John Kay may be more familiar with music fans through his work with Steppenwolf, who have been on the rock and roll scene since the late 60's. What many fans might not know is that in the early 60's, John Kay crossed the country playing acoustic blues wherever he could make a few dollars. Following up on the social commentary of the 60's folk blues era, this DVD provides a semi-unplugged version of John Kay working in a more relaxed vocal and musical style. The show, beautifully filmed along with excellent sound, is stripped down with minimal rock and roll trappings.
Much of the DVD contains the same songs as his recent CD "Heretics & Privateers". This is not to say that this DVD is not worth purchasing. The great thing about DVD's is that you get the complete performance along with introductions and explanations about songs that you never get on a CD. Put this show on a large screen TV and you get an excellent feel for what the show was really like. Additionally as part of the extras, there is an extended very relaxed interview with John Kay, talking about the early years of his music career along with discussion about a number of interesting subjects along with some of his political views. The interview alone adds plenty of value to the DVD. The show was filmed at the Renaissance Center, Dickson, Tennessee.
John Kay's recent albums contain a lot of social commentary and this one just raises the bar a bit. His voice is perfect for this style of music. Vocally, he doesn't force the issue and instrumentally, he provides a nice traditional blues based sound which sounds very basic and simple, but the simplicity is deceiving as getting that correct sound is harder than it seems. John Kay switches from standard acoustic guitar, to resonator and electric guitars depending on what the songs need. His backing band is solid, and provides just enough support without overplaying.
Most of the songs are acoustic based, laid back, relaxed with blues story telling and commentary and continues to build until around three quarters of the way through, when the song 'Endless Commercial' adds great blues riffing electric guitar adds lots of attitude to the song. From this point to the end of the DVD, things start rocking until it ends with Steppenwolf's 'Magic Carpet Ride' and the obligatory 'Born to be Wild'. The encore drops back to a bluesy 'The Back Page' to finish off the DVD.
Bottom Line: This is an excellent DVD, with excellent video and audio. There is a fair amount of diversity with this release. If you like later Steppenwolf or John Kay's solo works, then you should like this release. If you are looking for lots of heavy blues riffing guitar, you might want to look elsewhere, but for pure vocal and musical entertainment, this DVD gets four out of five stars.
Musicians:
John Kay - acoustic, resophonic and electric guitars
Ron Hurst - drums
Danny Johnson - electric guitar, Mandolin and Hand Drum
Guy Divito - Bass
Wally "Sweet Daddy" Greaney - Harmonica
Michael Wilk - keyboards
Renee Armand - Vocals
Web sites: www.steppenwolf.com
Buy this CD NOW:
Your purchase through the Amazon.com links at the end of each review, or by simply clicking on this banner (below) to order this or many other products from Amazon, helps to support this website as well as the featured blues artist.
"This review is copyright © 2005 by Robert T. Murphy, and Blues On Stage at: www.mnblues.com, all rights reserved. Copy, duplication or download prohibited without permission."
Copyright reuse notice: If you would like to reprint or use this review please include the above copyright notice, contained within the quotation marks, PLUS this statement: "Used with permission." Then send an email to Ray at: mnblues@aol.com indicating how you are using the review or the website page address it will be appearing on. Thanks!
Your purchase through the Amazon.com links at the end of each review, or by simply clicking on this banner (below) to order this or many other products from Amazon, helps to support this website as well as the featured blues artist.
Click on this banner to get you new low percent credit card:
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT! You can help support this blues website by making a contribution (click on the banner below for details).
Or mail a donation to: Ray Stiles % Blues On Stage, PO Box 582983, Mpls, MN 55458. Thanks!
Web Hosting & Design:
CLICK HERE for Web Design SPECIAL, get your own website for just $75.
The most affordable web hosting and design services available. Click Here
to find out how you can host your current site at Blues On Stage, or how I can help you design your own website!
If you would like your CD reviewed, please send TWO (2) copies, along with promotional material to:
Blues On Stage
PO Box 582983
Minneapolis, MN 55458-2983
E-mail Ray Stiles @ mnblues@aol.com with any questions.
We build websites