We’ve told you before about the Project Blues Review that takes place in Columbus, Ohio, each August to benefit individuals and families afflicted by cancer, and even had the chance to cover the event a few years back when John Primer, Bob Margolin, Bob Stroger, David Maxwell, and Bob Corritore joined with others in presenting an all-star tribute to Muddy Waters.
We won’t be able to make this year’s program, but would be remiss in not mentioning the great line-up Mike “Bear in the Chair” Berichon & co. have again put together, including headliner Booker T. Jones (as in Booker T. & the M.G.s of “Green Onions” fame), along with other performers such as Anson Funderburgh, the Texas Horns, Diunna Greenleaf, Jonn Del Toro Richardson, and Tom Holland.
If you’re able to make it to Columbus for this one next weekend, we suspect you won’t be leaving disappointed, as it looks like another great night of blues for a terrific cause!
(L-R) Bob Corritore, Bob Margolin & John Primer at Project Blues Review 2014
While we’re on the subject of tributes to blues greats, you may have heard that blues-rocker Joe Bonamassa has done a few of his own recently, following up last spring’s spectacular Muddy Waters/Howlin’ Wolf recording from Red Rocks with first a short tour honoring the three Kings of the blues (Albert, B.B., and Freddie) and then a series of shows saluting the British blues explosion that featured the music of Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page.
Just this week, it was announced that the Three Kings show will be released in September in the form of a CD/DVD set entitled Live at the Greek Theatre.
Knowing Bonamassa, it won’t be long before we also have the chance to hear and see the British blues tribute neatly packaged in a similar manner. But in the meantime, here’s one from the British Blues Explosion show that has Bonamassa doing a whole lot more than just “Pretending” to be a successor to these guitar greats with a cover of the hit Clapton tune:
And while we’re at it, you also might want to check out this track from the upcoming Live at the Greek Theatre DVD (portions of which will also be airing on public TV and MTV Live/Palladia during August and September), which finds Bonamassa and band taking on B.B. King’s “Let the Good Times Roll”:
It’s been five years now since we told you about a Robert Johnson tribute album from an outfit calling itself the Big Head Blues Club, consisting of rock/jam band Big Head Todd & the Monsters joined by a rotating roster of blues guests that included Hubert Sumlin, B.B. King, David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Charlie Musselwhite, Cedric Burnside, and Ruthie Foster, among others.
So we were delighted to hear recently that the Club is slated to make a return appearance this fall, this time paying tribute to another blues great in singer/songwriter/producer/bass player and both Blues and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Willie Dixon. Often referred to as the “poet laureate of the blues”, Dixon, you’ll recall, was the author of such classics as “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man,” “Spoonful”, “Wang Dang Doodle”, “My Babe”, “Little Red Rooster”, “Built for Comfort”, “I Ain’t Superstitious”, “Evil”, “I Just Want to Make Love to You”, and “You Can’t Judge a Book By the Cover” along with hundreds of others performed by the likes of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, Little Walter, Otis Rush, and Koko Taylor, and covered by countless artists through the decades, including Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Cream, Eric Clapton, and The Doors.
With several of the featured bluesmen from the previous recording having since moved on to the big blues gig in the sky – including B.B. King, Honeyboy Edwards, and Hubert Sumlin – the Club has a bit of a different line-up in this most recent incarnation, with the Monsters joined this time around by a pair of second-generation bluesmen in Mud Morganfield (son of McKinley Morganfield, a.k.a. Muddy Waters) and Ronnie Baker Brooks (son of Lonnie Brooks), as well as harmonica player Billy Branch, who got his start as a member of Dixon’s Chicago All-Stars band shortly after being discovered by Dixon.
You can hear and read more about the upcoming album from the Club and their accompanying tour on PledgeMusic. We haven’t yet seen a tracklist of the 13 songs that will make up the project, but you can hear “Hidden Charms” on the video introducing the album, and we can only deduce from the album’s title that either or both “You Need Love” (covered by Zeppelin as “Whole Lotta Love”) or “I Can’t Quit You Baby” – each of which contains the lyrics “way down inside” – will also be included, most likely the former.
We’ll be sure to bring you more on this one upon its September release, but in the meantime, here’s a look back at the earlier Club (including Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm) performing Robert Johnson’s “Come On in My Kitchen” from a Mississippi show:
Last summer, we told you about the Muddy Waters 100 project, on which former Waters band guitarist John Primer and a collection of friends paid tribute to the late blues master with a set of updated takes on a number of Waters classics, many incorporating such modern effects as electronic drums and drum loop programming to help achieve producer Larry Skoller‘s goal of demonstrating that “in one way or another, these sounds all lead back to Muddy Waters”. While that revisiting-the-classics approach certainly seems to have resonated with blues fans and critics alike, with Muddy Waters 100 having earned blues album of the year nominations in both this year’s Grammy and Living Blues awards, this rootsy new release from West Coast sensation Fantastic Negrito also serves as a nice example of the influence the blues has had on the broader music industry through the decades, with sounds ranging from Lead Belly to the Beatles to Prince and Gary Clark Jr., blending in its fair share of alternative, hip-hop, and rock along the way.
Negrito, you may recall, catapulted to fame last year after winning NPR’s inaugural Tiny Desk Concert Contest. Shortly after, his song “An Honest Man” could be heard as the opening theme on Amazon’s original series Hand of God, with Negrito also making several guest appearances on the show throughout the season.
After a couple of powerful EPs, Negrito has released his much-anticipated debut full-length album in Last Days of Oakland (Blackball Universe), a raw, insightful recording that tackles such timely issues as race, police violence, economic and wage disparity, and the current state of his longtime home of Oakland, California, through a rich combination of grooves and catchy riffs that Negrito describes as “blues with a punk attitude”.
Regardless of which side you take on issues such as the U.S. presidential candidates, the shootings by and of police officers, and Brexit, we can all probably agree that the world has witnessed a truly sad state of affairs in recent weeks.
We can’t think of a better message of hope to offer our friends than this classic tune from the late, great King of the Blues. Give it a listen, share, and then go out and do something good to help make the words to this song’s chorus a little more of a reality.
Posted inSongs|TaggedB.B. King|Comments Off on There Must Be a Better World Somewhere
They say you can’t have it all, but fans of the Nick Moss Band will be especially delighted with this double-disc set (Blue Bella Records) of new music that nicely embodies the Chicago guitarist’s musical career, starting with a soul- and blues-filled disc one (Roots) before exploring a diverse array of sounds on the second disc (Fruits), the overall title (From the Root to the Fruit) of which of course refers to a famous and frequently cited quote from Chicago bluesman and songwriter/producer Willie Dixon that “The blues are the roots and the other musics are the fruits”.
Trading off on vocals with the great Michael Ledbetter (a descendant of Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter) throughout, Moss leads the band through a solid, nearly 30-song collection of largely shuffling originals, with main highlights including the soulful, “Killing Floor”-like “Make Way For Me”; a Charlie Musselwhite-ish title track that features Moss on vocals, guitar and harmonica; the soul-drenched slow blues of “Lost and Found”; a John Lee Hooker-style “The Woman I Love” that includes some Taj Mahal-like licks on harmonica from Jason Ricci; an effects-filled, truly cosmic performance of “Serves Me Right (Space Jam)”, and the southern-rocking “Grateful” with its Lynyrd Skynyrd-like riffs and backing vocals from Ledbetter as well as Tina Crawley and Lara Jenkins.
Here’s one to add to your blues playlist as you’re grilling, entertaining family or friends, or just kicking back and relaxing this Independence Day, a little gem from one-time Jelly Roll Kings singer and guitarist Big Jack Johnson compliments of M.C. Records.
Released in 1996, “It’s the 4th of July” first appeared on Johnson’s We Got to Stop This Killin’, one of four albums he recorded for M.C. Records in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Have a great holiday!
Posted inSongs|TaggedBig Jack Johnson|Comments Off on Happy Fourth of July (Amerexit?)!
We know we’ve been a little quiet here on The BluesPowR Blog lately, but hopefully this latest edition of our BluesPowR Radio Hour will help make up for that, featuring music from Magic Sam, Johnny Rawls, Mac Arnold & Plate Full O’ Blues, Eric Bibb, and Joyann Parker & Sweet Tea, plus a double-shot from Jake Chisholm, a real live one from the Nick Moss Band, and more!
Playlist Joyann Parker & Sweet Tea – Hit Me Like a Train (On the Rocks)
Magic Sam – Same Old Blues (alternate) (Black Magic deluxe edition)
Eric Bibb & North Country Far, Danny Thompson – The Happiest Man in the World (The Happiest Man in the World)
The Jordan Patterson Band – If You’d Help Me Please – Revisited (The Back on Track Recording Project)
Jake Chisholm – No More Sorrow (No More Sorrow)
Jake Chisholm – Just Because You Want To (No More Sorrow)
Johnny Rawls – Born to the Blues (Tiger in a Cage)
Kalo – Treat Me Bad (Dear John)
Nick Moss Band – Try To Treat You Right (Live and Luscious)
Mac Arnold and Plate Full O’ Blues – Give It Away (Give It Away)
For all of us aspiring guitarists who have long dreamt of playing with – or even like – Grammy and Blues Music Award-winning guitarist and the reigning king of the blues Buddy Guy, a new book of tabs from Hal Leonard publishers may be the closest many of us will ever get to fulfilling that dream. The latest in the music publisher’s Guitar Play-Along series (this is volume 183, joining others ranging from the likes of Clapton, Hendrix, B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, T-Bone Walker, Albert King and ZZ Top to David Lee Roth, Duane Allman, AC/DC, Taylor Swift, and Iron Maiden), the Buddy Guy – Guitar Play-Along allows guitarists to see the tab, hear clips of the music – including the ability to slow the audio down, set loop points, and change keys, among other functions – and then play along to eight of Guy’s most popular tracks, from the brazen swagger of “Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues” and “Man of Many Words” to the softer, more refined “Feels Like Rain” and “What Kind of Woman Is This”, along with “Someone Else is Steppin’ In”, “Midnight Train”, “Stone Crazy”, and “Hoodoo Man Blues”.
The book may not win you quite the awards Guy has received, but it will make it easier to impress your friends with some of Guy’s most killer riffs!
Posted inArtists|TaggedBuddy Guy|Comments Off on Play like Buddy Guy
Here’s the latest installment of our BluesPowR Radio Hour, featuring music from recent Blues Music Award (BMA) winners Walter Trout and Duke Robillard, as well as a double-shot from quadruple BMA nominee Anthony Geraci, plus tracks from Tasha Taylor and Samantha Fish, Steve Hill, and more. Enjoy!
Playlist
The Blues Never Sleeps – Anthony Geraci & The Boston Blues All-Stars (Fifty Shades of Blue)
Blues for David Maxwell – Anthony Geraci & The Boston Blues All-Stars (Fifty Shades of Blue)
Put Me Back – Amy Hart (Live at the Mayne Stage)
John the Revelator – Lewis Hamilton (Shipwrecked)
Rollin & Tumblin / Stop Breaking Down – Steve Hill (Solo Recordings Vol. 3)
Slender Man Blues – Billy the Kid & the Regulators (I Can’t Change)
Leave That Dog Alone- Tasha Taylor w/ Samantha Fish (Honey for the Biscuit)
I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water – Duke Robillard (The Acoustic Blues & Roots of Duke Robillard)
Cold Cold Ground – Walter Trout (Battle Scars)
