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Bernard Allison
Storms Of Life
(Tone Cool 1135)
by Craig Ruskey
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13 tracks, very good. From the solo and skidding Slip Slidin' to the guitar tour-de-force of Down South, or Johnny Winter's Mean Town Blues, which is far more centered than the original, Bernard Allison's second Tone-Cool effort shows a commanding guitarist with effortless control of his instrument and an emotive voice. Speed Slide offers searing bottleneck and Fist Full Of Dirt is laced with rude guitar, then Bernard swings through the relaxing Goodbye Little Girl with horns and harp while Help Me Through The Days is a simmering blues. Less traditional offerings include the title cut and the similar approach of Just Do Me Any Way You Want. More modern touches rule the blistering I Think I Love You Too Much and Snake Bit Again, a searing SRV-styled rocker done with class. While it doesn't break any new ground, Storms Of Life has enough going for it with Bernard's master touch.
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Cedell Davis
Lightning Struck The Pine
(Fast Horse 003)
by Craig Ruskey
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11 tracks, very good. 76-year-old Cedell Davis plays guitar with a reckless attitude using a butter-knife as opposed to a bottleneck. Regardless of a bout with polio which crippled him years ago, Davis sounds like he's got the wherewithal to knock Legba to his knees. His Epiphone sounds ready to submit to his archaic way of playing while his voice sounds as if it were recorded through a garbage can, and he delivers exactly what he has been known for throughout a relatively brief career as a recording artist. While only his third release, Cedell Davis delivers bone-shaking, earthy blues. Peter Buck, Barrett Martin, Jeffrey Barnes and others appear, but it's Cedell front and center. The only small gripe is the occasionally out-of-place sax on some cuts.
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The Hollywood Fats Band
The Hollywood Fats Band
(Crosscut (2002) 21069)
by Craig Ruskey
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24 tracks, highly recommended. This is a knockdown West Coast blues brawl that belongs in any collection. Hollywood Fats has been gone since 1986, but what's here is as timeless as the music recorded by Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Little Walter, and other Chicago stalwarts, in their prime. Fats, along with Al Blake, Fred Kaplan, Larry Taylor, and Richard Innes, helped redefine blues when this originally appeared on vinyl, and the first disc is exactly what was issued while disc two represents 13 outtakes and alternate tracks, some being released for the first time. Fats and the boys weren't about showing off, they simply went about their business adding a relentless swing to the music. Essential!
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Lightnin' Hopkins
The Tradition Masters
(Tradition 1084)
by Craig Ruskey
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Two CDs, 27 tracks, recommended. While there's a corn field of Lightnin' Hopkins to wade through, the Texan very rarely had an off day and these acoustic sessions produced by Mack McCormick are thoroughly enjoyable. Spoken introductions to a number of tracks should be of special interest to those new to the world of Lightnin' while collectors should be happy to see these tracks together in one package. Disc one offers a superb 75 Highway/ Short Haired Woman/ Santa Fe Blues, and nine more while disc two pulls 15 tracks including Luke 'Long Gone' Miles taking vocals on Baby! and Prison Blues Come Down On Me. Stellar sound quality is a big plus over the sonic-challenged LP versions, but blues veterans will be left wondering how McCormick managed to get writing credit for most of what's here.
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Lightnin' Hopkins
In The Key Of Lightnin'
(Tomato 2098)
by Craig Ruskey
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13 tracks, recommended. With the Tomato label being revived, it's nice to have this incredible session from 1969. There are a few full-band cuts where Hopkins is joined by Johnny Big Moose Walker and others, but most of the cuts are stripped back to the bare minimum with Lightnin' being assisted only by Francis Clay's in-the-pocket drumming. Playing electric guitar this time, there's a grittier feel to what's here when compared to Lightnin's acoustic work, but throughout, he's in tip-top form. The five spoken introductions are humorous including the Cigar chatter and his shtick on I Gave Up Card Playin' where it's apparent the liquor had been flowing freely, but these intros are counted as complete tracks. A number of smoldering tracks by themselves are worth the price including Short Haired Woman and a chilling Pneumonia Blues.
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J.B. Lenoir
Mojo Boogie - An Essential Collection
(Fuel 2000 (2002) 61182)
by Craig Ruskey
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20 tracks, recommended. Although J.B. Lenoir is less-recognized than he should be, his highly rewarding music belongs in every blues collection. Blessed with a high-pitched and individual vocal style, his guitar was workmanlike and well-suited to his voice. The better part of this disc stems from sessions waxed for the JOB label in the early 1950's and six titles offer both the released take and its unissued counterpart, although none are stiffs. Sidemen include Sunnyland Slim on piano and Alfred Wallace supplying the backbeats while Lenoir drills solid rhythm and jarring fills from his guitar. Two cuts were produced by Willie Dixon for a USA single in 1963 with I Sing Um The Way I Feel propelled by bongos, a style J.B. deemed his 'African Hunch Rhythm,' although its flip side, I Feel So Good suffers from low-fidelity. Bill Dahl's liner notes are informative and interesting but there's a small knock for leaving session details by the wayside.
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Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials
Heads Up
(Alligator 4886)
by Craig Ruskey
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13 tracks, recommended. With the lack of respectful blues guitarists who can tear it up with a slide, Lil' Ed Williams seems poised to move beyond his journeyman status and take over the driver's seat. While his playing is always on edge, sounding ready to careen off track any second, he manages to finish phrases perfectly each time, defying logic. With plenty of slow burners, including The Creeper, a Muddy-styled effort, to the brooding Four Leaf Clover and Black Night, Williams sounds harrowing, but raises the roof on crashing takes like Ed Heads' Boogie and the infectious Empty House Tour. He's forceful on Lil' Ed's Home Cookin' and stylish for Natural Man, and sounds remarkably like his uncle, J.B. Hutto, on My Mind Is Gone. Plain and simple, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials know how to have fun, and they throw another party on Heads Up.
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Mississippi Heat
Footprints On The Ceiling
(Crosscut 11071)
by Craig Ruskey
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14 tracks, good. Mississippi Heat's frontline consists of Pierre Lacocque's harp, tandem guitars of Chris Winters and Michael Thomas, plus Inetta Visor's vocals, but while marked as a traditional crew, a modern feel shows more often in their catalog. Lacocque's harp dominates while a number of guests raise the stakes as Billy Boy Arnold, Carl Weathersby and Peter 'Madcat' Ruth sit in and offer up solid efforts. Caribbean Sunshine has Weathersby trying to get corny lyrics across with soul and Hobo Blues has syrupy harp but Arnold struts his stuff on Gonna Leave Her Be and What Kind Of Man Is That, both excellent. Visor becomes the unheralded star of the core outfit, singing with feverish passion. The overdone liner notes are way too much. The Heat isn't spectacular here, but they could smolder if prodded.
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Kid Ramos
Greasy Kid Stuff
(Evidence (2001) 26117)
by Craig Ruskey
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17 tracks, highly recommended. The Kid Ramos list of accomplishments has grown healthier and longer each year. From his beginnings with James Harman, standing next to Hollywood Fats, to his tenure with The Fabulous Thunderbirds, he's studied his craft and devoted himself to being one of the finest guitar players in blues. This star-studded affair pairs him with harp slingers Paul deLay, Johnny Dyer, Rick Estrin, James Harman, Charlie Musselwhite, Rod Piazza, and Lynwood Slim. From the crushing original instrumental title track, to the disruptive Chicken Hearted Woman, or Harman's blow-by-blow descriptions in Low Down Woman, Ramos tackles guitar chores with respect, never overshadowing the proceedings. The chromatic closer, Harmonica Hangover, finds Estrin and Musselwhite aiming jabs at a crumpled and passed-out James Harman.
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Duke Robillard
Living With The Blues
(Stony Plain 1277)
by Craig Ruskey
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12 tracks, recommended. Much like Duke's Blues from 1994, Robillard pays homage to heroes while managing to toss in a few originals. If Walls Could Talk smolders and Use What You Got is a six-minute slow blues with dynamic guitar and passionate vocals. Stratisfied is a rocking original feature for Duke's double stops, simultaneous rhythm and lead, and numbing bends, then he goes it alone for Tampa Red's Hard Road sporting fine acoustic slide, although vocally he seems to force an old-style phrasing. Buy Me A Dog is potent with distorted guitar and thick harp, plus impeccable backing from the rhythm section, and Good Time Charlie is also strong. Muddy's I Live The Life I Love buzzes with horns and Painful Memory is a workout with Guitar Slim's ghost present. Another Robillard-penned offering, Sleepin' On It, is muscular and the disc closes with B.B. King's Long Gone Baby, laced with drilling guitar over a stumbling groove.
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