Kubek and King Do Some Roadhouse Research

After a number of well-regarded discs for Bullseye Blues, Smokin’ Joe Kubek and B'nois King have a new disc, Roadhouse Research, on Blind Pig. The Texas pair combine Kubek’s muscular guitar playing with King’s soulful singing (suggestive of a cool Otis Rush) and slightly jazzier fretwork and tasteful rhythm playing. The contrast of Kubek’s in-your-face guitar and King’s vocals make for an appealing combination. 

The ten originals include some typical lyrical themes about hard times, women and the philosophical Better Be Getting It On, a hot shuffle whereKing tells us the while life may seem like a mystery, one better can move on while Kubek taking a strong, blistering solo. It perhaps is unsettling to hear King’s slightly distorted vocals on the opening Healthy Mama while Kubek’s soloing on Crying Shame would not have sounded out-of-place on some psychedelic recordings three decades ago. 

Kubek pulls all the stops on the slow blues, Runnin’ Blind, before King sings about having his woman running through his mind, but moving way too fast. Make It Right has a nice latin groove and a bit laid back feel for King’s plea that all he needs is his woman to make it right. Adding to the album’s variety is Kubek’s forceful slide playing on I Need More. 

Kubek is such a strong player that he can avoid the excesses that otherwise could make his tone and frenetic fretwork come off as overbearing. He also maintains an ear out while King sings so he never overwhelms the soulful singing. The result here is a varied and entertaining blues recording.

This review originally appeared in the June 2003 DC Blues Calendar although I have made some minor changes from what originally appeared.  Here is the pair with some roadhouse Texas blues.

Take a Sea Cruise With Joe Louis Walker

This is a review of the latest Joe Louis Walker CD from Stony Plain (his third for the label).

One would be hard pressed to find anyone in the past thirty years who has put together a body of recordings as deep and substantial as Joe Louis Walker. Especially his initial recordings on Hightone and then on Verve-Gitanes, Walker has been able to be forward looking as well as rooted in the tradition. Few approach his versatility as both a guitarist and as a vocalist. While his post Verve recordings may not have been on the same level as these earlier masterpieces (and one would be hard-pressed to name a half dozen other recordings the past two decades that approach these blues masterworks), Walker still remains a fervent and quite entertaining performer.

Now on Stony Plains Records, Walker has a new release, “Blues Conspiracy: Live on the Legendary Rhythm 7 Blues Cruise,” that he views as a companion to his two volumes of “Live at Slims” and the “Great Guitars,” that both date from the 1990s. This is a live recording taken from January, 2010 performances on the Cruise with most of these performances featuring Walker and his band joined by guest artists who were on the cruise. Walker’s Band included Linwood taylor on guitar,Kevin Burton on keyboards, Henry Oden on bass and Jeff Minnieweather on drums with guest appearances by the likes of Mike Finnigan on organ and vocals; Johnny Winter, Duke Robillard, Tommy Castro, Tab Benoit, and Kirk Fletcher on guitar; Mitch Woods on piano; Curtis Salgado on vocals; Jason Ricci, Kenny Neal and Watermelon Slim on harmonica; Keith Crossan and Deanna Bogart on saxophones; and Tom Poole on trumpet. These tracks all feature guests on the performances with the exception of one. A good number of the performances here are of songs Walker has previously recorded, but several selections seem not to be have been previously waxed.

From a standpoint of a fan, the guests add a dimension of special occasion that does not always translate to an audio recording. Also, the performances may take away from the focus of the performances with some rough edges and perhaps a bit more emphasis on soloing. Generally these pitfalls are avoided, and the performances are quite fine if they do not quite reach the level of the two volumes of “Live at Slims,” arguably among the toughest live blues recordings of the past two decades. Things start off on a solid note on “Slow Down GTO with Mike Finnigan’s organ joining Walker and his band (and its great that bassist Oden, a Boss Talker from 2 decades ago is back with Walker), and followed by “Ain’t That Cold,” where Johnny Winter’s slide embellishes Walker’s fervent singing. Curtis Salgado and Mike Finnigan share the vocals on the OV Wright classic, “You’re Gonna Make Me Cry,” which is enjoyable but slightly messy and frenzied in execution. Tommy Castro and the horn players join in on the rocking rendition of Travis Phillips’ Louisiana rock’n’roller “Eyes Like a Cat.”

Kirk Fletcher adds some nice guitar to the rendition of Lowell Fulson’s “Ten More Shows to Play,” but “Born in Chicago,” suffers from too many musical cooks with Jason Ricci, Nick Moss and Paris Slim adding solos for a performance that seems longer than it should have. In contrast, “Sugar Mama,” with Watermelon Slim added on harmonica, is the longest track, but allows Walker to stretch out for some inspired playing along with Slim’s nice harp on a performance that seems to take little time at all. Kenny Neal joins on “A Poor Man’s Plea,” adding some Slim Harpo flavored harmonica on Junior Wells’ “A Poor Man’s Plea.” “Its a Shame,” is the track showcasing Walker’s band and Linwood Taylor is featured on guitar here, followed by another jam as pianist Mitch Woods and guitarists Tab Benoit and Paul Nelson join Walker for “747.” Even if not as tight as Walker’s earlier takes on this song, this track is fun way to close this recording and certainly, warts and all, is a worthy addition to his considerable body of music that he has graced us with for such a lengthy period.


My previous reviews of Joe Louis Walker's Stony Plain CDs on this blog are of "Witness to the Blues" and "Between A Rock And The Blues."





For purposes of FTC regulations, the review copy was supplied by the publicity form for the record company.

Smokin' Joe Kubek and B'Nois King Get Their Minds Back

Here is a review from October 1996 of the Bullseye Blues album by Smokin’ Joe Kubek Band With B’nois King, “Got My Mind Back,” that appeared originally in the October 1996 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 215). I was a bit more concise in those days. They will be appearing in College Park, Maryland on November 6, 2010 as part of the College Park Blues Festival that the DC Blues Society is helping produce. Their music seems to maintain the same qualities today as it did over a decade ago.

Dallas, Texan Smokin’ Joe Kubek’s icy demeanor on stage masks the incendiary flavor of his guitar, while B’Nois King provides a contrasting affable stage presence, and his solid rhythm guitar and jazzier guitar leads are combined with some fine singing, somewhat suggestive of a cool Otis Rush. The two have penned the ten songs on this album which range from Got My Mind Back with its hot groove and Kubek’s hot slide, or the fine slow minor key blues I’m Here for You, which captures the flavor of Otis Rush’s better seventies recordings. Another slow blues, Cryin’ By Myself, also showcases King’s potency as a vocalist as well as letting him stretch out on a solid guitar solo. The instrumental All the Love There Is showcases King’s guitar with Kubek making use of various effects during his solo and his comping behind King, while Kubek’s use of wah-wah effects on She’s It is suggestive of Hendrix and Stevie Vaughan. Let Me Take Your Picture is a Chuck Berry flavored rocker with Kubek’s hot slide helping the number take off. Yet another fine release by one of the top Texas based bands around.


For more information on Smokin’ Joe Kubek & B’Nois King appearing in the DC area, see www. dcblues.org. I note that this CD is apparently still in print.


Back in 1996 I likely received the original CD from Rounder Records.

Long John Hunter's Welcome Return To CD

Its been decades since Long John Hunter was swinging from the rafters at the Lobby Bar in Juarez, Mexico, across the border from El Paso. While he made some tough singles for small labels in the southwest such as Yucca in New Mexico including “El Paso Rock,” which became a staple of rocker’s Bobby Fuller’s performances as well. In 1993 Spindletop issued his first full album, “Ride With Me,” which led to him getting known outside of the Lone Star State and New Mexico. The label and Long John later was picked up by Alligator who issued two more excellent discs by Hunter, “Border Town Legend” and Swinging From the Rafters.” With Alligator he was united with long-time friend Phillip Walker and Lonnie Brooks for the “Lone Star Shootout,” recording. There was an album shared with his brother Tom “Blues Man” Hunter, “One Foot in the Texas” (Doc Blues). Since then he moved to Phoenix, Arizona area and while having some ‘heart work,” and no longer can swing from the rafters, but still playing his music and Dennis Walker, best known as Robert Cray’s producer has produced his latest recording, “Looking For A Party” (Blues Express).

For the recording, Walker put together a band of Jim Pugh, keyboards; Richard Cousins, bass; Alan Mirikitani, rhythm guitar; Lee Spath, drums and cowbell; and a horn section. The songs are all originals, although Long John only is credited with co-writing the title track. Grace Jones Hunter (his wife) is credited with co-writing a couple of songs. Walker and/or guitarist Mirikitani have contributed to all of the 11 tracks. There is a mix of material covering a range of moods and themes from the light title track to “Beggar Man,” a straight blues given a slightly mysterious feel lent by Pugh’s keyboards with Hunter’s back porch delivery with his grainy voice quite appealing. In fact what is evident is just how good he still sings and plays. “Looking For My Baby” has a Crescent City groove with some cowbell for punctuation with a typically nice guitar solo for Hunter whose use of space and silence is a model for many who tend to overplay. “I Know a Man,” is a heartfelt gospel number co-authored by his wife with a soulful flavor to the performance that benefits from the restrained accompaniment. The other song she helped write, “You Are My Love,” is a sincerely sung blues ballad. “Apple of My Eye,” is a nice rocking shuffle with a lyric of having been through hard times and bad luck but his woman is the apple of his eye, while another late night blues, “Greener Pastures,” has among the better lyrics here.

Compared to some of Hunter’s earlier recordings, the most of the lyrics seem generic, and lack the quirkiness and distinctiveness of the best of Hunter’s earlier recordings such as “Crazy Love,” or “Dream of the Devil.” This is not to say that these are bad performances or terrible songs, because that couldn’t be further from the truth as they are robust. Still, this is a worthwhile disc that reminds us fortunately that Long John Hunter is still around and playing his distinctive music. May you be lucky enough to have him visit a club or festival near you.

For the FTC, I got the review copy of this from Blues Express but I had purchased this prior to that by download.