Cover photo by Marilyn Stringer © 2015 Blues Blast Magazine
In This Issue
Tee Watts has our feature interview with Frank Bey & Anthony Paule. We have 11 Blues reviews for you this week including a book about bassist Keith Ferguson and reviews of music by Papaslide, Danielle Nicole, The Boogie Sinners, Thirsty Perch Blues Band, JP Blues, The Cash Box Kings, Michele D’Amour & The Love Dealers, Jeremy Baum, Regina Bonelli and Anthony Gomes.
We have the latest in Blues society news. All this and MORE! SCROLL DOWN!!!
From The Editor’s Desk
Hey Blues Fans,
In case you somehow missed it, we announced the 2015 Blues Blast Music Award nominees yesterday.
We received more than 110 submissions from artists, publicists and labels this year and man is this ever a great year for the Blues! Several of the long time nominators commented to me about the amazing quality of this years submissions. These are Blues artists you WANT to know about. To see a complete list of this years nominees, click HERE.
Fan voting begins July 15, 2015 and continues until September 15, 2015 on our website. Voting is free and open to anyone who is a Blues Blast Magazine subscriber. You do not have to be a current subscriber to vote! You are automatically signed up as part of the voting process on our website if you are not currently a subscriber. Blues Blast Magazine subscriptions are FREE!
2015 Blues Blast Music Awards ceremonies will be held at The Fluid Events Center in Champaign, Illinois on Friday, September 25th, 2015 so save the date now. The awards ceremony will feature music by some of the artists nominated. Tickets for the event will go on sale in mid July at http://www.BluesBlastMagazine.com.
Wishing you health, happiness and lots of Blues music!
Bob Kieser
Blues Wanderings
Blues Blast made it to the Chicago Blues Fest last weekend for some world class blues. Pictured below are Blues legends Eddie Shaw, John Primer and Zora Young.
We will have complete coverage of the Chicago Blues Fest in an upcoming issue.
Featured Blues Review – 1 of 11
Papaslide – The Deepest Pain
String Commander/MIG, along with Dust on the Track Records
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Papaslide/438684526230302
CD: 12 Songs; 47:56 Minutes
Styles: Traditional and Contemporary Electric Blues
Want pure American blues and blues rock? Look no further than Norway; even though that’s far from the U.S., “Papaslide” Nordvik is in The Deepest Pain when he’s not in this genre’s element. When he is, he’s Thor with a slide guitar instead of a hammer. There’s a special reason why his real first name is Rune, in this reviewer’s opinion: Runes are what the pagan Norse, such as the Vikings, used for divination. They’re the Scandinavian equivalent of a mojo hand. The runes Papaslide reveals are those of Gebo, meaning “gift” (of talent); Hagalaz, meaning “hail” (of thunderous drums and electric fretwork), and Tiwaz, meaning “victory” (in playing the blues in their truest form). All these meanings can be found at norse-mythology.org, but for more on Nordvik, check his Facebook page.
Among his influences, Rune numbers Johnny Winter, Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, Albert Collins, and Joe Louis Walker. In fact, on his newest album, he plays covers by each of these first three blues rock masters. Of twelve selections on The Deepest Pain, seven are originals with interesting titles such as “Don’t Drink with a Drunk” and “Don’t Keep Fightin’ With Your Soul.” His vocal style is slightly reminiscent of Howlin’ Wolf: Rune growls more than he sings.
Performing alongside Papaslide as he plays acoustic and slide guitar are Bjarte Aasmul on electric guitar, Are Stenfeldt-Nilsen on bass, Geir Age Johnsen (Mr. G) on drums and percussion, and Lars Hammersland on organ. The following original songs will please purists:
Track 01: “Ain’t the Same” – This up-tempo Chicago shuffle starts with the sound effect of an engine revving. High-octane energy then propels it onward and upward. Cars can’t fly, except for that Flubber-powered Model-T Ford in The Absent-Minded Professor. However, this tune soars due to the passion of all the musicians. At live shows, it’s sure to burn up the crowd.
Track 05: “Got to Have You” – “Got to have you, baby. Got to have you now. Got to have you, baby. Need I tell you why?” Such a take-no-prisoners track is the essence of blues rock. Everyone who’s ever had the blues knows that they “need to feel that feeling”. Papaslide channels Howlin’ Wolf at his most feral here, and the guitar work will make listeners pay homage to the moon! Lars Hammersland is also great on organ keyboard.
Track 10: “Hurricane” – This might be called “drone” or “trance” blues, but listen closely. Music that seems chaotic at first listen is symbolic of an actual hurricane the second time around. Nordvik shows that he’s just as amazing at acoustic guitar as he is sizzling at slide. His plea to the storm – “Don’t you take my house; don’t you take my car…” will be hauntingly familiar to some fans.
The Deepest Pain lies in Papaslide’s soul, and he pours it out in bona-fide blues!
Reviewer Rainey Wetnight is a 35 year old female Blues fan. She brings the perspective of a younger blues fan to reviews. A child of 1980s music, she was strongly influenced by her father’s blues music collection.
Featured Blues Interview – Frank Bey & Anthony Paule
How did a Soul Bluesman from Millen, Georgia with stints of employment with Otis Redding and James Brown hookup with a Blues guitarist born in Durban, South Africa?
Incongruous as it may seem, this melding of musical minds has Blues lovers worldwide, raving not only about the critically acclaimed past, but also the bright future that is imminent on the eve of their third album release. The following are recent conversations that Blues Blast had with co-leaders Frank Bey and Anthony Paule.
When Frank Bey was a little boy, growing up in Millen, Georgia, Gospel great Brother Joe May, known as The Thunderbolt of the Midwest, sometimes referred to as the greates soloist in the history of Gospel music, ate breakfast Frank’s mother’s, Gospel singer Maggie Jordan’s table. “He was big. They all travelled down through that south. My mother loved Gospel music. When Sam Cooke left the Soul Stirrers for a secular career, she was very disappointed. Just didn’t feel that that was the right thing for him to do.”
“Southern people had a different understanding of what they thought Blues and Soul music was about. They looked at it as the devil’s music. My mom was a Gospel singer and it was only natural that my brother and I follow suit. We formed the Rising Sons group with a couple of our cousins. I was four years old at that time.”
“Later on in my youth, I got a job as a bicycle delivery boy at a drug store. The soda jerk at the drug store was a teenaged country guitar player who had a little group with a singer who couldn’t sing! You know that Jim Crow situation was going on so just to rub it in, when it was slow at the drugstore, he’d play a song on his guitar and I would sing it. That led to me sneaking out of the house to their rehearsals to show his singer how to sing. But you know, I couldn’t teach him. He just didn’t have it. The guitar player wanted me to sneak out to the jook joints and sing through the window, but I knew that was no place for me to be.”
At age seventeen, Frank Bey started working with Gene Lawson, PR man for Otis Redding. Through that association he became Otis Redding’s driver. “Anytime he travelled through North and South Carolina, Virginia and other points in the Southeast, I would drive him. You know how they treat the driver. You’re just the driver. Just stay with the car and have it ready. Many times I slept on the floor in the motel. Sometimes I got to sleep in the bed or in a chair but sometimes it was the floor. If I didn’t go to the concert, I could sleep on a bed until everybody got back from the show. And then it might be the floor. I wasn’t the only would who slept on the floor.”
“Being a singer myself, I learned a lot from watching Otis in Richmond, Virginia, D.C., Baltimore, The Uptown Theater in Philadelphia. I saw what he was doing, raising the roof with other entertainers like Sam & Dave, Joe Simon and Joe Tex. I really liked Joe Tex. And Joe took a liking to me. I used to watch him with the microphone tricks and the little steps he used to do. He could dance. There was a dance he and James Brown used to do that they called the Southern Jitterbug. James Brown perfected it, as he performed more than Joe Tex. That’s kind of how the “rivalry” started between them about who handled the mic better and who had the better dance moves. We all picked up on stuff from one another.”
The friendship Frank Bey enjoyed with Joe Tex was perhaps bolstered by both their interests in facets of eastern religions. Joe Tex converted to Islam in 1966. Frank Bey studied Moorish Science, a religion that is closely aligned with Islam.
“I started studying Moorish Science intently in about 1973 and stayed close to it through 1979. After I moved in 1979, I continued to study but I was no longer physically close to the Temple. I still practiced though, as a Moor.”
“In the late ’70s I was in a group called The Moorish Vanguard. We booked time in a studio in Augusta, Georgia and James Brown came by the studio while we were recording. He liked what we were doing and said he could give us a hand. I gave him a copy of the song we were working on as he was going to New York the next day. Four months went by and we hadn’t heard back from Brown. The manager of the Augusta studio told us to hold tight, we had a deal.”
“Our group was working in Florida and one day we heard our song on the radio. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The group left me stranded in the South. From that point, I didn’t hear from Brown for another six weeks or more, even though I was calling his office every couple of days. When I finally spoke with him, he wanted me to have the band meet him on tour to open his show for him. Our record was already being played.”
“Now prior to that, the manager at the Augusta studio had told me that Brown had already got some production money from Polydor for us to come back to the studio to do an album. But without talking to Brown directly, I couldn’t convince the guys to go back in the studio. They already had issues around being hurt in the music business. They weren’t even talking to me. I finally had to get a lawyer to sort the mess out about a year later. I was so naive, when I finally got in front of one I said, “Here’s what happened-” He said, “First you have to retain.” I said, “Okay, here’s what happened.” The lawyer said, “You don’t understand, the retainer is $1500. Then you tell me what happened.”
“I finally was able to use Evelyn “Champagne” King’s producer, T. Life’s attorney who started working the case. It took three years to get the case into the federal court. We won the case and got a judgment against Polydor Record Company and James Brown. We got a check from Polydor but not from James Brown. We had to get in line for unpaid royalties from James. He already had a bunch of cases against him. So I went back to Philadelphia which was and is my home.”
“A San Francisco Blues DJ, Noel Hayes from radio station KPOO, came through Philadelphia and heard me at a venue called Warm Daddy’s. He liked what he heard and asked me if I’d be interested in coming to the West Coast to work. So we stayed in touch and then my kidneys started failing. Four years later after dialysis and a kidney transplant, I was soon ready to travel. Noel called shortly after the transplant and said he would get me a band to work with in California. He was determined to get me to the West Coast. He hooked me up with Anthony Paule’s band and when I landed in California I think we rehearsed about three hours before our first show together at Biscuits & Blues. The owner liked us and gave us return dates. That’s how it got started. Noel Hayes set it up and we are still tight like brothers. He produced our first live album which was recorded at Biscuits & Blues and engineered by Kid Anderson of Rick Estrin & The Nightcats.”
Never would have thought that the pop hit Town Without Pity by the late Gene Pitney could make the transition to Jazz/Blues. But one day while listening to the Bobby “Spider” Webb show on KPOO this heard the melody line ignite the long forgotten memory of the song from my youth. The Anthony Paule reading of the tune is a haunting, soul-drenched piece of work. When Blues Blast inquired of the origins of his rendition, Anthony stated that it was his wife’s idea.
“I didn’t really want to do that song but it was my wife’s idea. She was definitely right about that one. We’ve gotten a lot of airplay out of it. It’s a beautiful melody.”
The conversation then reaches back into the seemingly incongruous origins of the South Africa born Paule.
“My parents were British citizens from the industrial city of Manchester. They both fought for the British Royal Air Force in WWII. Manchester was bombed flat in the war. Not long after WWII they were married and followed my dad’s sister to South Africa. My dad was an extremely liberal, human rights kind of person. After eight years in South Africa he got to the point where he couldn’t take apartheid anymore. He decided to take his family to somewhere with a good climate and standard of living. I was ten months old, my brothers were nine and ten years old respectively. My dad packed his family up and moved across the world to LA.”
When asked about the genesis of his immersion into Blues, Paule references to a progression of incidents.
” My dad took me to see Ike & Tina Turner, B.B. King and The Rolling Stones at the L. A. Coliseum. He and my older brother also took me to the Ashgrove where I saw Johnny Otis’s band which was unbelievably great. Over time he brought a cavalcade of Blues masters to the Ashgrove. I saw Big Joe Turner, Esther Phillips, Roy Milton, Pee Wee Crayton, T-Bone Walker-you name it. I got to see all that when I was twelve or thirteen. Shuggie Otis was only a year or two older than me then, playing with his dad. I was like, I wanna do that.”
“On top of that, my dad had tens of thousands of all kinds of records. Literally walls and walls of records. Classical, Blues, many genres of music. He had 78′s of Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong. One day I stumbled across an Elmore James record that sent me off the deep end. It was entitled Sunnyland. I believed I had to learn to be able to do that. I became a Blues nut and tried to learn strictly Blues guitar. When I graduated high school, my brother had a Country & Western band. His bass player quit and my brother recruited me which kind of angered the rest of the band because I wasn’t very good at Blues, much less Country! But they stuck with me and it was really cool to just play and get paid for it.”
“Eventually as other guys quit and new members came into the band, it slowly evolved into a Blues and old Rock & Roll band. We did Little Richard and Chuck Berry covers in addition to Blues. The band eventually was based in Willits, California. (My family had moved to Northern California when I was in the tenth grade. During my time with my brother’s band I would also scour the east Bay Area for the many Blues shows that were going on then. I’d see guys like Tom McFarland, Sonny Rhodes, Ron Thompson, Sonny Lane, J.J. “Badboy” Jones and Buddy Ace at places like Eli’s Mile High Club, Ruthie’s Inn, The Deluxe Inn and The Playboy Club in Richmond. Me and my friends would be the only white guys is the place other than some of the musicians, but never had a problem. Once people knew you really were into the music people were really welcoming. I never felt funny or uncomfortable about it.”
“When my brothers band dissolved in the late 70′s, I was already starting to play with Blues bands. I moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 1979 and stayed for six years. That’s where I met my wife, Christine Vitale. At the end of our time there we had a seven piece soul band called Tina & The Tigers, which was anchored by the great Clyde Stubblefield, James Browns former drummer. Clyde was the best man at our wedding.”
“In July of 2014, the Frank Bey Anthony Paule Band went out to the Midwest and we played Madison. Clyde came to see us and invited us to a gig of his at the Hollywood Bowl in California the following month. So we hooked it up and went down. They were doing a special show in conjunction with the release of the James Brown movie Get On Up. Jazz bassist Christian McBride put together an incredible lineup featuring three former James Brown drummers; Clyde Stubblefield, Jabo Starks and Mousey Thompson as well as Brown alums Fred Wesley and Pee Wee Ellis. Bettye Lavette and D’Angelo sang as well as Chadwick Boseman who played James in the film. It was a great, nearly sold out show.
“ Getting back to how we ended up back on the West Coast, in 1985 my wife wanted to move to the Bay Area so I/we came back. It took a little while getting back in the scene but eventually I was hired by Mark Hummel. I traveled all over the world with Mark in a987-1988. After I left Mark’s band I fell in with John Firmin’s Johnny Nocturne Band. We did four records on Rounder, toured Europe, Japan and went to Italy several times. We backed other Rounder artists like the great Johnny Adams and a long list of other artists. I was in that band thirteen years actually. During that bands off times I was also able to tour with Charlie Musselwhite, Boz Scaggs and Maria Muldaur.”
“Eventually, through the efforts of KPOO Blues DJ Noel Hayes, Frank Bey and I formed the current band in 2011 and have had good success since. Looking ahead in 2015 the Frank Bey/Anthony Paule Band has a new album, scheduled to drop on June 16. Then it’s off to Italy for the Umbria Jazz Festival, the Porretta Soul Festival, and four other dates. We’ll be backing Sugar Pie DeSanto in Porretta. Graziano Ulliani the founder of Porretta Soul is really an enthusiast of ‘Deep Soul’ as he calls it and really appreciates Franks husky baritone, our band and Sugar Pie as well. We’re also backing Sugar Pie at the Fillmore Jazz Festival on July 4rth in San Francisco.”
For more information on the Frank Bey & Anthony Paule band, visit http://beypaule.com/
Photos by Marilyn Stringer © 2015 Blues Blast Magazine
Interviewer Tee Watts is music director at KPFZ 88.1 fm in Lakeport, CA and road manager for Sugar Pie DeSanto.
Featured Blues Review – 2 of 11
Danielle Nicole – Danielle Nicole | EP
Concord Music Group
www.daniellenicolekc.com
6 tracks / 22:00
Though Danielle Nicole has just a single debut EP to her name, she is no stranger to the stage or the studio. You may know her better as Danielle Nicole Schnebelen, the lead singer and bassist for Trampled Under Foot, the IBC award-winning band out of Kansas City, Missouri. This group made a lot of hay since it was founded in 2000, with the zenith being the honor of receiving the Contemporary Blues Album of the Year at last year’s Blues Music Awards.
But, that is the past. This eponymous release is all about Danielle, providing a great sound bite of what she can do on her own, and it is a very nice piece of work. She was joined in the studio by legendary New Orleans producer and guitarist Anders Osborne, as well as his fellow Louisianan Stanton Moore on drums and Trampled Under Foot keyboardist Mike “Shinetop” Sedovic. With a running time of 22 minutes and only a half dozen tracks, there is not a lot of music here, but it is all top-shelf stuff.
This disc kicks off with “You Only Need Me When You’re Down,” and the first thing you will think is, “Wait! Isn’t that the guitar riff from The Champs’ song, ‘Tequila’?” Maybe it is, but has a super funky drum part to turn it into a blues rocker and there are a lot more words to be found in the lyrics. Danielle’s voice has a touch of distortion added and is doubled at times, giving it a very powerful sound. And then it is all over in less than three minutes, which is much too soon!
“Starvin’ For Love” is up next, and listener get a little better idea of what Schnebelen’s voice really sounds like, and it is truly awesome. This fast-faced soul tune (which is not a cover of the Stylistics’ 1971 tune) strips away the vocal effects, so the emphasis shifts to her phrasing, enunciation, and dramatic use of empty space. Sedovic lays down righteous keys throughout, but he is set really far back in the mix, so he is kind of hard to pick out of the high-hat and snare at times.
“Didn’t Do You No Good” is a huge sounding track that rocks with doubled guitar and bass parts and heavily processed organ. This is exactly the sort of song that Danielle’s voice is made for as it uses all of her very impressive range. This is followed up by “Wandering Heart,” which is a complete change in direction with its sparse Crescent City arrangement, slow tempo and Shinetop’s barroom piano. Danielle shows here that she can play the chanteuse, with a voice that is appropriate for blues, soul, jazz, or rock.
The final two cuts on this EP are live tracks that were performed on The Bridge radio station in Kansas City, which can be found at 90.9 FM if you are ever in the City of Fountains. One is an acoustic reprise of “You Only Need Me When You’re Down,” and the other is a beautiful cover of a 1963 Bob Dylan song, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.” To hear Danielle’s voice in this setting with no processing and only an acoustic guitar for accompaniment is jaw dropping. She is one of the best blues singers out there today, but these songs take it a step further and highlight her unique sound and her perfect phrasing. You are not going to mistake her for somebody else!
Danielle is working on her debut full-length album, Wolf Den, which should be out late this summer, and if this EP is any indication it will be a must-buy. In the meantime, you can pick up a copy of the EP for yourself or head over to her web page to check out her tour dates, as she will be touring the US and Canada steadily until then.
Reviewer Rex Bartholomew is a Los Angeles-based writer and musician; his blog can be found at rexbass.blogspot.com.
Featured Blues Review – 3 of 11
The Boogie Sinners – Time To Roll
EMCE 2014
www.reverbnation.com/theboogiesinners
7 tracks; 36 minutes
This is the debut album from Greek rhythm and blues band The Boogie Sinners. The band consists of Theodore Alexiou on guitar and vocals, Kostas Tenezos on harp, Dimitris Georgopoulos on bass and John Dimoulas on drums. The music is all original (four instrumentals and four songs with lyrics) with Theodore taking the major share with six credits as well as writing the lyrics to two songs. One instrumental is credited to the whole band, one to Kostas and two of Theodore’s songs use lyrics written by Dimitrios Epikouris, taken from his book “Blues Lyrics.
The opening instrumental “Rolling The Juke Joint” sets a strong pace with plenty of busy rhythm work and guitar and harp taking solos. “At The Post Office” is also very much a rhythm-based track with Kostas’ harp adopting a keening style that reminds you of those old Clint Eastwood westerns, the lyrics (by Dimitris) describing the wait at the Post Office for a reply to his letter to his girl. Theodore’s vocals are OK with just a trace of accent which does not interfere with communication. Theodore’s “I Ain’t Your Fool No More” is a shuffle in Jimmy Reed style with a solid guitar solo.
The whole band is credited on “Dream Weaver”, a slower number with more of that eerie harp sound and echoey guitar. The longest track is “Desert Cry/Stop Messing Around”, the first part of which is an instrumental with lots of atmospheric slide. “Stop Messing Around” is not the Fleetwood Mac song but Dimitrios’ lyric which makes great play out of rhyming ‘bread’, ‘head’ and ‘dead’ over some slow-burning and rather over-the-top slide work. “Rock N’ Roll All Night long” is another familiar title but is an original as Theodore’s lyrics take full advantage of some well-worn clichés like the title, ‘whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on’, ‘shake your hips’ and ‘till your daddy comes home’.
The album closes with Kostas’ “KT Boogie”, obviously a feature for his harp playing, the number rocking along in pretty frenetic manner. There is a ‘hidden track’ at the end entitled “Wagon Hill”, an appropriate title for a tune that has quite a country/western feel to it.
As ever, it is good to find that the blues is alive and well in a different country but it was difficult to find anything on this disc to distinguish it from many others.
Reviewer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK who enjoys a wide variety of blues and roots music, especially anything in the ‘soul/blues’ category. Favorites include contemporary artists such as Curtis Salgado, Tad Robinson, Albert Castiglia and Doug Deming and classic artists including Bobby Bland, Howling Wolf and the three ‘Kings’. He gets over to the States as often as he can to see live blues.
Featured Blues Review – 4 of 11
Thirsty Perch Blues Band – Live For Today
Self-Release 2015
www.thirstyperchbluesband.com
11 tracks; 51 minutes
The Thirsty Perch Blues Band’s unusual name provides them with an amusing logo depicting a fish vertical in a beer glass! “Live For Today” is the fourth CD release since 2009 from this Michigan-based band, a five piece with Chris Collins on guitar and vocals, Andy Ogrodzinski on lead and slide guitar, Chuck Luscombe on harp and vocals, Chris Carr on bass and vocals and George Ferguson on drums. The band is supplemented by Paul Lesincki’s keys and Kathy Lamar’s backing vocals on on two tracks each; most of the material is original, written by Chris and the band and there are two covers.
The CD opens strongly with the driving “Blues Walk” which lyrically turns out to be one of those tributes to shapely rear views! Musically the guitar riff holds the tune but the harp playing is sensational as Chuck blows hard as he follows and overtakes the key changes, Andy following up with a fast-paced solo. “Bad Man” is another good tune as Chris explains that you need to avoid such characters “who have nothing for you”. The band is supplemented by Paul’s organ and Kathy’s vocals to give a fuller sound as Chuck and Andy supply more solid solo playing. “Roll With Me Baby” is fairly conventional lyrically, a relative of many blues songs along similar lines, though Andy’s lively slide work is a definite positive.
The first cover is “Say Goodbye”, taken from Dr Wu’s Texas Blues Project which rocks along well with its catchy refrain and clever lyrics. Mind you, TPBB can produce some good lyrics too, as they do on “Conversation”. Over a funk rhythm Chris states that “it ain’t no conversation when there’s only one person on the line…answering machine’s an option, or a voicemail left today…a man of very few words, my actions speak for me”. Chris is seeking a resolution of this non-dialogue relationship but he hasn’t found it yet. The title track “Live For Today” has some aggressive wah-wah playing and fast-paced rhythm work from Chris, the chorus having a definite hook with some solid harmonies from the band. “Can’t Have You” was perhaps the track that appealed least to this reviewer with its heavy feel and histrionic harp playing.
The second cover is Mike Zito’s “39 Days” which is well done in a straight cover of the original. It’s a fine song which also has a heavy riff at its core but also light and shade courtesy of the chorus and second guitar set against the core riff. “The Queen” is a catchy piece of rock with some great slide accents from Andy; perhaps it’s the title or the main riff, but Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen” comes to mind. In the middle section Andy and Chris get into one of those twin guitar pieces that always remind you of The Allman Brothers so this tune is a winner on several fronts! A more conventional blues shuffle follows in “Shake Those Blues”, the chorus harmonies benefiting from Kathy’s second vocal contribution, joining the efforts of the band members.
As the PR release sheet states, this album is ‘ten bad-ass new songs and a pretty one..’ and closer “One More Day” is just Chris on acoustic guitar and Andy on quiet slide embellishments, Chris wishing that he had one more day to spend with his lost friend. It’s an emotional song and shows a different side to the band.
This is a solid album with sufficient interesting material and performance to attract the interest of blues fans out there.
Reviewer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK who enjoys a wide variety of blues and roots music, especially anything in the ‘soul/blues’ category. Favorites include contemporary artists such as Curtis Salgado, Tad Robinson, Albert Castiglia and Doug Deming and classic artists including Bobby Bland, Howling Wolf and the three ‘Kings’. He gets over to the States as often as he can to see live blues.
For a free track off this great album, check out our May Blues Overdose feature on soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/bluesblast
Featured Blues Review – 5 of 11
Keith Ferguson – Texas Blues Bass
Written by Detlef Schmidt
Centerstream Publishing LLC.
315 pages
The casual fan may recall Keith Ferguson as the bass player for the Fabulous Thunderbirds during a fifteen year period following the release of their explosive debut recording, Girls Go Wild. Fans with a deeper knowledge and fellow musicians recognize the huge impact Ferguson had, setting a new standard for bass players to emulate.
In the seven page Forward section, the legendary guitarist Jimmy Vaughan comments on his former band mate, writing “A lot of people…describe it as being completely wrong, but he was a badass. It was left handed and big and crazy and percussive, but very mean sounding”. Ferguson favored Fender Precision bass guitars, including one that had a cowhide pick guard. He simply wanted to plug in, turn up the amp, and lay down thundering bass lines that created rhythms guaranteed to rock you to your core.
Author Detlef Schmidt had already written a book on the older Precision bass model. A suggestion from a fellow devotee sent him off on a three year quest to discover all he could about the enigmatic Ferguson, research that included interviews with many friends and lovers that allow this biography to paint a well-rounded portrait that doesn’t shy away from the darker aspects of the subject’s persona.
Born in Houston in 1946, Ferguson’s parents divorced at an early age, leaving the youngster in his mother’s care. His father worked in a record store, which meant Ferguson had an easy access to music of all types as he grew older. In addition to being a collector of blues recordings, he acquired a vast knowledge of Tex-Mex and conjunto music, at one point leading Chris Strachwitz to discover key recordings that contributed to the growth of those styles on his Arhoolie Records label.
One night a friend, Armando Compean, was in dire need of help. The bass player for his band, the Sultans, had gotten sloppy drunk, leaving him passed out in a car. Ferguson was a regular at the band’s shows, so Compean turned the bass upside down, taught Ferguson a few quick patterns so that they could finish the gig. That was start of a musical career that lead Ferguson to England with his friend Johnny Winter on a trip that fired up the bass player’s fashion sensibilities through the stays in California with an early attempt to hit the big time as a member of Black Kangaroo, lead by Peter Kaukonen, Who’s brother Jorma was lead guitarist for the Jefferson Airplane.
The book devotes many pages to the T-Bird years with remenicises from Kim Wilson plus the band’s first two drummers, Mike Buck and Fran Christina. As his addictions gradually took control , Ferguson became disenchanted with long road trips that made it hard for him to maintain his supply of drugs. Since the band was still popular around the world, there was no avoiding the lengthy tours. Eventually the band and Ferguson parted ways due in part to a new musical direction in addition to Ferguson wanting to remain close to home. Chapters on his stints with the LeRoi Brothers, Tail Gators, Solid Senders, and the Big Guitars From Texas project shine a light on the latter stages of his career that are often lost in the bright glare of the Thunderbirds success.
The emotional core of the book is one page taken from an interview the author conducted with singer Lou Ann Barton, who shared a four year love affair with Ferguson that included a brief marriage. She pulls no punched laying the blame on dope as the contributing factor in her decision to walk away from the relationship. It is equally clear that her love still burns brightly and the hurt has never gone away. Also included are sections on his prized Fender bass guitars, his tattoos, memorials to honor his legacy, pages with musical tablature highlighting the Ferguson style, and a complete discography.
Schmidt offers a treasure trove of pictures, letters, postcards and other artifacts that flesh out the Ferguson story. Through the interviews, we gain insights into his caring nature and an artistic streak that one of his many talents, manifested in a fashion sense that often was ahead of the curve. There is so much to take in that you will find yourself returning to the book over and over again to read a couple of chapters, linger on a photograph and for some of us, remember an era when the music seemed so vital. This is a truly remarkable, illuminating portrait honoring the life of a musician who left a lasting mark in the world of music. Long live Keith Ferguson!
Reviewer Mark Thompson lives in Florida, where he is enjoying life without snow. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Suncoast Blues Society and the past president of the Crossroads Blues Society of Northern Illinois. Music has been a huge part of his life for the past fifty years – just ask his wife!.
Featured Blues Review – 6 of 11
JP Blues – Live at Darwin’s
Midnight Circus Records
www.jpblues.com
CD: 11 Songs; 65:45 Minutes
Styles: Contemporary Electric Blues Rock
Is a live blues album easier to make than a studio album? It depends on what one means by “easier”. The dynamics are different in three crucial ways: 1) Studio albums often require a lot of producing, dubbing and editing. These features are minimized in live recordings. 2) Studio releases are designed to impress agents, producers, and the general market, whereas live ones cater to particular crowds – their energy and feedback. 3) CD’s produced in a studio typically have more original songs, whereas those done live contain more covers that audiences will know.
Consider Atlanta’s John Pagano, also known as JP Blues, as he performs Live at Darwin’s. Out of the eleven tracks on it, several are popular covers, including B.B. King’s “You Upset Me Baby”, the traditional tune “Old Man Joe”, Jay-Z’s “99 Problems”, and Muddy Waters’ “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl”. There are also several original compositions from JP’s 2013 CD, Make Room at the Table, which yours truly reviewed in March 2014. “Keep on Walking” and “Another Time Another Place” are familiar hits there. With all of these rehashed renditions, what’s the main selling point of Live at Darwin’s? Just as some readers absolutely have to buy every book written by their favorite authors, die-hard JP Blues fans will relish this offering.
For those who are unfamiliar with John Pagano and his work, his musical style is blues rock with heavy emphasis on the rock side. His vocals sound like those of a poor man’s John Fogerty. They’re sincere and serviceable, but might not take “Centerfield” in some purists’ opinions. JP’s chosen instrument is screaming electric shredder and on it, he is reminiscent of absolutely no one. His musicianship is like the 7×7 Steakburger at Steak and Shake. This sizzling sandwich contains – guess how many! – beef patties. After devouring all that meat, one will be more than replete. The same goes for Pagano’s fretwork, as he takes his place among the guitar behemoths.
With him Live at Darwin’s are drummer Shiloh Bloodworth, bassist Tony Hossri, and special guest guitarist Truett Lollis on track ten. Who are some other notable artists with whom JP has shared the stage? According to his website, the list includes Derek Trucks, Johnny Winter, Joe Bonamassa, Chris Beard, Pete Sears of Jefferson Starship, Buddy Cage of the New Riders, and his mentor Sam “Bluzman” Taylor. Pagano himself debuted in 2009 with Die Happy.
This CD is good for long road trips, hanging out with friends, or as background music for a summertime barbecue. It’s meant to be accompanied by adult beverages and recreational vapors of choice. JP is “kicking some serious [anus] tonight,” as the Darwin’s announcer says, but in an almost nonchalant, laid-back way. Blues rock lovers will certainly commend JP for his live efforts, but if they enjoy this live albun, they should also check out JP’s studio release Make Room at the Table too.
Reviewer Rainey Wetnight is a 35 year old female Blues fan. She brings the perspective of a younger blues fan to reviews. A child of 1980s music, she was strongly influenced by her father’s blues music collection.
For a free track off this great album, check out our May Blues Overdose feature on soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/bluesblast
Featured Blues Review – 7 of 11
The Cash Box Kings – Holding Court
Blind Pig Records – 2015
www.cashboxkings.com
13 tracks; 48 minutes
The CBKs return with their third CD for Blind Pig and, as usual, it’s excellent. The core of the band remains Joe Nosek on harp and vocals, Oscar Wilson on vocals and Joel Paterson on lead guitar. Long-standing drummer Kenny Smith only appears on three tracks this time around (probably reflecting the demands of his many other projects) and most of the drum duties are taken by Mark Haines. Beau Sample handles the bass with Brad Ber filling in on the three tracks with Kenny. Guests include Billy Flynn who adds rhythm guitar on most tracks and Barrelhouse Chuck who adds keys to six cuts. Joe wrote eight of the tunes here, two with Oscar, and there are five covers.
The album opens with Oscar singing Big Smokey Smothers’ “I Ain’t Gonna Be No Monkey Man”, a classic piece of rocking blues with Brad’s bouncing upright bass and Kenny’s economical drum style underpinning fine performances from everyone. The next two tunes are both Nosek/Wilson compositions and really summarise what the CBKs are about, classic Chicago blues with lyrics that give a modern twist to the genre. “Downl