Chickenbone Slim Sleeper

Chickenbone Slim
Sleeper
Lo-Fi Mob Records

A few years back, I reviewed Chickenbone Slim's Album, "The Big Beat." I characterized it as "a most entertaining album of gritty performances that evoke the golden period of fifties and sixties blues."  Slim, real name, Larry Teves, returns with this collection of blues and blues-roots songs. His vocals and guitar are backed by Scott Smart on guitar, Troy Sandow on harmonica, Andrew Crane on bass, and Marty Dodson on drums. This was recorded by Kid Andersen at his Greaseland Studios. Andersen also is a guest here, along with Laura Chavez and Joey Harris.

There are a number of musical sources to be heard here from West Coast jump blues to raunchy rockabilly. The ambiance of these performances goes back decades. There is the Johnny 'Guitar' Watson slashing guitar that opens "Vampire Baby." On this song, Slim sings about being a vampire who roams at night to find someone to satisfy his appetite. "Tougher Than That" is a rockabilly-flavored flavored number in the manner of some of Jay Miller's swamp-pop recordings. "The Ballad of Dick" has a Johnny Cash styled groove. Another rockabilly flavored number "Ride" comes off like an unrecorded Carl Perkins song. On these tracks, Sandow displays his harmonica talent.

The title, "Strolling With Chickenbone," suggests it as a homage to T-Bone Walker. However, his buoyant fretwork owes much to Pete 'Guitar' Lewis as well. A different mood is present for "Helpless," an acoustic folk plea, with a twangy electric guitar break. "Dignity' is a nicely rendered straight blues before the album closes from the ominous swamp grooves of "These Things Happen." While this recording is more rockabilly-country and less blues than "The Big Beat," the music on "Sleeper' has many of the same qualities that made that recording such a rewarding listen. Chickenbone Slim has produced another album that blues and roots enthusiasts will find much to dig into.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is a recent video of Chickenbone Slim in performance. His website is www.chickenboneslim.com.

Paul Pigat's Diverse Roots Music

Roots-country guitarist-vocalist Paul Pigat would likely be classified in Americana if he was based in the States. Based in Vancouver he has two new CDs on Little Pig Records. One is as by Cousin Harley, Its a Sin, while the other is under his own name and entitled Boxcar Campfire. The two discs have very different flavors but are quite enjoyable in their separate fashion.

The Cousin Harley disc opens up with the rockabilly flavored Conductor Man, and listening to Pigat’s vocals along with his sizzling, twanging guitar, one might think of Pigat as a Yankee Marty Robbins crossed with the Johnny Burnette Trio as Keith Picot slaps the bass and Jesse Cahill kicks the rhythm around. The mood can switch to a bit jazzier guitar on the swinging “She’s Comin’ Back the old-style Western rocker, Sweet Little Angel, and scintillating instrumentals such as the swinging Beaver Fever, Swingin’ Life a Mofo, and Spooks. Cousin Harley will clearly appeal to fans of similar guitar masters with a similar country-roots base as Bill Kirchen and Deke Dickerson. Cousin’s Harley’ It’s a Sin is wonderful rocking music and terrific fun.

Pigat’s own Boxcar Campfire, is built upon a mostly acoustic quartet and has a folk-country feel with some blues tinges with Pigat on guitars and banjo, Tommy Babin on bass, Barry Mirochnink on drums and Paul Rigby on mandolin. The ambiance is more of what some might call “Americana,” ranging from the folk oriented Johnny’s Poorly, to the bluegrass flavored All Over Now. A reference point might be the great Leon Redbone, although Pigat’s recordings don’t have his dead pan humor. John Henry Part 2, with its dirge tempo, has Pigat on electric guitar and is an original lyric with this John Henry being an offspring of the hero, who never should have driven a spike on the line, being free with his knife and free with his gun.“ Corn Liquor has some nice finger style guitar with a Piedmont blues tinge, while “Nowhere Town,” is a reflective solo performance. Lonesome Whistle is a invigorating bluegrass-tinged treatment of an Hank Williams number rousing interplay between mandolin, acoustic guitar and steel guitar and followed by the amusing lyric of Sweet Tooth. Boxcar Campfire shows another side of Paul Pigat’s music and is the diverse performances are wonderfully performed and so very entertaining.

I received review copies from a publicity firm.

Deke Dickerson's Lively Night at Duff's

I came across guitarist extraordinaire Deke Dickerson as he served to organize backing bands for headliners at the Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans. Often Deke would be used to accompany some of the rockabilly or country oriented acts, but he could also be heard behind a bluesman like Lazy Lester as well as a Dale Hawkins. The core of his music might be old time country guitar mixed with some surf guitar. Plenty of country swing and twang with some jazz and blues accents added, like James Burton meets Duane Eddy with other genre hopping just like the backing band of the Modern Sounds whose approach may be rooted more in jazz and swing traditions, but provides a thoroughly compatible and sympathetic backing as they did for blues and boogie woogie stylist Carl Sonny Leylard as I blogged last September, http://inabluemood.blogspot.com/2009/09/totally-captivating-piano-blues.html.

There is a great picture of Deke with a 4 neck guitar in the inside cover of the live recording by him and the Modern Sounds, “Live at Duff’s Garage” (Major Label/ Ventrella) and the material that ranges from honky tonk to rockabilly to country to jazz and blues includes such driving rockers as “Mexicali Baby,” a terrific rendition of Lazy Lester’s “I’m a Lover Not a Fighter,” (with Patterson on harmonica here) the rockabilly vocal on “Snatch It and Grab it,” a spirited rockabilly polka instrumental “Early American,” and the jazzy “Lover Come Back To Me” (and no he doesn’t evoke dinah Washington). Listening him introduce “Ain’t No Grave Deep Enough,” as a country song that pyschobilly fans seem to like reminds me of some of the material Commander Cody waxed three decades ago, while “Good Time Gal,” features Patterson on steel guitar. Then there are covers of songs from Porter Wagoner, Conway Twitty, and Willie Nelson number (introduced as if Otis redding would have done it if Otis Redding was .... (well I am not giving away all of his intros)). This is a live recording (as suggested by the title), and sound is really good which matches the music.

Anyway, listening to this makes me wish I was at Duff’s that night. This ain’t blues or jazz, but it is a helluva lot of fun to just put on. Hey I paid for this with my own money and give a big thumbs up. Oh for those interested Deke has a website, www.dekedickerson.com from which you can order this (as well as from better online retailers like bluebeatmusic.com).

Rock on in Peace, Billy Lee Riley

While word had been coming down that the former Sun Records artist was an bad health, he just passed away this weekend about a painful bout with bone cancer. One of the bluesiest of the Sun rockabilly acts, Riley is best known for his "Flying Saucers Rock And Roll." Riley continued to perform and record after the hey day of rockabilly ended with a couple of straight blues albums among his recent efforts. Noted writer Bill Dahl published an obituary on his blog on his website, billdahl.com