William Clarke Was Rockin' The Boat

Watchdog Records has just reissued Rockin’ the Boat, a live performance by the late William Clarke that was recorded at the Starboard Attitude in April 1987 and originally issued on Rivera Records. It has Clarke backed by an excellent band of Joel Foy on guitar; Willie Brinlee on the acoustic bass; Fred Kaplan on piano; and Eddie ‘Lips’ Clark on drums with Leonardo Watkins singing on one of the eight selections here.

The William Clarke Blues Band sounded pretty solid this evening opening with Clarke’s Deal The Cards, an original shuffle that sports Clarke’s convincing vocals and big-tone on the harmonica with the band solidly behind him and Foy takes an incisive solo. Clarke and Band reworks Sonny Boy Williamson’s Keep It To Yourself, setting it to the Help Me/ Green Onions, melody with Foy blasting off on a tough solo. It is followed by a feature for Foy on Jimmy McGriff’s All About My Girl, that will be familiar from Albert Collins recording of it. Foy displays considerable technique and imagination in his driving guitar workout.

St. Louis Jimmy’s I Had My Fun (aka Going Down Slow) is taken at a nice medium pace opening with Clarke ‘s vigorous vocal and dynamic harmonica and Kaplan comping behind the vocal before taking a solo. It is followed by Watkins singing a medley of Jimi Hendrix’s Red House and B.B. King’s Just a Little Bit of Love. It is taken as a shuffle with Clarke adding some solid saxophone-like harmonica playing. A lengthy rendition of Iodine In My Coffee follows with swinging and rocking solos from Clarke (telling everybody “let me play my harmonica”) and Kaplan, while Foy adds fills and chords to help push the performance on.

Clarke lays out for the atmospheric After Hours that puts the spotlight Kaplan with his late night piano feel before launching into the closing feverish jump blues,Boogie Woogie Woman, with Foy channeling Willie Johnson and Joe Willie Wilkins in his accompaniment. Its a rocking conclusion to a welcome Clarke reissue. Clarke would grow and mature as a performer and songwriter in the years following this performance, but there is nothing immature about the music heard here. He may have been rocking the boat that April night, but the music still will rock most any house today.

I purchased this from bluebeatmusic.com. I note the CD is not listed as available from amazon but it is available as mp3 files.

WIlliam Clarke Live In Germany

The late William Clarke is still greatly missed by those who knew him since he passed over a decade and a half ago. One of the first posthumous new releases of his music was Live in Germany. The following review appeared back in the February 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 279). I purchased this recording. The late William Clarke had established himself as among the premiere harmonica players and performers in blues when he passed in 1996. His widow, Jeanette Clarke Lodovici, has previously issued some unreleased studio recordings for Clarke’s many fans and has just produced a new CD, Live in Germany, (Watch Dog) that should be welcome by Clarke fans and those who love great blues harp. From the opening notes of Blown’ Like Hell, a torrid instrumental showcasing his strong driving play and full tone, to the closing moments of Lollipop Mama, Clarke was in top form. He was backed by a terrific band that included on guitar (and vocal on Charles Brown’s I Cried Last Night), Willie Brittle on bass and Eddie Clark on drums. Most of the performances are interpretations of some terrific, but not over-recorded numbers from Muddy Waters, Walter Horton and Mercy Dee Walton. Clarke’s strength as a singer is such that he can make a classic like One Room Country Shack, his own. New releases of Clarke are very welcome, but it’s a bonus that the music is as good as it is here.