Vanthology

Various Artists
Vanthology
Evidence

With an overabundance of blues artists recording tributes to rock icons, "Vanthology" stands out. One reason that this tribute to Van Morrison works is that producer Jon Tiven has collected a number of blues and soul legends to perform songs associated with the legendary Irishman, setting this apart from many similar concept discs which seem to have an overabundance of blues-rock guitar pounders.

The performers here include Little Milton, Freddie Scott, William Bell, Bettye Lavette, Eddie Floyd, Sir Mack Rice, Syl Johnson, Otis Clay, Son Seals, Ellis Hooks, Chuck Jackson, Henry Butler, and Bobby Patterson. The producer deliberately did not use horns on this to distinguish these interpretations from Morrison’s originals. The studio band is anchored by Butler with Tiven on guitar, wife Sally Tiven on bass and Simon Kirke on drums who provide funky, sympathetic backing for the awesome vocal talent here. Highpoints among the exceptional performances here include Little Milton’s rendering of "Tupelo Honey," William Bell’s rendition of "Have I Told You Lately," Freddie Scott’s "Brown-Eyed Girl," Bettye pleading vocal on "Real Real Gone." and Eddie Floyd’s Crazy Love. It is a special treat to her Sir Mack Rice, writer of that overplayed staple of blues bar bands "Mustang Sally," take up Morrison’s own bar band classic, "Gloria."

Morrison has been heavily influenced by blues and soul artists, a debt he has freely acknowledged in developing his own distinctive body of music, and some of these the artists pay tribute in this very fine release.

I likely received a review copy from Evidence Records. This review originally appeared in the May-June 2004 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 268). Here is Sir Mack Rice doing "Gloria."

The Other Side of E.C. Scott

The following review appeared in the December 2003-January 2004 DC Blues Calendar. This was several years after she appeared at the 1997 DC Blues Festival where she gave a wonderful performance. I likely received a review copy from the label or a publicist, but may have purchased it. This is still available.

Some will remember E.C. Scott’s wonderful performance at the D.C. Blues Festival several years ago. She was on Blind Pig and had some memorable recordings but her latest, The Other Side of Me, is on Black Bud Records. Produced by Ms. Scott and Larry Batiste, the disc finds the singer in fine form backed by her tight band Smoke. The great Little Milton joins her for a couple of duets bringing his distinctive guitar along with solid vocals. 

Most of the songs are Scott-penned originals (many co-written with Mr. Batiste) that include a down-in-the-alley blues of Money, the wit of That’ll Do Man, or the soulful funk of Call Me where she tells her man to call her when he needs loving. The duets with Milton are quite nice as is one of the few ‘covers,’ the strong rendition of People Get Ready that showcases her gospel roots and sports a strong guitar solo from guest guitarist Vernon ‘Ice’ Black. The studio playing is consistently strong and E.C. Scott sings with subtlety, control and power. 

She can fill a room with her vocals but never comes across as bombastic. She is quite a singer. The Other Side of Me brings together a varied program of first-rate blues and soul performances that should hopefully lead her to receive popular recognition to go along with her talent and performances. 

Here is E.C. Scott & Smoke in performance.

Lucky Peterson Roots ComeBack Should Have Been Funkier!

This writer was living in Buffalo and doing a blues show on the University of Buffalo’s station WBFO, at the time I first saw and heard Lucky Peterson. He was playing keyboards behind his father, James Peterson, at a club on Main Street near downtown Buffalo. He was a teenager then, not the pre-teen that had appeared on the Tonight Show and recorded singles and an album. His talent was evident every time I heard him as part of his father’s band, including a couple of performances that were fundraisers for the station. One could not help but be impressed by his musicianship. I remember his dad telling me Lucky had perfect pitch. In the years since I left Buffalo I would hear about James and Lucky. Lucky had a break as he played in the bands of Bobby Bland and Little Milton, touring with them overseas and playing on their recordings, before recording for KingSnake I believe, and then he had an album on Alligator that was produced by KingSnake I believe. He continued to perform and over the years he was one of the artists that signed to Verve-Gitanes where he produced three of the finest blues recordings of recent years mixing in funk and classic soul with straight blues. Also on Verve, he accompanied the great Mavis Staples on a great album devoted to the music of Mahalia Jackson. Then he had a disc on Dreyfus that continued in the same vein as his Verve albums. Since then, he has also recorded for small independent labels like JSP, and also had publicized personal issues including substance abuse. Reportedly (and thankfully), he has placed these demons behind him.

Dreyfus Records has just issued Lucky’s latest album, “You Can Always Turn Around,” and the title and some of the songs have a reflective side as they deal with struggle and change. This recording was produced in the Catskills with some of the Woodstock musicians including Larry Campbell, Scott Petito and Gary Burke and the flavor is quite different from Lucky’s prior recordings. “Dust My Broom,” opens and if Lucky, who is playing a dobro here, sings forcefully (although a little over the top at times) it is hardly an original performance and the version of Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues,” which seems like an unplugged adaptation of the Allman Brothers recording which itself was derived from Taj Mahal’s recording on his eponymously titled disc over forty years ago. Its hard to get excited with these covers. The cover of Reverend Gary Davis’ “Death Don’t Have No Mercy,” strikes this listener as a much stronger performance.

Bill Callahan’s “I’m New Here” has a lyric about being new around town but musically its far from the blues and a bit more gentle vocal, spoken at times on a folky-sounding tune. “Trouble,” penned by Ray LaMontagne, has some really nice piano by Peterson as he sings about trouble been bothering his soul since the day he was born, worry not leave his mind alone until he was saved by a woman. The sparse backing helps his vocal stand out here. “Trampled Rose,” was co-written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, opens with Lucky sounding like someone calling believers to prayers and while the lyrics touch on themes of hurt and hurting others, it comes off off-kilter to these ears. Lucky picks up the electric guitar and with heavy fuzztone and a bit over-the-top singing for Lucinda Williams’ “Atonement,” that strikes this listener as pretentious. While he switches to steel guitar (dobro), the rendition of the late Bobby Charles’ “Why Are People Like That,” also sounds too forced. “Four Little Boys,” is a bit more low-key and this song he wrote his his father James, with the “Forty Four Blues” riff incorporated in its melody is a more appealing performance. The outstanding track here is the wonderful rendition of “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free,” where there is a wonderful duet with Lucky’s wife, Tamara. His piano shines on this track as well and they do justice to this number that is identified with the great Nina Simone. Curtis Mayfield’s “Think” closes this album with steel guitar and acoustic slide giving this instrumental a country flavor.

“You Can Always Turn Around” certainly represents a change from Lucky Peterson from prior recordings, and not necessarily for the better here. Not that the performances are terrible, but few of the performances are distinctive and stand out in the fashion of Peterson’s earlier recordings that were more grounded in soul and funk. And while some have suggested this album showcases Lucky’s singing, one might suggest these really haven’t listened to Lucky’s earlier recordings because he always has shown himself to be an excellent vocalist. Still, it is nice to have a new Lucky Peterson recording available, even if it is not among his best work.


The advance review copy was sent by the firm handling publicity for this release.

Little Milton's Stax'd Best

After the sale of Chess to GRT and its eventual demise, the best place for Little Milton was to join the Stax where he produced several albums before that legendary label also folded. Milton may be best known for this Chess/Checker recordings as well as the Malaco recordings after Stax folded. But its clear listening to the reissue “The Very Best of Little Milton,” this was as musically fertile a period of his recording career as any.

And checking out some of the titles he recorded for Stax shows why. Among the classics he recorded for Stax were “That’s What Love Will Make You Do,” “Walking the Back Streets and Crying,” and ”Little Bluebird.” Then he made his own renditions of songs associated with others like “Tin Pan Alley,” or “Women Across the River,” and place his own stamp on them. And perhaps the most classic in this vein was his interpretation of Charlie Rich’s country hit, “Behind Closed Doors,” but given Rich’s strong ties to Southern blues and soul, it is no surprise his songs translated so well when handled by a strong soulful blues performance by Milton.

Milton’s impassioned vocals and strong guitar playing is matched by typically fine backing, from among others, The Memphis Horns, and the use of strings is complementary, not syrupy here. This is a strong compilation of one of the true blues masters who passed away too young.

For purposes of FTC regulations, I do not remember if I received a review copy of this or purchased this.

Charles Wilson's Classy Soul-Blues

Charles Wilson is among the best of the soul-blues singers to come along in the past few decades and after a pretty straight urban blues CD for Delmark, Severn put him in the studio for Troubled Child, released in Spring 2009 and my review here originally appeared in the June 2009 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 317 -p.13) downloadable at www.jazz-blues.com.

Nephew of the late Little Milton, vocalist Charles Wilson has an extensive discography for a variety of labels including Ichiban, Ecko, his own Wilson label, Delmark, and CDS with Severn just having issued his latest entry, “Troubled Child.” Its a surprising disc coming from Severn.

One might have thought this might have been more of a blues feel to it , but its a stone-sold soul disc that has a feel of a session from thirty years ago with a full horn section and strings and no sign of synthesizers. It doesn’t hurt to have a studio band of Mike Welch on keyboards, Benji Porecki on keyboards, Steve Gomes on bass and Robb Stupka on drums, or having Willie Henderson handling the horn and string arrangements. There is an interesting mix of songs here from the Don Robey tune, “Where My Baby Went,” to Ronnie Earl’s “I Want to Shout About.” The blues makes its most visible appearance on strong on Denise LaSalle’s “Somebody’s Tears,” done as a tribute to his uncle that is wonderfully sung and has some fine guitar from Welch. The Sam Dees tune that gives the album its title is marvelously reworked with its lyric of a child growing up in the mean world of the ghetto brought to life by Wilson’s impassioned vocal who recognizes some of himself in the troubled child. On Bob Marley’s “Is This Love,” Wilson clearly sings yes about sharing his home and life with his women. Nice also is the remake of the George Jackson song, “I Don’t Want to Take a Chance,” about getting back with the woman who broke his heart before. I have not heard Wee Willie Walker’s original Goldwax recording that has been reissued by the English Kent label. Steve Gomes contributed the closing “Put Something In It,” a solid mid-tempo soul burner.

This is a handsomely produced disc (one cites the cliche that no expense was spared to produce it) that shows how good a singer Wilson is and certainly fans of soul, southern or otherwise will find much to enjoy here.

For FTC regulation purposes, the review copy was sent from Severn Records.

Outstanding New Blues Recordings of 2007

The first of three posts to include CDs that I consider outstanding releases of 2007. This focuses on the blues and soul releases. I have links to reviews posted on this blog.

Carey Bell & Lurrie Bell - Gettin’ Up Live (Delmark) Last recordings of harp icon with son who played DC many times. Also available on DVD.
Lurrie Bell - Let’s Talk About Love (Aria B.G. Records) Excellent disc by Carey's son
Nappy Brown - Long Time Coming (Blind Pig) Excellent disc by veteran singer with DC area's Big Joe Maher on drums
Franklin & Baytop - Searchin’ For Frank - (Patuxent) DC area artists doing terrific acoustic blues
Billy Gibson - Southern Livin’ (Inside Memphis)
ZZ Jill Jr - Goin' To Mississippi (Delta Roots) Great soul blues recording by Chicago based singer
The Holmes Brothers - State of Grace (Alligator) Marvelous album that defis categorization
Marie Knight - Let Us Get Together: A Tribute to Reverend Gary Davis (MC) (Inspired tribute to the legendary fingerpinker)
Frankie Lee - Standing at the Crossroads (Blues Express) One of my favorites singers.
Lady Bianca - Through A Woman's Eyes (Magic-O) Amazing good singer and pianist. Marcia Ball has nothing on her.
Little Milton - The Last Concert - (Juke Joint Media). The last performance a few weeks before he suffered stroke and passed. I have DVD but I believe there is CD of this. I was there.
New Orleans Rhythm Conspiracy -Dancin' Ground (self-produced). Post-Katrina band formed by members of Walter Woilfman Washington's RoadMasters, bassist Jack Cruz and drummer Wilbert 'Junkyard Dog' Arnold along with guitarist George Sartin with Uganda Roberts, Jimmy Carpenter and the Wolfman present on a set of blues, soul-funk and Mardi Gras Indian chants. Marilyn Barbarin and Tyrone Pollard handle the vocals with Brother Tyrone covering Blue Moon Risin', one of my favorite Wolfman Washington recordings (Wolfman and Cruz wrote it) updated for post-Katrina comments.
Nick Moss & the Flip Tops - Play It ‘Til Tomorrow (Blue Bella) Great double album of Chicago blues, one electric in style of Magic Slim and the Teardrops and the other acoustic
John Németh - Magic Touch (Blind Pig)
Darrell Nulisch - Goin’ Back to Dallas (Severn)
Papa Grows Funk - Mr. Patterson's Hat (self-produced) Latest recording by New Orleans and his jamming funk band that includes guitarist June Yamagishi, and drummer Jeffrey 'Jellybean' Alexander
Big Pete Pearson - I’m Here Baby (Blue Witch)
Tad Robinson - A New Point of View (Severn)
Ryan Shaw - This is Ryan Shaw (Columbia) Amazing twenties singer brings Wilson Pickett and others to life
Roscoe Shelton - Save Me (SRV Blue Late veteran Nashville R&B blues shouter
Various - House Rockin’ and Blues Shoutin’!, (Blue Witch)

Big Brown's Blues

There have been so many examples of blues artists who produced a small number of recordings whose recordings were highly prized by those who heard them but never reach the more general acclaim that their music deserves. Its been over twenty years since singer-guitarist Andrew Brown passed away after recording some excellent 45s, several tracks for Alligator’s Living Chicago Blues series and two superb albums for Dutch Labels that I do not believe have been issued on CD. The Dutch Black Magic label has made almost all of Brown’s recordings available (the issued Alligator tracks excluded) on a wonderful limited edition reissue, Big Brown Blues. Packed in a book sized package, the contents of the two discs include his issued 4s for the U.S.A, 4 Brothers and Brave label and a pair of unissued titled from Brave; two unissued songs from the sessions used for the Living Chicago Blues series; the contents of his Black Magic and Double Trouble CDs and three demos recorded at Andrew’s basement. The booklet contains a bio from Bill Dahl and producer Dick Shurman’s recollections of Andrew and his music. As Shurman observes, “Musically, Andrew was accomplished, powerful, soulful and versatile.”
Influences on Brown include B.B. King, Lowell Fulson and T-Bone Walker, but in listening to these, his music struck me as very similar to that of the late Little Milton, which is evident in the wonderful treatment of Milton’s Losing Hand that is the first track on the second disc. It is more a matter of similarities in the voices and common influences. Like Milton, Brown was not only a fleet guitarist, but also a wonderful songwriter. Magic Sam covered Brown’s USA 45, You Better Stop, but there are any number of strong modern urban blues with sophisticated lyrics, sung with heart, while his guitar playing embellished, not overwhelmed, his vocals. He moves from a rocking shuffle like No More Talking to the blues ballad Your Love is Important to Me, then taking up a funk groove on Mary Jane. Dick Shurman had him cover some songs on the two albums with Tin Pan Alley, perhaps the best known song that he makes his own, but other songs covered include his terrific take on James ‘Thunderbird’ Davis’ Blue Monday, Joe Tex’s I Want to Do (Everything For You), and a Bobby Bland classic, Lead Me On. A few numbers are a bit more directed towards the straight soul market, but are also delivered so convincingly.
Having Brown’s two albums and even a 4 Brothers 45, I am delighted to have this wonderful reissue available by a person who should be much better known among a broader range of blues fans. His ‘mellow’ blues styling is akin to such other neglected past blues masters Mighty Joe Young and Fenton Robinson and is better than a lot of what is purported to be blues today. This is a limited edition and I recommend checking the better mail order specialists like BlueBeat Music to get this gem while you can. It is also available directly from Black Magic Records.

Little Milton - The Last Concert

I was at the North Atlantic Blues Festival on the dreary, rainy Saturday when Little Milton closed the day's performances with a solid performance opening with him taking the mike and belting out a few songs before picking up his guitar for the last two-thirds of the set. Milton was in wonderful form including My Dog and Me, Still Some Meat on These Bones, a marvelous medley of Anna Mae’s Cafe, Catch You on Your Way Down, and Walking the Backstreets Crying, and a rousing The Blues is All Right, that closes the performance. Fortunately, this performance was captured on a marvelous DVD, Little Milton - The Last Concert (Juke Joint Media). The video captures the performance in a simple straightforward fashion, focusing on Milton and his band with the cameras occasionally surveying the audience, but never straying from its focus on Little Milton. Looking at how vigorous Little Milton was that afternoon, you may understand my shock when I heard about his stroke-heart attack a few days later and his death less than a month after this wonderful performance. I was fortunate to be there but wish it had not been his Last Concert. This DVD (a CD is also available) is obtainable from amazon.com and from North Atlantic Blues Records. The CD is available from various sources including The Little Milton Store.

2021 note - I am not sure about the availability or if the links above still work.