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Richard Ray Farrell:
Acoustic Roots (Blue Beet)
While
electric rock blues still reigns supreme thankfully
there's still a few diehards who are devoted to
keeping the country blues tradition of the 1920's
and 30's alive and kicking. The better practitioners
include veterans like John Hammond, Larry Johnson
and Paul Geremia and fine younger players like Guy
Davis, Corey Harris and Alvin Youngblood Hart. Add
to the short list Richard Ray Farrell whose "Acoustic
Roots" finds him digging deep into a superbly
played set of traditional blues.
Farrell is not exactly a household name as
he's been living and performing in Europe since
the 70's and only moved back to the States in 2001.
He started as a street musician or "busker"
eventually working his ay to more prestigious gigs
opening up for the likes of Lazy Lester, Big Jack
Johnson, Big Boy Henry, Louisiana Red, Frank Frost
and R.L. Burnside. Farrell has obviously learned
his lessons well and has a real feel for the subtleties
and nuances of the country blues he so obviously
loves.
"Acoustic
Roots", recorded live with no overdubs, is
all Farrell as he plays guitar, rack harmonica and
takes all the vocals as he covers the songs of Bo
Carter, Son House, Blind Boy Fuller, Bukka White,
Leroy Carr and others. Farrell plays with grit and
conviction as he tackles fine material like Bo Carter's
sly "I Want You To Know" with it's gently
raggy feel and deft fingerpicking, delivers a heartfelt
but rather jaunty version of Blind Lemon's classic
"One Dime Blues", plays some superb guitar
on Smokey Hogg's "Too Many Drivers" and
takes it down to the Delta for a slide soaked rendition
of Son House's dark and brooding "Jinx Blues."
Other high points include a sensitive reading of
Leroy Carr's oft covered "Mean Mistreater"
featuring some good harp work and goes back to the
always entertaining Bo Carter on the humorous risque
blues of "Let's Get Drunk Again."
Richard
Ray Farrell has real feel for the great country
blues tradition, breathing new life into these timeless
songs and hopefully turning on a new generation
to the power and beauty of those old time blues.
Fans of traditional blues would do well to check
out "Acoustic Roots."
-Check
out these related links:
Richard
Farrell Website
(Jeff
Harris)
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Candye Kane: White Trash
Girl (Ruf)
Unwed
teenage mother, gang member, men's magazine model, porn
star and more recently blues singer. That's quite a
resume but don't mistake Candye's colorful past as a
marketing ploy or novelty act as this woman can really
belt the blues as she proves on her best release to
date, "White Trash Girl."
"White
Trash Girl" is Candye's seventh outing and finds
her retuning to Texas where she got her big break on
the Antone's label in the early 90's. She cut a pair
for the label before moving on to Discovery, Rounder,
Sire and most recently for Ruf. "White Trash Girl"
captures her at her best backed by a stellar cast of
blues veterans and some very strong material.
The
sassy, saucy and amply proportioned Candye Kane follows
a well worn tradition of tough minded woman who weren't
afraid to speak their mind such as Bessie Smith, Lucille
Bogan, Memphis Minnie, Big Maybelle, Big Mama Thornton
and Etta James just to name a few. Like those ladies
Candye is not afraid to tackle risque material and is
unapologetically not politically correct. Candye has
big, powerful voice equally at home rocking the house,
crooning the blues, swinging retro style or even putting
across some country tinged songs. Backing Candye is
a terrific band including The Texas Horns featuring
great tenor man Kaz Kazanoff (he also produced the record),
ace harmonica man Gary Primich, Riley Osbourne on piano/organ,
Jeff Ross on guitar and Preston Hubbard on bass. Just
about everything clicks on this stylistically diverse
set from swinging retro jumpers like Bull Moose Jackson's
classic "Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style"
and Candye's own vintage sounding "It Must Be Love"
to 40's styled torch songs like "Misunderstood",
and rockers like the ribald, hilarious "Masturbation
Blues." There's plenty of hard edged blues like
the hard hitting "White Trash Girl", "Estrogen
Bomb", "Queen Of The Wrecking Ball" and
"Work What You Got" propelled by the rocking
boogie piano of Riley Osbourn. Gary Primich is a real
asset particularly on the shuffling "I Wanna Do
More" and the title track where he really cuts
loose with some blazing amplified harp.
You
may have heard about Candye's outrageous stage antics
and her colorful background but that shouldn't overshadow
the fact that this woman can belt the blues with the
best of them. "White Trash Girl" really captures
Candye at her best and is the one to grab if you're
unfamiliar with this fine singer.
(Jeff Harris)
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James Harman Band: Strictly
Live In '85 ...Plus Vol. 1
(Pacific Blues)
Here's
a great blast from the past, the long overdue reissue
of James Harman's blistering "Strictly Live In
'85" first issued on the Rivera back in 1990. Harman
has released a number of great records but this live
set is really something special and a real treat to
have back in circulation.
"Strictly
Live In '85" stems from a particularly fertile
period for Harman when he was with the small Rivera
label who also issued his classic "Extra Napkins"
record back in 1988 (the equally potent sequel, "Mo'
Na'Kins", was issued in 2000 on Cannonball). Harman
moved on to cut a batch of good ones for Black Top,
the exceptional "Takin' Chances" for Cannonball
and most recently the excellent "Lonesome Moon
Trance" for Pacific Blues, his first in many years.
"Strictly Live In '85" captures a young and
exuberant Harman with one of the hottest blues bands
in the country tearing it up for an enthusiastic crowd.
Consisting
of tapes recorded live over two nights in March of 1985
at the Belly Up Tavern in Soldano Beach, California,
this captures Harman and the boys in raw and rocking
form putting it all out there. Harman's band was tough
to beat during this period featuring the duel guitars
of Hollywood Fats and Kid Ramos plus the in-the-pocket
rhythm section of Stephen Hodges on drums and William
Campbell on bass. Harman blows some wailing, big toned
harmonica in the best tradition of Big Walter Horton
and Little Walter and has an engaging drawl to his vocals
put across with a sly, jivey style. This recording perfectly
captures this talented, hard working blues and you can
practically hear the sweat fly as they crank out tough,
original electric blues like "The Book Of Mean"
and "That's Not Your Baby" featuring Hollywood
Fats at his scorching best, the chugging "You're
Gone" with it's tough two guitar vamp and searing
harp solo and the shuffling hypnotic Slim Harpo sounding
"Legs (Let The Little Girl Dance)." A bonus
are three previously unreleased cuts including the aforementioned
"The Book Of Mean" and the soulful "Poor
Boy", a great old school sounding R&B number.
In addition to the music the CD is nicely packaged with
a fold out sleeve featuring vintage black & white
photos of the band and informative liner notes.
If,
like myself, you own a well worn copy of the original
LP or are unfamiliar with Harman's early work now's
the time to pick this one up. "Strictly Live In
'85" is a sizzling document of a great working
blues band and we're lucky someone had the foresight
to turns the tapes on to capture this one for posterity.
Looking forward to Vol. 2!
(Jeff Harris)
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