Theodis Ealey

I forget which Pocono Blues Festival I attended in which Trudy Lynn was one of the performers. I had heard Theodis Ealey’s Ichiban albums and enjoyed his soulful singing and solid guitar playing. While only having a chance to play a few numbers before Trudy Lynn came on, he was quite good. Occasionally when playing his Ichiban CDs I would wonder what happened to him. There were a lot of excellent artists on Ichiban and when the label folded, his visibility was much less.
It was a bit over a year ago when I came across his big hit recording, Stand Up In It, which is about how a man can please his woman. Its a song that has become a staple on the soul-blues circuit although many who think of themselves as blues fans are probably not aware of it. Also, there have been more than a handful of covers and answer songs to Stand Up in it, including Sir Charles Jones’ Make It Talk. Even the Queen, Denise Lasalle has her own reply song. Checking out Ealey’s album Stand Up In It (Igram) I finally heard this bawdy song (which was not suitable for airplay) as well as other songs that were simply strong blues and soul numbers. Theodis Ealey sounded as solid a singer-guitarist as I remembered, not simply doing the risque material, but anything he tackled.
He goes on at Lamont’s tomorrow at around 5:30PM and I look forward to seeing him. If the set is half as entertaining as the CD, it will be one of the better blues shows I have been to in awhile.

Here is a link to Theodis website: http://www.theodisealey.com/newsite/index.htm

Here is a link to a picture from the website of Theodis at lamont’s (I recognize the pagoda) from a couple year’s back (I wish I had been there): http://www.theodisealey.com/newsite/photo4.htm