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Willie Walker
Opposites
Attract 
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Willie Walker &
The Butanes: Memphisapolis (Haute)
The
best classic soul record of 2005 was Willie Walker
& The Butanes' stunning "Right Where I
Belong" - hands down, no contest. Now Walker
returns with "Memphisapolis"
a record that is somehow even better and will floor
fans of vintage soul who thought records like this
just aren't made anymore.
In every sense Willie Walker is a classic
southern soul singer who never quite made it, but
thankfully has gotten another shot at the brass
ring. Like almost all great soul singers he got
his start singing in church and while a teen joined
the Redemption Harmonizers. He came to the attention
of Quinton Cluanch label owner of the legendary
Goldwax Records and wound up cutting a few very
good singles for the label (three songs have been
issued on Kent's "The Goldwax Story")
but success eluded Walker. He continued to sing
locally in Minneapolis and eventually hooked up
with The Butanes, a terrific blues/R&B outfit
who've backed a who's who of blues/soul legends
such as Earl King, Johnny Copeland, Little Johnny
Taylor, Mighty Sam McClain and many others. The
Butanes and Walker are a perfect match as they lay
down a sublime set of vintage soul that sounds like
a long lost Memphis soul session that's been newly
discovered.
"Memphisapolis"
- that's Memphis + Minneapolis - may have been cut
in Minnesota but it's heart is firmly in Memphis.
Think Goldwax, Stax and Hi Records and you've got
the right idea. If anything Walker sounds even better
now with a voice that's grown a bit grittier with
a smoldering delivery that brings to mind Walker's
former Goldwax contemporaries, namely O.V. Wright
Spencer Wiggins and James Carr, among soul's greatest
voices. Guitarist Curtis Obeda has done a masterful
job producing this one with all the little touches
in place like spot on background vocals, terrific
horn arrangements, lots of funky, subtle guitar
shadings, all in the service of Walker's dramatic
and passionate delivery. The icing on the cake is
a batch of marvelous songs, every one an original,
with Walker really sinking his teeth into these
tales of love and loss. Everything works here as
the band locks into a rock solid groove right out
of the gate with the funky, "What's It Take?"
propelled by some pulsing horns, there's aching
soul ballads like "I Won't Be Lonely",
"The Dream For Me" and the sultry "Real
Love", a spine tingling Al Green inspired number,
"Exactly Like Me" a beautiful tale of
acceptance and the fiery, bouncy funk of "Opposites
Attract." It's a rarity when you can say every
song works but that's the case here as Walker gives
it everything he's got, ringing every last sweaty
ounce of emotion out of these timeless sounding
numbers.
If Walker's "Right Where
I Belong" was the best soul record of 2005
then "Memphisapolis"
is certainly the best soul record of 2006. The days
of Goldwax, Stax and Hi Records may be long gone
but you wouldn't know it by the way Willie Walker
& The Butanes carry on.
-Check
out these related links:
Willie
Walker & The Butanes On CD Baby
The
Butanes Website
(Jeff
Harris)
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Big George Brock:
Round Two (Cat Head)
You're
never too old to make it in the blues
world. Just ask Big George Brock who at 74 years
old is getting the kind of praise most would dream
about. Brock's resurgence began with 2005's universally
acclaimed "Club Caravan" and will undoubtedly
continue with "Round Two" his equally
potent follow-up.
On May 12, 2006 — almost a year to the
day he cut "Club Caravan" — Brock returned
to a Mississippi studio to lay down tracks for
his much anticipated follow-up CD. Prior to "Club
Caravan" Brock hadn't recorded in a decade
although by his own account he's been playing
professionally for over 50 years. The last year
has really seen Brock's currency rise. It's been
a busy one with Brock
taking part
in Mississippi Public Broadcasting's "Native
Son" concert film project (since re-named
"Mississippi Bluesmen"), guesting on
Steven Seagal's all-star blues album "Mojo
Priest" and getting the opportunity to tell
his own fascinating story on the recently issued
DVD "Hard Times." Along the way Brock's
album has topped numerous year end best of
lists, got him written up in Living Blues magazine
and earned him a Handy nomination for comeback
album of year. "Round Two"
is a flawless follow-up and should earn Brock
an even wider following.
Brock
is a bluesman in the old school sense,
when the the word conjured up larger than life
figures like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf and
indeed when Brock comes on stage dressed in a
cape, tailored red or green outfits and elegant
fedora you know he means business. Brock was born
in Clarksdale and has been steeped in the blues
his whole life, spending his days picking cotton,
boxing, running a series of blues clubs and crossing
paths with legendary figures like Muddy Waters,
Jimmy Reed, Albert King, Howlin' Wolf and many
others. Brock's blues are decidedly old school
and down home, firmly in the rough hewn delta
meets Chicago tradition of his above mentioned
idols. Brock has a big sound - blessed with a
powerful voice and a big, wide harmonica tone.
Brock has a different band this time out but the
overall sound hasn't changed much and the addition
of Hubert Sumlin on two cuts is a nice bonus.
Like the prior record, "Round Two",
was recorded live with no overdubs and crackles
with a raw excitement and atmosphere rarely captured
in the studio. Brock wrote some first rate material
here including the driving "No No Baby",
"Mr. Wal Mart" ("Please Mr. Wal
Mart/Please send my baby home/You know you don't
take them sales off/My baby don't never come back
home"), the stripped down "Arkansas
to Memphis" and the menacing "Round
Two" as he announces that "I'm the man
who beat Sonny Liston" (he did to!). Sumlin
adds his distinctive guitar on to the steamy "So
Long", a seductive slow blues featuring some
of Brock's best harp work and a rocking take on
Willie Dixon's "Shake For Me." Other
highlights include a fine cover of Wolf's "Poor
Boy" spotlighting some of Brock's most impassioned
singing and a gorgeous take on the spiritual "Burden
Down" revisiting the first song he ever learned
on harmonica.
"Round
Two" is a perfect sequel to "Club Caravan",
once again capturing a real bluesman laying down
a deep, gritty and passionate set of blues that
would surly get the nod of approval from his long
gone idols.
-Check
out these related links:
Cat
Head Website
Club
Caravan Review
Hard
times DVD Review
(Jeff
Harris)
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John Mooney:
Big Ol' Fiya (LML)
After
a four year absence from the studio John Mooney
returns with a fiery and passionate outing
that ranks among his best. "Big Ol' Fiya"
crackles with energy as Mooney lays down his
patented delta slide and funky, percussive
New Orleans blues on a batch of inspired new
songs.
On
record, and especially live, Mooney conjures
up incredible passion and intensity, something
he learned first hand from the immortal Son
House who he met when both were living in
Rochester, NY. While many musicians fell under
Son's powerful spell, few were truly influenced
by Son in the way Mooney was and Son's shadow
still looms large over Mooney's music to this
day. Mooney headed down to New Orleans in
the mid-70's where he sat in with the likes
of Earl King, The Meters, Snooks Eaglin, Professor
Longhair and played regularly in front of
New Orleans drummers like Zigaboo Modeliste,
John Vidacovich, and Herman Ernest. Mooney
forged his sound by melding Son's delta blues
with the syncopated rhythms of the Crescent
City, creating a style uniquely his own. That
sound has been honed to perfection on "Big
Ol' Fiya."
Mooney
is backed by a lean, tight band that once
again includes long time master percussionist
Alfred "Uganda" Roberts (Dr. John,
Professor Longhair, Allen Toussaint and others),
special guest Jon Cleary on piano and B-3
plus Jeff Sarli on bass and Raymond Webber
on drums. The band lays down a thick, funky,
syncopated groove as Mooney puts down some
sweet sounding slide and passionate vocals.
Nine of the eleven cuts are Mooney originals
including a number of gorgeous love songs
like the sweet and slinky "Big Ol' Fiya",
the second line vamp of "Kiss Me"
featuring some sizzling slide and two fisted
piano work from Cleary, the sparse, moody
delta feel of "Do You Love Me" and
the super funky "U Keep Me (Hangin' On)."
Mooney mines darker territory on the shuffling,
slide soaked "2 Get 2 Heaven" ("I
ain't here to kiss & tell/I'm just tryin'
to get out of hell"), the stripped down
percussive feel of "Dig My Way 2 China"
and summons up the spirit of Son House on
a brooding cover of "Louise McGhee"
as Mooney delivers perhaps his most impassioned
vocal performance that really does justice
to the original - which says plenty right
there. Among the other highlights are the
wonderful New Orleans second line feel of
"Drink A Little Poison (4 U Die)"
a song penned by fine Louisiana songwriter
Grayson Capps and the furiously stomping good
time vibe of "Real Life."
"Big
Ol' Fiya" was well worth the wait and
continues a track of inspired recordings that
stretches all the way back to Mooney's 1979
Blind Pig debut. Mooney continues to play
with unflagging passion and remains one of
the most distinctive voices on the contemporary
blues scene.
(Jeff
Harris)
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2007 Classic
Blues Artwork Calendar Vol. 4
(Blues ../../images)
In
the fall of 2005 one of the most mysterious,
elusive and sought after 78's seemingly appeared
out of nowhere. The record, Son House's "Clarksdale
Moan" b/w "Mississippi County Farm
Blues", was recorded by Paramount in 1930
in what has been called the greatest early blues
session ever recorded. In addition to Son House,
Charley Patton, Willie Brown and Louise Johnson
all laid down landmark recordings on that fateful
date. It's hard to fathom how records like this
surface after so long but in recent years there
has been some amazing discoveries of long lost
records by King Solomon Hill, Tommy Johnson
and Blind Joe Reynolds. Collector John Tefteller
has been personally responsible for some of
these discoveries while similar discoveries
by others, have found there way into Tefteller's
collection (including the aforementioned Son
House). In addition Tefteller also uncovered
a huge cache of Paramount promotional material
a few years back. Paramount marketed their "race
records", as they were called, to African-Americans,
most notably in the pages of the Chicago Defender,
the African-American newspaper, and sent promotional
material to record stores and distributors.
Tefteller bought a huge cache of this artwork
from a pair of journalists who rescued them
from the rubbish heap some twenty years previously.
The depression essentially killed off Paramount's
advertising budget so many of these ../../images were
never sent out and hence have not been seen
by anyone since they were first produced. Tefteller
has been making these gorgeous ads available
in his "Classic Blues Artwork Calendar"
since 2004 and like previous calendars, the
2007 version is another stunner.
Many of us have seen reproductions of
those early Chicago Defender ads, tantalizing
as they are, the reproductions left much to
be desired. Where the earlier reproductions
were taken from adverts in The Chicago Defender
newspaper, these are copied from distribution
posters. They are large reproductions and they
have been beautifully reproduced with stunning
clarity. Each month features a large sized ad
with this year's calendar featuring provocative,
lurid and wonderfully politically incorrect
artwork promoting the following records: Victoria
Spivey ("Dope Head Blues"), Memphis
Jug Band ("Cocaine Habit Blues"),
Charley Patton ("Gonna Move To Alabama"),
Marshall Owens ("Texas Blues"), Ida
Cox ("Fore Day Creep"), Blind Lemon
Jefferson ("Black Snake Moan No. 2"),
Beale Street Sheiks ("Jazzin' The Blues"),
Charlie Spand ("Back To The Woods Blues"),
Bumble Bee Slim ("Chain Gang Bound"),
Mississippi Sheiks ("Don't Wake Up"),
Ma Rainey ("Blues The World Forgot")
and Blind Blake ("Lonesome Christmas Blues").
In addition we get some smaller ads included
on each calendar page that, despite the small
size, are just as crisp and readable as the
larger ../../images. The usual anniversary dates for
Christmas, Easter are listed plus anniversaries
for blues singers like Son House and other luminaries
such as Martin Luther King and Frederick Douglass.
Brief artist biographies are included and there
is an informative introduction from Tefteller.
Personal
favorites include the sensationalistic cover
(Victoria Spivey's "Dope Head Blues")
where we see a dissipated woman surrounded by
smoke, embraced by a hovering skeleton with
the title boldly proclaiming Lawd! Lawd!
Here's Her Latest Dope. Other favorites
include the advert for "Black Snake Moan
No. 2" as poor Blind Lemon awakes startled
in bed to two large menacing snakes and "Chain
Gang Bound" where we see a prison yard
panoramic complete with stripped convicts, ball
and chains and a towering pile of rocks to be
broken! What's also interesting is that many
of the illustrations also include an actual
photo of the artist. The calendar also includes
a sixteen track CD, the first twelve songs matching
the artwork on each page of the calendar. Apparently
no artwork exists for the four bonus cuts which
include the two newly found Son House 78's.
All
in all a beautiful, unique and thoughtfully
produced collectable that will bring pleasure
to blues collectors year round. Tefteller noted
last year's calendar's that he was "knee-deep
in production of what will be the ultimate book
of original Blues advertising material"
which hopefully is still in the works. Until
then, Tefteller has amassed a huge storehouse
of these ../../images (over 4,000) which will ensure
years and years of wonderful calendars.
-Check
out these related links:
Blues
../../images Website
John
Tefteller Website
2006
Classic Blues Artwork Calendar Review
Country
Blues Goldmine: Lost 78's Found & More
(Jeff
Harris)
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Barrelhouse
Chuck: Got my Eyes On You (The Sirens)
Katherine Davis:
Rock This House Live (The Sirens)
Some
of the best blues and jazz recordings would
never exist if not for some enthusiast who put
their passion for the music ahead of monetary
gain, formed their own small labels and shared
that passion with the world. One such person
is Steven Dolins who runs The Sirens label who's
mission is to preserve authentic Chicago blues,
boogie woogie, gospel, and jazz piano music.
Since reactivating the label a few years back
Dolins has issued a steady stream of high quality
recordings. That track record continues with
fine new records by modern piano master Barrelhouse
Chuck who leads an all-star outfit on "Got
My Eyes On You" and Katherine Davis and
the Chicago Boogie Ensemble who generate plenty
of excitement on "Rock This House Live."
Barrelhouse Chuck is a true piano master
with a deep sense of tradition and one of the
finest younger generation blues piano players
you'll find anywhere. Chuck honed his craft
mentoring under Sunnyland Slim and Little Brother
Montgomery whom he literally lived with during
the late 1970's and 1980's. Along the way he's
worked with virtually every notable Chicago
blues musician you can think of as well as prolifically
issuing his own records, most recently "Slowdown
Sundown" one of 2005's finest blues records.
This time out Chuck leads an all-star blues
band which includes ace harp blower and Fabulous
Thunderbird’s member Kim Wilson; long-time Muddy
Waters rhythm section members Willie "Big
Eyes" Smith on drums and Calvin "Fuzz"
Jones on bass; and talented guitarists Joel
Foy and Eddie Taylor Jr, son of the legendary
Eddie Taylor. The result is an outstanding set
of Chicago ensemble blues as Chuck pays tribute
to his idols such as Floyd Jones, Sunnyland
Slim, Little Brother, Memphis Slim, Big Moose
Walker and others. You don't here much about
Floyd Jones these days but back in the 40's
and 50's he cut a batch of dark and gloomy classics
like "Dark Road" and "Hard Times."
Chuck obviously didn't forget tackling "Floyd's
Blues" and "School Days" in rocking
two handed fashion just like Sunnyland did on
the originals with Kim Wilson laying down big
toned harp like Snooker Pryor did on those songs
and fittingly it's Eddie Taylor Jr on guitar
playing the licks his father did back when these
were first cut in 1953. Chuck's mentors are
well served on the in-the-pocket version of
Sunnyland's "It's You Baby" and the
lovely "Mama You Don't Mean Me No Good"
with a terrific vocal by Chuck that uncannily
emulates the one of a kind voice of Little Brother
and featuring sensitive piano from Elko-Izumi-Gallwas.
Everything clicks here but mention should also
go to a moody, stripped down version of Memphis
Slim's philosophical "Mother Earth"
and Chuck laying down some steamy organ on "The
Bright Sounds of Big Moose."
Katherine
Davis grew up in Chicago, began performing in
the late 70's and is a fine big voiced singer
in the tradition of great Chicago ladies like
Koko Taylor, Bonnie Lee and Big Time Sarah.
Backing Davis is formidable piano man Erwin
Helfer, tenor John Brumbach and bassist John
Whitfield plus guest baritone saxophonist Willie
Henderson, and second generation Chicago blues
artists, guitarist Lurrie Bell and drummer Kenny
Smith. "Rock This House Live" captures
this impressive group live at Chicago's Old
Town School of Music earlier this year. The
group digs into an eclectic mix of blues and
jazz, warming up with the deep groove of Herbie
Hancock's "Watermelon Man" with everyone
getting plenty of room to stretch out before
Davis hits the stage. Davis and the band tear
into "Rock This House" as the band
cuts loose with some particularly tasty guitar
from Lurrie, great boogie piano from Helfer
as Davis gets the crowd singing along. Davis
is a versatile singer as she proves on a torchy
cover of Julia Lee's "Lotus Blossom",
a sultry version of Bessie Smith's "Need
A Little Sugar In My Bowl" and delivers
soulful renditions of the classics "Make
Me A Pallet On The Floor" and Lil Green's
sexy "Romance In The Dark." Davis
is a master blues and jazz singer who really
knows how to work the audience and for their
part, the band responds beautifully, with a
special nod to Helfer who's boogie piano work
is always a joy to hear.
The
Sirens label made it's initial recordings back
in 1976 but lay dormant for some 25 years. Thankfully
Dolins has seen fit to reactivate the label
and fans of traditional blues and jazz are the
better for it.
-Check
out these related links:
The
Sirens Website
Barrelhouse
Chuck Website
Barrelhouse
Chuck: Slowdown Sundown Review
Various
The Sirens Record Reviews
(Jeff
Harris)
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