Johnny Rawls
I Miss Otis Clay
Third Street Cigar Records
Soul-Blues singer and guitarist Johnny Rawls has a new release whose title track is a salute to his friend, the late Otis Clay. "I Miss Otis Clay" is Rawls' first album for Third Street Cigar Records after a long association with Catfood Records. He had a long association with Clay that included an album they did together in 2015, "Soul Brothers" on Catfood. The musicians backing Rawls are Larry 'Mr. Entertainment' Gold on guitar, Johnny 'Hi-Fi' Newmark on bass, Cadillac Dan Magers on keyboards, Scott Kretzer on drums, Ric Wolkins on trumpet, and Mark Lemle on sax.
The album opens with the insistent groove of "California Shaking Again," as he sings about part tying all night along. Rawls wrote all the songs here and sings with the same low-key, but the subtly urgent approach that has made him so popular. These are well-crafted original soul-blues numbers handsomely backed and performed. Then there is "Give a Toast to the Blues," where he notes that the blues make you feel good and then salutes blues greats like B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Albert King Etta James, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Junior Wells, and others. The horns add a nice punch to this number. The title track is a marvelous tribute where Rawls first talks about Otis Clay's background and then how good a singer he was as well as being Rawls' good friend. Magers is outstanding on keyboards (both piano and organ) here.
On "I Can't Let Nobody," and "Can't Read Your Mind," Rawls captures the groove and feel of the classic Hi Recordings by Clay and O.V. Wright in whose band he played. His vocal on the latter number stands out as he pleads for his woman to give a sign of what she wants from him. Then there is the dance floor pleaser, "Slow Roll It," where he tells his lady to squeeze and hold him close as she had all the movements. This CD closes with a beautiful performance of a poignant ballad, "The Wind."
Johnny Rawls produced this recording (Third Street Cigar's John Henry was executive producer). It reflects Rawls' considerable recording experience and his attention to getting the sound right. Rawls' recordings and performances have reached both the blues and southern soul audiences. The superb "I Miss Otis Clay" is another outstanding Johnny Raws recording that will also have this wide appeal.
I received a review copy from Third Street Guitar Records. Here is Johny singing "I Miss Otis Clay."
Big Jack Reynolds
That's a Good Way To Get To Heaven
Third Street Cigar Records
"That's a Good Way To Get To Heaven" is a CD/DVD dedicated to the music of Big Jack Reynolds, who passed away a little over twenty-five years ago. The CD provides twenty songs displaying Big Jack Reynold's deep down-home blues style, while the DVD has a documentary about him as seen by the musicians who played with him or were his contemporaries. It also has as extras, his only television performances, and an interview with him.
This CD/DVD set is a wonderful labor of love for one Marshall "Big Jack" Reynolds. The details of his life are provided in the booklet that accompanies this release (including a moving poem from Joel Lipman that was written when he passed away). Reynolds was born in Albany, Georgia, in 1921, who grew up surrounded by country blues. Having relatives in Ohio and Michigan, he often visited them with his family. Johnson eventually moved north, becoming part of the vibrant Detroit blues scene that produced the likes of John Lee Hooker, Eddie Burns, Eddie Kirkland, Washboard Willie, Calvin Frazier, and others and recorded for Fortune and other labels including Hi-Q and Mah's. By the late 1960s, he was spending increasing time in Toledo and by the 1970s made Toledo his permanent home. In Toledo, he played with other groups, including playing drums with the Griswolds. Reynolds, in fact, recorded with the Griswolds for the Blue Suit. In the mid-eighties, he hooked up with the band, the Haircuts that included guitarist Larry Gold who produced the CD, John Newmark on bass, John Rockwood on harmonica, and Marc Cary on drums. With the Haircuts, Big Jack recorded some 45s that are included on the CD.
But also around this time, his health began to decline with diabetic and liver issues, leading him to need dialysis with friends like John Rockwood, taking him to get his dialysis treatments. Another friend was John Henry, a financial services company CEO, owner of Third Street Cigar, and a die-hard blues fan who championed Big Jack's music and when Big Jack passed away December 29, 1993, and no next of kin could be located. John Henry and another fan Paul Croy paid for Big Jack's funeral service and cremation, and when Third Street Cigar opened, John Henry placed the urn with Reynolds' remains a Rockwood photograph, and a guitar in a dedicated memorial spot. It was at this store where the plans that led to this memorial began.
If I could find any fault with the documentary, it might be the shortness of actual performance clips incorporated in it; the two songs are included as extras on the DVD. His life, his music, his influences (a prime dose of Jimmy Reed) and what he meant to those who knew him are given life through the recollections of photographer Rockwood, Gold, Newmark and the other members of the Haircuts, as well as other members of the Detroit and Toledo blues scenes who knew him. He could be a rascal and a hard band leader (telling the drummer he was messing up), but he wanted his music played right, And when he got the blues played right, it could be quite moving and real.
By itself, the DVD would be worth the price, but the CD with 20 solid down-home blues performances from various sources. There are solid covers of Jimmy Reed's "Honest I Do," "Go On To School," and "Shame, Shame, Shame" along with the swamp blues of Slim Harpo's "Scratch My Back." Even when the backing gets the tempo a tad too brisk as on the cover of "Help Me," or "Walk On Up (But Keep That Red Dress On)" (set to the melody of "Fannie Mae"), or the shuffle "Poor Boy," Reynolds sings authoritatively while his harp playing goes far beyond being merely a Jimmy Reed copy. On "Poor Boy," Larry Gold plays some excellent guitar.
On "Mean Old People," he sings about going back South with his country blues guitar adding to the flavor of the performance. "Hot Potato" is a hardy, funky instrumental with him on guitar, while "Gonna Love Somebody" is his heartfelt reworking of a Muddy Waters number with just his harmonica. "Going Down Slow" was recorded in 1963 for Fortune Records and shows what a robust singer he was then. "Made It Up In Your Mind," with the drummer laying down a mambo groove, finds Big Jack's vocal suggesting New Orleans Snooks Eaglin. It is followed by the shuffle "I Had a Little Dog," with some greasy organ in the backing as he sings about pitching a boogie-woogie. There is also a vibrant rendition of Muddy Waters' "She Moves Me" with just vocal and harmonica.
One won't claim Big Jack Reynolds was one the iconic blues giants, but this reissue establishes that he was a more than capable with his robust, deep singing and excellent, idiomatic harmonica and guitar. The result is a highly recommended blues reissue that, with the documentary, provides a marvelous memorial to this Big blues artist who was a mainstay of the Toledo blue scene.
I am not sure where I got this but likely from Third Cigar Store Records. Here is a video that was associated with the premiere of the documentary about Big Jack Reynolds.
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