Bobby Patterson Second Coming

I have been slow on writing new material, so here is a review from 1997,

Bobby Patterson
Second Coming
Ultrax / Ichiban

Bobby Patterson, who made some recordings for Ronn some years ago, has a new album out on the Ichiban distributed Proud/Ultrax. A singer and guitarist, Patterson’s vocals bear some resemblance to those of Bobby Parker. Patterson has produced a first rate album of modern soul-blues.

He shows himself to be a terrific vocalist as he digs into these songs, most of which are originals dealing with typical lyrical themes of back door men and relationships falling apart. More than one song finds Bobby working and slaving for his woman while it is the other man who gets the thrills. As Bobby sings on the opening "If He's Gettin’ the Thrills", let him pay the bills. Patterson sounds like the relationship just broke-up on "Even a Dog" and "All We Have in Common," standing out.

He also ably handles the philosophical, soulful ballad, "You Can't Steal Something." "Right Place, Wrong Time," is not the familiar song associated with Otis Rush but a Patterson original where he tells the story about going to a party where he finds another man making love with his wife. While Patterson plays guitar, it is not heavily featured here - although there is some nice guitar on "Keep Your Hand to Yourself," which has a nice funky groove as Patterson tells his friend that he doesn’t mind him keeping his eyes on Patterson’s babe, but he better keep his hands to himself. It may be Butch Bonner that is prominent on guitar here. Patterson also is heard on a fine interpretation of the Bobby Bland classic "I'll Take Care of You".

The studio bands heard provide strong backing, and while there is some synthesized strings and vocal choruses employed, they are not employed in a heavy-handed manner, but enhance Patterson’s
fervent, soulful singing. This is one of the best soul-blues releases I've heard recently.

This review originally appeared in the October 1997 (Issue 225) of Jazz & Blues  Report although I have reformatted it into paragraphs. I likely received a review copy from Ichiban. 

 

Vintage Ichiban Blues

It's impossible to keep up with the entire range of Ichiban's releases. Among those of recent note is Sonny Rhodes' latest, Livin' Too Close to the Edge; part of the label's Wild Dog series. This is a tasty morsel finding Rhodes playing both standard and lap steel guitar, and singing in a soulful fashion, while backed by a solid band. Rhodes is particularly impressive on the lap steel, and his old
friend L.C. 'Good Rockin' Robinson would be proud. Rhodes took up the steel guitar as a tribute to Robinson. Material is pretty standard fare with a nice reworking of Jimmy Rogers' You're the One (although wrongly credited to Clarence E. Smith), and Santo and Johnny's pop hit, Sleep Walk (again not properly credited). This is one of the better recent releases to come from Florida's King Snake Studio.

Cleveland mailman Travis Haddix is a double threat as a songwriter as well as a soul-blues vocalist, with Artie 'Blues Boy' White being among those who have recorded his songs. His latest Ichiban release, What I Know Right Now is a solid strongly sung set of soul and blues.With Haddix, the songs are as interesting as his performances. There is the nice moody blues, Strange, with its effective (yes, effective) use of synthesizers, his soulful ballad Getting By With a Lie, and the salacious Jawbreaker. He displays as much wit and soul in his singing as his lyrics. Very solid production from Bryon Cole and the the Kala studio band who, with productions like this, give Malaco Records a good run for the money.

Another recent Ichiban release is Chick Willis' Holdin' Hands With the Blues. While a guitarist, Willis doesn't play here. Like the Haddix album this is a solid contemporary soul-blues date with memorable tracks including the title track (a potential blues anthem written by Denise LaSalle), a deep in the gut rendition of Ernie Johnson's You're Gonna Miss Me, the rocking and funky Heaven to
Betsy, his One Slick Woman, a someone's been in my bed song with nice slide guitar, and the closing ballad, I'm Only Guilty of Loving You. This is a real fine album that shows Willis is capable of doing far more than recycling Stoop Down Baby.

This review originally appeared in Issue 172 of Jazz & Blues Report in 1992. I likely received review copies from Ichiban or a publicist. I believe the three releases may still be available, used if not as new,

Travis 'Moonchild' Haddix Finds Daylight At Midnight

This writer first became aware of Travis ‘Moonchild’ Haddix from his recordings for the Ichiban label from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s as well as his songs, that found their way in the repertoire of such great singers as Artie ‘Blues Boy’ White. Playing the Cleveland R&B circuit, he had an opportunity to play with Johnny Taylor on the road, but raising a family took first place so he worked for General Motors and the Post Office for over 40 years.

When Ichiban folded, he started his own label, Wann-Sonn, and since 1998 has issued 8 albums, the latest, Daylight at Midnight, has just been remastered and repackaged by Earwig. With a pretty sizable band including a four piece horn section, Haddix presents ten new songs that illustrate his use of humor, irony and clever wording on a variety of blues themes of relationships as well as good and hard times. On the opening Word A Lie, he tells he isn’t telling his women a ‘word a lie, everything I say is true,” as he recounts allowing his women to move in and then how she was doing everything she could to get him out.

The title track is a reworking of the theme about strange things happening as they did when Travis’ moved into a new town and where there is daylight at midnight. Nine Behind, illustrates how clever he can be with a lyric with the song about the number nine, waking up at Nine, having 9 cups of coffee, call 9 different ladies and his woman from 1 to 9 is a 9 and then takes a solid guitar solo. Who Could I Be? is a soulful ballad with nice piano from Robert ‘Red Top’ Young who was in the late Robert Lockwood’s band, as Haddix sings if he could be anyone else who he would be, he would still rather be me.

One of Haddix’s main guitar influences is B.B. King, as his solos throughout this album show. One choice solo is during Way Back in the Country, where he recounts growing up and learning about the birds and bees and becoming a man. “Your Kind of Fool,” has a funky groove and the funk continues on What to Do, before returning to a more traditional blues style on Good Buddy Blues, about a friend where creates more problems than help for Travis. Haddix is a solid singer in the vein of a Bobby Bland and Artie White, although perhaps not having the range of the latter, as well as a solid guitarist. He benefits from a fine backing band although the horns provide a simple backdrop with their arrangements being most often simply backing riffs.

Having a number of Haddix’s albums (Ichiban and Wann-Sonn), I do not believe this is his best effort (check out the Wann-Sonn releases Milk & Bread and Blues From Staghorn Street, as well as the live European recording Mud Cakes). Still, Daylight at Midnight, is a very welcome addition to his body of recordings. For more information check out www.travishaddix.net or www.earwigmusic.com.

I received the review copy from either Earwig or a publicist handling their releases. This review originally appeared in the October 2008 Jazz & Blues Report, to which I have made a few minor changes. And here is some Travis Haddix from You Tube.