Big Daddy Stallings “Blues Party”

I’ve never seen Big Daddy Stallings live. I’m betting he’s a gas and puts on a great show. I’m basing that assumption primarily on the many positive comments on his website.

Big Daddy’s latest CD, “Blues Party” is a mixed bag of blues, R&B and funk that to me seems like it was patched together using whoever was available at the time. That said, those available were, for the most part, some killer musicians. Mark Wenner does some excellent harp work, as always, and it’s good to hear my former Harp-L compatriot, Steve Levine, blowing his Mississippi saxophone to complement some very fine horn players. Gail Parrish lays down some very fine bass lines, and Big Daddy is no slouch on guitar himself.

Big Daddy’s fans will love “Blues Party” and I expect many others will, as well, but I’ll be honest. As I was listening to this CD the first time, aside from the excellent musicianship being displayed, I was not blown away. Much of the content follows the formula of whatever genre it fits in. Not that that’s a bad thing necessarily, it just doesn’t ring my bells.

So, I was ready to write this disc off as another unspectacular effort by some good musicians. Then, I came to a cut called “In Love By Yourself”. This track is worth the price of admission all by itself. As I listened to it, I thought to myself “This is what the blues is all about!” This tune came straight from Big Daddy’s heart and jumped right into mine. I don’t know if it’s autobiographical or not, but he nailed this one.

I don’t want to leave you with the impression that this is a one-track wonder, as far above the rest as that one track is. There are other very listenable tunes here: “James” is a funk tribute to the late Mr. Brown and “Icon Introduction” is a fine instrumental showcasing a great group of players as is “Swing 2010″. I know how difficult it is to capture the energy of a live show in the studio. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll want to get out and catch Big Daddy on stage, but for fans, this CD will do nicely between shows.

John

Georgie “The Blacksmith” Bonds – Sometimes I Wonder

First of all, I owe Georgie Bonds a huge apology. He was kind enough to send me his CD “Sometimes I Wonder” what is now a very long time ago and I promised to review it. Well, to make a long story short, it got buried and I’m just now writing the review I should have written months ago. So, Georgie, thanks for being so patient and my apologies for taking so long to get a round tuit!

The shame of it is that this CD deserves all the attention it can get. This is the real deal, folks, blues from the heart sung and played with skill and passion. Georgie is a great singer and his band backs him up expertly throughout this record.

Whether it’s a slow blues ballad like the title cut, an upbeat West side shuffle like “Why Cry?” or the uptown R&B style of “Sorry Baby”, Georgie nails them all. There are some musical touches such as the flute on “Killing Me” that add interest to the arrangements, but these tunes stand on their own.

Check out Georgie’s web site at GeorgieBonds.com for a sample of each cut, bio, photos and more. And if he’s playing in your area, go see Georgie and his band, The BluesKeepers.

Roots, Rock ‘n Blues

Natasha James – “Tequila Time”

First of all, I have to say that I’m pretty much a blues and rock guy, so when I got the opportunity to check out Natasha James‘ “Tequila Time” CD, it was a bit of a departure for me. I’m willing to listen to most anything and let it stand on its own merits. I’ve ended up enjoying a lot of different styles of music that way.

So, this is country music. I think it’s officially referred to as “alt country”, to distinguish it from what they’re calling “country” music on the radio these days. Of course, now there are sub-genres of country music: pop country, rockin’ country, redneck country…whatever. This CD is pretty close to what I used to hear as a kid some 50 years ago now. Now THAT was country!

Anyway, I’ve heard country referred to as “white man’s blues”, and that’s pretty accurate in many respects. What they’re calling “blues” these days is a lot different from what I call blues and there are sub-genres of that, now, too!

Okay, enough of that. Natasha James is a fine singer and songwriter. She wrote 12 of the 15 tunes on this disc and co-arranged the other three. Her style is laid-back and easygoing. It’s obvious she’s very comfortable in her own skin, as the saying goes. Most important, in my opinion, it sounds like she’s having a good time

The title cut, “Tequila Time”, is straight ahead country with a hint of N’Awlins. I can see why it’s getting a lot of airplay. Two of her originals, “Fillin’ Station” and “Get Out Of My Way”, written in 1982 and 1983, respectively, have a bit of an edge to them, which I like. They’re a bit more blues-like, which is probably why they stuck out for me.

That’s not to take anything away from the rest of the cuts. “Cheetah On The Run” is another tune with a Zydeco flavor to it. “If You Think This Is Love” is a bluesy hip-shaker. “Ain’t Done Nothin’ Wrong” has a Delta feel to its paranoid musings. “Let Me Cry” could easily be turned into a rock anthem. The disc closes with “Modern Life” describing the dysfunctional family life that’s becoming more and more “normal” these days.

James’ simple, dead-on lyrics paint vivid mental and emotional images. The band is tight and the musicianship is up to the standard you expect from country musicians while covering a broad range of styles. There’s a lot to like on this collection. I suggest you check it out.

Roots, Rock ‘n Blues

“Cadillac Records” Captures the Chess Records Era

“Cadillac Records” opened today in theaters across the U.S. “Cadillac Records” is the story of Chess Records and the amazing array of blues talent who recorded for them in the 1950′s and 1960′s.

Despite taking some liberties with the facts, the film provides a good feel for the time and the lives of the musicians who made musical history at Chicago’s Chess Records. The film’s name is derived from the nickname given Chess by Muddy Waters. The notion was that anyone recording for Chess who had any degree of success would get a Cadillac sooner or later.

One of the noteworthy things about this movie is that the actors do their own singing and playing. Beyonce is excellent as Etta James. Jeffrey Wright stars as Muddy Waters, Columbus Short is Little Walter Jacobs and Mos Def plays Chuck Berry.

Reviews I’ve seen are mixed, but generally agree that the movie captures the essence of the lifestyle of these incredible blues players. Sounds like a must-see to me!

Roots, Rock ‘n Blues

Learn Songs Quickly & Easily with Song Surgeon 2

In October, 2007, the original Song Surgeon hit the market causing a sensation among musicians. This revolutionary product was a quantum leap for players who wanted to learn their favorite tunes note for note. Now it’s back and better than ever. Song Surgeon 2 takes the original to a whole new level!

If you’re a musician old enough to remember vinyl records, you probably remember, too, what a pain it was to learn songs from records. You know the drill:

• put the needle down on the part you were working on
• try to pick out all the notes as it played at full speed
• figure out a few notes on your instrument
• pick up the needle and put it back at the beginning of the part
• figure out a few more notes
• repeat until exhausted

Even though the players in those days weren’t shredding a zillion notes a second like they do today, it was still the state of the art at the time and seemed like a lot of notes to us!

Imagine trying to do the same thing today! Even CDs and computers don’t make it much easier. Go ahead, grab your Joe Satriani CD and try to figure out what he’s doing while it plays at full speed! Or slow it down and try to learn it at a different pitch.

The ideal solution is to have a way to play the tune at a slower speed at the original pitch, right? For years, the only way to do that was to rip the track from the CD, run it through Audacity or some other sound editor to slow it down, but keep the pitch the same. It worked..sort of..but wasn’t real convenient.

Song Surgeon 2 solves the problem by giving us a way to slow down the tune and keep the pitch…IN REAL TIME! Not only that, you can mark a section and loop it as many times as you need to to get the licks down.

You can also change the pitch if you want. Here’s where I use that feature a lot…learning Stevie Ray Vaughan tunes. Stevie tuned his guitar down a step so that anything he played in the normal E position was actually pitched in Eb. I prefer my guitars tuned normally, so in order to learn anything by SRV, I just raise the pitch on the tune by half a step.

Here’s another cool thing you can do: mark a section of a song as a loop, then save the loop to your hard drive as a new file. Now, you can load the loop into your audio software of choice, put it on repeat and have at it as long as you want. The possibilities are endless!

Check out the Song Surgeon web site for complete details. I think you’ll love it as much as I do!

Roots, Rock ‘n Blues

Buck69 – When She Whispers Your Name

If you dig guitar-driven rock with a touch of blues, you’ll enjoy Buck69‘s CD When She Whispers Your Name. This 8-piece outfit is probably a gas at a live gig blending elements of Southern and roadhouse blues-rock into a driving sound that would go great with wings and beer.

Fronted by Tom Clawson who, along with son Alex, penned 8 of the 14 tunes on this effort, Buck69 features two excellent guitar players, Alex Clawson and Buzz Anderson, who share the lead guitar duties. Each has his own style and both are featured on the last cut on the CD. Producer John Sevilla guests on lead guitar on three tracks, lending his own style to the proceedings.

The rest of the band consists of Dave Alan on drums, B J Love on keys, Todd Ovall on bass, and Pam Berger and Candice Coleman adding backing vocals. Interestingly, Berger is listed as providing “Harmonies” and Coleman as “Vocals”, but both are buried in the mix to the point where I have to wonder why they bothered. Coleman is a former “American Idol” contestant and probably has some vocal chops. Don’t get me wrong, Tom Clawson is a very capable singer. I’d just have liked to have heard Coleman featured on at least one tune for a change of pace.

The choice of tunes is pretty straightforward. No real surprises here. Clawson’s songwriting is good, solid blues-rock and the covers fit well with the overall feel of the disc. Being a huge Slim Harpo fan, I have to say I wasn’t thrilled with the bludgeoning of “King Bee”, but they’re not the first and won’t be the last to interpret that tune differently than I would. On the other end of the spectrum, the treatment of Mike Morgan and Lee McBee’s “Cold Wind” works really well along with “Sweet Spot”. Clawson’s own “Sometimes” is a highlight as are “Risk It All” and the finale “The Best Place” which is an all-out guitar jam featuring both the group’s lead axemen.

Overall, a good solid effort from a group of fine musicians. I’m looking forward to catching them live someday.

John Sawyer

Mark Hummel’s Blues Harp Blowout – March 8, 2007

West Coast harmonica player, Mark Hummel, is on a mission much to the delight of blues and especially blues harp fans everywhere. He’s touring the country bringing to as many stages as possible the greatest living blues harmonica players. The lineup changes fairly frequently depending on the touring schedules of the various players, but he always has at least two and sometimes three top rank players with him each doing a set and ending the shows with an all-star blowout with everybody on stage trading licks and mikes. I recently had the pleasure of seeing Hummel along with Steve Guyger, Kim Wilson and Charlie Musselwhite at the Sellersville Theater in Sellersville, PA…

Read more in Roots, Rock ‘n Blues News…

See my full review of the show in the Reviews section of this site.

Copyright ©2007 by John W. Sawyer and Chon Resources
All Rights Reserved Worldwide

The Strat® Pack – A Tribute to 50 Years of Stratocasters

This is billed as “some of the world’s greatest guitarists…gathered…to celebrate the 50th birthday of a music legend…” The Fender® Strat® is certainly deserving of the designation “legend”. This concert, while it has some brilliant moments, is something short of legendary. The promoters apparently couldn’t get most of the truly great contemporary Strat® players for this gig, and may have been trying to find something for a very wide range of musical tastes. As a result, the lineup and the performances are somewhat uneven. Most of the acts at least make sense in terms of being guitar-oriented, but there are a couple of head scratchers thrown into the mix. Add in the fact that the concert took place in London at Wembley Arena rather than somewhere in the U.S. just to confuse things a bit further. All that said, the great moments are worth the price of admission so if you’re a guitar fan, you’ll probably find something to love about this DVD.

Read the rest of this review in Roots, Rock ‘n Blues News…

Copyright ©2007 by John W. Sawyer and Chon Resources
All Rights Reserved Worldwide

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