JIMI HENDRIX

VALLEYS OF NEPTUNE

EXPERIENCE HENDRIX/LEGACY 2010 


The cover looks kinda psychedelic and intriguing; I’ve heard about this guy from Seattle, that he was pretty good and played a heck of a mean guitar, so I figured to give it a listen. WOW! This sound is like the great rock you’d hear some 40 years ago, the guy can play and the songs are amazing! Man. 40 years has passed since James Marshall Hendrix graced us with a hand full of the greatest rock albums ever produced. I still say the first record “Jimi Hendrix Experience- Are You Experienced” is one of THE best first albums ever made. So the Hendrix family digs out some new material; a few different versions of songs previously released and the result is all I expected plus more. This album consists of the last recordings the Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded right after the Electric Ladyland release. Although the band was experiencing some growing pains, the music produced here was pure Hendrix genius. It’s great to go back in time and hear songs I’ve never heard, they bring me to a time when things were magical, and there’s a lot of magic on this album.

GRAHAM PARKER

IMAGINARY TELEVISION

BLOODSHOT RECORDS 2010

When you think of the great song writers from the last few decades, you consider Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and even Elvis Costello, but I bet few think of Graham Parker. In fact, I rarely do myself except when I put this disc in the player and start thinking back to all the great songs Graham has given us. His cynical and insightful perceptions are always on point and seem to please my taste quite nicely. He is very intelligent and even whimsical in his observations, in a Carlin or Mose Allison type of style, which makes Graham a unique artist. A reason Graham isn’t a household name could be due to his angry, cynical early years; or that he never got the airplay to reach the masses deserved of his talent. Either way he still has a lot to offer the world, this release serves up a solid album of mid tempo rock ditties that make it an enjoyable listen. Check out “Always Greener” and “You’re Not Where You Think You Are”. This release won’t put him into the songwriter’s hall of fame by any stretch of the imagination, but he does get my respect for consistently doing better than most.

PETER WOLF

MOTOR CITY HORNS

LOCAL BOYS

BRASSJAR MUSIC 2009

How can I talk about this release and keep it short?

Take 4 of the most respected horn players from Detroit; have them record 15 songs, call in favors from all the appearances or gigs they’ve helped on and you get “Local Boys”. When I say call in favors I mean it! They had 44, yes forty four artists show up to play on this album. That’s way more than Baskin Robbins could offer! Most of the time when you get so many guest artist appearances, the recordings come off with no zest or life. They do a great job keeping it simple and free, so the record turns out to be a solid effort. The Motor City Horns consists of the core four horn players, Mark Byerly, Bob Jensen, Keith Kaminski and John Rutherford (founder of the band), all whom are experienced and talented players. Stand out tracks are “Kissing My Love” with Thornetta Davis belting out the vocals and Brett Lucas on guitar, and I also enjoyed the bluesy “ Remember Me” written and sung by Alberta Adams. Overall the record is a solid blend of blues, jazz and rock, done Detroit style. Guests on the record include Johnnie Bassett, Jimmy Bones, Paradime, Liz Larin, Tino and RJ Spangler to drop a few of the 44 names on the guest list. This is a nice representation of some great Detroit music and well worth checking out and if you like this music, check out their 3 song DVD release too.

MAGIC SLIM & THE TEARDROPS

RAISING THE BAR

BLIND PIG 2010

I got 3 new releases from Blind Pig the other day, so I figured I’d give them a spin and see what’s up. The first 2 didn’t hit me at all; they were too clean and polished for bands that would be great live. It never seems to amaze me how studio production and trickery can suck the life out of good, honest music…but I digress.

So I reluctantly tossed on the third disc not expecting much, and I’m glad I stuck it out!

Although this album is a bit more polished than I would usually like, it does come off as a good guitar based blues album. My toe started tappin’ and my head started bobbin, by the time it was done the CD ended up in my collection on the shelf.

Chicago blues done right, rockin all the way, not bad for a 73 year old dude! You can tell he and the band enjoy what they do and it comes off natural and honest.

I enjoyed “Do You Mean It” which is a straight forward rocker with a driving beat and the Elmore James cover of “I Can’t Hold Out”, but recommend the entire album, he gets the job done!

BILLY BOY ARNOLD/JOHN PRIMER/BILLY BRANCH/LURRIE BELL

CHICAGO BLUES: A LIVING HISTORY

RAISIN’ MUSIC 2009

The liner notes tell me this is a tribute to the past, present and future of Chicago blues.

That’s a pretty bold statement because Chicago has given us some of if not THE best blues ever recorded.

This project puts together 4 heavily respected Chicago blues masters with a band of their peers. They picked 21 classic recordings to cover from the likes of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, and they do a great job recapturing these classics. The performances are top notch and the analog recording is excellent, straight up as they originally were intended.

If you like traditional Chicago blues, pure and simple and played with quality session men (Matthew Skoller, Billy Flynn, Johnny Iguana, Felton Crews & Kenny Smith) then you certainly will enjoy this album.

Close your eyes and crank it up, you’d never know it was 2010 which seems to be the idea here. Combine the old guys with the new(er) and pass the Chicago blues torch on to the next generation.