There are few artists we look as forward to hearing new music from as those literal sons and daughters of the blues who have devoted their lives to helping to carry on the music — and thus the legacies — of their fathers. And 2018 begins with a healthy dose of that, including, for example, some dynamite new releases from Larry “Mud” Morganfield, son of McKinley Morganfield, a.k.a. Muddy Waters; Bernard Allison, son of Luther Allison; and Deva Mahal, daughter of folk-blues “Maestro” Taj Mahal. Today, we dive into the first two of those recordings, with the promise to take a look at (and listen to) the latter in a separate post soon.
Mud Morganfield, They Call Me Mud (Severn Records)
The eldest Morganfield son’s third release on Severn Records following his award-winning Son of the Seventh Son and collaboration with harmonica player Kim Wilson on For Pops: A Tribute to Muddy Waters, They Call Me Mud does a superb job of showcasing Morganfield’s vocal and songwriting talents (having written all but two — both covers of his father’s songs — of the album’s tracks); through songs ranging from straight-up blues to jazz, soul, and R&B, Mud proves he’s one of those guys who could sound good singing a telephone book.
But the album is worth listening to as much for the fine band Mud has assembled as for Mud himself, with co-producer and former Muddy Waters Band member Rick Kreher joining on guitar along with Billy Flynn, Studebaker John on harmonica, Sumito Ariyo Ariyoshi on piano, EG McDaniel on bass, Melvin “Pookie Stix” Carlisle on drums, and guests who include harmonica player Billy Branch, guitarist Mike Wheeler, and violinist Anne Harris.
Together, they create some soulful, often groovy, blues that range from such soft, swaying numbers as the horns-laced, Mighty Sam McClain-like “Cheatin’ is Cheatin'” with its delicate piano and tender, almost falsetto, vocals, to the booming voice of a simmering “Oh Yeah” and thick Chicago sound of “Rough Around the Edge”, its piano, harmonica, and guitar solos combining with some nice horns to make for a remarkably cheery telling of a story about dealing with a wife’s boyfriend who “want to hit me in my head”.
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Recorded in various cities throughout the U.S., from L.A. to Nashville to New York City and Boston, Strange Angels: In Flight with Elmore James (Sylvan Songs Records) features a mostly house band (dubbed Elmore’s Latest Broomdusters) joined by a rotating line-up of guest vocalists and musicians. Although not all of the interpretations here are presented in a straight blues fashion, with Rodney Crowell and Jamey Johnson, for example, adding a country-fried flavor (through both their vocals and acoustic guitars) to songs like “Shake Your Money Maker” and “It Hurts Me Too”, respectively, and other tracks having a jazzy, Americana, soul or pop style, the end result is a diverse, intriguing set that blues fans will easily appreciate and welcome to their collections.
A mostly live studio recording that captures everyone playing together (on largely first or second takes), The Last Shade of Blue Before Black (Severn Records) offers a variety of horn-filled tracks in the tradition of the Blues Brothers, including solid and timeless renditions of such blues classics as Jimmy Reed’s “Baby, What You Want Me to Do”, “I Got My Mojo Working” (Muddy Waters), and Willie Dixon’s “Don’t Go No Further” mixed with the modern sound and lyrics of songs like the swaying “21st Century Baby” (“she’s always bringing me the blues”) written and sung by Rob “The Honeydripper” Paparozzi, soul numbers like Dan Penn, Rick Hall and Oscar Franks’ “You Left the Water Running” and Floyd and Cropper’s “On a Saturday Night”, and funky tracks like “Itch and Scratch”, Floyd’s “Don’t Forget About James Brown”, and Brown’s “Sex Machine”, the latter song featuring Shaffer on vocals and piano.
So we were of course pleased to learn about the release of International Blues Challenge #33, a collection featuring finalists from the 2017 competition that, like the inaugural edition, does an excellent job of showing that the blues is still very much alive and well and in many diverse forms.
From the seducing sway of songs like “You Upset My Mind” (Jimmy Reed), “Same Old Blues” (Magic Sam) and “Sho Nuff I Do” (Elmore James), to swinging instrumentals like “Edgier”, “Teenage Beat” (Little Walter) and the opening “Bonus Boogie”, and breezy numbers like “From the Bottom” (Sonny Boy Williamson II) and the Sugar Ray & the Bluetones-style, horns-accented “No Love in My Heart” (Elmore James), everything here is, well, fabulous. But the tracks that stand out perhaps the most are a tough, lively “Ninety Nine” (Sonny Boy Williamson II) and two creeping numbers in a Thunderbirds-sounding “Blue and Lonesome” (Little Walter) with its gruff harmonica and a “Worried Life Blues” (Big Maceo Merriweather) featuring some cavernous vocals from Wilson and terrific playing from Barrelhouse Chuck.