Shirley Johnson Blues Attack

Shirley Johnson

Blues Attack

Delmark Records

Vocalist Shirley Johnson has been a mainstay of Chicago’s North Loop bistro Blue Chicago for the past seventeen years, and that’s where you will likely find her unless she’s touring overseas. A Virginia native, she had roots in the church so many blues & R&B performers. A fellow Norfolk alumna, Ruth Brown was a role model, but she was influenced by such acts as Etta James, Johnnie Taylor, Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland, and B.B. King. 

Johsnon worked pop as well as gospel gigs until a friend told her to go to Chicago where she relocated to in April 1983. Working first with Buster Benton and then with singer Johnny Christian, she got herself part of the Chicago scene. Then keyboard wizard Professor Eddie Lusk heard her, hired her to a Canadian tour and later brought her Blue Chicago as his regular vocalist, and after he died in 1992, she continued on at the club. In 1994 she recorded “Looking For Love” for Appaloosa which was followed by a 2002 Delmark album “Killer Diller.” She returns to Delmark for her new release, “Blues Attack.”

For “Blues Attack,” she has brought on board a band of guitarist Luke Pytel, keyboardist Roosevelt Purifoy, bassist Lovely “JR” Fuller, Jr. and drummer Cordell Teague with a horn section of Lawrence Fields, Kenny Anderson, Hank Ford, and Willie Henderson added to several tracks. The fourteen selections on “Blues Attack” include several written by Maurice John Vaughan, several by her band members and several that she contributed to, along with covers of R&B classics. 

This is just a solid set of Chicago blues sung and played strongly. Purifoy is first-rate on keyboards, while Pytel plays a solid blues guitar with just the right tone and bite as Johnson delivers the goods with her straight attack that eschews histrionics for a simple, soulful delivery. The songs range from her cautionary warning to her lover, “You’re Reckless,” and need to change his ways to keep whatever glimmer of a flame is in their love. The title track has a funky groove enhanced by a full dose of brass, as she sings about having a blues fever which moved through her body and mesmerized her, left her tired and soaking wet but nothing wrong with that, and Pytel shines more here). 

There is a nice rendition of the great Wilson Pickett classic “634-5789,” followed by an easy tempoed shuffle “Just Like That,” as she explains her relationship is over and moving on. “You Shouldn’t Have Been There,” is a fine atmospheric slow blues where she tells an ex to move on. “I’m Going To Find Me a Lover,” turns the tempo hotter as were she declares if it takes a long time its all right as she isn’t gonna take less than she deserves. It continues the lyrical center of many of the songs here emphasizing relationships that cool down or break down due to abuse or cheating. The performances have a variety of tempos and accompaniments that add to their enjoyability. 

Delmark should be thanked for bringing a healthy slice of blues from a marvelous singer who merits the attention “Blues Attack” should bring.

I received my review copy from Delmark Records. This review originally appeared in the April 2009  Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 315) although I have made some minor changes.  Here is Shirley Johnson performing "Blues Attack."

Big Time Sarah and the Blues Women of Chicago

Big Time Sarah (Streeter) with her band, the BTS Express, has a new album, Blues In The Year One-D-One (Delmark), which should appeal to straight ahead Chicago blues fans. A shouter who strongly suggests Koko Taylor, although not quite on the level of Chicago’s blues Queen, Big Time Sarah succeeds on this entertaining set with the range of material she handles, including some nice remakes of Hound Dog (given a fresh arrangement), Ain’t Nobody’s Business, Steal Away, Chicken Heads and Down Home Blues. On the latter number, her keyboard player, Tony Llorens, opens with some classical sounding piano which Sarah interrupts saying she doesn’t want to hear that, she wants to hear the downhome blues. Among the remakes is her first recording, Long Tall Daddy that she made years ago with Sunnyland Slim on piano (and I believe Magic Slim on guitar). The guitarist on this session, Emery Williams passed away while the album was being readied for release, and is featured on Bouncin’ and Breakin’, an instrumental takeoff on B.B. King’s Woke Up This Morning, which Sarah capably performs. The wide range of material is engagingly performed, and while Big Time Sarah may not be at the top echelon of blues singers, she has more than capably succeeded with this solid session. A recent Delmark album that I missed reviewing when it was released is Women of Blue Chicago which brings together some recordings by Big Time Sarah, Karen Carroll and Bonnie Lee along with tasty performances by Lynne Jordan, Shirley Johnson and Katherine Davis. Lynne Jordan casts a wide net with little Willie John’s R&B rocker, I’m Shakin’, along with a vaudeville blues classic that Ruth Brown has revived, If I Can’t Sell It, while Shirley Johnson is backed by Johnny Moore on a tasty As the Years Go Passing By, and It Hurts Me Too (with Moore adding nice slide). This collection can be safely recommended. The above review appeared in the October 1996 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 215) and I likely received review copies from Delmark. Here is a DVD of a more recent performance of Big Time Sarah.