2005 Reviews

Joe Bonamassa- A New Day Yesterday

Take some Stevie Ray, add a touch of AC/DC, throw in some Van Halen style guitar solos and you've got Joe Bonamassa and co's. A New Day Yesterday Live. This live album, recorded in December of 2001 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is full of insane guitar licks that will have you screaming for more. Joe Bonamassa gives a whole new meaning to the term "guitar rock," and will have you scratching your head wondering how he can get such great vibes out of six strings and five fingers. He plays so fast I swear his hands are on fire by the end of the set. Just listen to the title track and you'll be thinking the same. In two words, this album is simply amazing. A New Day Yesterday Live is pure rock 'n roll, but let's not forget it either. Throwing down some licks that would make SRV proud on tracks like "Walk In My Shadows," "Trouble Waiting" and the crowd pleaser "If Heartaches Werre Nickels." Joe Bonamassa uses this album to pay homage to the greats who created what we think of today as rock. Blues hounds and young rockers alike will dig this album, so if you're either, neither, or both then pick up this album, it's worth it. - Soren Dahlgren

Leroy Carr: Whiskey Is My Habit, Good Women Is All I Crave: The Best Of Leroy Carr - Sony/Legacy

When Muddy Waters picked his top ten blues songs of all time shortly before he died, he included two by singer and pianist Leroy Leroy Carr: “How Long, How Long Blues” and “Prison Bound Blues.” Carr’s name pops up less often now than Charlie Patton’s, Blind Lemon Jefferson’s, Skip James’s, and other classic blues singers, but during his heyday from 1928 to 1935, Carr was better known than any of them. His duets with guitarist Scrapper Blackwell were among the most popular blues records of the early 1930s, favored by Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, and many other bluesmen. Ironically, what Carr’s first fans loved about him—his pop feel, his smooth, crooning voice, and his clear diction—made him anathema in the 1960s blues revival to young fans who idealized the blues as tragic myth instead of artful entertainment. You’d think Carr would have a prominent spot in the tragic blues pantheon; he drank himself to death at the tender age of 30. But he didn’t have the ferocity of Howlin’ Wolf, the romantic intensity of Muddy Waters, the over-the-top showmanship of Charlie Patton, or the metaphysical agony of Son House and Robert Johnson, so to ’60s kids, he wasn’t a “real” bluesman—whatever that is.

This two-disc set does a great job of restoring Carr’s lost luster. It contains all of his many hits, plus some rare tracks that have not been easy to find on CD before, all remastered for dramatically better sound. Don’t expect downbeat tunes and you’ll discover a smooth singer somewhere between Nat King Cole and Sonny Boy Williamson #2—someone who wins the listener over by lyrical skill and musical savvy instead of a dark night of the soul revealed in the grooves. The sound here is great; Carr was so popular that unlike most bluesmen of his time, he recorded for big labels that used the best recording equipment and record-pressing material. (The recent Charlie Patton box sets show just how flat and rasping records by great artists pressed by cheap labels can sound, even cleaned up—enough to make me throw a hissy fit.) For blues lovers, this is the Leroy Carr compilation to get. A good companion book is Elijah Wald’s Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues, which discusses the lasting influence of Carr and other overlooked blues artists.

John Hammond: In Your Arms Again - Back Porch/Virgin
Persistence in following your own voice is a kind of genius. When John Hammond was 20 years old, he sounded like a callow youth trying to sound like a grizzled old bluesman. Now that he’s over 60, he actually sounds like that grizzled old bluesman. Hammond is a quirky live performer, but on record, he’s consistently interesting. Like the old bluesmen he admires, he has an instantly recognizable sound. Like his buddy Tom Waits, he doesn’t cater much to transitory tastes, and he leaves in the rough edges that pop musicians grind away. This CD is another satisfying demonstration of what he’s mastered in more than 40 years of doing blues his way. Singing and playing guitar and harp, backed by bass player Marty Ballou and drummer Stephen Hodges, Hammond ranges over material associated with Ray Charles, Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Reed, Percy Mayfield, John Lee Hooker, and Bob Dylan, along with two of his own songs. His dramatically slowed-down take on Wolf’s Evil (written by Willie Dixon) is downright scary, full of crackling stop-time drums, rumbling bass, and Wolfian vocal asides. His version of Wolf’s I’m Leaving You is a whooping, hollering delight, and Mayfield’s My Baby’s Gone and Reed’s You Got Me Crying are funky yet magisterial. The standout is his own Come to Find Out, a mysterious, slow tune with the pearls-of-wisdom inevitability that makes it sound like it came from one of the blues masters. Which it did. - Mark Hoffman

Mitch Kashmar, featuring Jr. Watson: Nickles & Dimes - 2005 Delta Groove

These guys at Delta Groove have really got something going on. Excellent production value, outstanding artists, choice tune selection, this is the real deal old school yet at the same time it feels fresh and new. There is excellent harp playing starting with the first track. The title track reminds me of the Charles White Band, with the addition of an ace harp player. This is upbeat boogie music that gets the toes a tappin’. The musicians know their stuff and lay down solid backing. Track five sounds as if it could have come out in the 40’s or 50’s and track six sounds more contemporary and on track seven you are right back in the 50’s listening maybe to a Muddy Waters tune. Great stuff!!! I also recommend the other Delta Groove releases by The Mannish Boys, The Hollywood Blueflames, Kirk Fletcher. You will be happy with any of these selectios. - Malcolm Kennedy

David Jacobs Strain: Ocean Or A Teardrop - Northern Blues

Unlike other twenty-something blues artists – Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd – David Jacobs Strain hasn’t deviated too far from the genre. Strain plays in the traditional style comparable to Skip James, Lightin’ Hopkins and Robert Johnson, updating just enough to be contemporary to appeal to the novice listener. Following his acclaimed debut on Northern Blues, Stuck on the Way Back, David Jacobs Strain proceeds with another inspiring release, Ocean or a Teardrop. Like his first record, Strain focuses mainly on an acoustic mood showcasing his impeccable slide work. The baby-faced singer/songwriter is wise beyond his years as he pens songs with the maturity of an old and tattered bluesman. The versatile Strain tackles music outside of blues. ‘Sleepless Dream’ is closer to Chapman-esque folk whereas ‘Ocean or a Teardrop’ takes on a slight country ambience - akin to an Otis Taylor composition - with a pining fiddle and weeping harmonica. At times you forget he is a white kid from the Northwest as his deep and soulful voice rivals his influences. As he did on his debut, David pays homage to some of his heroes by updating Fred McDowell’s ‘Kokomo Blues’, Sleepy John Estes’ ‘Girl I Love’ and Blind Willie Johnson’s ‘Soul Of A Man’. While this sophomore release isn’t as drenched in the blues as his debut, David Jacobs Strain hasn’t lost his focus and Ocean or a Teardrop is a more than worthy successor. -Tony Engelhart