2 comments about Live And On The Move.

1. Bought this 2nd hand on the fly, 3 years back. Stunning tight band driven by beautiful manic drummer and held togeher by rock steady gtr of Micky Baker . One of the best integrated small blues groups I have heard. Magnificent foil to James' "in your face" harp - his breaks and timing are staggering! Continual "high energy" road show worthy of a government health warning. Only downsides - slightly less than desirable balance for James' vocals and an over extended Flip Flop and Caledonia, the former having gob smacking first impact which wanes on repeated listening. But this is nit-picking! - listen to James playing the audience - lose yourself in the atmosphere of the night! BUY! - If anyone knows of a "higher energy" JC recording (live!) please let me know!



2. I'm usually not a big fan of live recordings, but these mid-70's recordings really catch the spirit of James Cotton "live & on the move", while still in his prime! Sure, there may be sentimental reasons for my liking this disc {often caught Cotton during this period at the club where these recordings were made} but putting all sentimentality aside, I've gained a whole new level of appreciation for these cuts. Listening to these tracks with fresh aged ears {the first time in 20 some years} I can't help but be impressed by Cotton and company's tightness as a unit. A tough act to follow, there weren't many shows rolling down the proverbial blues pike that packed as much punch as a James Cotton performance in it's heyday, and these cuts certainly can attest to that. Cotton's band, consisting of seasoned vets such as Matt "guitar" Murphy, know how to lay and hold down earthy funkified grooves, build energetic boogie's, shuffle and swing without ever losing so much as a beat. If I had to criticize one thing, it would be Cotton's choice of material. James Cotton had written some fine numbers while a recording artist for both the Sun and Vanguard labels, it's too bad that he doesn't showcase a few of them here. Instead, Cotton is content rekindling old chestnuts such as "Got My Mojo Working" and "Help Me". What would a review of a James Cotton disc be without mentioning his harmonica playing? James Cotton shows why he's earned the nickname "Mr. Superharp", especially on tunes such as, "One More Mile", "All Walks Of Life" and "Boogie Thang", where the deep tonal qualities and grittiness of his harp work can be heard to full effect. A nice slice of what a James Cotton live show sounded like back in the 70's, complimented by one of the tightest and hardest working bands in the blues biz, Recommended!

3 comments about Live at San Quentin.

1. I have seen B.B. King live, and he was just amazing - A brilliant musician, a crowd pleaser, and a bundle of energy. He is an amazing performer, and this live c.d. is awesome!! Worthy of any Blues fans collection, "Live at San Quentin" had me wishing I was a fly on the wall at that show. What a performance! Every song here is great, and King doesn't slow down for a minute. Like he says in the album, the blues doesn't mean "blue" as in depressing all the time. I actually listened to the entire c.d. while i was on the treadmill at the gym. It was very upbeat for the most part.
   A sensational record that is worth buying. Rather than have his whole catalog, I prefer this! It is just masterful!
   Highly recommended!!



2. I concur with the first reviewer. This is a great album. I used to like the Cook County Jail album a lot (and it's good), but this one has it beat. B.B. sounds so fresh, yet totally in control. It's really a classic album



3. Prison performances are sort of a standard for blues singers, and it just doesn't get any better than this -- B.B. King playing his classics live at the San Quentin Correctional facility. I used to have this cassette, but I played it so much that it popped!

   Here King is playing to a truly captive audience offering up such classics as "The Thrill is Gone," "Sweet 16," "In the Heat of the Night," and my personal favorite "Nobody Loves Me But My Mother." In the intro to that last selection King explains to the inmates that while the blues was not just about hard times, some of the tunes could be pretty depressing. "Some of it can be pretty down alley. Like I'm fixing to do right now. I'm going all the way down to the bottom." Yet he also encourages the audience to go on and boogie off some of the uptempo tracks. This is music from the heart, and you can just feel the soul of the artist. This is the blues -- unvarnished, straight up and raw -- served up by a master of the genre.

   King broke a few strings on his faithful Lucille during this performance, but he never misses a note. His voice is still clear after all these years and he still knows how to spin a tale through song. He does a few audience participation numbers and banters smoothly with the crowd and the band. This is a fundamental recording, and an important part of my collection.

5 comments about Muddy Waters Live (At Mr. Kelly's).

1. I love this album. I frequently have it on outside when I'm barbequing. Several of these tracks aren't available on any other Muddy Waters live recordings, including: Boom Boom, You don't have to go, Stormy Monday, and CC Woman, which makes this CD even more of a Must Have. A smokin' CD.



2. Chess records only recorded Howlin' Wolf live a single time, and late in his career at that, and the label's other main attractions never got a live album. But Muddy Waters was luckier, and this 1971 album was the third full-length concert recording of his career.
   
   Cut in the summer of 1971 at Mr. Kelly's, a Chicago club on the Near North Side, "Muddy Waters Live (at Mr. Kelly's)" finds Muddy in fine form, working with his excellent early-70s band which included Joe "Pinetop" Perkins (piano), drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, bassist Calvin "Fuzz" Jones, and guitarists Samuel Lawhorn and James "Pee Wee" Madison.
   The masterful James Cotton appears under a pseudonym, as he was under contract with another label, blowing the harp on three songs. On the remaining nine songs it is 21-year-old Paul Oscher playing fine, muscular harmonica parts.
   
   The album opens with a predictable but quite enjoyable "Country Boy"-knockoff called "What Is That She Got" and a rendition of Jimmy Reed's "You Don't Have To Go" (which doesn't sound _quite_ right without Reed's drawling vocals). The slow blues "Strange Woman" is a bit monotonous, but then comes a swinging "Blow Wind Blow" with some great playing by Pinetop Perkins and Paul Oscher, a good "Country Boy" (the real one this time), the excellent instrumental "Mudcat", and a gritty "She's Nineteen Years Old". Also, this version of "Stormy Monday Blues" is significantly better than other Muddy Waters-renditions I've heard.
   
   All in all, this album doesn't quite match the power and boldness of Muddy's best live albums, and you should seek out albums like "Muddy Waters At Newport", "Mojo: The Live Collection", "The Lost Tapes", and "Chicago 1979" before this one.
   But "Live At Mister Kelly's" is not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination, and it is certainly worth a listen. It is the only live Muddy Waters album to feature Paul Oscher (who is a great harpist, even though he mostly plays the guitar these days), and these renditions of "Mudcat", "C.C. Woman", "Blow Wind Blow", T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday Blues", and John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom" deserve to be heard.



3. 5 STARS IS NOT ENOUGH FOR THIS CD. EXCELLENT ;EXCELLENT MUDDY AND PINETOP;JAMES COTTON AND PAUL OSCHER AND I'M NOT FOR SURE BIG EYED WILLIE SMITH ON DRUMS.SEARCH FOR THIS LIKE LOST TREACHER;IF FOUND YOU WILL BE HAPPY!



4. I have been a big fan of the "Live at Newport" cd. This is later period Muddy, but just as intense. Anyone who likes classic blues played live, this is the cd to get.



5. I bought this album on vinyl when it first came out and still listen to it very regularly. In addition to Muddy's great vocals and some nifty guitar playing by Sammy Lawhorn, the harp playing of Paul Oscher is simply amazing. Paul toured a lot with Muddy's band in those days and had a big, nasty, rough tone that really pushed the sound of the Waters band. He never got the kind of notice, I believe, that some of Muddy's other harpists received, but he was a good one. This album smokes and Oscher's the one who lights things up,

1 comments about St Clare's Night Out: Eddi Reader Live at the Basement.

1. For you Eddi Reader fans who want a great concert from an expressive wonderful singer, here it is. U.S. fans haven't had a chance to hear Eddi live so this is the next best thing. You might want to look at the complete shows that were released on Kufala records for a comparable experience, but this release is better recorded.

No comments about Alive & Cool.

No comments about Manchester '77.

4 comments about Live at the W. C. Handy Blues Awards 1.

1. This album is a compilation of performances reordered in different years during the W.C. Handy Blues Awards nights by different blues stars. As you would expect all the performances here are very good so that you would not rate this album less than four stars. Joe Louis Walker does a very good job on the acoustic Bluesifying, however what makes the difference is the stunning, incendiary version of Cherry Red Wine by the IMMENSE Luther Allison that by itself justifies the purchase of this CD. Simply amazing! A must have for all the Luther and blues fans.



2. good tunes, live performance energy, wide variety of styles and artists. nice disc to have in your collection. get it and find out why bobby rush can be a hoochie man.



3. I liked it alot. Some new work I have never heard before. Can't wait for more volumes.



4. Presumably, this should feature the best living and active blues musicians, and there are indeed some big names on here. Things get off to a strong one-two punch with Joe Louis Walker doing a solo number called "Bluesifying," in which he pays tribute to all that has gone before him, and then Luther Allison testifies with "Cherry Red Wine." Piazza's "Low Down Dog" is fun, but then comes the law of diminished returns. Rufus Thomas, accompanied by Raitt, was probably a lot of fun to see doing "Walking the Dog," but if you want to get excited by this song, get the original record. Then Deborah Coleman and Bernard Allison team up for a grossly undercooked guitar workout, followed by a rote acoustic blues from Paul Rishell and Annie Raines. The mystery of Susan Tedeschi's career continues as she sings "Just Won't Burn" devoid of any real nuance or connection to the emotions of the song; she does have a pretty voice, but does nothing with it. Taj Mahal brings things back up a bit with a neat version of Horace Silver's jazz tune, "Senor Blues," thus pulling us away from the 12-bar clichés of the preceding three songs. Then there's Bobby Rush. Now, I'm no fan of this guy, but I have to give him props for knowing how to stretch a little song about being jealous of his woman wearing a tight dress for other guys to see into an 8 minute tour de force of egocentric performance. Really, the groove is impeccable, and when he starts saying his name over and over again, you'd swear he's on the verge of orgasm. Bonnie Raitt ends the album on a solid professional note, with a version of Don Covay's "Three Time Loser" that sits as a neat counter-punch to Tedeschi's earlier soulless delivery. So, do we have an essential portrait of where the blues are today? Heck no, but with two great cuts, and three more good ones, it's at least a decent listen.

3 comments about Face the Music.

1. The first time I heard Walter Trout was in 1990's Jonh Mayall's record `The power of the Blues' I was impressed especially when listening to the Blues-Rock "Ridin' on the L&N" where Trout performs a solo guitar that lets you out of breath. Nevertheless I never followed Trout, he seemed too much hard guitarist to me for the Blues until I heard the 2006's Walter Trout's `Full Circle' with several collaborations (John Mayall, Jeff Healey, Coco Montoya....) I liked it very much in spite of Walter Trout goes on being a hard guitarist, however I began to be interested with his discography.
   This CD `Face the music' is a very good live record, great stuff, performed with great passion and highlights for all songs specially "Got a Broken Heart", "Obstacles in My Way" and the slows Blues "The Reason I'm Gone", "Tired of Sleeping Alone". For all the Blues and guitar lovers I recommend it, I give it 4 stars.



2. Walter Trout Live. Is there any other way? This CD captures so well the feel of Walter and the Free Radicals just letting it rip. A truly incredible rendition of "The reason she's gone" - "Too Much Biz" - you can feel Walter's fingers smoking on the frets. The incredibly beautiful Marie's Mood - proving that it ain't just Rock and Roll. If you are hesitating about buying this CD, DON"T...just buy it (and any of his other CD's ) I promise you, you'll not be dissapointed. Oh one more thing...check out [their web site] to see when this band is coming to a town near you. Seeing is Believing!



3. What a guitar player. This was really a suprise for me, i have just been hearing SRV cd`s before, but no I`m gona buy some more cd`s from this wonderful guitar player. The sound is also very good.

   BUY IT!

No comments about The Soul of R & B Revue: Live at the Lonestar Roadhouse.

No comments about Blues & Grass.