Brother Tryone's Soulful Blues

A genuine surprise is the recent album by New Orleans singer Brother Tyrone, “Mindbender (Guitar Joe’s House of Blues), apparently the second disc by the Crescent City soul and blues vocalist. Its an old-fashioned album with live rhythm and horns including bassist Jack Cruz and the late Wilbert “Junkyard Dog” Arnold from Wolfman Washington’s band, and some fine uncredited horns. Special note has to be given to producer Everette Eglin who also supplies the guitar on this session. There is a nice mix of originals and covers of classic songs. Brother Tyrone for example lends his own voice to the Eddie Floyd’s “I Never Found A Girl,” as well as Toussaint McCall’s classic ballad “Nothing Take the Place of You,” but its an original like “If You Ain’t Cheating,” on which he shines as well as “When It’s Gone, it’s Gone,” a reflection on watching your stuff float away in a flood while he is joined by Richard “Tricky Dick” Dickson’s reference to classic soul as similarly floating away, a sentiment also found in “New Indian Blues,” as he mixes in some Mardi Gras references with references of the classic blues and soul artists he grew up on with Eglin taking a nice solo against the steady rocking groove as he presses on singing these rhythm and blues. “Old Friend is a terrific performance of a George Jackson number that Spencer Wiggins recorded for Goldwax with a nice bluesy solo, and followed by a nice down-in-the-alley rendition of Otis Spann’s “Country Girl,” on which Eglin plays some stinging slide guitar. The tempo picks up on “The Money’s Gone,” as Tyrone shouts out about finding his woman at the pawn shop but the money’s gone, and “you keep standing by the corner and I will be gone before too long.” Johnnie Taylor’s hit blues-ballad “Just Because,” is nicely delivered, while “New Roll and Tumble,” is a 21st Century reworking of Elmore James Fire recording of this classic theme. The set closes with a neat reworking of The Valentino’s “I Used to Love Her,” that some may now as “It’s All Over Now,” with a driving funk groove. This is a refreshingly vibrant disc of soul and blues that is available from the Louisiana Music Factory, itunes, cdbaby, amazon and other sources.