GRADY CHAMPION Payin’ For My Sins

GRADY CHAMPION
Payin’ For My Sins
SHANACHIE (1999)

Young Mississippi blues singer and harmonica player Grady Champion produced his own debut album and impressed enough folks that Shanachie signed him to the label and got Dennis Walker (one of Robert Cray’s producers) to produce his latest album. Richard Cousin’s, Cray’s former bassist is on most of this as well.

He certainly brings intensity to these performances, but his intensity on the opening "I’m Smiling Again" makes him sound still angry at a former love as opposed to be celebrating, while his harp maintains this mood. His somewhat limited vocal attack works more with the boastful "My Rooster is King." Somewhat better is "You’ve Got Some Explaining To Do" which, to these ears, benefits from a wider range of dynamics in his vocal. Particularly nice is a soulful new tune by Dennis Walker, "Good As New," which benefits from a relaxed vocal approach. A bit of country flavoring adds to the appeal of "Roberta."

Several covers are included of which Grady’s reworking of "Goin’ Down Slow," that incorporates a rap about AIDS is particularly moving. "Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City" is a nice rendition of one of Bobby Bland’s Malaco recordings. He also provides a new twist into Sonny Boy Williamson’s "Don’t Start Me Talkin’."

While obviously influenced by Sonny Boy Williamson, his harp and the soul-blues settings on much of this remind me somewhat of Detroit’s Little Sonny. Like Little Sonny, he doesn’t blow you way with his harp playing which functions primarily as embellishments for his vocals. Grady has really impressed many with the fervor he brings his performances. He also writes some very good material. This recording is better than the tone of my comments might suggest, and I suspect he will be viewed as one of the major voices in blues within the next few years.

I believe I received a review copy from Shanachie. This review originally appeared in the January-February 2000 Jazz & Blues Report  (Issue 243). Here is a 2010 performance by Grady.

Grady Champion Recalls His Shanachie Days

Grady Champion has certainly seen his star rise in recent years after his winning of the International Blues Challenge. His success comes after he had recorded several albums for Shanachie which unfortunately at the time did not have the commercial success they were hoping for. In fact, Dennis Walker, with Bruce Bromberg, had produced Robert Cray and Joe Louis Walker amongst others, did some of the production of these recordings. Now Grady has compiled and released a selection of 17 songs from these recordings, Shanachie Days (GSM Music Group).

A number of these songs will be familiar to those who have seen Grady or his recent Live album, such as his anthemic My Rooster Is King, Dreamin’, or Policeman’s Blues, the latter dealing with him suffering police brutality. Other songs, like Lady Luck, about his misfortune at the casino as he asks where did you go are supported by a hard-hitting backing band and sound fresh today.

Mixed in with his fervent singing is some nice harmonica playing which is particularly well displayed on the country-flavored Roberta, with nice dobro, as well as mandolin, set against a lazy groove. There is a more of an urban rhythm and blues flavor with the brass and backing vocals Love Is My Middle Name, where he tells his girl that when she is tired of the games others play, she can count on him to make her happy. It is followed here by the crisp shuffle groove of Let Me Be, as he tells his woman that they have had this conversation one too many times. 

This writer had heard some of the Shanachie recordings when they came out, but it is nice to have my memory refreshed as well as listening to other sides I was not familiar with. The music certainly will please Grady’s fans and may be as good an introduction to his music as his most recent recordings, I do wish they had included the original discographical information (what were the original albums and personnel). Other than that, there is not music to complain about Grady Champion’s Shanachie Days.

My review copy was provided by a publicist. Here is Grady in performance backed by Eddie Cotton on guitar.

King's Daughter Claudette Delivers the Blues Her Way

Being the youngest daughter of B.B. King might open some doors, but Claudette King certainly would have had people taken note of her talent in any respect. Dan Bacon at Blues Express was certainly taken with her vocals and in the late nineties started recording an album by her with guitarist Bobby Murray and others which was halted when Claudette’s mother was seriously ill. A couple years ago Bacon brought in Steve Savage to help with the project, and they redid the vocals for the earlier tracks as well as contact Dennis Walker and Alan Mirikitani to write new songs and help fill out the disc on a session that included veterans Jim Pugh on keyboards, Richard Cousins on bass and Lee Spath on drums with Mirikitani handling the guitar. The result is the new Blues Express disc, “We’re Into Something,” which showcases her vocals that mix blues and soul into a personal style that reminds me of Carla Thomas.

A couple of songs from the nineties session opens the disc with Tim Brockett’s “Can I Walk You To Your Car,” is a brassy shuffle with a hot guitar solo from Bobby Murray that is bookended by her seductive singing as she invites her baby to walk her to her car which is not too far. Walker and Mirikitani penned the soulful ballad “Too Little Too Late,” which Claudette delivers the lyric of her cheating man coming home and asking forgiveness that is a bit too late. “Playing With My Friends,” was originally done by Robert Cray and B.B. King, with Frankie Lee adding his impassioned singing to Claudette on a terrific rendition of this number with another choice solo from Murray. Another Walker-Mirikitani ballad, “This Ain’t How I Planned It,” has her sing about what she dreams of her man to be home at night, and in contrast her man claims to be working late and this ain’t how she planned it. “Rock My Soul,” is a Murray composition that Frankie Lee recorded around the same time. Not as much a shouter in her delivery as Lee is, her heartfelt singing gives her own performance on this a distinct and equally appealing character. “Isn’t Peace The Least We Can Do,” is a jazzy, gospel number with a nice tenor sax solo from Mike Vannice and followed by another poignant indigo ballad “Easier Alone,” where she includes some vocal gymnastics into the upper register in her delivery of the

According to Frank-John Hadley’s liner notes she did record a blues and country album in Europe that was available briefly, but for practical purposes in the United States this is a debut recording, and it is one that will have blues and soul fans take notice of a strong voice that will hopefully be enriching our ears for a long time.



This review has appeared in jazz & Blues Report. For purposes of FTC regulations, the review copy of the recording was provided by the record company or a publicist for the recording