Mike Morgan & The Crawl Get Stronger Every Day

Mike Morgan & the Crawl have been around for a number of years, first recording for Black Top with Darrell Nulisch's vocals fronting the band, later replaced with Lee McBee. For the past two decades he has been putting forth what he describes as ‘Classic Blues With a Modern Attitude.’ Initially inspired by Stevie Ray Vaughan, he soon developed into anything but a SRV clone, and his band is named after a gritty Goldband single by Guitar Jr. (Lonnie Brooks).

Morgan’s latest CD is on Severn, Stronger Every Day and finds him backed by a trio on most of this with organ added on 5 of the 14 tracks. Morgan handles four vocals while McBee adds three and McAllister sings on five tracks. He takes things off in a Stevie Ray groove on the opening shuffle, All Night Long, as he forcefully delivers his about crying for his woman and walking the floor all night long, before laying out his solo with a cluster of fast repeated single notes before taking off for a bars as bassist Drew Allain provides the repeated bass shuffle groove to anchor this performance. McAllister provides a soul-tinged vocal on a R&B flavored message number about stop the killing, Where’s the Love, with Morgan’s guitar taking on a different tenor.

A bit of swamp blues and Guitar Slim is evoked by Lee McBee’s raspy vocal and Morgan’s guitar on Sweet Angel. McBee also delivers a superb vocal on the down and out blues, I Cried For My Baby. Morgan takes a nice vocal on a Chicago-styled shuffle for You're The One (I'll Miss The Most), on which McBee adds some nice harp in the vein of Rice Miller. McAllister handles the vocal on the title track which is a lovely swamp pop soul ballad, while When I Get Back Home, is more of a classic southern soul ballad. The Birthday Song, is a jaunty song from the point of view of the Birthday Boy that Morgan delivers in a crisp, lively fashion. Morgan shines on a couple instrumentals including an appropriately bouncy Okie Dokie Stomp. As McBee takes the vocal on the closing rocker, Time, Morgan’s takes it out to a very satisfying conclusion to a well-balanced program of blues with roots touches that adds to his body of music that merits more attention than he has generally received. Recommended.

This review originally appeared in the April 2008 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 303) and to my knowledge is Mike Morgan's latest recording for Severn. On February 14, I posted a review of a couple of older Mike Morgan albums. I received my review copy from Severn Records.

Freddie King Was Electrifying Live Performer

Freddie King was one of the greatest of the post-war Chicago bluesmen. A formidable singer and a highly important guitarist, he had a number of records on the charts and was a major influence on many blues and rock guitarists including Luther Allison (who took over King’s Chicago band and gigs when King toured), Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. While Bear Family has issued all of King’s commercial recordings on two box sets containing twelve CDs of music, King also had some significant live recordings. The following review appeared originally in the March 2006 DC Blues Calendar and the March-April 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (issue (280). I made minor stylistic changes in this review.


Its been three decades since the great Freddie King passed away, and the late blues guitar’s reputation has perhaps been lessened with the passing of time, which is unfortunate because few of the guitarists today play with his mix of passion and imagination.


Shout Factory has just issued Live at the Electric Ballroom, 1974, part of the label’s reconstruction of the Black Top label catalog. Recorded two years before his death, King rips through Women Across the River, which he recorded with Leon Russell; as well as blues chestnuts like Key to the Highway, Earl King’s Let the Good Times Roll, Ain’t Nobody’s Business, which he cut for Atlantic’s Cotillion subsidiary, Sweet Home Chicago and Dust My , before ending this set with Hide Away Medley.


This disc also includes an interview with him and two acoustic performances, perhaps his only acoustic recordings. King probably had the most immediate impact on rock guitar (Eric Clapton among others was heavily influenced by King’s muscular playing), and he was also a first rate singer who brought plenty of soul to his music. This is so nice to have available again.

I likely received this from a publicist for Shout Factory’s releases. This is still in print and should be readily available.

Concord's Quirky Albert King Reissue

Concord Records has just issued a two-disc compilation of the legendary Albert King’s recordings for Stax, The Definitive Albert King on Stax.” It is compiled from a number of the recordings the late great bluesman recorded for Stax and Fantasy although it does not include selections from all of the King recordings. 34 recordings are compiled on the two discs and Bill Dahl provides the informative annotation.

This is an interesting, if at times, curious compilation which includes Pops Staples and Steve Cropper vocals from a Stax 45 from the sessions King did with them (but hardly definitive Albert King), but not include performances from some of the excellent live albums from Montreux and the Fillmore that Fantasy issued under the Stax logo. A number of performances are credited to their 45 release such as Born Under a Bad Sign, Oh Pretty Woman, Crosscut Saw, I’ll Play the Blues For You, Everyone Wants To go to Heaven and Angel of Mercy, but a forgettable Honky Tonk Woman, is taken from an album Lovejoy. The 45 version of Blues Power is included as is a live rendition of Match Box Blues.

Amongst such indispensable blues recordings as Crosscut Saw, Breakin’ Up Somebody’s Home, I Wanna Get Funky, That’s What the Blues Is All Bout, and Drowning on Dry Land are lesser King performances such Hound Dog, Honky Tonk Woman and a remake of Crosscut Saw. Certainly some of what was included might have been cut for say one of King’s riveting renditions of Ray Charles’ I Believe To My Soul, or one of his collaborations with Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Albert King is one of the most influential blues artists of the past several decades and his Stax comprise the most substantial part of his legacy. A better selection of material would transformed made a very good collection into a superb one.


My review copy was supplied by the record company.

Outstanding Vintage Blues Recordings of 2010

First in my List of Outstanding Jazz and Blues Recordings of 2010. I start with Vintage Blues Recordings which includes not simply reissues but also releases primarily consisting of older material.

Junior Wells & the Aces Live in Boston 1966 (Delmark). The release of a sixties club performance by Junior Wells with the Aces (Louis and Dave Myers as well as drummer Fred Below) captures Wells in top form and displays the manner Wells interacted with his primarily white college audience was not far removed from how he interacted with the folks at Pepper’s Lounge.

Albert King / Stevie Ray Vaughan: In Session (Stax). While the music has been available from the legendary encounter on CD, this combined deluxe DVD and CD includes much unissued video by the two. Tremendous meeting of two legends.


Little Smokey Smothers & Elvin Bishop Chicago Blues Buddies (Brown Derby). Compiled as a fundraiser for Smokey, who recently passed away, I wrote “a solid retrospective of a wonderful partnership with the release of the first-rate 1993 Chicago Blues Festival performances particularly welcome as are the tracks that Alligator and Black Magic graciously lent to this project … .”

Otis Redding Live on the Sunset Strip (Stax) The classic live recordings which include the full sets of a legendary performance. “Over four decades later, Otis Redding’s music remains as gripping as when he performed on the Whiskey’s stage. Obviously those having the earlier reissues may not need this, but others who love “Sweet Soul Music,” will want this.”

Luther Allison Songs From the Road (Ruf) CD and DVD of previously unissued performances by one of the greatest live blues performers ever. “What a joy to listen and watch previously unissued performances by Luther Allison after all these years. It doesn’t get much better than this release which is quite reasonably priced and should be available from itunes or amazon and better retailers.”

Sista Monica Soul Blues & Ballads (Mo Muscle Records). A terrific retrospective for which I wrote, ‘There is a generous amount of music here with thirteen outstanding performances for about 70 minutes by one of the blues and R&B world’s finest singers here. I add that she could have selected from her earlier recordings, a dozen different performances and had as compelling a recording. She is just that dynamic and soulful. For those lacking anything by the Sista, here is a good place to start.”

Freddie King Texas Flyer (Bear Family). This is the second Bear Family box sets that has also tyhe commercially issued recordings by the legendary blues singer and guitarist. This set also has the live recordings he did for RSO and much previously unissued live performances. Between the two sets on Bear Family (The 7CD Taking Care of Business is the earlier one) one has about 15 hours of guitar blues of the highest level and one can reevaluate some of the stuff that one might have dismissed four decades ago.  Special note should be made of the hard cover book with Bill Dahl's biographical and musical notes and pianist Dave Maxwell's recollections of working with King. The book also has some incredible photographs and full discographical information.



Little Willie John Mister Little Willie John + Talk To Me (HooDoo Records) Two early albums by the great rhythm and blues singer who died way too soon with a number of his classic songs including Fever, Talk to Me, Home at Last, All Around the World, and Drive Me Home.

Christine Kittrell, Call Her Name:Complete Recordings 51-65 (Bear Family). Nashville was once known as much for its Rhythm and Blues scene as hillbilly music, and the queen of that scene was Christine Kittrell. Bear Family has compiled all of her recordings from 1951 to 1965 (many produced by legendary songwriter-producer Ted Jarrett) that shows a terrific singer that had some mostly regional success but was the equal of some of her better known contemporaries. On one selection, a John Coltrane rips out a sax solo that stands out.


Big Walter Horton Blues Harmonia Giant (JSP) 3-CD box that reissues this important harmonica masters early recordings for a variety of labels along with some of his choice accompaniments and a bonus CD of a live 70's performance with his primary disciple, Carey Bell. I blogged extensively on this reissue.


Bob Corritore Harmonica Blues (Delta Groove). Harmonica player Bob Corritore has championed traditionally styled Chicago blues for decades. This Delta Groove release showcases his considerable skills on the harmonica with a number of blues legends, a number of whom are no longer with us including Robert Lockwood, Nappy Brown and Koko taylor as well as Eddie Shaw, Louisiana Red, Big Pete Pearson and others. There is enough older material to place this in the Vintage category as opposed to a straight new release.

Two Blues Icons Producing Some Musical Magic

A December, 1983 television production “In Session” in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada featuring Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan has become legendary. The music has been been available for years (and Stax reissued it a few years back) as has been video of the television broadcast. Now Stax has issued a deluxe DVD/CD set of “In Session” that includes three previously unissued performances on the DVD which had been left out of the original broadcast because of time constraints. The previously unissued performances of signature songs of Albert, “Born On A Bad Sign,” and Stevie Ray, “Texas Flood,” along with Albert doing the blues standard “I’m Going to Move to the Outskirts of Town.”

While they had previously played together at Antoine’s in Austin,Texas, this session was performed not too long after Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Texas Flood,” was released. In the liner notes for this new release of this material Samuel Charters writes, “It was evident from the first choruses, that they were playing for each other. And that was the best audience either of them could ever have. The music never lost its intensity, its quality of something very important being handed back and forth and there was time for Stevie and Albert to see where their ideas took them.” It is a joy to watch the two interact, accompanied by Tony Llorens on piano and organ; Gus Thornton on bass; and Michael Llorens on drums. They were the rhythm section on the two albums King recorded for Fantasy in the mid-eighties..

Watching and listening to them, it is clear that Albert is the mentor and Stevie Ray, his student as Albert recalls seeing Stevie and talking about others who play a lot of nots but lack soul, but Stevie was always watching and learning. Albert handles the bulk of the vocals and one watches them trade extended solos and play rhythm for each other. The vocals may be a tad restrained at the beginning of the performances, but as they get into them and get into their solos, their is some truly magical moments. At times, one can’t hear where Albert’s playing begins or ends from that of Stevie Ray as Vaughan’s playing here clearly shows King’s influence on him in the phasing and tone. Yet at other times, Vaughan’s playing is more in the vein of the post-war Texas blues guitar tradition.

The smiles they give the other’s playing and the hug by the two at the end of the performance shows that they realized just how magical the performances were. It was the last time they would share the stage together, and now all the magic of that December day in Hamilton is finally available. It is available for purchase on November 9, 2010.


For purposes of FTC regulations, my review copy was provided by the record company.

Essential Albert King

Albert King was one of the most important and influential blues artists from the sixties until his death, and had a number of great recordings including two highly influential albums. One was the Stax release, Born Under a Bad Sign that Fantasy reissued in 2002. This record is still currently available. Here is a review that appeared in the October-November 2002 issue of Jazz & Blues Report.

Fantasy Records which acquired Stax Records sometime ago has reissued the classic Albert King album, Born Under a Bad Sign. This 1967 album was the first album by King for the Memphis label and matched King with a studio band centered around Booker T & the MGs. This was a highly influential recording which, along with Kings mid-seventies album I’ll Play the Blues For You, included a number of songs that became part of the core blues repertoire and shaped how so many artists played the music. Songs include the title track with its great line, “If it wasn’t for bad luck I would not have any luck at all,” the remake of the delta blues Crosscut Saw, with a hot rhythm section and blasting horns, the jaunty The Hunter, with stinging guitar and the bravado line about pretty women being King’s game, the classic blue ballad As the Years Go Passing By, and Personal Manager, where he tells his lady how he would love to manage her affairs. King delivers the vocals and plays some classic guitar mixing long sustained notes with short staccato runs. His sense of phrasing and use of silence is something setting him apart from his many imitators and those influenced by him. The liner notes focus a bit too much on King’s influence on Stevie Ray Vaughan, but the fact is that even as spectacular a guitarist as Otis Rush, who had already made some classic recordings a decade earlier, incorporated elements of King’s style into his own approach. This is an essential disc although much of it might have been previously issued on CD on Atlantic as King of Blues Guitar.