CD Review
Sweet Papa Dave & The Private Reserve
Sweet Papa Dave & The Private Reserve
(You ain't the boss of me music #724-4/01 )
by Craig Ruskey
Review date: July 2001
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1999 KBA Award Winner Achievement for Blues on the Internet Presented by the Blues Foundation
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Hailing from St. Cloud, MN, this outfit features the vocals of 'Sweet Papa' Dave Hart, joined by his regular bandmates, John Hammond on guitar, and Mark Lodermeier on drums. Half of the bass and keyboard duties are handled by Mark Friederichsen and Ken Nolan on this studio-recorded disc, which has no info as to when it was done. Six of the ten tracks on the CD were penned by Hart and show decent skills with a knack for some catchy phrases. Opening with Rosco Gordon's "Just A Little Bit," an overworked warhorse, shows some stiffness in the rhythm section and they follow up with Muddy's "She's Into Somethin" which includes some fine guitar by Hammond. Hart's "Big Fat Mamma" goes on a little too long and "Ecstacy," a slower churchy piece, unfortunately goes nowhere, due in part to the poor mix of Sweet Papa Dave's vocals. "Amy's Cafe," another fine original is a standout, with an upbeat and funky groove, while J.B. Lenoir's "Talk To Your Daughter" rumbles along at a breakneck pace and puts Hart's vocals well to the front. Tommy Tucker's "High Heeled Sneakers" gets decent treatment, and Hart's "Bedtime Toy" is a fine slow blues. Sweet Papa Dave & The Private Reserve sound comfortable together, albeit a little too rigid through portions of this work. High marks are for the originals and a couple of well-chosen covers, and excellent musicianship. They have what it takes, but I'd suggest turning the producing chores over to someone that knows how to focus on the many strong points of the band. The cover shot of Dave is worth the price of admission alone as it shows some of the best blues tattoo work I've ever seen! Email them at: sweetpapadave@yahoo.com and check out their webpage at: www.angelfire.com/blues/sweetpapadave for more information.
This review is copyright © 2001 by Craig Ruskey, and Blues On Stage, all rights reserved. Copy, duplication or download prohibited without written permission. For permission to use this review please send an E-mail to Ray Stiles.
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