CD Review
James Cotton
Baby, Don’t You Tear My Clothes
(Telarc International - TELARC CD-83596)
by Dave “Doc” Piltz
Review Date: April, 2005
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Harpman James Cotton is a veteran of the Chicago blues tradition. Born in Tunica, Mississippi, Cotton first learned to mimic the sound of freight trains with his harp before coming under the guidance of the cantankerous harmonica icon, Sonny Boy Williamson II. Baby, Don’t You Tear My Clothes is Cotton’s third solo release on Telarc and the follow-up to his 2002 Handy Award winning, 35th Anniversary Blues Jam.
Cotton’s regular band provides a strong musical foundation for Baby, Don’t You Tear My Clothes and includes some solid musicians and long time collaborators with Cotton, including Derek O’Brien (guitar), David Maxwell (piano), Noel Neal (bass) and Per Hanson (drums).
While he can still blow a mean, mean harp, Cotton’s voice has become not much more than a memory due to his 1994 throat surgery. To compliment Cotton’s magical harp on the CD are a host of notable performers who pick up the vocals on the thirteen song CD along with some guest guitar work. Joining the Cotton on Baby, Don’t Tear My Clothes are Bobby Rush who offers his “chitlin’ circuit” groove to the title track; Marcia Ball who provide vocals and guitar for Robert Johnson’s “When You Got A Good Friend;” and Odetta, who teams up with Cotton on the classic, “Key to the Highway.” Among the fine material on the CD, these represented some of my favorites.
Other musical “stars” joining Cotton elsewhere on the Baby, Dont You Tear My Clothes include C.J. Chenier (vocals and guest accordion-“Rainin’ In My Heart”), Rory Block (vocals/guitar-“Mississippi Blues”), Dave Alvin (vocals/guitar-“Stealin’ Stealin’”), Jim Lauderdale (vocals-“Bring It On Home To Me”), Peter Rowan (vocals/guitar-“Muleskinner Blues”), rounded out by Doc and Merle Watson (vocals/guitar- “How Long Blues”). Every song on the CD is a gem, reflecting the talents of Cotton, his band and each guest artist.
James Cotton is still a fairly active live performer, traveling across the United States and Europe on a regular basis. Though not as lively as he once was know to be (he used to do backflips and other acrobatics on stage), he can still blow the chrome off his harps, as evidenced by his work on Baby, Don’t You Tear My Clothes. To find out more about Cotton, his tour schedule and his biography, visit his website at www.jamescottonsuperharp.com or the Telarc International website at www.telarc.com.
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