Sometimes, one track from an album just isn’t enough, which is why we’ve loaded up this episode of our BluesPowR Radio Hour with doubleshots from the likes of Oscar Wilson, the Tyler Morris Band, and a recent tribute collection to Elmore James (featuring songs from Keb’ Mo’ and Mollie Marriott). And to help balance it out, we’ve thrown in a trio of tunes from the latest International Blues Challenge compilation from Frank Roszak Productions and The Blues Foundation, as well as some rocking numbers from the Eric Hughes Band and Mike Ross, so, to quote the lead-off number from the Eric Hughes Band: “If you don’t like the blues, you better get off the track”!
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Playlist
Freight Train of Pain – Eric Hughes Band (Meet Me in Memphis)
Don’t Dig Today – Al Hill (International Blues Challenge #33)
Good Lovin (Hot & Fresh From the Oven) – The Souliz Band feat. Sugar & Spice (International Blues Challenge #33)
Choppin’ – Tyler Morris Band (Next in Line)
Willie the Wimp – Tyler Morris Band w/ Joe Louis Walker (Next in Line)
Your Letter – Oscar Wilson (One Room Blues)
Reconsider Baby – Oscar Wilson (One Room Blues)
The Big Picture – Mike Ross (Jenny’s Place)
Look on Yonder Wall – Keb’ Mo’ (Strange Angels: In Flight with Elmore James)
My Bleeding Heart – Mollie Marriott (Strange Angels: In Flight with Elmore James)
Chains That Bind – Wes Lee (International Blues Challenge #33)
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 
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.