February
2003
Richard Newell aka King Biscuit Boy Urban Blues Re: Newell
Stony Plain SPCD 1210/Warner
One of my fondest club-going memories is of a King Biscuit Boy gig with his first post-Crowbar band at The Grange in Hamilton. It may even have been their debut. They just played all night, taking short breaks and we stayed `til closing. This band was preparing to record what would have been Newell's third Daffodil release, but the company did not last long enough and hence this band will remain a memory. The momentum created by Official Music and Good `uns and surely to be maintained by the new band was lost and never regained. For someone with his level of personal problems, this had to have been a serious blow. There are other albums after these and they are all excellent, if few in number and, sadly, only available as hard-to-find used LP's. The exception is Urban Blues Re: Newell. The theme of this 1996 CD is the 45's he bought in Buffalo as a teen, after hitchhiking from Hamilton. It's the performances here, though, that merit the mention _ topflight vocals, harp and slide from Newell and superb backing from some fine Rochester musicians and Johnny V. More importantly, the CD is an object lesson in variety of styles. All these strengths: the knowledge, performance, song selection, the ability to attract the best players and get the best out of them made Newell the legend he is and they are all represented here. New recordings (the Biscuits and Gravy sessions) by Newell and Sonny Del Rio are slated for release this year but until then you should make sure you have this one. Official Music, Good `uns and a Best of are still on the Stony Plain web site and also at www.unidisc.com. If there is any justice, the LP's and especially the "Brown Derby" LP, with its subsequent 45, (on Epic, produced by Alan Toussaint) must be re-issued. See you at the Tribute in Hamilton.
Boobie Browne & the Onions Birth of the Chickenpick/PR11102
Rick Holmstrom's instrumental & electronic CD, Hydraulic Groove, created quite a stir recently with traditionalists lined up against the use of tape loops, samples and programming. And now along come Boobie Browne & the Onions with an album of instrumentals with just electric or acoustic guitar, bass & drums a la Ike Turner! A CD that proves, at the very least, that the old way is not quite dead. Browne, on guitars, Keith Power on bass and Scott MacCulloch on drums turn in a program of ten picking delights, written by Browne with names like "Tele Savalas", "Liquid Lunch" and "Toe Jam" that aren't especially indebted to anyone else's instrumentals that I can think of. They have a web site: www.boobiebrowne.com.
David Harris Playing to the Wall Slim Chance 008
Victoria BC's Harris is a one-man band, a street singer with his latest and fifth CD. He has by now proven that he can get by on all his instruments and that he is a capable songwriter but too much of this is slapdash, "live-off-the-floor" bits & pieces. It might be time to stand back, collect the best songs, spend some time in the studio and do them properly. From this set I would choose "Playing To The Wall", with its effective, no-audience lyric, and "Blues For Leroy" a tribute to the "Bluebird" era artists. With some overdubbing and some care in recording the vocals, he might have a much more useful indication of his talents.
Various Artists Gary Davis Style Inside Sounds
Rev. Gary Davis' guitar lessons in New York were among the most exacting trials a budding musician could go through and from the late `50's until his death in 1972, a great many made the effort.
Andy Cohen was one of them and he has since made it his life's work to ensure that the master's influence carries on. His own selection of religious works,
Oh Glory, How Happy I Am, was his last project and this one is something of a journey to find out
what has happened to the best of these disciples and the performers they in turn taught. The result is a selection of twenty songs, two of which are 78's, by
Willie Walker and Blind Boy Fuller, to give us a handle on where Davis'
music came from. The rest are either recorded especially for this set or are taken from relatively obscure (for me) existing sources.
Ken Whiteley and Friends supply a new recording of "Let Us Get Together" and
Penny Lang and Friends "God Knows How Much We Can Bear", which is from her
Live at the Yellow Door CD. Both learned from the Reverend during trips to Mariposa and that club in Montreal. Lang's contribution, incidentally, is not by
Davis but one he learned from Phyllis Hall and taught her. Other highlights include a song from the first meeting of
Maria Muldaur and Ernie Hawkins, "I Am the Light of the World" and a delightful blending of two instrumentals
from Denver's Mary Flower, "Sit Down on the Banks of the River"/"Buck Dance". A version of "Twelve Gates to the City from
Cephas & Wiggins courtesy of Alligator Records shows the Piedmont style didn't move entirely to New
York. A measure of Davis' influence is shown by the inclusion of "Samson & Delilah" from
Peter, Paul & Mary's first LP, the royalties from which gave Davis some desperately needed cash.
Jerry Ricks' home in Philadelphia was a
base during tours for Davis and many of the other "rediscovered" bluesmen including
Skip James, a period Ricks described in great detail and humour at last year's Chicago Blues Festival. "Where'd You Get Your Liquor
From"/"Hesitation Blues" from his Rooster Blues CD
Deep in the Well is another highlight of this wonderful disc.
Dave Van Ronk, who knew and travelled with Davis throughout this time, contributed a group vocal, "Soon My Work
Will All Be Done" from Folklore album To All My Friends In Far Off
Places and the list goes on. Many of the names will perhaps be more familiar to the folk community and Cohen says this group represents only about a tenth of
the possible performers. If this album is not at a store near you, you can order from
www.insidesounds.com.
Various Artists Crucial Guitar Blues Alligator ALCD 114/Fusion III
Various Artists Crucial Harmonica Blues Alligator ALCD 115/Fusion III
Elaine Bomberry The Aboriginal Music
Experience Rez Blues Productions
This is a three-part radio documentary, not a CD you might be able to purchase, at least not yet. Part 2, Rez Blues, is the part at hand. I've written a few times here about how the similar treatment of African-Americans and aboriginal peoples led them to share the conditions that created the blues and that hence Native peoples have a greater affinity for a music identified normally only with the African-American experience. Rez Blues goes one step further and explores a possible involvement in the roots of the blues. Native peoples after all were present at its birth: they lived all through the rural American South, gave food and shelter to runaway slaves and were especially well represented in the melting pot that is New Orleans. Many blues performers were of partly Native heritage. Rez Blues can be seen as beginning to correct that oversight in blues research, an oversight that is part of a long term trend of minimizing Native contributions to North American culture. As might be expected, this influence seems to be manifested today in rhythm and an example of Native drumming is particularly effective. Buffy Sainte-Marie goes on to discuss the "Bo Diddley Beat" and its Native, New Orleans origin as a better known example. The recent emergence of numerous Native blues-based musicians is also a part of this series and segments on our local artists include Jani Lauzon, at the time a member of our Board, pointing out that our April 1993 Real Rez Blues Event was a watershed in this new development. This isn't an academic presentation, though, there's lots of music, some it (Buffy Sainte-Marie's) recorded expressly for the show. We'll report further in future Loose Blues News on broadcasts of this thought-provoking program. You can also visit www.rezbluez.com.
Various Artists Crucial Chicago
Blues Alligator ALCD 116/Fusion III
A new budget line from Alligator makes its debut with these three titles. Each contains twelve songs carefully chosen from the Alligator catalogue with full info on the original CD and serve to remind those of us with large collections just how much great music there is on this label. These will make excellent gifts or introductory CD's for friends just getting into blues and you might just want one or more for your car.
Mighty Sam McClain One More Bridge To Cross Mighty Music
This is the album to acquire for those of you in need of a Bobby Bland fix. McClain has put together a strong CD that while acknowledging his debt to Bland is an asset to any collection. The songs are written or co-written by McClain and the band with Mr. AudioQuest, Joe Hardin, and Jean Jacques Milteau helping out. And what a band it is. Chris Tofield supplies some of the tastiest soul blues guitar licks I've heard in some time, contributing mightily to each song without overpowering or showboating. Horns and backup singers are there when necessary. This incorrigible blues fan thinks that McClain can overdo his religious side but he does not do that here, as "The Other Man In The Band" and "If It Wasn't 4 Da Blues" attest. He is in exceptionally fine voice throughout. If you can't find this CD, go to www.cityhallrecords.com.
Sonny Landreth The Road We're On Sugar Hill SUG-CD-3964
One of the most distinctive slide guitar styles in blues is back with a new one. Landreth does not put out a lot of albums and in this era of overload that's not a bad decision. This is primarily an electric trio album with keyboards and extra percussion where necessary helping out the bass and drums. Most of the songs are slide-heavy rockers that keep you moving. "A World Away" is a slower standout exception. This one will surely not disappoint his fans.
- John Valenteyn, jvalenteyn8724@rogers.com
Toronto Blues Society Copyright _ 2003