CD Review
Sonny Rhodes
Texas Fender Bender
(Greater Planet Entertainment GPED0311)
by Rich Benson
Review date: December 2003
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"Keeping the Blues Alive Award" Achievement for Blues on the Internet Presented by The Blues Foundation
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Sonny Rhodes' latest CD was recorded live at Pasquale's in Louisville, Co. The highlights of the CD's 9 tracks are Sonny's crisply ringing, jangling Texas blues guitar riffs and his husky, bluntly delivered vocals, rasping with emotion. Most of the tracks are mid-tempo, rolling blues. The opening track, "Pickin' Your Bones" gets things started with some up-tempo blues fueled by Sonny's fast, fluid, rich Fender guitar work. Interestingly, there is none of Sonny's trademark lap steel sound, since their equipment did not arrive in time for the show and Sonny had to improvise by playing all of the numbers on electric guitar. Nonetheless, he does a great job throughout. While here and there you notice a little buzzing and noise, the sound quality is excellent for a live recording. Worth noting is that no crowd reaction sounds are on the CD, so you can hardly tell it is a live recording.
"Crazy Fool Blues" is a slow, soulful blues grinder that gives Sonny a chance to use his deep, soulful voice, with nice, drawn out vocals ending in emotional rasps. His nice, slow chord progressions, tastefully delivered and repeated, broken up with some faster guitar fills, make for some excellent blues guitar sound. His three piece band of Theo Brown on drums, Billy Baltera on rhythm and lead guitar, and Jimmy Pritchard on electric and stand-up bass delivers a solid, blues ensemble sound that is tight and crisp. "T-Bone Shuffle" has Sonny delivering some great hip, jangling blues guitar riffs. "Blue Shadows" features expressive playing and singing by Sonny. This soulful number about losing a lover contains a great line that pretty much sums things up for Sonny "The blues gonna be my companion every night and every day." This solid effort will make a great addition to fans of tastefully delivered Texas style blues by a true blues legend.
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