Ronnie Baker Brooks, who is the son of Lonnie Brooks, toured with his father as a sideman for a number of years before striking out on his own a few years back. Ronnie learned his lessons well and he is a charismatic front man, killer guitarist and has all the tools at his disposal to leave fans wanting more at the end of the night. This is his third solo release and is a solid collection of music with a variety of styles. Having seen Ronnie several times, twice with his father and several times as a solo act, I can highly recommend that you check him out if he is ever in your area.

You can't say the Ronnie Baker Brooks skimps on the music as this release has a total of 17, yes 17 tracks, written by Ronnie. Most of the songs are over the four minute mark so there's a lot of material to enjoy. RBB is not an over the top performer ala Stevie Ray Vaughan, although he can tear up the fret board when he wants to. Covering some of the songs on the CD shows a wide range of styles. The CD opens up with 'Born In Chicago' which is a medium tempo shuffle with some really nice guitar work. This is followed by 'Are You Free For Me' which is a rockin' number with some mo-town elements, heavy guitar work taking the place of the Motown horn stabs. 'It's On' follows with a funky strat guitar rhythm. 'A Long Goodbye' could be described as a medium/slow shuffle, working with a call and return format. RBB's vocals are particularly good on this song.'Love Again' enters slow ballad territory.'Half' is another funky song with in infectious beat that just forces your feet to start m oving.'Be A Good Man' returns to the Motown type of arrangements again, reminding me of something from the mid to late 60's in terms of sound. If you want some smokin guitar, then you have to look no further than 'Train' which starts out slow and accelerates to a fast guitar picking showcase, then slowing down for a bit before kicking it back into gear, complete with guitar based train horns. 'Can's You See' incorporates a Chuck Berry/Jerry Lee Lewis sound to great effect.

Bottom Line: A wide ranging musical excursion covering rock, mo-town, funk, Texas blues, Chicago blues, and others. If you can't find at least one song on this CD that you like (more likely you should really dig several!!), you just aren't a fan of music! This is a solid release, with excellent vocals and some kick assed guitar playing, and even though there is a lot of music, I would say that there is not much "filler" included. I give if four out of five stars.

Musicians:
Guitar and vocals - Ronnie Baker Brooks
Keyboards - Daryl Coutts
Bass - Carlton Armstrong
Drums - Maurice "Moe" Taylor
Guest guitar & Vocals - Jellybean Johnson
Guest Vocals - Lonnie Brooks
Background Vocals - Stefane Bolton
Background Vocals - J.W. Williams

Contact Information:
Watchdog Records
P.O. Box 634
Dolton, Illinois 60419

Web Site: www.ronniebakerbrooks.com

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