Muddy Waters. Hard Again/I’m Ready/King Bee

Posted on by

It’s hard to dispute that Muddy Waters was the king of Chicago blues, that raw electrified sound which reverberated from the windy city in the 1950s, in the main, courtesy of Chess Records. Some might argue that Howling Wolf was rawer and more powerful but it was Waters who benefited most from this reputation in the 60s, his 1958 UK tour was credited with influencing the following decade’s blues boom via the likes of Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies, the guys who just about kick-started The Rolling Stones and many others.

By the mid 70s Waters’ career had somewhat petered out. He was still hailed as a pioneer and appeared on The Band’s Last Waltz concert and film but Chess Records had gone and he and his surviving peers were considered to be venerable relics. However help was at hand in the shape of Texan guitarist Johnny Winter who produced Waters’ final three albums, Hard Again, I’m Ready and King Bee. These albums, in particular Hard Again, were hugely acclaimed with the first two winning Grammys and critics were falling over themselves  describing the albums as equal to the best of Waters’ 1950s recordings.

This triple disc set contains all three albums and is essential listening for anyone with an ear for classic Chicago blues. Waters sounds rejuvenated throughout and Winter, along with his production duties, provides scintillating guitar. Unlike John Lee Hooker who also ended his career on a high note, Waters doesn’t depend on star guests to add allure, over the three albums he is backed by many of his stalwarts from the 50s including James Cotton and Pinetop Perkins. In addition, he isn’t content to rest on his laurels as, aside from perennials such as Mannish Boy, I’m Ready and Hoochie Coochie Man, much of the material is new while still steeped in the raw Chicago sound with a boastful and highly charged Waters still on the prowl. Check out Deep Down In Florida and hear a master at work.

Available for a bargain price from Floating World Records the only quibble about this release is that it doesn’t contain the live album Muddy “Mississippi” Waters – Live which was recorded on the 1977 tour to promote Hard Again. It’s the fourth part of this series of albums which ensured that Waters went out with a bang and not a whimper.

Buy it here

The Harris Brothers. Suitcase Blues.

Posted on by

Only the end of January and already an album that might end up as one of our favourite roots releases of the year. The Harris Brothers, Reggie and Ryan are from Lenoir, North Carolina and have been playing together for around 20 years. On the album Reggie plays guitar, sings and kicks and taps the titular suitcase for percussion while Ryan handles double bass and vocals. Live Reggie also tackles electric guitar, fiddle and banjo but their absence here doesn’t detract from what is a superbly played and extremely enjoyable set of blues, ragtime and country songs.
All ten songs here are cover versions of old tunes or traditional songs but there’s no denying the depth of experience and emotional contact that the brothers bring to these old chestnuts. Dig around the web and you can hear a snatch of audio where Reggie describes his extended musical family and influences and you realise that here we have the modern equivalent of those keepers of tradition who were recorded by the likes of Alan Lomax and John Hammond in the mid twentieth century. However The Harris Brothers are no museum pieces, instead sounding vital and delivering their versions in crystal clear audio that will delight anyone who digs the tradition.
It’s hard to pick out any highlights as all of the songs are simply superb. Clarence Greene’s Johnson City Blues which opens the album is eclipsed by the following Rag Mama Rag (by Blind Boy Fuller) where the guitar playing is exemplary. Knoxville Rag (by Etta Baker) continues with the instrumental delights. Roll & Tumble Blues just rolls and tumbles and anyone listening to this need never listen to any of those amplified versions so beloved of late sixties boogie and blues bands, this is the real deal. Reggie’s guitar here is splendid, scraping and sliding while the vocals capture the feel down to a T. The picking on Twelve Gates to the City recalls the late Pops Staples’ mastery as the brothers tackle Gospel blues, and again they do it right. Coming up to date they hit the Chicago sound with a cover of Muddy Waters’ Honey Bee with the guitar stinging in the right places while what appears to be a live cover of J. J. Cale’s If You’re Ever In Oklahoma takes Cale’s laid back version and jazzes it up with some blistering amplified guitar runs set to a Mose Allison shuffle. Even a song that for local audiences might be associated with skiffle like Elizabeth Cotton’s Freight Train is given new life as the listener is drawn to the guitar intricacies and the warm vocals.
So a fine, indeed a very fine album that will delight anyone who’s been listening to the likes of Pokey LaFarge or who digs the sounds of Catfish Keith, Taj Mahal or Ry Cooder, in fact if you like traditional American music you should listen to this.

Website

Rag Mama Rag

Tom Feldmann & The Get-Rites. Tribute, The Gospel Sides of…

Posted on by

Tom Feldmann’s previous albums, Driven To My Knees and Side Show Revival showcased his deep rootsy voice and a deliciously funky backwoods blues that is akin to Keb Mo and Taj Mahal in exploring the roots of Americana. In addition he appears to have a deeply held religious bent which has informed his songwriting, this has allowed him to mine the deep vein of spiritual and gospel traditions. Here on his latest album he pulls all of this together in a wonderful collection of spiritual songs originally recorded by the likes of Son House, Blind Willie Johnson, Charley Patton and others of that ilk.
Feldmann performs four of the ten songs solo, just voice and a National Reso-phonic guitar, the remainder have the band backing. Throughout the album his bottleneck and slide playing is excellent, at times sinister and threatening, at others joyful. The playing on Fred McDowell’s The Lord Will Make a Way is a particular standout, a deep dark throb of a song with stinging slide guitar and an evil lope. While the blues predominate there are sprightly and uplifting moments such as the solo rendition of Charley Patton’s Lord I’m Discouraged which has a Carter Family feel to it. The pedal steel on Leave It There (Washington Phillips) and I’m Going Home (Dock Reed) adds a gloss to the starkness of some of the songs.
Listening to this I was reminded of an old Fairport Convention tune, The Lord Is In This Place, How Dreadful Is This Place which in turn was informed by Blind Willie Johnson’s Dark Was The Night, Cold Was the Ground. Johnson himself is represented here with his song It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine and the album serves to remind us that God does indeed work in mysterious ways inspiring dirt poor, discriminated against Black Americans to find beauty in hardship.
For information on the songs, the artists who wrote them and Feldmann’s reasons for picking them go here where he has described the album far better than I ever could.
Website
Listen to Needed Time (Lightin\' Hopkins)