CD Review Archives - Page 21 of 25 - Cascade Blues Association

Tedeschi Trucks Band

Live From The Fox Oakland
Fantasy

The latest release of Tedeschi Trucks Band features the 12-piece outfit in a one-night performance, September 9, 2016. Taking a group like this on tour must be a massive effort, so kudos to the band and management for keeping music alive.

This album contains a mix of Tesdeschi Trucks Band originals and classic covers. The set opens with “Don’t Know What It Means” and “Keep On Growing.” These are extended versions from their 2016 Let Me Get By album and were written by Derek Trucks. Susan Tedeschi covers a haunting version of Leonard Cohen’s “Bird on a Wire.” There is a cover of the eclectic “Within You, Without You” from The Beatles, where Derek covers the sitar part on slide guitar. True to form he adds some raga-esque improvisation. Made complete with hand drums. “Just As Strange,” “Crying Over You” and “Anyhow” are more offerings from Let Me Get By. “These Walls” features a sarode intro and solo by classical Hindustani player Alam Kahn. “Anyhow” shows the lighter side of Susan as a vocalist, in this track you hear the Bonnie Raitt influence. This track has a great horn part and trombone lick. “Right On Time” uses the horn section to create an old school New Orleans jazz vibe. “Leavin’” is straight out the Allman Brothers Band book. From here the band moves on to cover Santana’s “Soul Sacrifice” and Bobby Bland’s “I Pity the Fool.” The night wraps up with the Let Me Get By title track featuring an organ intro and solo. Susan’s vocals are backed with the chorus of back up singers.

All in all, this is album is a thrill. The band delivers extended versions of their latest studio tracks and includes covers that pay homage to their blues, rock, Southern rock, jazz and soul. The live sound mix is clear with only minimal audience noise.

The extended jams, show Derek’s legacy. Derek is the nephew of Butch Trucks, Allman Brothers Band drummer (sadly now deceased). Derek played with Allman Brothers Band for several years on lead/slide guitar. Derek and Susan were married in 2001, and have a son and daughter. Tedeschi Trucks Band played at our Portland Waterfront Blues Festival last summer, and were definitely a highlight.

If you have a chance to catch them live, be sure to go.

The band is: Derek Trucks – Guitar; Susan Tedeschi – Guitar & Vocals; Kofi Burbridge – Keyboards & Flute; Tyler Greenwell – Drums & Percussion; J.J. Johnson – Drums & Percussion; Tim Lefebvre – Bass Guitar; Mike Mattison – Harmony Vocals; Mark Rivers – Harmony Vocals; Alecia Chakour – Harmony Vocals; Kebbi Williams – Saxophone; Elizabeth Lea – Trombone; Ephraim Owens – Trumpet

Total time: 1:50:14

Don’t Know What It Means / Keep On Growing / Bird On The Wire/ Within You, Without You / Just As Strange / Crying Over You / These Walls / Anyhow / Right On Time / Leavin’ Trunk / Don’t Drift Away / I Want More (Soul Sacrifice outro) / I Pity The Fool / Ali / Let Me Get By

By Jeff Levine

Fantastic Negrito

CD Review

The Last Days Of Oakland
Blackball Universe

If the blues had been born in today’s inner cities rather than the Mississippi Delta more than one hundred years ago, it may sound something akin to Fantastic Negrito. This is a blend of traditional blues patterns such as call and response meshed with soul, funk, and hip hop. It is blues for a modern world filtered through an individual who has experienced first-hand the social issues that divide us and it is a bare-boned raw approach that is completely honest and though at times harsh, it is truly fresh and exciting.

When Fantastic Negrito, whose real name is Xavier Dphrepaulezz, first brought awareness to his music on the blues scene, it was with the song “Lost In a Crowd” that he had entered into NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert contest in 2015, taking the prize that year. It was followed with an EP of a handful of strong numbers working alongside the winning number. “Lost In A Crowd” is featured once again on his latest release The Last Days Of Oakland, and it remains a song of impact and a highlight of this first full-length recording (which incidentally took home the Grammy Award for Contemporary Blues Album this year).

The Last Days Of Oakland does not paint a pretty picture of Oakland or of modern America. It is a social statement that can slap you in the face at times. Dphrepaulezz has not had an easy life, especially after experiencing a life altering auto accident that placed him into a coma and then going through agonizing therapy to regain ability to function and survive let alone play his music. And all of this happened just shortly after receiving a major recording contract for his rock music that he was creating at the time, only to see it all disappear following his accident. The music on The Last Days Of Oakland is intense and thought-provoking, and though it may deal with issues of injustice and race, he reminds us in “Lost In A Crowd” that “we’re just people, lonely people, you and I.”

The musical approach is diverse, but all still remain true to the life issues at hand. In the rocking number “Hump Through The Winter” he asks exactly what happened America? He’s working multiple jobs to try to stay ahead but he’s still having a hard time just trying to survive. “Working Poor” with its funky gospel attitude is about gentrification, “him clean my city, me sell my soul.” Even his cover of the Leadbelly traditional blues “In The Pines” finds him adding his own verse about a single mother whose child is lost to gun violence. And corruption in the world is at hand in “Rant Rushmore” where the beautiful scene has died to a bitter scene. The closing number “Nothing Without You” may seem like a love song, yet even it has its dark side dealing with abusive relationships. There is a lot of overlaying sounds throughout the disc: various statements and comments, numerous instruments, handclaps, even the sound of a chain gang in “Interlude – What Would You Do?”

The Last Days Of Oakland is a tremendous release. A very deep and serious look at today’s society and like the way of the world, change is not always pretty but it happens. And so it is with the blues, this is a now take on a musical genre that must change with the times but still hold the impact that it always has. Outstanding!

Total Time: 43:04

Intro – The Last Days Of Oakland / Working Poor / About A Bird / Scary Woman / Interlude – What Would You Do? / The Nigga Song / In The Pines / Hump Through The Winter / Lost In A Crowd / Interlude – El Chileno / The Worst / Rant Rushmore / Nothing Without You

Danny Draher

CD Review

Danny Draher CD cover Blues Blues Blues, Live from The Bitter End, N.Y, N.Y.

Double Dynamite Records

Review by Jeff Levine

Danny Draher is an accomplished international blues and jazz musician. Starting out in Chicago, at Chess studios, Danny has recorded and toured nationally and internationally with Dr. John, Etta James, Paul Butterfield and Allen Toussaint.

Danny’s awards include: Nominee Blues and Jazz artist 2016, Josie Music Awards, 2016 Connecticut Blues Society Representative at the International Blues Challenge, and Master Blues Artist 2015, New York Blues Hall of Fame

I had the chance to see Danny at the 2017 International Blues Challenge, and brought home his latest release. This recording features a stripped down four piece combo with Danny on guitar and vocals, Stanley Banks on bass, Lonnie Gasperini on the B3 organ, with Mike Clark and Adrian Harpham on drums. Danny composed and arranged all the songs, and the CD was recorded with excellent sound quality live at the legendary Bitter End in New York City. The guitar has a rich tone, with just the slightest overdrive. The vocals are clear and bright.

These original compositions are pure modern blues with a sultry fell. “Going Home” and “My Desire” have a swampy feel reminiscent of Tab Beniot. “Disco Woman” is my favorite with an extended B3 and guitar solos. The audience liked it quite a bit — you can hear them cheering — and this is one of the few spots on the CD where you actually hear the audience, but only cheering, no talking or clinking of glasses. “Don’t Know Much” is a slow and sultry instrumental that harkens back to the Chess days. “Big Fun” picks up with a shuffle featuring Danny scat singing along with the guitar. The CD closes with a pair of instrumentals. “Love For You” is the jazziest selection on the disc, and is the perfect blend of B3 and guitar.

If you make it to the east, be sure to look for Danny. His CDs are available on his website and at his shows. http://www.dannydraher.com

Total Time: 60:32

Li’l Girl / Going Home / My Desire / Disco Woman / Don’t Know Much / Big Fun / Tonight / Blues For CL / Love for You / 32^nd and 3rd

Eric Clapton

CD Review

Live In San Diego (with special guest JJ Cale)
Reprise Records

Recorded in 2007 in San Diego, this is an all-star affair with Eric Clapton joined on stage by stellar artists that include guitarists Doyle Bramhall II and Derek Trucks, the late JJ Cale joining for a full set of his own music, and even Robert Cray for a number. They are highly complimented by Willie Weeks on bass, Tim Camron and Chris Stainton on piano, and Steve Jordan on drums. You just know with this pack of masters that you’re in for what was surely an incredible night.

This show is Clapton’s thirteenth live recording and it is heavily filled with material from Derek & The Dominos and Cream. The former band’s music finds Derek Trucks superbly filling in the slide greatness first delivered by Duane Allman so many years ago. This is an Eric Clapton show, so you know that there will be nods to the bluesmen that influenced his career and you’ll find covers of Robert Johnson, Albert King, and Jimi Hendrix all included. Of course JJ Cale was also influential to Clapton as well as a good friend. The pair had released their Grammy Award winning joint album The Road To Escondido the previous year. Cale, introduced by Clapton as a gatecrasher, appears for five numbers mid-show including a trio from that album as well as his compositions “After Midnight” and “Cocaine” that Clapton had huge success with himself.

The true highlights of this performance comes with the three guitarists sharing slick riffs between each other. It comes across brilliantly on tracks like Hendrix’ “Little Wing,” The Dominos’ “Anyday,” and Blind Willie Johnson’s “Motherless Children” first heard on Clapton’s 1974 album 461 Ocean Boulevard. Robert Johnson’s “Little Queen Of Spades” comes in at a whopping nearly seventeen-and-a-half minutes of greasy bluesy goodness. Trucks slide guitar on the instrumental portion of “Layla” is sensational and the show closes out with Robert Cray joining in with the band for a burning run at “Crossroads.”

This is Eric Clapton as you want to hear him. Live on stage with all the musicians inspiring one another. A stellar cast that you may never see together again during a concert tour for the ages.

The twin-CD release of this concert came out in September and has recently been joined by a DVD/Blu-Ray available on the market that includes footage of Clapton and Cale rehearsing two of their numbers for the show.

Total Time: 1:47:49

Tell The Truth / Key to the Highway / Got to Get Better in a Little While / Anyday / Anyway the Wind Blows / After Midnight / Who Am I Telling You? / Don’t Cry Sister / Cocaine / Motherless Children / Little Queen of Spades / Further On Up the Road / Wonderful Tonight / Layla / Crossroads

Southern Avenue

CD Review

Southern Avenue
Stax Records

When you release an album on the famed Memphis-based Stax Records label, you know that there are going to be a lot of expectations from the start. This label has a long record of releasing some of the seminal blues, R&B, gospel, and soul of all time, including Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Albert King, and The Staple Singers. So you better set your standards high when you put together your material for a release on this label, and beyond any doubt Southern Avenue has done things as required and have hit it just right.

Southern Avenue is a vivid conglomeration of all things that are soulful and full of life in this remarkable debut recording. Even their name is a homage to the label naming themselves after the street the runs in front of Stax’s original studio front door. Formed by band leader Ori Naftaly who moved to Memphis from Israel following his falling in love with the city and Southern music culture after participating in the International Blues Challenge, and he has found the perfect partner for his musical ventures with vocalist Tierinni Jackson who shares his visions.

The band is amplified by a solid rhythm section with Daniel McKee on bass and Jackson’s sister Tikyra on drums. Jeremy Powell makes everything hum with his keyboard work and Naftaly is on fire throughout the disc with exceptional guitar mastery. Marc Franklin from The Bo-Keys inserts burning horn arrangements and North Mississippi All Star Luther Dickinson joins Naftaly for a couple tracks with his slide work.

The songwriting is all original with the exception of the cover of George Jackson’s composition Slipped, Tripped And Fell In Love,” a Memphis classic best known for its release by Ann Peebles recorded at the nearby Hi Records. Ballads like “Love Me Right” and “Wildflower” showcase Jackson’s amazing vocals and the diverse range of modern soul the band presents. The church is also present in the opening “Don’t Give Up” armed only with Naftaly on guitar and hand claps to begin with that drives the message home and “Peace Will Come” with some intense Delta styled guitar playing. “80 Miles From Memphis,” takes you back down to the Delta as well with rousing rockabilly-infused bluesy guitar.

It is fitting that this release comes from the famed Stax Records as it is a reminder of the excellent history the label and the City of Memphis has with the very best in soul, R&B and blues music and its artists. This is following in that classic presentation. A traditional approach with a very modern flavor. Southern Avenue is welcome addition to the the city’s and label’s reputation for above the sight’s expectations.

Total Time: 38:27

Don’t Give Up / What Did I Do / It’s Gonna Be Alright / Slipped, Tripped, and Fell In Love / Love Me Right / 80 Miles From Memphis / Wildflower / No Time To Lose / Rumble / Peace Will Come

Lightning Kings

CD Review

Lightning Kings
The Road Is My Throne
Self Produced

If you’re looking for some truly serious rocking blues with a punch, then Portland-based Lightning Kings’ new release The Road is My Throne will be right up your alley. This is engaging recording that hits you right from the get-go on the opening number “Rules of The Road.” Sharp guitar licks backed by a horn section and thundering organ throughout. It is a mixture of the sound of the old world school of classic rock baptized directly in the muddy waters of the blues, yet offering some funky variations at times through this collection of eleven original songs written by Thomas Anderson.

The Lightning Kings are comprised of Thomas Anderson on guitar and lead vocals, Matt Lind on bass, Rich Petko on keys and the late Ryan Petersen, who passed away this last September, providing drum work on the disc, with Seth Troublefield on backing vocals. Horn arrangements were put together by Anderson alongside Tim Baber and beautifully executed all over this recording by The Thunder Horns: Terry Baber on trombone, Malcolm Lewis and Eric Rabe on saxophones, and Ian Westbrook on trumpet. Also appearing on several numbers are The Jersey Queen Singers Jimi Campbell and Jennifer Del Villar. Everything was engineered and mixed by Tom Van Riper and the final mixes were handled by Terry Robb.

The songs are almost all lengthy crafts spanning nearly five and a half minutes or more on all but two. And by crafts I mean that they have been meticulously arranged to keep your attention and to tell their stories no matter what the length. “Rules Of The Road” delivers in the best of Texas blues fashion, “Pimp W Girls” has a funkier approach. The Thunder Horns are at full force with Petko’s organ on the opening of “Texas Shuffle,” with Anderson coming in for another blistering guitar solo midway through this fiery instrumental. The moods of the songs can change from one to the next as well, as “Texas Shuffle” with its fast pace is followed by the more somber approached “Right Or Wrong” with piano, sultry sax and more guitar giving the mood of the song its feel. Perhaps my favorite number of the album is the slow blues “Love For You.” It is a spell-binding piece that brings to mind something akin to a Gary Moore feel with both the riveting guitar performance, tone and vocals. The disc closes with a short little jam between the artists named “Ryan’s Song” for the memory of their friend and drummer. It ends with a phone message left by Petersen for Anderson about his thoughts on the sound of his snare on a track, saying goodbye and that he’ll see him on Saturday. With The Road Is My Throne, his presence will always be with the group.

The Road Is My Throne is a very strong release from The Lightning Kings. Filled with over the top instrumentation, lyrics and performance and very exceptional production. This should be something that will stick prominently in any blues rock fan’s player for some time to come.

Total Time: 64:31

Rules Of The Road / All I Can Do / Do What I Gotta Do / Bottom Boogie / Halleluja / Love For You / Pimp W Girls / The Road Is My Throne / Texas Shuffle / Right Or Wrong / Ryan’s Song

Billy Flynn

CD Review

Billy Flynn
Lonesome Highway
Delmark Records

There is a good reason why Billy Flynn has been one of the most requested guitarist in Chicago and elsewhere. He just knows how to play with just the right number of notes with the right tone and is flat out tasteful in everything he bring forth from his strings. For nearly five decades (Flynn was first noted by the legendary bluesman Jimmy Dawkins when he was just 14 years old) he has worked with an amazing array of superb musicians such as former Muddy Waters sidemen in The Legendary Blues Band, Otis Rush, Mississippi Heat, and Kim Wilson. He has appeared onstage with Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, and even Beyonce, the latter who he also performed with for a song from the film Cadillac Records that won a Grammy Award.

Lonesome Highway is Flynn’s tenth solo project and his first for the renowned Delmark Records label. He is backed by a terrific cast of Chicago-based blues artists that include the great Roosevelt Purifoy on keys, E.G. McDaniel on bass and Dietra Farr providing vocals on a couple of tracks. Flynn himself handles multiple duties, aside from guitar and vocals he also plays some percussion and harmonica.

Song selections are all original by Flynn, with the sole exception of Billy Page’s “The ‘In’ Crowd” originally made famous by the Ramsey Lewis Trio which he has presented done as a well-executed instrumental. As a songwriter, Flynn is also exceptional and has a variety of directions he puts forth on Lonesome Highway. Stand out numbers include “If It Wasn’t For The Blues,” “Small Town,” “Jackson Street” and another instrumental “Blues Express.” Actually, this is a great disc filled with highlights from start to finish. And with seventeen tracks and nearly 70 minutes of music, that adds up to a lot of highlights.

Billy Flynn may not be a household name to everyone who enjoys the blues. But he should be. A musician and songwriter that holds his own very well with the best of them. Lonesome Highway is a disc that should be heard and will convince those who do just how tremendous an artist that Billy Flynn truly is.

Total Time: 69:53

Good Navigator / If It Wasn’t For The Blues / Small Town / Lonesome Highway / The “In” Crowd / Never Had A Chance / Waiting Game / Hold On / The Lucky Kind / Jackson Street / Long Long Time / The Right Track / You Are My Lover / I Feel ‘Um / Blues Express / Sufferin’ With The Blues / Christmas Blues

Johnny Nicholas

CD Review

Fresh Air
Self Produced

Johnny Nicholas has indeed been around the block when it comes to the blues and performing. He worked and played alongside many of the legends of the genre — Big Walter Horton, Robert Lockwood Jr, Johnny Shines, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Hound Dog Taylor and many others. He formed his first band with a new guitarist named Duke Robillard in the 1960s, led another in the 1970s that featured a young Ronnie Earl, and of course he may best be remembered for his stint playing western swing with the Texas-based group Asleep At The Wheel with whom he won a Grammy Award.

Fresh Air is Johnny Nicholas’ latest release. His albums don’t come nearly as often as they should, with this being the follow-up to his well-received 2011 disc Future Blues. Recorded in Austin, TX and produced by Bruce Hughes, who also plays bass, Fresh Air finds Nicholas joined by a group of well-known performers that includes Scrappy Jud Newcomb, Steve Riley, John Chipman, and Cindy Cashdollar. Every number of this stellar recording offers an authentic take on the blues in Nicholas own unique way. He is a multi-instrumentalist that finds him playing a variety of guitars, piano and harmonica.

The album contains thirteen tracks and all but two are originals that Nicholas had a hand in penning. Two covers by Sleepy John Estes (“Kid Man Blues”) and Willie Dixon (“Back Door Man”) fit in nicely and have been given the right treatment to make them sound as if they too were Nicholas originals. Let’s just say that Nicholas, whether writing his own material or covering others, has a knack that reads like his own personal storybook.

Nicholas displays his creative wordplay with his lyrics. In “Sweet Katrina” he tells us about the woman who is meaner than a one-eyed dog, but has everything that a woman could use like a big screen TV and a closet full of shoes. In “Red Light” the song jumps while expressing how he wants to make a little time with the woman of his choice. He needs some roadside assistance because all he’s getting from her is a red light. The song is pushed forward with some fine lap steel work from Cindy Cashdollar. “How Do You Follow A Broken Heart?” is a tear-jerker. It’s slow paced guitar, again finding Cashdollar adding extra soft textures, that kind of reminds me of the ease of Charles Brown’s music. And then there’s “Play Me (Like You Play Your Guitar).” It’s got a swampy feel behind it and we know when Nicholas offers lines like “run your fingers down my neck,” “I love the way you squeeze that note,” or “play it like you never played it before,” this risqué number is a bit more than about a guitar. The closing track is well named as it is a piece of “Fresh Air” that is soothing and comes across expertly with tasteful mandolin and slide guitar.

It’d be hard to find a track on Fresh Air that isn’t appealing. Definitely an album that deserves attention and masterfully compiled with top notch musicians, instrumentation and soulful vocals. Johnny Nicholas has been around for more than fifty years and proves that he has earned his blues credentials throughout that time. Singer, songwriter, musician and performer, he is all of that and he’s delivered an album that highlights his talents to perfection.

Total Time: 63:05

Moonlight Train / Kid Man Blues / Blues Time / Red Light / Sweet Katrina / Play Me (Like You Play Your Guitar) / How Do You Follow A Broken Heart? / Bayou Blues / Roll On Mississippi / Back Door Man / Wake Up Bobby / Workin’ In The Garden / Fresh Air

Sharon Lewis and Texas Fire

CD Review

Grown Ass Woman
Delmark Records

When you think about the Chicago blues women singers, there is an image that come immediately to mind — the full powered voices of people like Koko Taylor, Zora Young, Demetria Taylor, or Shemekia Copeland (yeah, I know Shemekia is originally from New York, but she stills presents a Chicago style when she sings). That is exactly what you get from Sharon Lewis, too. But her presentation is more than just a shouter, she has a lot of soulfulness and can bring forth a tenderness in her voice that is every bit of pleasing to hear, too.

Grown Ass Woman is Lewis’ sophomore Delmark release, and it’s packed full of great Chicago blues that will charm the purists and catch attention from new listeners to the genre. It’s simply great music.

Playing behind Lewis is a stellar band, Texas Fire, with guitarist Steve Bramer making significant contributions not only with his instrument but with songwriting, too. Keyboard whiz Roosevelt Purifoy tears things up throughout the recording and sure-fire and steady rhythm comes from bassist Andre Howard and drummer Tony Dale. Guest artists appearing have Sugar Blue blowing harp on a couple numbers, Joanna Connor’s burning slide work on a couple others, Carey Bell’s son Steve Bell showing that he caught his father’s legacy on harmonica, and Kenny Anderson playing trumpet and writing horn arrangements.

If you had any questions about Chicago’s continued legitimacy as the blues capitol, Lewis flat out tells you there’s nothing to deny about it in the opening track “Can’t Do It Like We Do.” And she lays down proof to the claim by calling off names of those who keep it alive: Billy Branch, Mike Wheeler and Nellie Travis. A great way to start off the album and she carries it on throughout, wanting you to shout out “Hell Yeah!” if you agree; certainly a number that is sure to get an audience frenzied.

But Lewis explores other topics than just her city. “Freedom” is a political statement. “Freedom cannot be freedom until freedom means freedom for everyone.” On “They’re Lying” she tells us not to listen to people who gossip, they’re just spreading falsehoods that hurt. Then on “Old Man’s Baby” she speaks about how an older man will take care of her and be more truthful than a younger man: “I’d rather be an old man’s baby than a young man’s fool.” The songwriting on Grown Ass Woman is strong on every selection.

Lewis closes the album with two covers that are smartly done. Bramer’s guitar is biting and Lewis’ voice growls on a funky reading of BB King’s “Why I Sing The Blues” and The Allman Brothers’ “Soul Shine” is a terrific way to draw everything to a close in a positive and tender way.

With Grown Ass Woman, Sharon Lewis has declared that she is the new force of nature to reckon with when it comes to Chicago vocalists. Listening to this album should leave little doubt to that. Outstanding.

Total Time: 56:33

Can’t Do It Like We Do / Hell Yeah! / Chicago Woman / They’re Lying / Don’t Try To Judge Me / Old Man’s Baby / Grown Ass Woman / Walk With Me / Freedom / Call Home / Home Free Blues / High Road / Why I Sing The Blues / Soul Shine

Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio

CD Review

Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio
Alligator Records

Okay, when you use the word fun in anything that involves Elvin Bishop it is simply echoing what is already implied from the get go. He has always been about fun, and locating somebody having more fun in the blues might be difficult proposition. It comes across from his smile while performing onstage to the music on his albums, so with this new grouping, Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio, you know what you’re in for. This is truly advertising in pure honesty.

This is a bare bones recording with just Elvin strumming out his trademark superb guitar lines, Willy Jordan working his percussion on cajon, and Bob Welsh switching between guitar and piano. They present a great deal of sound between them and its traditional sounding blues through and through. Oh yeah, add into the mix on a triple of numbers harmonica work from good friends and masters Charlie Musselwhite, Kim Wilson, and Rick Estrin and you know you can’t go wrong.

Most of the tracks are original, but there are also five covers. Of those Willy Jordan shines brightly on the vocals for Sunnyland Slim’s “It’s You Baby,” Bobby Womack’s much-recorded “It’s All Over Now” and the Dave Bartholomew/Fats Domino classic “Let The Four Winds Blow” where he throws out a little scat alongside crisp slide work from Bishop. The other two covers are Ted Taylor’s “Can’t Take No More” and a return to Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “Honey Babe” that Bishop first recorded back in 1975 on the Let It Flow album.

Charlie Musselwhite and Bishop team up for their co-penned “100 Years Of Blues.” They talk about the legends that they have been around and paying their dues throughout the years that total between the two of them to more than 100. They jokingly state that they’ve been around so long that when they started the Dead Sea was just sick.

If you’re hungry you might just get a little more so listening to “That’s What I’m Talkin’ About” as Bishop asks the guys where they should eat. In some fast food joint or depending on where they’re at, he names off some favorite establishments around the country and what they have to offer. When suggested that he play a solo during the song, he says to let him take some of the grease off of his fingers first. But it just may be that grease bringing such a soulful sound in the first place.

Those are but two examples of Bishop’s penchant for slyly worded lyrics, whether they be social commentaries or just plain let’s have some good time fun. There’s definitely more of the latter presented with this group. It’s hard not to smile when listening to the words and the music is just icing on the cake.

This is down-home as you can get. Raw and authentic. Just three guys having a good time messing around and you’re invited to the party. Check your attitudes at the door because this one has the dial set to happy.

Total Time: 44:45

Keep On Rollin’ / Honey Babe / It’s You, Baby / Ace In The Hole / Let’s Go / Delta Lowdown / It’s All Over Now / 100 Years Of Blues / Let The Four Winds Blow / That’s What I’m Talkin’ About / Can’t Take No More / Southside Slide