Larry Davis - Jeffrey Scott reviews

Larry Davis - Funny Stuff - Rooster Blues

Best known for the original recording of "Texas Flood," which was popularized by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Larry Davis had a relatively short but distinguished career, which included at one time being signed to B.B. King's Virgo label. Originally a bass player, he started playing guitar while touring with Albert King. 

In 1982 Rooster Blues issued his album, Funny Stuff, which won the 1982 Handy Award for Best New Album and contained the two tracks that won for Best Single. Davis sang with plenty of gospel-based soul while playing his Flying V Gibson in a hard-edged style that clearly reflected Albert King's influence. He produced one of the strongest recordings of the Eighties. This is a welcome reissue of that album.

From the title track, a terrific song about a lady who has hoodoo'ed him to the closing rendition of Albert King's "Got to Be Some Changes Made," Davis pours his heart into the vocals while turning out some high-energy solos. Other high points include his funky renditions of "That Will Never Do" and George Jackson's "Find' Em, Fool 'Em & Forget 'Em." There are also the searing, slow blues "Teardrops" and "Worried Dream." 

Legendary saxophonist and producer Oliver Sain produced this as well as played sax and keyboards. Billy Gayles, of Kings of Rhythm fame, played drums on half of this while Johnny Johnson played piano on five of the ten tracks. The album holds up wonderfully and one would be hard-pressed to find any better modern blues recordings since this came out. There may be some as good, but not better.

Jeffrey Scott - Rattlesnake Daddy

With John Jackson as his uncle, and friends with the likes of John Cephas and Doc Watson, one

should not be surprised that the debut album of Jeffrey Scott, the self-produced "Rattlesnake Daddy" is firmly in the East Coast fingerstyle guitar tradition. 

This disc contains a selection of songs from Blind Blake, Blind Boy Fuller, Arthur Crudup, and Big Bill Broonzy among others, Scott displays a crisp, fluid guitar style while his tenor is a bit brighter sounding than John Jackson's straightforward delivery of a lyric. Perhaps he is not yet as deft a guitarist as his uncle or John Cephas, but he does maintain a nice relaxed groove on "Step It Up and Go" as well as "That's All Right Mama." 

This is a very enjoyable disc and indicates Scott is a talent with more than simply promise here.

These reviews originally appeared in the 2001 November DC Blues Calendar, then the DC Blues Society's newsletter. I have made minor edits for readability. I likely received the Larry Davis from a publicist. I do not remember whether I bought the Jeffrey Scott or not. The Jeffrey Scott is currently available at Amazon. The Larry Davis may be hard to find. Here Jeffrey Scott performs "Red River Blues."

Rawls & Luckett Can’t Sleep At Night

Rawls & Luckett
Can’t Sleep At Night
Rooster Blues / Rounder

Johnny Rawls and L.C. Luckett are veterans of the chitlin’ circuit having formed the nucleus of deep soul singer O.V. Wright’s last band as well as backing Latimore, Lynn White, Willie Cobbs, Z.Z. Hill, and Little Johnny Taylor.

This is their debut album as leaders, and it offers a hearty mix of deep southern soul and blues with a dash of gospel. Material is mostly originals by the pair although two tracks are associated with Wright, I Don’t Do Windows and a medley of I’d Rather Be Blind/ Crippled and Crazy coupled with Ace of Spades. While Wright’s influence can be heard in the pleading urgency of several performances, including the title track and What Makes a Good Man Go Bad, the mood on others, like the soulful ballad Can We Talk It Over, owes as much to Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and Sam and Dave.

Their blues generally are not as distinctive lyrically or instrumentally as their hard soul tunes, but the impassioned singing and playing makes If You Not Home By Tomorrow a particularly arresting track. The dance number Shake It, Shake It Baby (“let me see you pop,”) is a lightweight funky dance number that suggests a slightly uptempo Get Out Of My Life Woman. Most of their songs though are solid performances, capturing a range of moods and settings - from deep soul to the slight swamp/pop flavor of Soul to Soul.

Rawls and Luckett overdub on guitar, bass and keyboards with horns added to several tracks, and Arthneice ‘Gas Man’ Jones adds harp to Be Fair To People and If You’re Not Home Till Tomorrow. Certainly this album compares very favorably with most of the recent similar efforts from the Ichiban and Malaco labels, and it’s well worth more than a listen.

This review originally appeared in the March 1995 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 199). I received my review copy from the record company. This should still be available from various sources. 

And This Was Maxwell Street

Blues was a staple of the Maxwell Street market for decades before gentrification led to the closing of the market some years ago. In the late 1990s and 2000, there were Ds that released some of the amazing music that might be heard on a Sunday there. This review from the latter part of 2000 was published in the DC Blues Calendar. I likely received review copies from the labels. This is out of print so you need to look for used copies but Amazon, for example, shows several sellers for this.

While efforts continue (bluesman Jimmie Lee Robinson is still on a hunger strike) to preserve the remaining portions of the historic Maxwell Street market area, Rooster Blues has released a three-disc compilation, And This is Maxwell Street that presents music that was recorded as part of the making of the film, And This is Free. Some of the music heard here was previously issued by Rounder on lp and cd as Robert Nighthawk, Live on Maxwell Street. 

The Rounder release has since been repackaged and reconfigured with some previously unissued selections and including tracks attributed to J.B. Lenoir, Carey Bell and Johnny Young. The Rooster Blues set has a full two Îhours of music and also includes selections from Little Arthur (Red Top/Ornithology which is deleted from the latest version of the Rounder); John Wrencher; Arvella Gray, Carrie Robinson; and James and Fannie Brewer. Additionally, Mama Talk To Your Daughter, credited to JB Lenoir on the Rounder is credited to Big Mojo Elem here. 

There are several Nighthawk performances here that are not on the Rounder including a Dust My Broom that includes Mike Bloomfield on guitar (possibly being Bloomfield's earliest recording). The full range of music here is quite powerful and entertaining including ArvNighthawk s updating of Dr. Clayton’s Cheatin’ and Lyin’ Blues, the fervent gospel singing of Carrie Robinson as well as James and Fannie Brewer, street singer Arvella Gray’s vigorous renditions of Corinna, Corinna and John Henry, and one armed harp wizard Big John Wrencher’s Lucille. 

Several tracks spotlight Carey Bell, with I’m Ready perhaps being Bell’s first recorded vocal. Portions of vendor sales pitches and street preachers sermons are heard here as well. Providing some context to the recording. The ounder has a portion of Mike Bloomfield s interview with Robert Nighthawk (uncredited however) which is heard in its entirety (nearly 50 minutes) as the third disc of the Rooster Blues set. 

My advance copy of the Rooster Blues lacks the booklet that should be accompanying it so I cannot comment on this aspect of the package, but because of the more complete reissue of this historic and wonderful blues, And This Is Maxwell Street is preferable, and is a contender for vintage reissue of 2000.

Here is the legendary Robert Nighthawk on Maxwell Street some 50 years ago.

Arthur Williams - Midnight Blue

Arthur Williams, a St. Louis resident today, has roots growing up under Sonny Boy Williamson down south and played with Frank Frost. In fact, Williams was the harmonica player on some of Frost’s recordings that Scotty Moore produced for Jewel in the sixties. On his album, Midnight Blue (Rooster Blues) he is joined by a terrific pianist, Bob Lohr, who also produced the album. Also on the session is bassist Charles “Nephew” Davis, guitarist Jesse Hoggard and the great Willie “Big Eyes” Smith on drums. 

Williams is heard performing some well known blues numbers (some retitled like Clarksdale Train, a retitled rendition of Elmore James’ Sunnyland Train). His energetic, raspy vocals are quite at home on Muddy Waters’ Trouble No More, Jimmy Reed’s Down in Virginia and Sonny Boy Williamson’s Don’t Start Me To Talking. 

The title track is a nice slow instrumental to showcase his direct appealing harp playing which is prominently featured throughout. The band plays a bit raw. If the music lacks subtlety, it makes up for it in spirit. The last number, ‘67 Cadillac is an interesting experiment as producer Lohr has sampled a bit of the late Doc Terry talking, and provided some programmed drums for an interesting experiment which can be skipped since it is the last track. A nicely put together collection of performances that certainly will get any blues party popping.

This review appeared originally in the the November 2001 DC Blues Calendar and the March/April Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 256). I have made minor stylistic changes. I believe I received a review copy from the record label. This may be hard to find but worth the effort.  Here is Arthur Williams and young bluesman, Marquise Knox.

Jerry Ricks Traveled Many Miles of Blues

There is a picture of Jerry Ricks with Mississippi John Hurt taken from a mid-sixties Philadelphia Blues Festival that was recently published in Big City Blues. It’s a picture that would not be out of place in the booklet accompanying Ricks’ second Rooster Blues album, Many Miles of Blues. The musical link to Hurt is most obvious on the nice rendition of Louis Collins Blues. The flowing guitar and vocal of the opening Missouri River Blues, a Ricks original, also captures some of the same feel found in the music of Hurt and Furry Lewis. It is Lewis to whom Ricks pays respect to on I Will Turn Your Money Green. In addition to his originals that sound like they were written decades ago such as his County Farm Blues, he transforms pianist Little Brother Montgomery’s Vicksburg Blues into a slowed down Beale Street guitar blues, while paying respects to Skip James on a deft treatment of Special Rider Blues. A traditionalist perhaps in his approach, Ricks shows he absorbed the lessons he gotten first-hand, and has moulded his own distinctive approach, evoking his mentors but in his own style. This review of Jerry Ricks appeared in the January-February 2001 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 249) which I have made some minor editing errors. Jerry Ricks unfortunately passed away (it will be five years in December 2007). A marvelous interpreter of classic country blues and a superb exponent of this tradition he is missed for his warmth, humor and wisdom as well as his music. I likely received my review copy from a publicist. This may be hard to find but well worth the effort.

Eddie 'The Chief' Clearwater Is No Flimdoozie

Eddy ‘The Chief’ Clearwater is a favorite among blues fans. The following review appeared in the DC Blues Calendar in 2001 at the time Rooster Blues reissued one of his 1980’s albums on compact disc. I likely received my review copy from the label.

A reissue on Rooster Blue is Eddy Clearwater’s Flimdoozie, a mid 1980’s session with Sugar Blue on harmonica, Abb Locke on saxophone and Otis Rush sharing guitar leads with Clearwater. Its not a bad album, particularly with the all-star sidemen, and some of the tracks like the rocking Sugar Baby with a great Sugar Blue harp solo and Clearwater belting out the vocal like Carey Bell are pretty good. Some of the material is pretty lightweight including the title track and Do This Town Tonight, but played well.

Clearwater’s mushy diction undercuts the long slow blues, a medley of Black Night with Clearwater’s Fallin’ Down Heavy. Rush is in terrific form on the five tracks on which he is heard, but despite his presence, this is a secondary work in Clearwater’s discography.

Here is Eddy performing at the Chicago Blues Festival in 1991.

Portrait of A Young Mississippi Bluesman

A strong album from the delta area is the Rooster Blues debut album of Lonnie Shields, Portrait. Born in West Helena, Arkansas, Lonnie Shields’ career started in church and also playing guitar as a teenager. In high school he played in a band that did a fair amount of Al Green songs. Later he developed friendships with drummer Sam Carr and Frank Frost. Lonnie’s blues is rooted in the soul-blues as represented by the late Z.Z. Hill, Bobby Bland, B.B. King, Little Milton, Johnnie Taylor and Tyrone Davis.


Portrait has been several years in making and finds Lonnie backed by several different sets of musicians. Supporting musicians include Sam Carr, Frank Frost, Lucky Peterson, Eddie Shaw, and Eddie ‘Vaan’ Shaw who play in different groupings of musicians. The opening Fistful of Dollars (which is never enough, of course) has added percussion which imparts some of the rhythmic flavor of a delta fife and drum band. The titles with Lucky Peterson on rhythm guitar, and horn players Anthony Royal and Dennis Bates (then with Al Green, but also from Lonnie’s high school band) are excellent modern soul-blues and Lonnie really delivers this groove.


The lyrics cover the spectrum of blues themes from lost love, cheating lovers, and hard times, and Lonnie invests his performances with feeling and heart. Strong backings help these recordings rise above more commercially successful soul-blues recordings. I was impressed by Eddie Shaw’s saxophone work on Eight Days a Week and My Baby Left Me. His playing here shows he can play more with more imagination and finesse than the limited raspy sax heard on his own recordings suggests.


A real fine effort.

Portrait was Lonnie’s debut album and this review appeared in slightly different form in the June 1993 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 182). I likely received a review copy from Rooster Blues Records. I have had the pleasure of seeing Lonnie a number of times over the years and he is such a nice person. Fistful of Dollars is often his opening style, and illustrates his hard, percussive style which cause him to break more than one guitar string.

Larry Davis' Handy Award Winner Stands Up 25 years later

The following review of Larry Davis' Funny Stuff appeared in late 2001 but I would not change it today. It is still in print (I just checked amazon.com).

Best known for the original recording of Texas Flood, which was popularized by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Larry Davis had a relatively short but distinguished career, which included at one time being signed to B.B. King’s Virgo label. Originally a bass player, he started playing guitar while touring with Albert King. In 1982 Rooster Blues issued his album, Funny Stuff, which won the 1982 Handy Award for Best New Album and contained the two tracks that won for Best Single. Davis sang with plenty of gospel-based soul while playing his Flying V Gibson in a hardedged style that clearly reflected Albert King’s influence. He produced one of the strongest recordings of the Eighties. From the title track, a terrific song about a lady who has hoodoo’ed him to the closing rendition of Albert King’s Got to Be Some Changes Made, Davis pours his heart into the vocals while turning out some high energy solos. Other highpoints include his funky renditions of That Will Never Do and George Jackson’s Find’ Em, Fool ‘Em & Forget ‘Em, and the searing, slow blues Teardrops and Worried Dream. Legendary saxophonist and producer Oliver Sain produced this as well as played sax and keyboards. Billy Gayles, of Kings of Rhythm fame, played drums on half of this while Johnny Johnson played piano on five of the ten tracks. The album holds up wonderfully and one would be hard-pressed to find any better modern blues recordings since this came out. There may be some as good, but not better.