Contemporary blues, blues-rock, and soul comes from the son of the late blues/R&B legend. With mostly credible covers of his father's tunes, it was a Grammy nominee. ~ Niles J. Frantz
Contemporary blues, blues-rock, and soul comes from the son of the late blues/R&B legend. With mostly credible covers of his father's tunes, it was a Grammy nominee. ~ Niles J. Frantz
Tule petticoat roze. Deze roze tule petticoat is helemaal geschikt om uw rok wat mooier en wijder te laten vallen. Het perfecte rock and roll item! One size: S/M.
Tule petticoat rood. Deze rode tule petticoat is helemaal geschikt om uw rok wat mooier en wijder te laten vallen. Het perfecte rock and roll item! One size: S/M.
Born in Manchester, England, in 1977, British singer/guitarist Matt Schofield was not around during the British blues-rock explosion of the '60s (as in Cream, Ten Years After, and the Yardbirds). Schofield isn't old enough to remember when Eric Clapton was with Cream, and he was only three when Led Zeppelin broke up in 1980. But thanks to recordings, he has been able to absorb many of the great blues, rock, soul, and jazz artists who came from previous generations -- and this excellent CD demonstrates that the recordings of Schofield's predecessors have taught him well. Ear to the Ground, like his previous release, Siftin' Thru Ashes, is full of healthy influences ranging from Chess Records to British blues-rock to Robben Ford to Stevie Ray Vaughan. Schofield is blues-oriented, but he is far from a blues purist and does not try to hide his appreciation of rock, jazz, soul, and funk. In fact, one of the great things about Ear to the Ground is the way Schofield is able to draw on both the toughness of blues-rock and the sophistication of blues-jazz. Schofield packs a muscular blues-rock punch on 'Heart Don't Need a Compass,' 'Troublemaker,' and 'Someone,' but his jazz chops assert themselves pleasingly well on 'Searchin' (Give Me a Sign)' and the instrumental 'Move Along.' And from a jazz standpoint, the fact that Schofield leads an organ trio on Ear to the Ground is a definite plus: the organ trio, after all, is a format that is synonymous with Hammond B-3 icons like Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, and Richard 'Groove' Holmes. Those who enjoyed Siftin' Thru Ashes will be glad to know that Schofield is equally captivating on Ear to the Ground. ~ Alex Henderson
Before the arrival of Carlos Santana's eponymous band, the San Francisco rock scene drew the inspiration for its jam-oriented music mainly from blues, rock, and Eastern modalities. Santana added Latin music to the mix, forever changing the course of rock & roll history. On Santana's groundbreaking debut album, the group mixes Latin percussion with driving rock grooves. Santana's unique guitar style, alternately biting and liquid, vies with the multiple percussionists for the sonic focus.Unlike later efforts, Santana's first album features an abundance of loose collective compositions based on a couple of simple riffs ('Jingo', 'Soul Sacrifice'). This approach allows for Santana and his bandmates to flex their improvisational muscles to fine effect. The high energy level on SANTANA is infectious--the laid-back feel of other '60s S.F. groups was clearly not for Carlos and company.
This impressive, impeccably packaged four-CD box set focuses solely on B.B. King's 1950s and 1960s recordings for the Modern family of labels. That was a period that basically encompassed the vast majority of his work prior to 1962, though he did a few non-Modern sides before signing with ABC Paramount in early 1962 and did a few other sides for Modern in the mid-'60s. So this is basically a box-set overview of King's early career, one that saw him score many R&B hits and build a career as a blues legend, even as the blues were falling out of fashion in favor of rock and soul. As many tracks as there are here -- 106 in all, four of them previously unreleased -- this isn't a catchall roundup of everything the prolific King did for the label. Additional material shows up on more specialized retrospectives, like Ace's own The Modern Recordings, 1950-1951. King's output during this period might be more consistent than it is varied, but both King fans and committed blues enthusiasts in general will be mighty happy with this set, presenting the considerable bulk of his significant Modern sides with intelligence. Each individual CD focuses on a theme of sort. Disc one, 'The Great B.B.,' concentrates on the hits and most familiar tunes, like 'Sweet Little Angel,' 'Every Day I Have the Blues,' 'Sweet Sixteen,' 'Downhearted (How Blue Can You Get?),' 'Rock Me Baby,' '3 O'Clock Blues,' and 'Did You Ever Love a Woman.' The disc titled 'Memphis Blues'n'Boogie' is pretty self-explanatory and perhaps the least exciting of the CDs, as it's the most samey-sounding. The disc 'Take a Swing With Me' is devoted to King's mild stylistic tours into soul, gospel, doo wop, and rock & roll, though it's usually a case of King absorbing such influences into blues than trying something too different. The final CD, 'King of the Blues,' puts the spotlight on his later recordings for the label, in which his sound was maturing into something more urbanely soulful, though 'Fishin' After Me' (aka 'Catfish Blues') sounds like a Howlin' Wolf track with a typically smooth B.B. King vocal dubbed onto it. There are a lot of good tracks here that even those with relatively large B.B. King collections might not be too intimate with, and even the more generic ones virtually always maintain a high level of professionalism and passion. A major bonus is the 76-page booklet, with detailed essays on King's early career, the Modern label, King's early road tours, an interview with early King producer Sam Phillips, and a thorough B.B. King/Modern discography. ~ Richie Unterberger
Atlantic did not record a great deal of blues records, focusing even on its outset on more urban music that could be more comfortably classified as R&B (and later rock and soul). It did its share of worthwhile, though not classic, blues from the late '40s to the early '60s, and 25 examples are collected on this CD. Overall, the Atlantic blues sound, as heard here anyway, was usually smoother and more polished than that of more blues-oriented big indie labels like Chess and Modern. Of the famous figures on this anthology, Ray Charles is represented by three early cuts, the standout being 'Losing Hand,' with its unusual (for blues) minor jazz-tinged melody. T-Bone Walker is heard on a couple of okay 1955 singles: Jack Dupree does slightly jazz piano blues on two songs from a 1958 LP. John Lee Hooker's two characteristically biting, scabrous 1953 tracks were actually waxed for De Luxe in 1953, though the masters were later bought by Atlantic. Joe Turner's sole cut is his 1954 Top Ten hit 'TV Mama,' which featured guitar by Elmore James. James also plays guitar on the five sides by his pianist, Little Johnny Jones, who does acceptable journeyman Chicago blues. The other performers who fill out the disc -- Tiny Grimes, Frank Culley, Jimmy Earle, Lucky Davis, Chuck Norris (no, not the famous actor), Jimmy Griffin, Odelle Turner, and Hal Paige -- do passable songs only of note to collectors, though Larry Dale does a nice 1961 cover of the standard 'Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee.' [This U.K. import is not available for sale in North America.] ~ Richie Unterberger
Cuba-born and Jamaica-bred singer Laurel Aitken would eventually become known as 'the Godfather of Ska,' but first paid his dues as a Jamaican folksinger and nightclub entertainer who played a blend of early rock & roll, jump blues, and boogie. By the time he was signed to London's Blue Beat label in 1960 -- his 'Boogie Rock' was their first-ever release -- he had started to shape the sound that would later make him famous. Although 'Boogie Rock' is inexplicably missing here, this generous compilation contains heaping helpings of straight R&B and proto-rock amidst tasty ska tracks like 'Brother David,' 'You Got Me Rockin',' and a blue-beat version of 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.' It's on the spiritual numbers -- 'Zion,' 'Mighty Redeemer' -- that Aitken's soulful voice really soars, although he is equally capable of getting down and dirty. Newcomers to Aitken's music might be better served by Pressure Drop's more comprehensive two-disc anthology The Godfather of Ska, which showcases the ska and pre-reggae island sound for which he was renowned, but fans of early R&B, rock, and soul, or Laurel Aitken completists, will have much to celebrate and enjoy here. ~ Paula Carino
Revelator is the debut studio album from the 11-piece Tedeschi-Trucks Band, who already have a reputation as a wildly exciting live jam group. That said, the record that Susan Tedeschi and husband Derek Trucks have recorded proves something beyond their well-founded reputation as a live unit: that they can write, perform, and produce great songs that capture the authentic, emotional fire and original arrangements that so many modern blues and roots recordings lack. The duo forged their two individual solo bands (Trucks remains with the Allman Brothers Band) and added some other players. Oteil and Kofi Burbridge and Mike Mattison, as well as drummers Tyler Greenwell and J.J. Johnson are on board, as well as backing vocalists and a horn section. Produced by Trucks and Jim Scott, these 12 songs seamlessly meld blues, rock, Southern soul, gospel, and funk traditions into a heady, seductive, spine-slipping stew. The record also showcases Tedeschi as one of the finest vocal stylists in roots music, and Trucks, has become the only true heir of Duane Allman's bell-like slide guitar tone, his taste and restraint. More than this, Revelator offers proof that this pair and their bandmates are serious songwriters as well as players--anyone remember the original Little Feat? It's like that, but with a woman up front. While the single, 'Midnight in Harlem,' highlights the softer,side of the band with Tedeschi's soulful croon and Trucks' swooning slide, it's the harder numbers that fill out the story. The sexy opener 'Come See About Me,' the bluesy, gospelized 'Don't Let Me Slide' (one of two cuts written by Trucks and Tedeschi with Jayhawk Gary Louris), the second-line funk-blues of 'Bound for Glory' with its punchy horns: all of these offer evidence of the real depth that this band abundantly possesses. There's the skittering, slow-tempo guitar and B-3 soul-blues of 'Simple Things,' and the New Orleans-style horns introducing 'Until You Remember,' which can distract the listener for a moment from experiencing these songs for what they are-- until Tedeschi opens her mouth and lets the lyrics come up from her belly and drip from her lips and Trucks matches her emotion in his solo-- love songs: the likes of which we haven't heard since Delaney & Bonnie. The Eastern modal tinge in Trucks' playing and tablas dustinguishes 'These Walls,' tempered by the quiet conviction in the grain of Tedeschi's vocal would have made for a better single. The nasty, funky, Hendrixian droning blues of 'Learn How to Love' is textured by Kofi's funky clavinet and Wurlitzer. Speaking of funk, Tedeschi takes her own smoking guitar break in 'Love Has Something Else to Say,' a slamming, break-ridden funk tune that quakes. It combines hard Southern Stax-styled rhythm, soul, blues, and nasty-ass rock. Revelator is a roots record that sets a modern standard even as it draws its inspiration from the past. It's got everything a listener could want: grit, groove, raw, spiritual emotion, and expert-level musical truth. ~ Thom Jurek
With ten tracks from rare 1961-1966 singles, three cuts that only appeared on a compilation, and 13 previously unreleased recordings (one of them a previously unissued alternate take of their single 'Bad, Bad Whiskey'), this is a more comprehensive anthology of this obscure group than anyone could have envisioned. As exhaustive as the archivism might be, it's fairly routine early-'60s-styled R&B-rock (even on the mid-'60s recordings), anchored by bluesy riffs and a small combo organ-grounded sound on both vocal and instrumental numbers. In some ways it's similar to the energetic (if oft-unimaginative) grinds churned out by numerous Northwest bands in the same era, though the Merced Blue Notes leaned perhaps a bit more to the more modern, funkier grooves being opened up by groups like Booker T. & the MG's. Were these guys funky? Sure -- they spin out tough bluesy guitar licks, penetrating organ, occasional blues harmonica, and (on the non-instrumentals) raw vocals. Did they have interesting material? Not so much -- the tunes were often elementary and derivative. They shine brightest when the organ gets most assertive and the singing lets loose in a fashion that many rock and soul labels would have toned down, as heard on the unissued fast shuffle 'Greyhound' or the 1966 instrumental 'Rufus,' where the Booker T resemblance grows. Booker T. & the MG's, however, to take one point of reference, had far better riffs and arrangements, and to be harsh it's not too much of a surprise that these cats didn't break out of their region, as much entertainment as they must have provided at local shows and dances. ~ Richie Unterberger
Born in Manchester, England, in 1977, British singer/guitarist Matt Schofield was not around during the British blues-rock explosion of the '60s (as in Cream, Ten Years After, and the Yardbirds). Schofield isn't old enough to remember when Eric Clapton was with Cream, and he was only three when Led Zeppelin broke up in 1980. But thanks to recordings, he has been able to absorb many of the great blues, rock, soul, and jazz artists who came from previous generations -- and this excellent CD demonstrates that the recordings of Schofield's predecessors have taught him well. Ear to the Ground, like his previous release, Siftin' Thru Ashes, is full of healthy influences ranging from Chess Records to British blues-rock to Robben Ford to Stevie Ray Vaughan. Schofield is blues-oriented, but he is far from a blues purist and does not try to hide his appreciation of rock, jazz, soul, and funk. In fact, one of the great things about Ear to the Ground is the way Schofield is able to draw on both the toughness of blues-rock and the sophistication of blues-jazz. Schofield packs a muscular blues-rock punch on 'Heart Don't Need a Compass,' 'Troublemaker,' and 'Someone,' but his jazz chops assert themselves pleasingly well on 'Searchin' (Give Me a Sign)' and the instrumental 'Move Along.' And from a jazz standpoint, the fact that Schofield leads an organ trio on Ear to the Ground is a definite plus: the organ trio, after all, is a format that is synonymous with Hammond B-3 icons like Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, and Richard 'Groove' Holmes. Those who enjoyed Siftin' Thru Ashes will be glad to know that Schofield is equally captivating on Ear to the Ground. ~ Alex Henderson
Before the arrival of Carlos Santana's eponymous band, the San Francisco rock scene drew the inspiration for its jam-oriented music mainly from blues, rock, and Eastern modalities. Santana added Latin music to the mix, forever changing the course of rock & roll history. On Santana's groundbreaking debut album, the group mixes Latin percussion with driving rock grooves. Santana's unique guitar style, alternately biting and liquid, vies with the multiple percussionists for the sonic focus.Unlike later efforts, Santana's first album features an abundance of loose collective compositions based on a couple of simple riffs ('Jingo', 'Soul Sacrifice'). This approach allows for Santana and his bandmates to flex their improvisational muscles to fine effect. The high energy level on SANTANA is infectious--the laid-back feel of other '60s S.F. groups was clearly not for Carlos and company.
This impressive, impeccably packaged four-CD box set focuses solely on B.B. King's 1950s and 1960s recordings for the Modern family of labels. That was a period that basically encompassed the vast majority of his work prior to 1962, though he did a few non-Modern sides before signing with ABC Paramount in early 1962 and did a few other sides for Modern in the mid-'60s. So this is basically a box-set overview of King's early career, one that saw him score many R&B hits and build a career as a blues legend, even as the blues were falling out of fashion in favor of rock and soul. As many tracks as there are here -- 106 in all, four of them previously unreleased -- this isn't a catchall roundup of everything the prolific King did for the label. Additional material shows up on more specialized retrospectives, like Ace's own The Modern Recordings, 1950-1951. King's output during this period might be more consistent than it is varied, but both King fans and committed blues enthusiasts in general will be mighty happy with this set, presenting the considerable bulk of his significant Modern sides with intelligence. Each individual CD focuses on a theme of sort. Disc one, 'The Great B.B.,' concentrates on the hits and most familiar tunes, like 'Sweet Little Angel,' 'Every Day I Have the Blues,' 'Sweet Sixteen,' 'Downhearted (How Blue Can You Get?),' 'Rock Me Baby,' '3 O'Clock Blues,' and 'Did You Ever Love a Woman.' The disc titled 'Memphis Blues'n'Boogie' is pretty self-explanatory and perhaps the least exciting of the CDs, as it's the most samey-sounding. The disc 'Take a Swing With Me' is devoted to King's mild stylistic tours into soul, gospel, doo wop, and rock & roll, though it's usually a case of King absorbing such influences into blues than trying something too different. The final CD, 'King of the Blues,' puts the spotlight on his later recordings for the label, in which his sound was maturing into something more urbanely soulful, though 'Fishin' After Me' (aka 'Catfish Blues') sounds like a Howlin' Wolf track with a typically smooth B.B. King vocal dubbed onto it. There are a lot of good tracks here that even those with relatively large B.B. King collections might not be too intimate with, and even the more generic ones virtually always maintain a high level of professionalism and passion. A major bonus is the 76-page booklet, with detailed essays on King's early career, the Modern label, King's early road tours, an interview with early King producer Sam Phillips, and a thorough B.B. King/Modern discography. ~ Richie Unterberger
Atlantic did not record a great deal of blues records, focusing even on its outset on more urban music that could be more comfortably classified as R&B (and later rock and soul). It did its share of worthwhile, though not classic, blues from the late '40s to the early '60s, and 25 examples are collected on this CD. Overall, the Atlantic blues sound, as heard here anyway, was usually smoother and more polished than that of more blues-oriented big indie labels like Chess and Modern. Of the famous figures on this anthology, Ray Charles is represented by three early cuts, the standout being 'Losing Hand,' with its unusual (for blues) minor jazz-tinged melody. T-Bone Walker is heard on a couple of okay 1955 singles: Jack Dupree does slightly jazz piano blues on two songs from a 1958 LP. John Lee Hooker's two characteristically biting, scabrous 1953 tracks were actually waxed for De Luxe in 1953, though the masters were later bought by Atlantic. Joe Turner's sole cut is his 1954 Top Ten hit 'TV Mama,' which featured guitar by Elmore James. James also plays guitar on the five sides by his pianist, Little Johnny Jones, who does acceptable journeyman Chicago blues. The other performers who fill out the disc -- Tiny Grimes, Frank Culley, Jimmy Earle, Lucky Davis, Chuck Norris (no, not the famous actor), Jimmy Griffin, Odelle Turner, and Hal Paige -- do passable songs only of note to collectors, though Larry Dale does a nice 1961 cover of the standard 'Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee.' [This U.K. import is not available for sale in North America.] ~ Richie Unterberger
Cuba-born and Jamaica-bred singer Laurel Aitken would eventually become known as 'the Godfather of Ska,' but first paid his dues as a Jamaican folksinger and nightclub entertainer who played a blend of early rock & roll, jump blues, and boogie. By the time he was signed to London's Blue Beat label in 1960 -- his 'Boogie Rock' was their first-ever release -- he had started to shape the sound that would later make him famous. Although 'Boogie Rock' is inexplicably missing here, this generous compilation contains heaping helpings of straight R&B and proto-rock amidst tasty ska tracks like 'Brother David,' 'You Got Me Rockin',' and a blue-beat version of 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.' It's on the spiritual numbers -- 'Zion,' 'Mighty Redeemer' -- that Aitken's soulful voice really soars, although he is equally capable of getting down and dirty. Newcomers to Aitken's music might be better served by Pressure Drop's more comprehensive two-disc anthology The Godfather of Ska, which showcases the ska and pre-reggae island sound for which he was renowned, but fans of early R&B, rock, and soul, or Laurel Aitken completists, will have much to celebrate and enjoy here. ~ Paula Carino
Revelator is the debut studio album from the 11-piece Tedeschi-Trucks Band, who already have a reputation as a wildly exciting live jam group. That said, the record that Susan Tedeschi and husband Derek Trucks have recorded proves something beyond their well-founded reputation as a live unit: that they can write, perform, and produce great songs that capture the authentic, emotional fire and original arrangements that so many modern blues and roots recordings lack. The duo forged their two individual solo bands (Trucks remains with the Allman Brothers Band) and added some other players. Oteil and Kofi Burbridge and Mike Mattison, as well as drummers Tyler Greenwell and J.J. Johnson are on board, as well as backing vocalists and a horn section. Produced by Trucks and Jim Scott, these 12 songs seamlessly meld blues, rock, Southern soul, gospel, and funk traditions into a heady, seductive, spine-slipping stew. The record also showcases Tedeschi as one of the finest vocal stylists in roots music, and Trucks, has become the only true heir of Duane Allman's bell-like slide guitar tone, his taste and restraint. More than this, Revelator offers proof that this pair and their bandmates are serious songwriters as well as players--anyone remember the original Little Feat? It's like that, but with a woman up front. While the single, 'Midnight in Harlem,' highlights the softer,side of the band with Tedeschi's soulful croon and Trucks' swooning slide, it's the harder numbers that fill out the story. The sexy opener 'Come See About Me,' the bluesy, gospelized 'Don't Let Me Slide' (one of two cuts written by Trucks and Tedeschi with Jayhawk Gary Louris), the second-line funk-blues of 'Bound for Glory' with its punchy horns: all of these offer evidence of the real depth that this band abundantly possesses. There's the skittering, slow-tempo guitar and B-3 soul-blues of 'Simple Things,' and the New Orleans-style horns introducing 'Until You Remember,' which can distract the listener for a moment from experiencing these songs for what they are-- until Tedeschi opens her mouth and lets the lyrics come up from her belly and drip from her lips and Trucks matches her emotion in his solo-- love songs: the likes of which we haven't heard since Delaney & Bonnie. The Eastern modal tinge in Trucks' playing and tablas dustinguishes 'These Walls,' tempered by the quiet conviction in the grain of Tedeschi's vocal would have made for a better single. The nasty, funky, Hendrixian droning blues of 'Learn How to Love' is textured by Kofi's funky clavinet and Wurlitzer. Speaking of funk, Tedeschi takes her own smoking guitar break in 'Love Has Something Else to Say,' a slamming, break-ridden funk tune that quakes. It combines hard Southern Stax-styled rhythm, soul, blues, and nasty-ass rock. Revelator is a roots record that sets a modern standard even as it draws its inspiration from the past. It's got everything a listener could want: grit, groove, raw, spiritual emotion, and expert-level musical truth. ~ Thom Jurek
With ten tracks from rare 1961-1966 singles, three cuts that only appeared on a compilation, and 13 previously unreleased recordings (one of them a previously unissued alternate take of their single 'Bad, Bad Whiskey'), this is a more comprehensive anthology of this obscure group than anyone could have envisioned. As exhaustive as the archivism might be, it's fairly routine early-'60s-styled R&B-rock (even on the mid-'60s recordings), anchored by bluesy riffs and a small combo organ-grounded sound on both vocal and instrumental numbers. In some ways it's similar to the energetic (if oft-unimaginative) grinds churned out by numerous Northwest bands in the same era, though the Merced Blue Notes leaned perhaps a bit more to the more modern, funkier grooves being opened up by groups like Booker T. & the MG's. Were these guys funky? Sure -- they spin out tough bluesy guitar licks, penetrating organ, occasional blues harmonica, and (on the non-instrumentals) raw vocals. Did they have interesting material? Not so much -- the tunes were often elementary and derivative. They shine brightest when the organ gets most assertive and the singing lets loose in a fashion that many rock and soul labels would have toned down, as heard on the unissued fast shuffle 'Greyhound' or the 1966 instrumental 'Rufus,' where the Booker T resemblance grows. Booker T. & the MG's, however, to take one point of reference, had far better riffs and arrangements, and to be harsh it's not too much of a surprise that these cats didn't break out of their region, as much entertainment as they must have provided at local shows and dances. ~ Richie Unterberger
Nelson George and Alan Leeds have assembled the first comprehensive collection of writings about the late, great Godfather of Soul, creating a fascinating mosaic of the man and the musician. Known as the hardest-working man in show business, James Brown embodied rhythm and blues, funk and soul, and sensuality. His musical innovations in such indelible grooves as “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine,” “I Got You (I Feel Good),” and “PapaÂ's Got a Brand New Bag,” transformed American mu
From the moment, Jeff Healey first laid a guitar at the age of 3, across his lap, it was clear he was no ordinary kid. Losing both eyes to retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer, opened a door to another world for Jeff. Out of darkness he created music, becoming one of the most influential blues-rock and jazz performers.
Provides biographical information about 5500 composers, performers, music theorists, and instrument makers from the days of praise chants to contemporary pop. This dictionary contains classical and art music, and also jazz and blues, rock, and hymns and showtunes across the ages.
A transcription of GFA and Winfield Fingerstyle winner Michael Chapdelaine's fourth CD. These 10 pieces are classical in technique, although not totally classical in style, featuring blues, rock, and contemporary idioms.
The titular 'bigger plate' refers to an additional DVD now included with the original studio audio CD. This features a 90-minute show of a smoking, in more ways than one, performance of the Ian Siegal band at the North Sea Jazz Festival on tour to promote his Meat & Potatoes album. The simple answer to the obvious question of whether this justifies buying the album again for those who already own it is an unqualified yes. Siegal reprises six of the disc's songs and not only extends them but adds two covers that allow him even more room to stretch out. The closing 'You Don't Love Me' is lengthened to a 15-minute centerpiece where Siegal wanders off on long but never boring talk/singing interludes that add an edge to his already spiked-up combination of blues, funk, and soul. His version of the Jimmy Liggins by way of Albert Collins 'I Ain't Drunk' expands to over nine minutes. The total of those two tracks alone accounts for nearly a third of the show. Siegal's usual backing duo is also enhanced for this gig by guitarist Matt Schofield, a Nugene-signed act who is also Siegal's producer, and Schofield's keyboardist, Jonny Henderson. The beefed-up sound and extra musicians allow Siegal room to lay back, play occasional rhythm guitar, and even drop his instrument occasionally to concentrate on singing. It's somewhat disconcerting to hear that Howlin' Wolf-styled rasp emanate from Siegal's baby face, but his style, while obviously indebted to Wolf, never seems forced. He is also one of the few musicians to light a cigarette and smoke during a song -- he does this twice -- while cautioning about the addictive properties of nicotine. But it's his rugged playing and intense singing here that are addictive. Siegal unleashes his slide for the New Orleans-styled 'Drowned My Sorrows' and sweats out the funk during 'Brandy Balloon.' Schofield steals the show for a few solos, lighting up his Telecaster on 'Bloodshot' as Siegal lays into his Wolf howl. Everything is tougher, tighter, and longer than the album versions of these tunes, which lash out here with the passion that only a great band meshing on-stage can provide. The camera work is smooth and unobtrusive, the lights shift from deep reds to vibrant greens, and the Surround Sound mix is full as Siegal and the band spark and catch fire. It's a perfect addition to the studio album and a great introduction for those new to Ian Siegal's blues inferno. ~ Hal Horowitz
The Fish's best selling third album was, perhaps not coincidentally, less concerned with controlled substances and radical politics than its predecessors, although an interest in both obviously remained. For psychedelia see the Barry Melton guitar workout 'Cetacean', and for politics see 'The Harlem Song', a piece of ironic blackface minstrelsy that its writer, Country Joe McDonald, was fond of saying offended even him.Elsewhere, the album is characterised more by the opening 'Rock and Soul Music', a funny half-spoken tribute to James Brown that featured prominently in the band's stage act for years (including a segment where they played baseball). Pieces of outright whimsy like 'Away Bounce My Bubbles' and 'Waltzing in the Moonlight', an over the top ode to a flamenco dancer the band apparently enjoyed, also make an appearance.
'The '59 Sound' is the second album from New Jersey based four piece Gaslight Anthem and their first for punk label SideOneDummy. Produced by Ted Hutt (Flogging Molly, The Bouncing Souls) the album's mix of punk, rock and soul sees them take influence from the New Brunswick hardcore scene, home to the likes of Thursday and The Bouncing Souls while incorporating the classic rock sound of New Jersey's most famous son Bruce Springsteen. Guest spots come from the likes of Hot Water Music's Chris Wollard and Mighty Mighty Bosstones' Dicky Barrett.
Rick Derringer tried a variety of different things in the 1980s, '90s, and 2000s. The singer/guitarist recorded his share of middle of the road pop/rock and adult contemporary albums, and he even recorded an instrumental jazz-pop/smooth jazz album that had George Benson-ish leanings (2002's Free Ride). But Derringer, who turned 61 in 2008, has a way of going back to blues-rock and hard rock -- which is exactly what he does on Knighted by the Blues. Granted, this 2009 release wasn't recorded with blues purists in mind: not everything on Knighted by the Blues adheres to the traditional 12-bar format. But the feeling of the blues is quite strong throughout this 51-minute CD: that feeling is as strong on Derringer's own songs as it is on enjoyable performances of Jimi Hendrix's 'If 6 Was Nine' and Ray Charles' 'Funny, I Still Love You.' Knighted by the Blues is definitely one of Derringer's grittier, tougher, more ballsy efforts -- and given his history, it isn't surprising that he would return to this type of approach. Over the years, Derringer has fluctuated between very commercial recordings and recordings that were much edgier. It's no coincidence that even though Derringer is best known for 'Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo,' he is also well known for the bubblegum pop/rock he played with the McCoys in the '60s. So taking his history into account, it really isn't surprising that Derringer would offer a jazz-pop/smooth jazz album in 2002 and come out with a blues-rock/hard rock album like Knighted by the Blues seven years later in 2009. Knighted by the Blues isn't among Derringer's essential releases, but it's certainly respectable and is well worth hearing if one fancies his edgier side. ~ Alex Henderson
This two-CD reissue of Ducks Deluxe's first two albums differs from the previous Edsel two-on-one release, as no tracks were omitted due to space constraints. In retrospect, these recordings seem more relevant after the passage of time, as they provide a clearer linkage between British blues-based album rock and late-'70s punk and post-punk new wave. In fact, the influences of British pub rock span back to '50s rock & roll and R&B. Their take on Eddie Cochran's 'Nervous Breakdown' bears an uncanny resemblance to perhaps his biggest hit, 'Summertime Blues.' But it's Ducks Deluxe's original pieces that evoke echoes of artists like the Rolling Stones, Them, and Mott the Hoople. 'Fireball' sounds like a direct outtake from All the Young Dudes or Mott, while the R&B-rich 'Falling for That Woman' suggests Van Morrison at his soulful best. 'Rio Grande,' from Taxi to the Terminal Zone, wouldn't sound out of place on Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks. Conversely, the pub rock forwarded by this band also foretells of sounds yet to come by both their direct offspring the Motors and indirect kin Graham Parker, whose early recordings were on par with the historic debut albums of Elvis Costello and the Clash. 'Please, Please, Please' is a direct precursor to the Motors' 'Dreaming Your Life Away.' Additionally, next-generation bands like the Saw Doctors owe a debt of gratitude to Ducks Deluxe, as they borrowed judiciously from their elders' bold musical stew. But regardless of the multitude of musical influences the listener may cite (and there are too many to mention), this blend of rockabilly, R&B, blues-rock, and country pre-punk known as pub rock continues to stand the test of time. ~ Dave Sleger
It is impossible to look at the front and back covers of Stoney Curtis' debut album, Acid Blues Experience, without thinking of the psychedelic era: the trippy artwork on this 2005 release is very psychedelic-inspired, recalling album covers of the '60s and '70s -- and musically, Acid Blues Experience does, in fact, have some psychedelic influences. But this 68-minute CD is never psychedelic in a power pop way: Curtis doesn't cover the Strawberry Alarm Clark's 'Incense and Peppermints' or the Beatles' 'Strawberry Fields Forever.' Instead, the psychedelic influences on Acid Blues Experience are blues-rock and hard rock influences (including Jimi Hendrix and Cream), and the singer/guitarist's influences do not end or begin with the psychedelic era. George Thorogood & the Destroyers and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan are among the post-'60s influences, while the pre-psychedelic influences include electric Chicago blues greats like Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, and Buddy Guy. Put all of those influences together, and you have a smart, focused blues-rock/hard rock disc that gets its inspiration from different eras and paints a very attractive picture of Curtis as both a vocalist and a guitarist. Although Curtis is an excellent singer, it would be a mistake to think that his guitar playing is simply guitar playing in service of his vocals: Curtis' guitar chops are a vital part of his musical identity, and the burning instrumental 'Mulholland Shuffle' demonstrates that he can be expressive even without vocals. Curtis' second album, Raw and Real, is a bit more essential than Acid Blues Experience, but even so, this is an impressive and promising debut from the Chicago native turned Los Angeles resident. ~ Alex Henderson
From Dusk Till Dawn follows the pattern of previous Quentin Tarantino-related movie soundtracks by concentrating on a particular musical theme -- in this case, Tex-Mex-flavored blues-rock -- and punctuating it with dialogue from the film. However, the From Dusk Till Dawn soundtrack doesn't work quite as well as the ones for Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, mainly because the majority of the music is made-to-order and familiar, not resurrected oldies or forgotten genre gems. There are some good songs -- the presence of Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Blasters, and ZZ Top guarantees that -- but the majority of the album is dull, and that includes the excerpts of dialogue. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Never let it be said that Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen were an easy band to categorize. They played rockabilly, country-rock, and Western swing, but they also played jump blues, blues-rock, and early R&B: they excelled at honky tonk, but they were also a first-class rock & roll band. And their versatility is impossible to miss on this 68-minute CD, which focuses on a July 1, 1980 show in Germany. This disc isn't recommended to audiophiles: although listenable, the sound quality isn't great. Nonetheless, the sound quality is good enough to capture the energy and vitality of this concert, which finds Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen in fine form on crowd-pleasers like 'Hot Rod Lincoln,' 'Beat Me Daddy 8 to the Bar,' and 'Riot in Cell Block No. 9.' Cody has long had a reputation for going that extra mile on-stage, which is exactly what he does during this show in Germany -- and Cody, true to form, never shows a preference for any one particular style over another. Rockabilly, country-rock, rock & roll, jump blues, blues-rock, honky tonk, and R&B are all part of the equation here. But as many different styles as Cody embraces, he never sounds confused or unfocused. Cody has no problem finding the parallels between different styles, and everything that he touches is American roots music in some respect. The less than ideal sound quality makes this CD a less than essential purchase, but Cody's hardcore fans will find it to be a fun listen nonetheless. ~ Alex Henderson
In the `60s, the South African-born trumpeter, producer, and composer Hugh Masekela played a pivotal role in introducing African music to western audiences. His albums made explicit the connection between African folk forms and African-American musical idioms like blues, jazz and soul. HOPE is a live album that captures Masekela performing in D.C. with an accomplished, all-African band in 1993. On HOPE, Masekela revisits many of the highlights of his career, including his tribute to South Africa, 'Uptownship', and the strident protest number, 'Mandela'.
Six years after his successful tribute to Peter Green, Gary Moore follows with another solid electric blues-rock effort that falls squarely in line with his similarly themed albums Still Got the Blues, After Hours, and Blues Alive. Although he adds brass on a rollicking version of B.B. King's 'You Upset Me Baby,' Moore predominantly sticks to the basics here, pounding out energetic and full-bodied blues-rock and leading a stripped-down trio with a journeyman's enthusiasm and his trademark thick, sustained guitar solos slashing through the proceedings. The majority of the tracks are originals, although even the best of them sound suspiciously like rewritten blues standards. 'Cold Black Night' is little more than a speeded-up 'Messin' With the Kid,' and 'Picture of the Moon' sounds awfully similar to Moore's own 'Still Got the Blues.' And whether the world needs yet another version of 'Stormy Monday' or 'I Ain't Got You' is debatable. But Moore pulls off even the most clichéd material with his phenomenal prowess: supple, identifiable vocals: and a guitar tone that effortlessly shifts from a Santana/Peter Green-styled hovering intensity to a slashing Stevie Ray Vaughan attack. While Moore isn't redefining the genre or even his own approach to it, he's adding his stamp to blues-rock with Back to the Blues. Consistently rugged, moving, and heartfelt, the album is a reminder that even without reinventing an established musical style, an artist can effectively work within its boundaries to produce a satisfying, if not quite fresh, interpretation relying solely on talent and passion. ~ Hal Horowitz
Black Sabbath's debut album is the birth of heavy metal as we now know it. Compatriots like Blue Cheer, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple were already setting new standards for volume and heaviness in the realms of psychedelia, blues-rock, and prog rock. Yet of these metal pioneers, Sabbath are the only one whose sound today remains instantly recognizable as heavy metal, even after decades of evolution in the genre. Circumstance certainly played some role in the birth of this musical revolution -- the sonic ugliness reflecting the bleak industrial nightmare of Birmingham: guitarist Tony Iommi's loss of two fingertips, which required him to play slower and to slacken the strings by tuning his guitar down, thus creating Sabbath's signature style. These qualities set the band apart, but they weren't wholly why this debut album transcends its clear roots in blues-rock and psychedelia to become something more. Sabbath's genius was finding the hidden malevolence in the blues, and then bludgeoning the listener over the head with it. Take the legendary album-opening title cut. The standard pentatonic blues scale always added the tritone, or flatted fifth, as the so-called 'blues note': Sabbath simply extracted it and came up with one of the simplest yet most definitive heavy metal riffs of all time. Thematically, most of heavy metal's great lyrical obsessions are not only here, they're all crammed onto side one. 'Black Sabbath,' 'The Wizard,' 'Behind the Wall of Sleep,' and 'N.I.B.' evoke visions of evil, paganism, and the occult as filtered through horror films and the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, H.P. Lovecraft, and Dennis Wheatley. Even if the album ended here, it would still be essential listening. Unfortunately, much of side two is given over to loose blues-rock jamming learned through Cream, which plays squarely into the band's limitations. For all his stylistic innovations and strengths as a composer, Iommi isn't a hugely accomplished soloist. By the end of the murky, meandering, ten-minute cover of the Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation's 'Warning,' you can already hear him recycling some of the same simple blues licks he used on side one (plus, the word 'warn' never even appears in the song, because Ozzy Osbourne misheard the original lyrics). The British release included another cover, a version of Crow's 'Evil Woman' that doesn't quite pack the muscle of the band's originals. (The American version substitutes 'Wicked World,' which is much preferred by fans.) But even if the seams are still showing on this quickly recorded document, Black Sabbath is nonetheless a revolutionary debut whose distinctive ideas merely await a bit more focus and development. Henceforth Black Sabbath would forge ahead with a vision that was wholly theirs. ~ Steve Huey
Paranoid was not only Black Sabbath's most popular record (it was a number one smash in the U.K., and 'Paranoid' and 'Iron Man' both scraped the U.S. charts despite virtually nonexistent radio play), it also stands as one of the greatest and most influential heavy metal albums of all time. Paranoid refined Black Sabbath's signature sound -- crushingly loud, minor-key dirges loosely based on heavy blues-rock -- and applied it to a newly consistent set of songs with utterly memorable riffs, most of which now rank as all-time metal classics. Where the extended, multi-sectioned songs on the debut sometimes felt like aimless jams, their counterparts on Paranoid have been given focus and direction, lending an epic drama to now-standards like 'War Pigs' and 'Iron Man' (which sports one of the most immediately identifiable riffs in metal history). The subject matter is unrelentingly, obsessively dark, covering both supernatural/sci-fi horrors and the real-life traumas of death, war, nuclear annihilation, mental illness, drug hallucinations, and narcotic abuse. Yet Sabbath makes it totally convincing, thanks to the crawling, muddled bleakness and bad-trip depression evoked so frighteningly well by their music. Even the qualities that made critics deplore the album (and the group) for years increase the overall effect -- the technical simplicity of Ozzy Osbourne's vocals and Tony Iommi's lead guitar vocabulary: the spots when the lyrics sink into melodrama or awkwardness: the lack of subtlety and the infrequent dynamic contrast. Everything adds up to more than the sum of its parts, as though the anxieties behind the music simply demanded that the band achieve catharsis by steamrolling everything in its path, including its own limitations. Monolithic and primally powerful, Paranoid defined the sound and style of heavy metal more than any other record in rock history. ~ Steve Huey
If the phrase 'early country rock from Nashville' is used in mainstream rock books, it will usually refer to the mid- to late-'60s recordings made in Music City by Bob Dylan, the Byrds, and the numerous other folk-rockers and singer/songwriters who followed their lead to cut discs there. This CD, however, has no such famous artists, and indeed, is a lot more country than rock, though it's not without its interest. Instead, it's wholly devoted to obscure recordings that appeared on the Spar label, an independent company that didn't have much of the way in commercial success, but recorded a great deal of music in a variety of genres. No exact recording dates or original release information are given for these two-dozen tracks, unfortunately, though an educated guess would put the time frame between the mid-'60s and early '70s. When Bergen White is about the best known of the artists, you know you're not talking about either the front-line of country-rockers or the A-team of Nashville sessionmen. Nonetheless, this is a pretty solid set of obscure Nashville country music of the era that took some influences from contemporary rock and soul, if you're willing to look past packaging that's skimpy on hard information. It sounds rather like someone at a Nashville publisher or studio decided, for his or her own pleasure, to wade through the mass of demos or studio tapes submitted by hopefuls who never made it, culling some of the better unreleased material that wasn't deemed quite commercial enough to merit serious investment. If it's short on true inspiration or innovation, the performances are almost unflaggingly sincere, and many of the songs reasonably catchy and lyrically intelligent, even as they fail to sound like convincing possible hits. Some of this verges on rock, including the novelty 'I Ain't No Beatle' by Jack White (no, not that Jack White): a good deal of it's honky tonk or really straight Nashville country-pop that, despite the CD's title, isn't close to country-rock: and a few of the better songs seem like attempts to capture some of the country-pop crossover vibe of songs like 'Gentle on My Mind.' Steve Bess' 'There Was a Time' has enough of a sense of wistful early- to mid-'60s pop hooks to stand out as a possible crossover hit that someone missed picking up on as a choice of material to cover. The compilation's not strong enough to recommend as something even open-minded, serious '60s Nashville country enthusiasts are likely to play over and over. But it's plenty diverting enough while it's spinning, and contains pretty consistently decent efforts that few would discover if they weren't compiled onto one CD. ~ Richie Unterberger
Eat Pray Love, based on author Elizabeth Gilbert's 2006 memoir Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia, stars Julia Roberts as a newly divorced modern woman on a journey of self-discovery. The accompanying soundtrack offers up a nice blend of contemporary pop (Josh Rouse, Eddie Vedder), region/story-specific world music (Gato Barbieri, João Gilberto), and classic rock and soul (Neil Young, Marvin Gaye). Also included is ?The Long Road,? an epic 1997 collaboration between Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and late qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn, originally recorded for the film Dead Man Walking. ~ James Christopher Monger
Numerous rockers have incorporated reggae or ska into their work: white singers who are actually reggae-oriented are the exception rather than the rule. But occasionally, one comes across a white artist who has a reggae orientation and sings it convincingly. Someone like Cas Haley. That is not to say that Connection is the work of a reggae purist: Haley's forte is reggae mixed with pop/rock and soul, and anyone who expects Connection to be a hardcore, Rasta-oriented roots reggae album like, say, Burning Spear's Marcus Garvey or Peter Tosh's Legalize It will be disappointed. Haley doesn't have dread locks, and he would rather write about romantic love than Haile Selassie, Rastafarian ideology, or ganja smokers in Trenchtown. But as far as crossover reggae goes, this Texas-based singer/songwriter does have a certain earthiness about him. Connection sounds organic rather than slick, and Haley comes across as someone who is seriously immersed in reggae: not someone who has only a casual interest in reggae and decided to throw in some reggae beats here and there. When Haley performs, one gets the impression that yes, he's into pop/rock, but has also spent a lot of time absorbing the old-school lovers' rock grooves of artists like Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, and Freddie McGregor (lover's rock, for the uninitiated, is a term that refers to the apolitical side of '70s and '80s reggae: Isaacs' 'Night Nurse' and Bob Marley's 'Waiting in Vain' are definitive examples of classic lovers' rock). And he clearly shows an awareness of some of the pop/rock groups that have incorporated reggae, such as the Police and UB40. Although original material dominates this 2010 release, Haley also includes a reggae-pop remake of Alicia Keys' 'No One' -- which is a logical pick for him given the fact that he has crossover leanings but is also going for a soulful, down-home expression. Connection won't appeal to reggae purists, but listeners who like their reggae mixed with big doses of pop/rock and soul will find it to be an likable outing from this unpretentious Texan. ~ Alex Henderson
The Sons of Truth put out this album on Stax's subsidiary Gospel Truth in 1972, but it remains rare to the point of being nearly unknown, despite its affiliation with one of soul's most prominent labels. As Dean Rudland's historical liner notes to the 2010 CD reissue on Beat Goes Public rightly observe, it was an 'album filled with funk and soul with a gospel edge, rather than the other way around.' But while musically this is for the most part a funk-soul hybrid, lyrically it's very much in the religious gospel stream, as titles such as 'God Help Us All,' 'With Jesus You're Free,' 'Call on Him,' 'He's All We Need,' and 'God Bless the Children' make clear. The title of the album, as well as the cover showing a very hip-looking bunch of dudes in a dilapidated inner city environment, might lead you to expect something a little more political than what the album actually delivers. It's still an interesting blend of gospel with the steamy funk that was fast becoming a big soul trend in the early '70s, especially in the opening cut, 'Son of the Deacon,' a slow groover powered by a smoky fuzz guitar riff and smoldering female backup vocals. Nothing else on the album matches it, alas, but this has far more appeal to secular soul and rock fans than most gospel records that strive to incorporate contemporary sounds. The rabble-rousing 'I Feel Good' has some cooking wah-wah guitar, and 'The Ghetto' does come up with some of the observations of ghetto life reflected by the packaging. Elsewhere, the group get into some more traditional smooth male vocal harmonizing and material akin to soul ballads, though even so, the fuzzy and distorted guitar lines let you know these guys were listening to plenty of sounds cooking in rock and soul music outside of the mainstream gospel world. ~ Richie Unterberger
Though they don't sound all that outrageous when judged against the international landscape of late-'60s rock, the Dynamites were among the edgier Japanese bands of the time, both for their long-haired modish appearance and their relatively odd and adventurous music. The 2011 U.K. CD reissue of their only album, 1968's Young Sound of R&B, is essentially a career retrospective, adding eight tracks from 1967-1969 non-LP singles. Plenty of '60s rock groups from countries in which English isn't the native language sound strange to North American and British ears, but the Dynamites sound weirder than the typical such act. That's not so much because they're especially far out: it's more due to their extraordinary jumble of styles. At times they are much like a U.K. or European freakbeat band in their mix of mod rock with meltdown distorted guitar, and the cuts in which that blend is to the forefront -- especially 'Tonneru Tengoku,' included here in both its 45 and LP versions -- are the ones most likely to find favor among collectors several decades after they were originally issued. At other times, however, it seems as if they can't decide whether to do straight-out R&B/soul, fairly engaging pop with slight Asian influences ('Koiwa Mou Takusan,' which detours for a ferocious fuzz guitar solo), or lushly orchestrated pop/rock ('Yumega Hoshii,' which sounds like it could have served well as the theme for a B-grade spy movie). Further muddying the picture, about half their album was given over to English-language covers of then-recent soul and pop/rock tunes that veer between awkward inessential copycat arrangements and a more inspired (if still awkward) mauling of 'Judy in Disguise,' again with fierce, fuzzy guitar. It's hardly great on the whole, but those with a yen for off-kilter fusions of freakbeat, garage pop, and dabs of corny pop/rock and soul will find it entertaining, if confused and a bit of an novelty. The six tracks from post-LP 1968-1969 singles are similarly erratic, highlighted by 'Manatsuno Yoruno Dobutsuen' (which, with its demented bird calls, comes close to blow-out exotica/psychedelia), yet also dipping into surf-cum-Merseybeat, horn rock, sentimental orchestrated balladry, and tame soul. ~ Richie Unterberger
What sort of guilty secrets, exactly, could the Northern soul scene harbor? Did someone kill and bury a man at an all-night dance party in a heated argument over a particularly rare '60s soul 45? The secrets this compilation expose, however, turn out to be much more benign. Much of the Northern soul crowd is noted for its purism, but it seems that some unhip tracks -- many with only tenuous connections to soul, and some not even performed by African-Americans -- achieved some popularity at Northern soul events, at least before the guardians of good taste got wise to what was going on. This compilation gathers a couple dozen of the prime offenders, including songs by a surf combo (the Rumblers), a British blue-eyed soulster (Kiki Dee), a psychedelic garage band (the Seeds' 'Pushin' Too Hard'), an Elvis Presley imitator (Ral Donner), girl group-styled singers, and pop/rockers with the mildest of soul tinges (Jay & the Americans, Keith). There's even some disco and, of all things, a 1966 hit by Bobby Goldsboro, a star one might think as far removed from soul of any kind as possible. The rhyme or reason as to why most of these songs picked up spins on Northern soul dancefloors remains elusive: by and large, they had good beats, but so do many other tracks that fall outside of Northern soul's rather strict parameters of rare, uptempo vintage soul sides. The result is, perversely, an anthology that might appeal to the general rock and soul fan more than the average generic Northern soul collection (and there are many such collections on the Kent label alone), even as it invites scorn from Northern soul diehards. It's really not that great a listen, and it's uneven, but it does have some good cuts, some of them quite rare and few of them very familiar, the hits by the Seeds and Goldsboro excepted. Though much of this is somewhat gawky white '60s pop/rock with a mild dash of blue-eyed soul, it has a the charm of guilty pleasure, at times sounding like a collection of songs that could have been hits with a different singer (like Johnny Vanelli's 1968 single 'Seven Days of Loving You' and Mary Saenz's soulful 1964 girl groupish outing 'Would She Do That for You'). Some of the artists are actual respected soul singers (Rodger Collins, Garland Green), but it's really the ones who seem like they got slipped onto a Northern soul turntable by mistake that make this interesting. ~ Richie Unterberger
This 1975 album was the first solo outing for David Byron, the lead singer for Uriah Heep. It isn't a big surprise that a good portion of the album sounds a lot like the group that gave him his day job: sturdy organ-driven hard-rockers like 'Silver White Man' and 'Hit Me With a White One' would not be out of place on a typical Uriah Heep album from this period. The fact that every then-current member of Uriah Heep makes at least one appearance on this record further aids this déjà vu feeling. What is surprising about Take No Prisoners is how solid and consistent it is for a between-albums solo venture. The album begins powerfully with 'Man Full of Yesterdays,' a mid-tempo rocker with a moody, dramatic arrangement that blends an emotional Mellotron-driven sound with autobiographical lyrics. From there, Byron deftly blends his Heep-styled rockers with a variety of roots rock and soul experiments that blend in well with the other, more traditional material: 'Steamin' Along' tackles funk with surprising deftness while 'Saturday Night' adds a likable country-rock element to its amped-up rock & roll attack. 'Love Song' proves that Byron could do a straight ballad with surprising sensitivity and further benefits from a lovely arrangement built on a gentle harpsichord sound. Plenty of sharp rockers are interspersed between these experimental tracks, the best being 'Midnight Flyer,' a cleverly arranged rocker that alternates spooky, mid-tempo verses with a scorching chorus to create an exciting burst of hard rock. Overall, Take No Prisoners lacks a breakout single or the kind of genre-expanding elements that will win over the casual listener, but it is a well-crafted album that will definitely find favor with Uriah Heep fans. ~ Donald A. Guarisco
Maria Taylor keeps things loose and casual on her fourth solo record, combining the lush, midtempo ballads that have always been her bread and butter with a handful of pop songs and folksy Americana tunes. The slower numbers are as gorgeous as ever, with tracks like ?Idle Mind? floating Taylor?s brittle voice over knotted layers of lap steel, flute, and acoustic guitar arpeggios. But Overlook really hits its stride whenever the tempo picks up. ?Matador? and ?In a Bad Way? are sexy, slinky highlights, owing more to blues-rock and vintage pop music than the ?90s alt-rock scene that launched her career. ?Like It Does,? an organ-filled ballad for hot, lazy Southern nights, returns Taylor to her southern roots, and ?Bad Idea? even finds her trying her hand at old-timey music. Recorded during a series of live sessions with a rotating lineup of backup musicians, the songs -- particularly the more rustic ones -- have a warm, homespun feel, with people trading guitar solos and piling their vocals into thick, twangy gobs of harmony. Taylor?s solo work rarely sounds labored, but few of her albums have been as breezy or collaborative as Overlook, which barrels along even in its slowest moments. Forget the ?solo? tag. This is a band album, and a solid one at that. ~ Andrew Leahey
The titular 'bigger plate' refers to an additional DVD now included with the original studio audio CD. This features a 90-minute show of a smoking, in more ways than one, performance of the Ian Siegal band at the North Sea Jazz Festival on tour to promote his Meat & Potatoes album. The simple answer to the obvious question of whether this justifies buying the album again for those who already own it is an unqualified yes. Siegal reprises six of the disc's songs and not only extends them but adds two covers that allow him even more room to stretch out. The closing 'You Don't Love Me' is lengthened to a 15-minute centerpiece where Siegal wanders off on long but never boring talk/singing interludes that add an edge to his already spiked-up combination of blues, funk, and soul. His version of the Jimmy Liggins by way of Albert Collins 'I Ain't Drunk' expands to over nine minutes. The total of those two tracks alone accounts for nearly a third of the show. Siegal's usual backing duo is also enhanced for this gig by guitarist Matt Schofield, a Nugene-signed act who is also Siegal's producer, and Schofield's keyboardist, Jonny Henderson. The beefed-up sound and extra musicians allow Siegal room to lay back, play occasional rhythm guitar, and even drop his instrument occasionally to concentrate on singing. It's somewhat disconcerting to hear that Howlin' Wolf-styled rasp emanate from Siegal's baby face, but his style, while obviously indebted to Wolf, never seems forced. He is also one of the few musicians to light a cigarette and smoke during a song -- he does this twice -- while cautioning about the addictive properties of nicotine. But it's his rugged playing and intense singing here that are addictive. Siegal unleashes his slide for the New Orleans-styled 'Drowned My Sorrows' and sweats out the funk during 'Brandy Balloon.' Schofield steals the show for a few solos, lighting up his Telecaster on 'Bloodshot' as Siegal lays into his Wolf howl. Everything is tougher, tighter, and longer than the album versions of these tunes, which lash out here with the passion that only a great band meshing on-stage can provide. The camera work is smooth and unobtrusive, the lights shift from deep reds to vibrant greens, and the Surround Sound mix is full as Siegal and the band spark and catch fire. It's a perfect addition to the studio album and a great introduction for those new to Ian Siegal's blues inferno. ~ Hal Horowitz
The Fish's best selling third album was, perhaps not coincidentally, less concerned with controlled substances and radical politics than its predecessors, although an interest in both obviously remained. For psychedelia see the Barry Melton guitar workout 'Cetacean', and for politics see 'The Harlem Song', a piece of ironic blackface minstrelsy that its writer, Country Joe McDonald, was fond of saying offended even him.Elsewhere, the album is characterised more by the opening 'Rock and Soul Music', a funny half-spoken tribute to James Brown that featured prominently in the band's stage act for years (including a segment where they played baseball). Pieces of outright whimsy like 'Away Bounce My Bubbles' and 'Waltzing in the Moonlight', an over the top ode to a flamenco dancer the band apparently enjoyed, also make an appearance.
'The '59 Sound' is the second album from New Jersey based four piece Gaslight Anthem and their first for punk label SideOneDummy. Produced by Ted Hutt (Flogging Molly, The Bouncing Souls) the album's mix of punk, rock and soul sees them take influence from the New Brunswick hardcore scene, home to the likes of Thursday and The Bouncing Souls while incorporating the classic rock sound of New Jersey's most famous son Bruce Springsteen. Guest spots come from the likes of Hot Water Music's Chris Wollard and Mighty Mighty Bosstones' Dicky Barrett.
