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Killin' It Live
Alligator
This is a crackling good live recording by one of the most popular blues and roots bands out there. Castro has been out there over three decades and Alligator has given us nearly an hour of 10 performances recorded at five venues across the USA. Castro is supported by his superb band of Randy McDonald on bass, Bowen Brown on drums and Mike Emerson on keyboards.
Castro and the Painkiller get this CD party going with the rollicking "Make It Back To Memphis," a song that might inspire comparisons to Delbert McClinton with Emerson honky-tonk piano underpinning Castro's searing guitar. After his song of perseverance, "Can't Keep A Good Man Down," Castro delivers a blues-rock rendition of Sleepy Johnny Estes' "Leaving Trunk," inspired by Taj Mahal's fifty-year recording with some greasy organ.
To this listener, the next two tracks are the high points. During the slow, low-down blues (composed by Castro and Joe Louis Walker) "Lose Lose," I was struck how much his singing and guitar evokes late sixties' Buddy Guy which I suspect is among the music he grew up with. Then there is the driving shuffle performance, "Calling San Francisco." "Anytime Soon" is a soulful, reflective topical blues followed by the funky and amusing "She Wanted To Give It To Me," where Castro sings about resisting a hot lady as he made a promise to his own lady to be true and kept it. Then there is the rocking, soulful shuffle "Two Hearts."
The album closes with a lengthy, ably performed, rendition of Buddy Miles' "Them Changes," with bassist McDonald channeling "Tighten Up" during his solo. This crowd-pleaser closes out an excellent recording that shows why Castro continues to have such a large following.
I received my review copy from Alligator. I received my review copy from Alligator Records. This review appeared in the November-December 2018 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 381), although I may have made minor changes. Here Tommy Castro and the Painkillers are seen performing "Two Hearts."
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