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Goin' Home
OFEH Records
Blind Lemon Pledge is the roots and blues name for James Byfield. Recently, I reviewed a recording by him as Blind Lemon Jazz that consisted of mostly originals he wrote evoking the Great American Songbook. However, he left the vocals on that release to another singer. This present album features his guitar and vocals with bassist Peter Grenell. The two tackle a variety of well-known blues songs with a few more recent blues-based folk songs.
The performances have the feel of a house concert with the simple instrumentation. Byfield is an affable, if not outstanding, singer and a vigorous guitarist. He interprets a broad range of material, including a straight-forward cover of Muddy Waters' "I Feel like Going Home," with him playing slide on a resonator guitar. A stripped-down interpretation of Little Willie John's "Fever" is followed by a heartfelt, pleading rendition of Walter Davis' "Come Back Baby," with a nicely constructed guitar solo. I was not familiar with J.J. Cale's "Crazy Mama." Byfield's whispering vocal and slide playing make this among this album's high points. Byfield's "Sugar Rush" is an amusing bawdy blues with some impressive 12-string guitar. An unplugged duo version of Fenton Robinson's "Somebody Loan Me a Dime" is followed by a spirited rendition of "Big Road Blues." Also noteworthy is an imaginative interpretation of Lonnie Johnson's "Too Late to Cry." A remake of Hot Tuna's "I Know You Rider" has a country-folk feel.
While I would be hard-pressed to find this to be an essential recording, "Goin' Home" has many charms that will appeal to folk-blues and Americana enthusiasts.
I received my review copy from a publicist. Here he performs "Come Back Baby."
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