A few thoughts on the Blues Hall of Fame

One of my friends, who may be on the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame Committee, inquired about my suggestions of folks to be considered for the Hall. I provided him with a number of names. The names I submitted included Roy and Grady Gaines (who are both still with us), the Boogie Woogie Trio of Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, and Meade Lux Lewis and their mentor Jimmy Yancey, the great Esther Phillips and Duke Robillard. I also suggested as Classics of Blues Recordings the compilations that accompanied Sam Charters "The Country Blues," Paul Oliver's "Blues Fell This Morning and the Origin Jazz Library "Really the Country Blues," and a number of the early Yazoo vinyl albums.

 Albert Ammons & Pete Johnson

The artists selected for induction were announced Sunday by the Foundation and include: Mavis Staples, Magic Slim, Johnny Copeland, Henry Gray, Latimore and Willie Johnson. For Classics of Blues Recordings albums they choose John Lee Hooker, The Real Folk Blues (Chess). I do find these artists deserving although I do not believe any of these artists are more deserving than the ones I had suggested. 

I am pleased for the Texas Twister, Johnny Copeland, a singular performer that was always adding new elements to his music.  Magic Slim was one of the biggest and most reliable acts on the blues circuit of the past forty odd years. I was surprised of the selection of Latimore, although pleased that someone in the soul-blues world was honored. Henry Gray has been a solid pianist and vocalist in the over forty years since he moved back to Louisiana, not to mention his tenure with Howling Wolf. Willie Johnson was a major player on Wolf's early recordings (but how can you pick him and also not pick Roy Gaines, who did session work for Duke (with Bobby Bland I believe); Chuck Willis (he was also Willis' band leader); Jimmy Rushing and many more, as well as numerous outstanding recordings on his own, several of which were award-winning ones). 

Johnny Copeland doing "Devil's Hand" in 1984

To my mind, the only questionable selection of a performer is that of Mavis Staples, whose iconic status as a performer is well acknowledged, but one whose performances and recordings are outside the blues. The press-release announcing the selections acknowledges this, stating that she "one of America’s premier singers of gospel and soul music, has expanded her musical mastery with her performances in more blues-based settings in recent years." Performances being in a blues-based setting is not, to me, a strong rationale to induct a non-blues artist, as wonderful as she is, to a Blues Hall of Fame. I understand the rationale, I do not agree with it. 

A few other observations about this year's selections. Once again, with the exception of Son House's "Preaching the Blues" as a classic single, pre-war blues artists and recordings were generally ignored. Also the one album selected, John Lee Hooker, The Real Folk Blues, is not, in my estimation, one of the more important albums of Hooker's music. 

Of course this represents my opinion, but one resulting from following and listening to blues for a half century.

RIP Magic Slim

PICT2125 Magic Slim, a photo by NoVARon on Flickr. Taken at the 2004 Pocono Blues Festival by Ron Weinstock

RIP Magic Slim who passed away on February 21. What can one say about him other than he simply played some straight-ahead stomping, no holds barred Chicago Blues. A performer with a repertoire of who knows how many tunes, there was no pretense to his music as he would grind out his blues, singing in his gravelly voice while laying down some stinging guitar fills and solos. While his band members changed over the years, Slim and his band never deviated from his sound, which was one reason for his considerable appeal.

And he made numerous albums that at worst were simply good. A few CDs of Slim that I particularly recommend include Rough Dried Woman, which is compiled from various albums Slim recorded for Wolf; Spider In My Stew/the Zoo Bar Collection Volume 4 also on Wolf; Grand Slam on Rooster Blues; Raw Magic on Alligator: The Essential Magic Slim on Blind Pig; and Snakebite also on Blind Pig. He last album, Bad Boy, on Blind Pig  was a typically solid effort.

Magic Slim Rockin' Zoo Bar Blues

Here is another vintage Magic Slim review. It appeared in the November 1996 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 216). I have made a few minor stylistic changes. I believe I purchased this CD. Magic Slim & The Teardrops Are among the blues most prolific recording artists, with numerous albums on a variety of labels. They will have a new Blind Pig album later this fall or early next year. Austrian Wolf Records recently issued Spider In My Stew/the Zoo Bar Collection Volume 4 consisting of 1980s live recordings from the famous Lincoln, Nebraska club. Despite the similarity in tempos (many being mid-tempo boogaloo-Jimmy Reed shuffles), and a somewhat restricted musical palette, Magic Slim has been able to build a loyal and growing following partly due to the Teardrops’ ability to lay down a consistent driving groove. One surprise here is a very fine, slow-drag tempo used on the late Buster Benton’s Spider in My Stew. If lacking a great vocal range, his subtle embellishments can be quite powerful. If Slim is not one of the virtuoso blues guitarists, his driving, stinging attack is supported by a tight groove keeps the dance floor full with a tempo that never is rushed or hurried. There is plenty of familiar material here including Standin’ on the Highway, which Slim has recorded previously and he rocks through its easy shuffle groove. A singer, Earlene Owens, guests on a medley of blues classics, while Slim’s eclecticism is found in his renditions of other classics like a driving shuffle take of Eddie Miller’s (I’d Rather) Drink Muddy Water, where he exhorts the audience to a call and response, before launching into a hard driving solo. He engages in broomdusting on Walkin’ Cane (a retitled Look On Yonder’s Wall), while gives a smoky blues cast to Ivory Joe Hunter’s Since I Met You Baby. After rocking J.B. Lenoir’s Mojo Boogie, with a raspy vocal, this excellent live recording concludes with Slim’s own affirmation of Little Milton’s The Blues Are All Right. In Magic Slim’s hands the blues certainly are all right, and this is among the better of his recordings that this writer has heard.

Excellent If Not The Essential Magic Slim

Morris Holt, best known as Magic Slim, has had a celebrated recording career over 40 years, and rarely produced a blues record that was merely good. It is misleading for Blind Pig to call the compilation of some of the best tracks from his half dozen or so Blind Pig albums, The Essential Magic Slim since any compilation of Slim’s recordings that do not span his entire career including the superb records that have been issued on Rooster Blues, Alligator and the Austrian Wolf label can hardly be called Essential. Best of Magic Slim on Blind Pig would be more accurate.

This is not to say that the music here is substandard. In fact the music here is typical of the hard-driving rocking Chicago blues that Slim has been producing since his 1966 45 of Scufflin’. Opening with a rocking rendition of Bo Diddley’s Before You Accuse Me, rocketing through the terrific shuffle, Mind Your Own Business and continuing with a driving updating of Jimmy McCracklin’s Think, Magic Slim forcefully delivers his lyrics while laying down some stringing guitar. He is one of the few who can produce a listenable Mustang Sally while going down in the alley on the slow groove of Crazy Woman. Those backing him here include guitarists John Primer, Steve Freund, Michael Dotson and Jon McDonald, with brother Nick Holt handling the bass on most of the 15 tracks.

This may not be “The Essential” Magic Slim, but it is an excellent introduction to his music if you are not familiar with his distinctive and recognizable style.

I wrote this review in 2007 for the DC Blues Calendar and Jazz & Blues Report but I am not sure if either publication ran it. I likely received a review copy from Blind Pig.

With Magic Slim Anything Can Happen

I have had the pleasure to review Magic Slim’s music over an extended period of time and he certainly has been among the greatest living Chicago bluesmen around. The following review appeared in the November 2005 DC Blues Calendar. There is something to be said about its conciseness. I likely received my review copy from Blind Pig.

Over a three decade plus recording career, Morris Holt, better know as Magic Slim, has remained a consistent force in the blues maintaining his basic sound despite the change in personnel over the years. Slim’s churning rhythms and stinging guitar with his straight-ahead gravelly vocals show little wear from the constant touring and performing and has built up a substantial catalog for his fans.

He has recorded a number of live albums including several in a series, Live at the Zoo Bar, on the Austrian Wolf Records label. Blind Pig has just issued his latest live recording, Anything Can Happen, recorded at Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, California and there is a companion DVD with slightly different songs included. With his present band of second guitarist Jon McDonald, bassist Chris Biedron and drummer Vernal Taylor, Slim does not disappoint on a mix of originals and a couple of covers.

This will not disappoint anyone wanting some real Chicago blues or Slim’s fans (although if you have a dozen Slim discs you may not need this one) and for the few of you who do not have any Magic Slim, this serves as a good introduction to his music.

Now enjoy a clip of Magic Slim performing live.

Excellent Rough Dried Magic Slim

It might surprise blues fans, but the Austrian Wolf label has issued 14 albums by Magic Slim & the Teardrops, way more than any other label. And these are not some run of the mill issues. Three of them have won WC Handy Awards and five were recorded at the legendary Zoo Bar which became Slim’s musical home some time ago. The 14th and latest Wolf album is Rough Dried Woman, which is subtitled “Magic Slim’s best 14 songs.” It is compiled from sessions recorded for Wolf between 1986 and 1992 and include 3 previously unissued live recordings. Present on all the recordings are Slim, his brother Nick Holt on bass guitar and second guitarist John Primer with four different drummers present on the sessions.

Magic Slim’s music is not fancy. It is pretty simple and direct with Slim’s emphatic driving guitar with its single note runs that show a bit of Albert King’s influence, the interaction with him and his second guitarist who during this period was John Primer, and brother Nick’s bass which originated the “lump ta lump” style made for the strong, immediately recognizable Teardrops sound. Nick passed away a little while ago and this CD is dedicated to his memory.

From the opening rendition of Big Mac’s Rough Dried Woman through the reworking of Buster Benton’s Spider in My Stew, to the concluding notes of Roy Brown’s Hard Luck Blues, this is typically solid Magic Slim recording. And the songs come from a variety of sources including Albert King, Lefty Dizz, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Bonnie Lee and Roy Brown. In this strong grouping of blues a few tracks stand out. There is a terrific slow rendition of “Matchbox Blues as done by Albert King as well as the down-in-the alley, slow grind of the cover of Lefty Dizz’s Bad Avenue. Slim’s marriage of a Dust My Broom groove to Bo Diddley’s Before You Accuse Me, is an driving rocker while the medium tempo reworking of Eddie Taylor’s Bad Boy is similarly irresistible before the stunning live rendition of Hard Luck Blues.

One rarely will go wrong with a Magic Slim recording and Rough Dried Woman is one of the better ones by him.

This was a purchase.

Byther Smith's Holding That West Side Blues Train

One of the frustrations of blues is discovering a terrific talent, yet being frustrated by the artist’s failure to be able to take a step to insure success as more than a fine recording artist. The one time I saw Byther Smith at the Poconos, he was with a pick-up band, which was a shame because it did not do justice to his strong West Side Blues guitar and vocals that are almost on the level of an Otis Rush. He has recorded other strong albums for Delmark, JSP and Black & Tan. This review appeared in the July-August 2004 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 269). Tomorrow, I will run my review of his 2008 CD/DVD on Delmark, Man on the Moon.

With an efficient backing trio laying down steady, funk-tinged grooves, Byther Smith blasts out some stinging blues guitar and pleads his blues with plenty of heart on his third Delmark album Hold That Train. While he does cover some overdone songs like The Thrill is Gone, Willie Dixon’s 300 Pounds of Joy and Howlin’ Wolf’s Killing Floor, most of the material handled here is not nearly as familiar, as he opens with the late A.C. Reed’s This Little Voice, Dixon’s Close To You, Andrew Brown’s You Ought to Be Ashamed, Junior Wells’ Come On In This House, and Detroit Junior’s So Unhappy. Other tracks include Mississippi Kid, set to the melody of Junior Wells’ Messin’ With the Kid.


More so than his prior discs, Smith’s performances here suggest recent recordings by Magic Slim with the simple grooves, punched out stinging guitar lines and solid singing, although Smith’s vocals are a bit higher pitched than those of Magic Slim. So Unhappy is a stirring slow blues where Smith pours his soul in while he evokes Slim Harpo’s Scratch My Back melody for his adaptation of What My Momma Told Me. I Don’t Like to Travel is a strong performance suggestive of Otis Rush’s classic I Can’t Quit You Baby.


The only complaint would be that the tracks start to sound the same if one listens to this in one setting. Use of horns and/or keyboards on some songs would have provided more varied listening.

I likely received a review copy from Delmark.

Chicago Blues A Living History: The Revolution Continues

It was a couple years ago that Raisin’ Music issued the first double CD, Chicago Blues: A Living History, a superb CD that revived some classic and lesser known Chicago blues by the likes of Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James, Memphis Slim, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Earl Hooker and Magic Sam. Well, now comes a sequel, Chicago Blues A Living History: The (R)evolution Continues. The Two CDs contain 23 selections and a bit over 80 minutes.


Like the prior release, the solid backing band, The Living History Band, returns with guitarist Billy Flynn, Pianist Johnny Iguana, bassist Felton Crews and drummer Kenny Smith. With the support by this band, the spotlight is focused on Billy Boy Arnold, John Primer, Lurrie Bell, Billy Branch and Carlos Johnson with featured guest appearances by Buddy Guy, Magic Slim, James Cotton, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Zora Young and Mike Avery. The CD opens with three performances by Billy Boy Arnold of artists associated with the forties Chicago scene, Lonnie Johnson, Tampa Red and Sonny Boy Williamson before we move on to the post-war era with more emphasis on the post mid-fifties scene and extending to the nineties.


Arnold is really good, with the rendition of Tampa Red’s I’ll Be Up Again Someday, being especially fine. With just bass and drums, John Primer does a solid Muddy Waters copy on Canary Bird before taking a lighter tack on the Jimmy Rogers shuffle, Chicago Bound. Floyd Jones was one of the artists whose recordings were skipped on the earlier disc, but Lurrie Bell does a strong rendition of Stockyard Blues, with Matthew Skoller adding harmonica (the late Snooky Pryor played on the original). Billy Branch and James Cotton both play harmonica on a rendition of the Jackie Brenston hit, Rocket 88, that Cotton recorded for Vanguard. Branch takes the vocal here as he does on a medley of Little Walter and Bo Diddley songs, while Primer handles the vocal on Chuck Berry’s Reelin’ and Rockin’, on which Billy Flynn emulates Berry’s guitar style.


The second disc opens with Buddy Guy doing a straight remake of his classic Chess recording T he First Time I Met the Blues, which is followed by John Primer being reunited with Magic Slim for a chugging rendition of Chuck Willis’ Keep a Drivin’. Magic Sam’s cousin Michael Avery was a revelation on the initial release and continues to impress as he reprises Easy Baby. Primer handles Howlin’ Wolf’s Howlin’ For My Baby, while Billy Boy Arnold handles the vocal on Robert Lockwood, Jr.’s My Daily Wish, that Lockwood waxed originally with Otis Spann in 1960. Pianist Iguana is excellent here as is Flynn who evokes Lockwood’s jazzy style on this.


Yonder’s Wall is based on the recording of it by Junior Wells, with Billy Branch honoring one of his mentors and evoking Wells’ harp style, while Zora Young takes the vocal on the late Sunnyland Slim’s Be Careful How You Vote. Its nice that Fenton robinson is remembered by Carlos Johnson who provides a fresh arrangement of Somebody Loan Me a Dime. Johnson also does his take on the title track of Otis Rush’s Grammy Award winning album Ain’t Enough Comin’ In. A couple of sons pay respects to their dads with Lurrie doing his own Got To Leave Chi-Town, as a tribute to Carey Bell (with Billy Branch playing some tough harp here) while Ronnie Baker Brooks salutes his father Lonnie Brooks on the mix of Chicago blues, funk and bayou boogie, Don’t Take Advantage of Me. Ronnie also does his plea “Make These Blues Survive, as he worries about the music’s future. The recording concludes with a rendition of Brownie McGhee’s lively shuffle, The Blues Had a Baby, with vocals by Bell, Arnold, Branch and Primer.


This is another satisfying salute to the Chicago Blues tradition that covers a wide spectrum of performers, that is package in a double CD digipack and contains a booklet with producer Larry Skoller’s notes, commentary on the selections and an illustrated Chicago Blues History timeline which is provides an overview of the artists whose recordings are mined and the performers heard on this. Fans of the prior release will have similar feelings about this sequel. And there is so much of the Chicago Blues History that they have yet to explore that hopefully might merit a third release in this series. Recommended. 

This review originally appeared in the May 1-June 15 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 335) which can be downloaded at jazz-blues.com. My review copy was supplied by a publicist for this release.

North Atlantic Blues Festival Has Stellar Line Up

While I will not be attending it, this year’s North Atlantic Blues Festival has among the finest line-ups of blues festivals I have seen. Like the Pennsylvania Blues Festival, the focus of who is booked is on “blues,” not on blues rockers than might be at some over-hyped festival that books a few real deal blues acts. In any event, the 18th edition of the Festival takes place in Rockland, Maine on July 16 and July 17.


Saturday, July 16 the line-up include the soul-blues of Nellie Tiger Travis and then some of the leading names of Chicago blues today. Eddy “the Chief” Clearwater; Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials; Billy Branch & the Sons of the Blues; Magic Slim and the Teardrops and the Brooks Family Reunion with Lonnie, Ronnie and Wayne Baker. I wonder when a non-Chicago based festival had all these acts on the same day. This is a fairly heavyweight day of blues.


Sunday, July 17 has the family band Trampled Under Foot followed by James Armstrong,Tony Lynn Washington, Eric Bibb and Robert Cray. There will be performances by Gina Sicilia & Dave Gross between sets and they have a Saturday Night Pub Crawl that has become a tradition at this festival.

James Armstrong

The Festival is located at Rockland’s Public Landing, so you sit in a City Park with a terrific view of the harbor as your listen to blues from this truly sterling line-up. Paul Benjamin and company may have out-done themselves with this year’s Festival. Particularly to folks from New York up through New England, this is a must see Festival.  


The festivals' website is http://www.northatlanticbluesfestival.com/ and their facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/pages/North-Atlantic-Blues-Festival/182157101315.

John Primer's Blues Life

There are few blues performers as accomplished in a traditional blues vein as John Primer. A member of Muddy Water’s last band as well as long-time stint with Magic Slim, Primer has certainly produced a number of really fine recordings starting with the Atlantic/ Code Blue CD “The Real Deal” and including last year’s excellent All Original (Blues House Productions) that Primer produced himself which is a 2010 Blues Music Award Nominee with some really terrific originals and solid playing including Harmonica Hinds adding his sympathetic accompaniments. Among Primer's other releases was a  tribute to Elmore James, Blue Steel (A Tribute to Elmore James) on Wolf. The Wolf label has been a supporter of Primer and have issued other discs by him in addition to Blue Steel and Delmark also has issued some strong stuff by him.

Here are three older reviews of his music I have done over the years. First up is a 1993 review of Stuff You Got to Watch that was issued on Earwig when he was second guitarist in Magic Slim & the Teardrops. This originally appeared in the May, 1993 Jazz & Blues Report, issue 181:

Fans of straight ahead Chicago blues should check out John Primer’s Stuff You Got to Watch on Earwig. The Mississippi born Primer was in the houseband at Theresa’s Lounge where he was befriended by the late Sammy Lawhorn. Later he was in Muddy Waters’ last band and has been with Magic Slim and the Teardrops for the past few years. While he has an album for the Austrian Wolf label, this US debut certainly makes one wonder what took him so long to get hooked up with a US label.


Among those on this date are fellow Teardrop, Nick Holt, on bass, Harmonica Hinds on harp and Carl Snyder on keyboards. It is an excellent studio band which strongly supports Primer’s delta rooted vocals and guitar . While much of this is comprised of Primer’s originals, his covers are imaginative with a strong nod to Muddy on the title track. His renditions of Freddy King’s See See Baby and Magic Sam’s That’s All I Need are wonderfully paced performances while he personalizes Otis Rush’s Double Trouble, giving it a fresh cast that almost is as good as Rush’s original (which had Ike Turner’s guitar in addition to Rush’s).


Jimmy and Jeannie Cheathem’s Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On, is answered by Primer’s original Bring Your Clothes Back Home. Less expected is his transformation of Texas country bluesman Little Son Jackson’s Cairo Blues into a Chicago band blues.The instrumental Lawhorn Special is a fitting nod to the late guitar giant and his mentor. To these ears, the only misguided effort is Rhinestone Cowboy (the Glen Campbell pop-country hit), but perhaps it will get him on Nashville Now.


This is first-rate album of Chicago blues that comes from (to borrow a Bob Margolin phrase) “The Old School.”

In the March 1996 Jazz & Blues Report, Issue 209, I reviewed the Mike Vernon produced The Real Deal:

John Primer certainly has paid his dues, having been a member of perhaps the top Chicago party band, Magic Slim & the Teardrops, as well as stints in Willie Dixon’s Chicago Blues All Stars and Muddy Waters’ last band. He also spent several years in the house band at the legendary Chicago club, Theresa’s, working with the late Sammy Lawhorn, and Lawhorn’s influence can be heard in Primer’s strong, focused guitar work, with a cutting tone, and a crisp delivery.

He is also no slouch as a vocalist, and his new Code Blue release,The Real Deal, is actually his fourth album, two being highly regarded imports on the German Wolf label, and the other a strong album on Earwig. Producer Mike Vernon has put together a strong backing band here: Billy Branch on harp, Johnny B. Gayden on bass, Dave Maxwell on piano (coming on like Otis Spann) , and Teardrops’ Jake Dawson on guitar and Earl Howell on drums.

Primer and the band grind out some old-fashioned Chicago blues with tasty covers of Willie Dixon’s Good Understanding and Lafayette Leake’s Blind Man Blues,relatively obscure Muddy Waters recordings, along with his own originals. Oddly, Muddy’s influence as a guitarist is more evident on Primer’s original Still in Love With You, than on Blind Man Blues, and while the influence of Muddy’s vocals can be detected, Primer has developed into an authoritative, forceful ‘deep blues’ singer in his own right. Elmore James’ music reverberates on Still in Love With You, with some broomdusting slide guitar. Branch is outstanding throughout, particularly his crying accompaniment on the Walter Davis-Henry Townsend standard, Come Back Baby, while Maxwell (veteran of Freddie King, James Cotton and other bands) is strong throughout.

John Primer is indeed the real deal and this is a splendid set of straight ahead Chicago blues.

In the March-April 2001 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 250), I examined the Wolf release It’s a Blues Life:

Leader of Muddy Waters last band, and for thirteen years a member of Magic Slim and the Teardrops, John Primer has been developing into one of the strongest traditionally based blues artists out of Chicago. He has also been building a very impressive catalog and the enterprising Austrian Wolf label has issued this 1998 session by Primer and The Real Deal Blues Band. Primer’s band of rhythm guitarist Thomas Holland, harp player Steve Bell (Carey’s son); and drummer Bert Robinson are joined by bassist Nick Holt and pianist Ken Barker for a rocking set of no-nonsense Chicago blues.


There are covers of songs from Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Albert King and Hound Dog Taylor (though Give Me Back My Wig is more inspired by Lightnin’ Hopkins than Taylor) and strong, idiomatic originals from Primer who can take things down in the alley on Albert King’s Can’t You See What You’re Doin’ to Me as well as get a rollicking groove going on his own Sweet As a Georgia Peach. Primer’s direct style is devoid of artifice or overwrought emotion. His crisp, stinging guitar complements his forceful vocals, and with solid backing has produced another release that showcases his abilities quite nicely.

Reading these reviews years later, I am struck by some of the same points coming out including his straight-ahead style with solid singing and playing. The same points can be made about All Original, which shows why Primer is a favorite among fans of straight-ahead Chicago blues. Solid no nonsense numbers with echoes of Muddy, Elmore and others in Primer’s singing and the solid Chicago blues bands he has assembled. And he remains “The Real Deal.”


For purposes of FTC regulations, I believe I received review copies of these from the recording companies or a publicist for the company. I purchased All Original.

Blind Pig's latest releases are a mixed bag

Couple of new releases from Blind Pig to briefly note. One is the latest from Magic Slim & the Teardrops, Midnight Blues. It is an enjoyable release in his immediately recognizable sound with his grinding slow blues and highly danceable walking shuffles with his solid singing and stinging lead guitar. He is backed by his band of guitarist Jon McDonald; bassist Danny O’Connor and drummer David Simms, with guest appearances by James Cotton, Lil Ed Williams, Lonnie Brooks, Elvin Bishop, and a Gene Barge horn section. Its a typical mix of originals and lesser known blues from other singers. Let Me Love You, is a typical Slim shuffle with a driving beat and a solid vocal followed by a nice rendition of Muddy Waters’ You Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had, with James Cotton chiming in on harp. Lil Ed joins for the frantic rendition of Hound Dog Taylor’s Give Me Back My Wig, that is a tad busy sounding. Little Milton’s Lonely Man, is slightly flat, but the take on Spider in My Stew, with Lonnie Brooks guesting, is much better as Slim and company grind out a most persuasive performance. The country flavor of Going Down The Road Feeling Bad, adds variety but its more of a novelty track here. Full Load Boogie, is a nondescript instrumental but followed by a terrific take of Muddy’s Crosseyed Cat with a groove that chugs along like an irresistible force. Elvin Bishop helps out on the slow-drag Carla, while Slim reworks Cryin’ Won’t Make You Stay, from a slow-drag number to a jaunty shuffle employing the Dust My Broom, groove. A few tracks may be relatively disappointing, as Slim seems incapable of producing a bad recording. This is not Slim’s most impressive effort, but its far from a poor effort.

The other new Blind Pig disc is a live release by Albert Cummings, Feel So Good, that I would describe as a blues-tinged hard rock date as opposed to a blues. A power guitarist, just supported by bass and trio. He bellows out his vocals while hammering out some sizzling guitar pyrotechnics. The opening Party Right Here, and the succeeding Why Me, have a flavor not dissimilar from what one might see/hear on CMT or some contemporary country stations, although a bit more rocked out and certainly not sung with any great distinction, and taken at breakneck tempos. Sleep, a somewhat dreamy rock ballad is taken at a slow tempo with a more relaxed vocal and nice thoughtful guitar. A medley of Hootchie Cootchie with Dixie Chicken owes more to the Allman Brothers, Z.Z. Hill and other southern boogie rockers than Muddy Waters or B.B. King which also is evident by Barrelhouse Blues, which evokes Hendrix’s Voodoo Chile, while Your Own Way, is musically suggestive of All Along the Watchtower, with a long-extended screaming guitar solo, Cummings does a creditable hard-rock rendition of Led Zeppelin’s Rock & Roll, which indicates where the core of Cummins’ musical heart is. He bellows out that the Blues Makes Me Feel So Good, but this disc must not be the blues, because it don’t make me feel that way.

Nick Moss's Invigorating Chicago Blues

Writing about Nick Moss & the Flip Tops, Bill Dahl notes that they simultaneously preserve and advance the Chicago blues tradition. “Yet youthful vitality and imagination thunders from their sound, boding well for their future and that of the idiom itself.” Listening to the double CD by this group, Play It ‘Til Tomorrow (Blue Bella) one quickly realizes that this isn’t faint praise. There are two discs. One is an electric recording while the other disc is an acoustically oriented unplugged one. What is most striking is how strong the ensemble playing is throughout. The Flip Tops are a band whose whole is much more than the sum of the individual parts. At work listening to this, this writer first thought this was a Magic Slim disc I had purchased. Then I looked and realized it was Moss & the Flip Tops. Like Magic Slim & the Teardrops, Nick Moss & the Flip Tops have a tight sound and get a similar chugging rhythmic groove going. Also Moss’ stinging guitar evokes the playing of Jimmy Dawkins. Eddie Taylor Jr. guests on several tracks, while Moss handles the vocals. He also plays some harp in addition to guitar, with the Flip Tops backing him throughout. The Flip Tops are: Willie Oshany (ex-Legendary Blues Band) on keyboards (bass for a few tracks), Gary Hundt on bass (guitar for several tracks) and Bob Carter on drums. Moss is heard mostly on originals that sound like they are covers of unissued Chess or Vee-Jay recordings as well as interpretations of Luther ‘Georgia Snake Boy’ Johnson’s Woman Don’t Lie, Lefty Dizz’s Bad Avenue (sounding like Magic Slim on an uptempo reworking of this) and Floyd Jones’ Rising Wind. Its refreshing to hear a band handle this material so well and so-idiomatically and without any showboat guitar gymnastics. The acoustic disc is equally good as Hundt adds harp and mandolin and the original material suggests Muddy, Jimmy Rogers and Tampa Red. Barrelhouse Chuck guests on one of these tracks as well. This is among the best new releases I have heard in 2007 and most highly recommended.