Review
Got A New Plan Review

(Jeff Harris)

Paul Orta With Lazy Lester: Shuffle With Lester
(Great Blues Recordings)

By the time harmonica player Paul Orta began making a name for himself in the 1980's it had been something like a quarter century since since Lazy Lester waxed his classic sides for Excello. Despite the generation gap the two found plenty of common ground back in 1999 when they laid down a batch of low down blues that has finally seen the light of day as "Shuffle With Lester."

Lester isn't a harmonica virtuoso in the sense of Little Walter or Walter Horton, yet there's something exceedingly appealing in his atmospheric harp work and laconic vocals that comprise the decade's worth of recordings he did for Excello between 1956 and 1965. Songs like "I'm a Lover Not a Fighter", "Sugar Coated Love" and ""I Hear You Knockin'" and his work with Lightnin' Slim have stood the test of time and Lester's reputation would have been secure if he had never stepped back into the studio. Lester has remained active, popping up on several recent compilations and a few years back cutting some very solid records for Antones. Paul Orta was born in Port Arthur Texas and cut his teeth in various bands before moving to Austin where he says he entered the "Antone's University of Blues" sitting in at the famed club with just about every famous bluesman who passed through. Orta has been prolific, cutting nearly a dozen albums and appearing on about an equal number of compilations. The two make an appealing team on "Shuffle With Lester" a set of vintage sounding blues that oozes charm.

"Shuffle With Lester" is a decidedly loose, old school affair as the two dig into some seriously low down blues, tackling a mix of originals (half written by Orta) and a number of classic covers. It's Orta who takes just about all of the vocals and he's an appealing singer although one wishes Lester would have taken a few more vocals. Lester and Orta both share harp duties and the counterpoint between Lester's laid back, high pitched sound and Orta's more modern, big toned style is very effective as the two really cut loose. The band has a stellar feel for this type of down home blues and includes fine guitarist Ervin Charles (he cut the exceptional "Greyhound Blues" a few years back produced by Orta), legendary drummer "Uncle" John Turner best known for his long association with Johnny Winter plus Ray Ybarra on rhythm guitar and Clay Windham on stand up bass. The whole record has a loose, one take feel on a set of classic sounding original blues like rockers "She Know How" and "Leaving This Morning", the moody "Hey Mr. Devil" and the swampy "Don't Worry Baby." Lester is heard to good effect on infectious revivals of Jimmy Reed's "Bright Lights, Bright City" and "You Don't Have To Go" and the insistent shuffle of Snooky Pryor's "Judgment Day."

"Shuffle With Lester" has a warm, no frills ambience that recalls the magical sound that J.D. Miller created on all those swampy Excello classics. There's some terrific ensemble playing by all involved, great interplay between Lester and Orta and it clearly sound like everyone had a blast making this one.

(Jeff Harris)

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