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Rising Son Blues
Eddie Burks has a brand new album on Rising Son Blues, a label dedicated to his music. Burks was born in Greenwood, Mississippi and moved to Chicago, working in a steel mill. He made scattered singles and one-shot recordings until his 1991 debut album, Vampire Woman.
While he is not among the first rank of the harp players, he employs it effectively and is an effective, ebullient vocalist with a touch of melancholy. There is an interesting mix of tempos and musical seasonings from the country on the opening Dead or Live, while Sugar Hill Blues, about a part of the ghetto which is the ghetto resident’s dream, free from the drug users and dealers and the ever present Mr. Needmore. Maxwell Street Jump is an instrumental take on Dust My Broom and there are attractive covers of I’m a Man and Worried Life Blues. The backing band has some ragged edges. Lead guitar Shad Davis plays some biting lines, and Carl Snyder’s keyboards helps hold everything together.
In summary this is a very entertaining, if not exceptional, set of gritty performances. If you can’t find this one, you can contact Rising Son Blues at P.O. Box 288752, Chicago, Il 60626 or you can call 1-800-4-RISING.
This review originally appeared in the November 1994 Jazz and Blues Report Issue 196). I do not remember if i purchased this or received a review copy. This is likely available used. Here is Sugar Hill Blues.
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