CD Review
Byther Smith
Hold That Train
(Delmark, 2004, DE-774)
by Steve Mainwaring
Review date: October 2004
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"Keeping the Blues Alive Award"
Achievement for Blues on the Internet
Presented by The Blues Foundation
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This session, recorded in 1981 but only now released on CD, is so informal that the first time I heard it I thought it was a live recording. It sounds like Byther Smith and his band going through their set, but in the absence of an audience playing for themselves and each other.
There are occasions when they noticeably accelerate, but you don’t listen to the blues for perfection. If you want that you listen to Bach or Mozart, Duke or Miles, Yes or Paul Simon, not Hopkins or Hooker. You listen to the blues for the soul, passion, whatever you want to call it - the feeling the musician puts in and the listener takes out. That is what makes this a good blues CD. The liner notes by Mark Lipscomb refer to Byther trying “to get just a little bit more out of the song, pushing himself and the band to get to that next level” and, yes, you can hear the players’ determination to stretch themselves and the bandleader leading the band where he wants to go.
There is nothing too startling here in terms of repertoire or lineup. Smitty plays guitar and sings and Mike Baietto, Bruce Felgen and Joe Pusateri play guitar, bass and drums respectively. Three of the songs are originals and the other twelve are covers, including Wille Dixon’s “300 Pounds Of Joy” and “Close To You”, Roy Hawkins’ “The Thrill Is Gone” and Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor”.
It’s a raw, rough and ready album, sure, but it’s a solid hour of heartfelt no-frills blues played pretty well by a tight band, and it’s one of Byther’s best. The least you can do is pour yourself a beer, shout encouragement and applaud enthusiastically at the end of each number.
More info at www.delmark.com.
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