Harpdog Brown For Love & Money

Harpdog Brown
For Love & Money
Dog House Records

Canadian husky-voiced blues vocalist and harmonica player, Harpdog Brown, has a new recording rooted in the post-war jump blues and the blues shouters like Big Joe Turner, Wyonnie Harris and Smiley Lewis with a touch of Chicago blues. Brown has a gravelly voice similar to Dr. John with a bit of Louis Armstrong, and besides his full-throated singing and harmonica, contributed three originals while Wayne Berezan added two and both Skye Lambourne and Brandon Issak one. There are songs from the repertoires of Louis Jordan, Memphis Slim, and Amos Milburn. Those backing Brown include Brown are Dave Webb on keyboards; Robert Vail Grant on drums; Jeremy Holmes on bass; Steve Dawson, who produced this recording, on guitar; William James Abbott on clarinet and alto sax; Skye Lambourne on trombone; and Jerry Cook on tenor and baritone sax.

This is horn-driven, blues shouting with hot grooves. Indeed the temperature is heated with the opening "No Eyes For Me," although the horn arrangement is a bit trite. More impressive is Webb's organ solo. The groove is a bit more relaxed for the cover of Louis Jordan's "Blue Light Boogie," with Abbott's bluesy alto standing out with the horns adding punch with a very appealing vocal, Webb takes an excellent piano solo, and Brown takes a harmonica solo displaying a big tone, sax-like phrasing and a mastery of dynamics. Even if his vocal on "The Comeback," is overshadowed by the great Joe Williams-Count Basie recording, Brown delivers more than a credible vocal with Abbott displaying considerable finesse here while Dawson adds some stinging guitar fills.

Lambourne rousing trombone opens Brown's "Reefin' Lovin' Blues," a first-rate original jump blues with another tough harmonica solo. Plunger mute growling trombone provides a counter voice to Brown's vocal on the slow blues by Berezan, "A New Day Is Dawning," with Abbott's twisting clarinet solo framed by Dawson's guitar chords with the accompaniment's intensity building as the performance goes on. There are a couple of robust interpretations of Amos Milburn's drinking blues, "Vicious Vodka," and "Thinkin' and Drinkin'." Pianist Webb is superb channeling Milburn's own boogie-woogie rooted style.

Brandon Issak's "I'll Make It Up To You," has a lighter, swinging feel with Webb, Abbott, Lambourne soloing before Brown takes a harp solo in a Rice Miller vein. Then there is the philosophical, New Orleans flavor of Webb's "For Love & Money," with a melody that evokes "Stagger Lee." Webb stands out on this. Brown's harp enlivens his interpretation of the late Wynonnie Harris' "Buzzard Luck." Brown is not as convincing singing Lambourne's love song "Sasha's Lullaby," written when Lambourne was 14, but his forte is being a shouter, not a crooner. It is not a terrible track, but a minor blemish on an extremely entertaining jump blues recording.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is a clip of him performing "For Love & Money."