The Northwest corner of the United States has produced some memorable musical talents in the blues, as well as other musical genres. The names of Jimi Hendrix, Paul DeLay and David Jacobs-Strain and Henry Vestine are among a host of musical notables from the region. This thriving musical hotbed provides another blues combo to be heard outside of the Northwest, The Vipers.
The Vipers are a Eugene, Oregon based combo that has supported some of the best blues artists in the Northwest, and in fact was founded by the late Henry Vestine and current harpman, Jon Silvermoon. The current Vipers’ lineup includes Silvermoon, along with John “Guitar” Ward (guitar), Byron Case (bass), Rick Markstrom (drums), with the capable Deb Cleveland serving as the current featured vocalist. Tickle My Toes is the third release by The Vipers, following Venom (1993) and Good Times Live! (2000) and the first with Cleveland as the featured vocalist.
One of the things that most stands out about Tickle My Toes is the quality of the musicianship throughout the recording. John Ward’s guitar is very smooth and provides some excellent lead breaks and tasty fills. Jon Silvermoon is equally talented on the harp, also providing some excellent solos and playing off of Ward’s guitar on several songs. The rhythm section of Byron Case and Rick Markstrom maintains a solid backbeat that helps to drive home each and every tune, creating the proper mood for each. The moods are also realized through the nice vocal interpretations of songs by Deb Cleveland (who provides lead vocals on nine of the fifteen songs) with lead vocals handled by Silvermoon, Markstrom and Case on four of the remaining five songs (“Congo Mambo” is an instrumental number).
Tickle My Toes opens with the catchy “Ring Dang Dilly”, a song with lyrics that continue to ring in my head, along with great guitar and harp work by Ward and Silvermoon respectively. Particularly entertaining is the following number, “I Hate to See the Sun Go Down,” that includes a powerful vocal delivery by Cleveland and more excellent guitar and harp work to set the tone of the song. The band also performs entertaining covers of the classic blues numbers “I Got My Mojo Working”, originally popularized by Muddy Waters and the Sonny Boy Williamson classic, “Good Morning Little School Girl” with vocals by drummer Rick Markstrom. John Ward’s talents as a guitarist are particularly notable on “Congo Mombo” a Guitar Gable original that features Ward’s tasty work. The covers of the classics “Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues” by Ida Cox and “I Ain’t Drunk, I Just Been Drinking” by Joe Liggins are also well done and help to finish off the recording on a high note.
Tickle My Toes also includes four original numbers, most notably the title track of the CD, “Tickle My Toes”, a well done dirty blues song with lyrics that some may consider to be a bit ribald and kinky (in a good way, of course). Of the other three originals; vocals on “Going to the Vet’s Club” and “Letter to My Daughter” are handled by Jon Silvermoon, with vocals on “You Win In” handled by Rick Markstrom. Markstrom also provides lead vocals on the cover of Sonny Boy’s “Good Morning Little School Girl” and Byron Case takes lead vocals on Pee Wee Crayton’s “Tired of Travelin’”. The changing style of the vocal presentations by the male members of the band help to provide some additional variety to the mix of the songs on Tickle My Toes.
Tickle My Toes represents a fine effort by The Vipers and a memorable debut by featured vocalist Deb Cleveland. To pick up a copy of Tickle My Toes by mail, visit The Vipers website at www.vipersnet.com. This website also provides some good historical information on the band and background information on the current band lineup. Online orders of the CD can be made through www.nwblues.com for those who don’t want to hassle with the U. S. Postal Service.
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