Please Come Home reviewed by Diane Mandell

Please Come Home

The Lauren Mitchell Band

Self Released 

www.lauren-mitchellband.com 

8 tracks/38:05
 

Lauren Mitchell is a musically trained Columbus, Ohio, native turned Floridian.  Her band's first album offering is a mix of blues, gospel, and rock.  The band formed in 2005 and has been touring in the U.S. and Canada recently. 

Mitchell's vocals ooze emotion on top of the band's skillful guitar, organ and piano.  I especially liked Mitchell's version of "House of the Rising Sun" with her sultry vocals backed by soulful guitar and Hammond B3 organ, "It's Raining" which showcases Mitchell's big pipes and "Please Come Home" with Mitchell's yearning vocals complemented by guitar riffs and piano.  I'm sure we'll hear more from this band in the future!  This is well worth a listen or two!

Reviewed by Diane Mandell

Nasty Habit reviewed by Steve Jones

Nasty Habit

Ron Dziubla

Rip Cat Records

www.rondziubla.com

11 tracks

I love surprises and this CD was a surprise that I really enjoyed.  Featuring sax man Ron Dziubla on tenor and baritone sax, farfisa and piano, it’s an instrumental ride through swinging and jazzy blues from a session man who needs some recognition on his own.  With Pete Curry on drums, Sam Bolle on bass, R.J Ronquillo and Intveld sharing the guitar duties and Mia Muse providing the only vocals (just some sexy spoken words and heavy breathing on “Lemon Drop Martini”), this is a great little CD that will get you blood flowing and heart racing faster.

Two moving covers and nine originals fill up this CD.  A sexy “Harlem Nocturne” is the first cover and Dziubla is blisteringly hot and dirty.  “Night Train” is the other cover and Dzuibla freshens this up with more than a little lipstick– he delivers a great performance here.

Dzuibla has penned some great cuts and turned in some devastatingly great performances.  “Loose” is a high speed sax attack. “Shaken and Stirred” offers super guitar work along with the sax.  “Bordello” is musical sex– moving, sweaty and grinding.  Songs like “Fine Time” and “Spy Step” (and all the others here) hearken back to smoky lounges with musicians baring their hearts and souls for appreciative fans!

I really loved this CD and anyone needing a hot, swinging saxophone record of jazzy blues needs to check this baby out!  Dzuibla can wield his horn with the best of them– highly recommended.

Reviewed by Steve Jones

In The Belly Of The Blues reviewed by Steve Jones

In The Belly Of The Blues

Words and Photos by Terry Abrahamson

Rolling Fork Publishers 

Chicago, IL

www.rfpublishers.com

2012 Terry Abrahamson

58 pages

ISBN: 978-0-578-10211-5

Terry Abrahamson grew up on the West Side of Chicago and finally discovered the blues at age 18. As with most kids of his generation (and mine, although he is a “whole” 4 years older than me), he claims that bands like the Beatles, Yardbirds and Blood, Sweat and Tears shaped his youth and musical appreciation.  Like many of our generation, the exposure to the music of blues royalty quickly aligns your musical reference plane.  Howlin’ Wolf exposed to him the roots the music from the Yardbirds, Cream, Mountain, Jimi Jendrix, Led Zeppelin and the Stone.  “Howlin’ Wolf was big and Black and primitive and scary and like nothing I’d ever seen,” writes Abrahamson as he introduces his book with two shots of The Wolf.

The book is a beautiful collection of photos and Terry’s remembrances of the scenarios that the photos captured.  Taken with a Kodak Instamatic with flashcubes, a Minolta SLR and a mini-Chinon camera (“with Lincoln Continental suicide doors,” as he called it), the photos were taken somewhat randomly throughout the 14 year period he interacted with many of the gods of the blues.  I met and chatted with Terry at the 2013 Chicago Blues Festival and told him I was pleased to have the opportunity to review his book. 

A word of note…Terry is also a songwriter, having penned “Electric Man,” “Unk in Funk” and “Bus Driver” for Muddy Waters.  Joan Jett, Geroge Thorogood and many others have also recorded Terry’s songs.  But it is his wonderful collection of photographs encapsulated in this book along with the stories behind them that are truly incredible and historical.

The photo trail begins at Alice’s from 1969 to 1971 in Chicago.  A small, 20 foot wide club where you sat on the floor with a two foot high stage at one end, he writes of his experiences there and shows us some shots of Muddy Waters and his band there at Alice’s where he would pay a $2 cover to get in.

In 1971 he and his friends in the Cooperative Bluespower produced blues shows at the U of I in Champaign.  They were determined to bring this music to the students who were used to seeing shows like he Stones, Jethro Tull, Jefferson Airplane and the Temptations.  They “captured” artists enroute to and from Chicago to expose students to the blues.

He reminisces about first meeting B.B. King in 1971 at Mr. Kelly’s on Rush Street. He tried to sell B.B.  a song but sadly all Mr. King wanted was Terry’s boom box. 

  

He goes on to talk about Not-Totally Blind Jim Brewer, who really only had cataracts and was not totally blind.  Brewer was the one who pushed Abrahamson to get Muddy to record Terry’s song “Electric Man.” The song was inspired by Brewer’s desire to “plug-in to one of the female fans at his show as Abrahamson wrote the lyrics to describe Brewer’s desires.

In 1973 he left for Boston and wanted to hold a blues fest.  He needed an opening act for Jim Brewer and “discovered” George Thorogood playing at Joe’s Place. Working with George and George’s mother in Delaware, he got Thorogood via train to appear at many of his events in Boston, an audience of mostly college kids.  During all this, George recorded the Celtic’s theme song “Champs Again.”  Written by Terry and Herb Fuerstein, the song was played at every home game for at least two years.

Muddy came to Boston and Abrahamson marveled how well Waters and other bands were treated in comparison to Chicago where they were based.  He writes and depicts Hollywood Fats and Bob Margolin who played with Muddy and has a plethora of great shots of Muddy with band mates Pinetop Perkins, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, George “Mojo” Buford, Calvin “Fuzz” Jones and others. 

Terry shows us shots of Joe Spadora’s Place where Joe reintroduced blues fans to an aging Howlin’ Wolf.  Accompanied by the likes of Hubert Sumlin and Eddie Shaw, there are some priceless shots laid out in the book. 

Hound Dog Taylor and his band are also shown, but Abrahamson expresses some remorse he never got any shots of Taylor frying chicken in motel rooms in the electric frying pan he toured with.   He shows us and talks a lot about many great sidemen, too.

Johnny Winters has a pre-eminent spot in the book during the era he resuscitated Muddy Water’s career and vaulted Muddy to real stardom and the money and recognition he deserved as an artist.  There are some great shots of Johnny taken in 1975 at the Bottom Line in NYC.

The 1975 Rhode Island Blues Festival is recorded in photo and text.  Koko Taylor, Muddy, Paul Butterfield, Freddie King, Taj Mahal, and John Lee Hooker make appearances in the pages of Abrahamson’s book.

1979 has a photo of Muddy and his kids from then-wife Marva which is quite touching.  It is also the evening his manager Scott Cameron comes over, whispers to Muddy and Muddy puts on a three piece suit and goes to a waiting car.  Willie Dixon is waiting in the car (shortly after losing a leg to diabetes) and the group makes way from Westmont to the Quiet Knight in Chicago.  The big deal was the Stones were supposed to show up and they did, captured by Abrahamson’s camera.

The book closes with a photo of an invoice and the amusing story of the royalties listed that Terry got from Muddy and a great shot of John Lee Hooker who had done the music for a Levi’s ad Terry had written the music for. The final page shows Terry, Bob Margolin and Muddy’s friend Karen Dagmar in October 2011 in Evanston.

This book is a piece of blues history.  Sometimes blurry, sometimes stellar, the photos show candidly and behind the scenes shots of some of the legends of the blues.  The book makes for a great coffee table piece to show off to your friends or one to just savor over and over to relive some great blues history.  I loved the book, as any real blues fan would.  I strongly urge you to get one of these for your coffee table or book shelf- it is a wonderful set of photos and the stories behind them!  Bravo to Terry Abrahamson for putting this together!

Reviewed by Steve Jones

Deep Deep Blue reviewed by Mark Thompson

Deep Deep Blue

Dudley Taft

Taft Enterprises L.L.C.

www.dudleytaft.com

11 tracks/48:55

After a lengthy stint as a member of Sweet Water, a band that toured with Alice in Chains, guitarist Dudley Taft turned back to his roots, embracing the blues music that first inspired him at a younger age. On his previous release, Left For Dead, Taft’s energetic performances and blazing guitar work showed that he had successfully mixed blues influences with a decidedly hard-rock mentality.

He offers more of the same right from the start on his latest project, with a muscular beat powering Bob Dylan’s “Meet in the Morning” while the guitarist punctuates his rough-hewn voice with some impressive guitar work. “The Waiting” is a full-speed-ahead rocker with some sharp sting-bending from the leader.  On “God Forbid”, Taft brings back a character introduced in the title track from his previous recording and provides background information on how the protagonist ended up the in such dire straits. The tortured cries from Taft’s guitar ride a slower, grinding rhythm as he lays out the story centered on the Old West.

Other musicians on the disc include John Kessler on bass, three drummers – Chris Leighton, Scott Vogel and Jason Patterson – plus Eric Roberts on keyboards and Ashley Christiansen on backing vocals. The band is at its best on a rousing cover of Lou Reed’s “Sally Can’t Dance” behind the leader’s exuberant vocal and snarling guitar tone. The title song is full of yearning and angst as Taft longs for a missing lover before losing him in a torrential outbreak on the guitar. “Feeling Good Now” has a dance-floor groove and shows Taft has recovered and is ready to enjoy what life has to offer.

Taft breaks out his acoustic guitar for the opening segment on “Wishing Well’. The band kicks in by the chorus; the leader grabs his electric guitar and treats listeners to another solo that builds to blistering intensity before he shifts back to the acoustic for some delicate picking to close the track. This song along with three others that follow –“Satisfy You”, Bandit Queen” and “Shanks Akimbo” – fail to maintain the momentum from the first half of the disc. Taft sounds convincing but the tracks start to sound the same and the generic lyrics fail to generate any excitement. There is a full-throttle tribute to one of Taft’s main inspirations, Freddie King, on “Palace of the King”, complete with a driving beat and some riveting guitar runs.

This one has its moments but ultimately falls short of the consistency of performances that made Left For Dead a great listen. Cuts like “Sally Can’t Dance” prove that when all the pieces come together, he can rock with the best of them. It’s getting tougher to garner attention in the crowded blues/rock category. Dudley Taft certainly has the necessary skills and once he comes up with a program that matches his talent, it will be hard for listeners to ignore him. In the meantime, there’s still plenty of hard rockin’ music – so check it out if you are so inclined.

Reviewed by Mark Thompson

Mojo Hand The Life and Music of Lightnin’ Hopkins reviewed by Mark Thompson

Mojo Hand

The Life and Music of Lightnin’ Hopkins

Timothy J. O’Brien & David Ensminger

University of Texas Press

241 pages plus photos & notes

One of the truly iconic figures in the history of blues music, Sam “Lightnin’ Hopkins made his mark as a guitarist, singer and songwriter. His music never strayed far from his roots in the rural Texas countryside where he grew up or the welcoming comfort of the tight-knit Third Ward community in Houston where he lived for much of his adult life.

The book grew out of author Timothy O’Brien’s fascination for Hopkins, an attraction so strong that the author wrote his dissertation on the bluesman. He spent years researching; digging deep to find hidden-away details that had gone unnoticed with the passage of time. Co-author David Ensminger became involved in the project when O’Brien discovered that he had cancer in 2009. In the book’s Foreword, Ensminger writes “O’Brien was compelled, seemingly deep in his DNA, to capture Hopkins often raw-boned, sizzling, and incantatory oeuvre.”  A social activist who worked in support of worker’s rights and against the death penalty in Texas, as well as being a huge fan of music from many genres, O’Brien writes from a viewpoint that understands the social issues of the times and their impact on Hopkins as a human being as reflected in his music.

The books traces Hopkins’s life from the early days in Centerville, located in between Dallas and Houston. While his birthdate of March 15 has never been in question, the year of his birth has never been pinned down. O’Brien’s research left him convinced that 1912 was correct, siting Hopkins using that year on his Social Security account.

His father, Abe, was a sharecropper and the family faced a hard-scrabble lifestyle that was common in the rural south. Abe was murdered when Lightnin’ was just three years old. His mother, Frances, struggled to care for her five children. Before his oldest brother left home, Hopkins would “borrow” his guitar and began to develop his trademark style. Other local musicians helped keep the musical flames burning in the young man’s heart. The lynching of a local African-American male served warning to the young man to keep his place, a point Hopkins never forgot in dealings outside of family and friends.

There isn’t much accurate information about Lightnin’s existence from the early 1920’s until he made his move to Houston in twenty years later. There is no doubt that Hopkins picked cotton in addition to sharpening his skills on guitar by playing local dances and jook joints. He also told of spending time on a chain gang but O’Brien could not find any collaborating evidence in official records. Houston had tremendous club scene that meant any musician worth his salt could find plenty of work.

To be able to be heard in the noisy night spots, Hopkins switched to electric guitar. He had some regional hits before recording twenty-eight tunes for Herald Records. Released in 1954, Hopkins, backed by a three piece combo, was on fire. These tracks had a huge influence at the time and continued to reverberate through the years. The smoking instrumental track “Hopkins Sky Hop” would later provide the framework for the well-known Stevie Ray Vaughan guitar workout, “Rude Mood”.

O’Brien covers the impact of the folk and blues revival in the 60’s on Hopkins career as well as discussing at length the musician’s distrust of contracts, preferring to be paid for recording up front by the song or the session. While he signed contracts with record labels during his career, Hopkins was always ready to cut another record if someone was ready with the cash. While the revival opened up opportunities to play all over the world, Hopkins was none too comfortable traveling for very long. His first trip to Europe in 1964 left him shaken and bed-ridden with a mysterious ailment for a week after a thirteen hour plane ride. He preferred to hang out with his friends in the Third Ward, where he was treated as a star until his death in 1982.

  

The biography maintains a focus centered on Lightnin’ and his music. Personal details like his long-standing relationship with Antoinette Charles, married to another man, are mentioned but not delved on in depth. O’Brien uses quotes from musicians like Dave Alvin, Peter Case, Billy Gibbons, and Dion DiMucci to illustrate the impact of Hopkins music over time. He has crafted a fascinating, well-researched  look at a true blues legend, and helps us understand the social environment that created such powerful music.

Reviewed by Mark Thompson

It Wasn't Real reviewed by Steve Jones

It Wasn’t Real

Gina Sicilia

Vizz Tone Label Group

Swingnation Records

www.ginasicilia.com

10 tracks

  

When I got this CD for review I was excited to have the opportunity to once again review the new album from one of my favorite young female vocalists, Ms. Gina Sicilia. I had the privilege of having the first review published for her first CD, Allow Me To Confess. As I have stated before, I have loved her voice ever since I first heard it on the CD during half time of Superbowl XLI. Not being a fan of the half time pomp and circumstance (and also not being a Bears or Indianapolis fan) , my friend Mark Thompson and I instead listened to this young woman’s CD and we were very impressed. Mixing blues, R&B and more, Gina’s first CD was a superb effort. I was sold from the opening lines of “That’s a Pretty Good Love.”

Gina’s voice grew and she continued to write excellent new songs and lyrics. Her second CD, Hey Sugar, expanded her repertoire a bit further. A little bit of country/folky songs were added to the mix and her sophomore release also made a great impression on me. Ms. Sicilia’s last CD Can’t Control Myself further showcased her voice as it continued to grow in depth and experience and presented perhaps us a darker side to her talents, mixing in angst and emotions she had only touched on before. It Wasn’t Real expands on that side of her talents, exposing hurt and pain as few women vocalist can emote and express.

Of the ten tracks presented, Gina wrote nine and chose Etta James’ “Don’t Cry Baby” as the lone cover. He growls and blasts though this song with such feeling and deep emotion. Jay Davidson’s sax adds a nice touch in his solos and Joel Bryant’s piano is solid throughout. Well done! I have to give a shout out to Scott Hornick on the big bass; he is solid here backing Gina as he always is. The CD opens with the title track and it jumps up and grabs the listener, telling them to hang on as this is going to be a big and emotionally charged ride. Sicilia sings how she’s been a fool all these years, expressing herself after getting suddenly dumped by someone she trusted. The band backs her nicely here as they do throughout and they deliver a really great song that I think will be covered by others as time passes.

“Please Don’t Stop” is a bouncy and sexy tune that Gina swings to the groove with. As she says, “I said no-no-o-o-o-o-o, baby please don’t stop” she really sells the tune. “Wake Up Next To You” has Gina pleading to have her baby go home with her so she can do what the title states. Dennis Gruenling adds his harp to the mix in “Walkin’ Along the Avenue” and Sicilia and he stroll and swing through this great little tune. Bryant is on B3 here filling in superbly. The ballad “City By The Water” is a breathy and cool number showcasing her voice so well. Davidson adds a soulful sax solo here, too.

“Write a Little Song With You” has Glenn Barrett on acoustic guitar, Mike Brenner on dobro amd Kevin Hansen on electric guitar and they blend well and add a lot of nice texture here. “Don’t Wanna Be No Mother” is another angst filled cut with a women looking back at her life. She no longer wants to be a mother or a wife; as she and the family fly off to Disneyland she expresses her remorse and frustration. “Oh Me Oh My” bounces back to a less remorseful setting. Mike Brenner’s lap steel is poignant as he solos here and Jeff Lee Johnson is solid on the more traditional six strings he plays. Gina bops and bounces through this one with her usual expressiveness. She closes with a C&W take off called “Walkin’ Shoes.” Ross Bellenoit and Jef Lee Johnson aptly twang on guitar to make this one rich and full to the genre and Gina nails it as she always does.

The band here is solid. In addition to those already mentioned, Erik Johnson is on drums throughout and is strong and also solid. Mayra Casales adds percussion on a few cuts, too. The guitar players switch up periodically and the axe-men do a fine job throughout.

Produced by Grammy-winner Glenn Barrett, the CD gives us a great set of tracks that Sicilia delivers the goods on. Her prior efforts were produced by Dave Gross, whom I am also a big fan of; Barrett adds soulfulness and edge to the mix and delivers another well-produced effort for Gina.

Sicilia has penned nine exceptional songs and delivers a great performance on each track. She is growing in her music and expressed in the promotional materials that she is evolving and always reaching for a new place for her music to go. As she searches for new horizons and produces new material for us, we can continue to accompany this fine young artist on a wonderful ride! Highly recommended!!

Reviewed by Steve Jones

Driftin’ From Town to Town reviewed by Steve Jones

Driftin’ From Town to Town 
Barrelhouse Chuck & Kim Wilson’s Blues All Stars

The Sirens Records
www.thesirensrecords.com
13 tracks

Following up from his great 2006 Blues All Stars releases I Got My Eyes On You, Barrelhouse Chuck has delivered a superb new set of tunes for blues fans to appreciate. Featuring two songs by Chuck (one co-authored by Kim Wilson) and a selection of 11 great covers, this album is Chicago blues done right.  As with most of his albums. Chuck also provides us a great smorgasbord of snapshots from his personal collection of classic shots of him and his musical family (and real family) and friends.

Chuck and Kim have appeared countless times together with the Blues All Stars.  This version includes their long-time stalwarts and friends Billy Flynn and Jeremy Johnson on guitars, Larry Taylor on bass, Richard Innes on drums, and here with Sax Gordon on tenor and baritone sax on five cuts.  These guys are together and in synch– there is no confusion about who is doing what; they are consummate professionals.

The CD opens to the swinging and hopping Cal Green tune “The Big Push.”  This was a great opener; covering this superb instrumental from the author of “The Twist” was just the thing to set the tone and get the juices flowing for more great blues.  Sax Gordon makes his first appearance here an  shows us what he can do.  Next up is the title track, Chuck’s tune.  He delivers a poignant piano solo and they completely sell it with his authentic vocals and a nice harp solo by Kim.  Wilson fronts the band with Howlin’ Wolf’s “I’m Leaving You;” he gives us some nice and dirty vocals as Chuck aptly tickles the keys.  The guitar solos are smooth and slick here, too, and Gordon steps in for a little sweet horn work. “Stockyard Blues” is a little number by Johnny Young and Floyd Jones that is always one of my favorites from Chuck; I love how he handles his vocals on this song.  Wilson grunts and snorts out some cool harp on this one; it could almost be a stockyards sound.  The guitar solos later in the cut are also sweet.

Jody Williams’ “Lucky Lou” instrumental is next and the guitar work here is impeccable.  The guitar sings lead to us here.  One can see how Otis rush would fall in love with William’s stuff– classic Chicago sounds and these guys really sea the deal.  They follow that with Chuck Berry’s “Thirty Day’s” which I have heard Wilson, Flynn and Chuck do before; they are spot on here and do a fantastic job.  They even throw in a little call and response.  The piano and guitar as cool here and Wilson’s vocals leave no room for complaint.  “Flat Foot Sam” is a swinging rockabilly with some colorful lyrics and these guys blow it away and have a fun time doing so.  The two leaders gang up for “K&C Boogie,” a delightful harp and piano boogie that Mssrs Wilson and Goering penned.  A very nice instrumental that the two go back and forth on and the band supports the effort well.  Floyd Jones’ “You Can’t Live That Long” is another vehicle for Chuck to show off his great vocals with and Kim supports him with some nicely distorted harp.  He tells his baby to drink on and if she stays intoxicated she can’t live long.  It’s a different take on the blues as Jones is telling his woman to go off and let drink kill her instead of trying to get her to quit, and Chuck delivers that message well.

Chuck then shouts out “She’s Got A Thing Going  On,” a song Sunnyland Slim immortalized and that Chuck coves so well. Willie Dixon’s “Three Hundred Pounds” gets an instrumental cover and it’s well done; a great blend by the boys with Kim’s harp leading the charge.  “Anna Lee” is another one of my favorites by Chuck; this Robert Nighthawk song is one he always delivers on and he does here, too.  They conclude with Booker T and the MG’s “Time is Tight;” a sweet organ leading the way, the driving beat and some nice filler solos make this a great conclusion to an extremely fun ride.

I can’t recommend this enough.  This is Chicago blues and some related materials done right– don’t delay in adding this to your collection.  You will be sorry if you don’t!.  Most highly recommended!!!

Reviewed by Steve Jones