1 comments about Broadcasting the Blues Live.

1. From the opening line of Track 1:
   "Well,my home is in the delta",you'll be spellbound by the
   power of this CD !.

   Music's raw - guitar,bass and drums and gutsy vocals.

   Covering Blues standards and 2 originals,this album will appeal
   to blues and metal guitar fans.

   Power of the music matches those blues standards by Led Zepplin
   like : "You Shook Me", "I Can't Quit You Baby", "Black Country Woman" (LZ original).

   This music needs to be played LOUD and it feels as though Jay
   is right in front of you with thumping bass drum kicking you
   in the face.

   Tracks 1 to 5 are super charged - need to be listened to be
   understood or believed.

   Track 6 - solo guitar work.

   Track 7 - bass drum kick not prominent as in Tracks 1-5.

   For raw power,this beats SRV,Hendrix,Malmsteen - so you'ld
   better be ready for what's coming your way.

   Jay Gordon understands dynamics well - his guitar licks
   come in at the right time,pickin at times and loud and raw
   at others,all well and timely paced...

2 comments about Corky Siegel's Traveling Chamber Blues Show.

1. SEIGAL SCWHALL AS A TEAM, CREATED SOME OF THE MOST DIFFERNTIAL BLUES YOU WOULD EVER HEAR. SOME REALLY GREAT MUSIC.
   THIS CD AND THE OTHER CDS WITH ORCHRESTERS (SPELLING)??
   ARE QUITE DIFFERANT THEN WHAT I WAS ACUSTOMMED TO.
   AS A TEAM SEIGAL/SCHWALL PRODUCED AN ALBULM WITH THE PHILLDELPHIA PHILHARMONIC ORCHRESTER IN THE 70'S THAT WAS PRIME. THESE WITH SCHWALL FALL SHORT. I ACTUALY PICTURED MUSELF WATCHING CARTOONS AS I LISTENED TO THEM



2. You gotta really love the harmonica to be happy with this CD. I've tried it twice now, but can't get through it. It's not bad, I just can't get through the harmonica and violin to get to the groove. I'd heard a couple of songs from him before buying this that had a quirky, groovy feel to them, that I thought would take me to the acoustic crossover between buzzland and hometown organic. A rare place to go I can tell you, but neccessary once in a while. Anyway, I'm going to keep looking for the right time to try it again so I can hopefully appreciate it. But until I can find it, my advice is to buy it only if you love the sound of a harmonica.

2 comments about American Folk Blues Festival, 1962-1965.

1. This is one of the finest collections of the blues I have heard. Well worth the money. From Mississippi Delta to Chicago, it's all here.



2. This is one of the best compilations of live blues available. Many of the modern and historic blues greats are represented here and are in fine voice. While some of the artists may be near the end of there career when these performances took place it dosen't matter as they give it their all. Wonderful stuff. Thanks Evidence. I am now ready for 1966 through 1971!

5 comments about Live in Cook County Jail.

1. BB King had already recorded over 300 songs when this album was recorded. Prime arrangements of some standards and a few lesser known tunes. If you've never seen him live, this is close to it.



2. great fun.takes you into the hall ,the booing of the sheriff and judge sets the tone for a fun gig.foot tapping and air guitar.



3. B. B. King is more than a talented musician and songwriter, he is a phenomenal entertainer as well. He works a crowd like few others with his obvious love for people and his devotion to giving his best. This album captures BB as he is best, live and in action. He does not need light shows or other props to sell his work, he just plays and sings with a style and an infectious joy that few entertainers can match. One of his best albums.



4. Fans often call B.B. King the king of the blues guitar, but if B.B. were only a brilliant guitarist he wouldn't be a household name for decades. B.B. King is also a powerful singer, a terrific interpreter of others' material, an effective bandleader and - most importantly - a thoroughly professional entertainer. You can experience all B.B. King's sides on the "Cook County Jail" CD.
   
   Virtually every cut on the CD is a powerhouse. Although the Cook County Jail setting might lead one to expect that B.B. King would play up the outlaw aspects of the blues (the way that Johnny Cash did with his prison LPs), B.B. takes the opposite approach. He delivers a well-rehearsed and utterly professional show. It must have seemed a revelation to rock fans, as most blues-rock concerts at the time were notoriously sloppy affairs. But it's what we expect from B.B. King. He may define himself as a bluesman, but B.B. applied many lessons learned from tight jazz combos.
   
   For the uninitiated, the strong performances of B.B. King's best-known hits "Sweet Sixteen" and the "Thrill is Gone" will be the selling points, but every track has its delights. For me, the strongest moment comes with "How Blue Can You Get?" Here, we clearly get to experience how B.B. King is able to feed off the energy of a responsive audience, to the point where the inmates are practically bandmembers. When we hear their laughter and applause, we know that B.B. King has won over one of the most difficult audiences to please. Every solo on the CD is well-constructed, and at no time does B.B. allow himself to become self-indulgent.
   
   The CD's short running time is the only deficit. While appropriate for an early 1970s LP, this is one short concert by modern CD standards. It would be nice to see this CD reissued with material cut from the original release (as is the usual trend for live album reissues), but there is no denying this is one of the very few live albums worth revisiting again and again. It belongs in the collection of anyone who truly loves post-war blues.



5. This CD captures the very essence of what makes Blues Boy King the King of the Blues. The power of BB's music thunders througout the CD. This album has the best rendition of "The Thrill is Gone" I have ever heard, and I've heard just about all the versions he has done over the years. You can almost see him crooning to the microphone with his eyes closed, and Lucille gives this song so much more with her solo at the end. If anything buy this CD for the "The Thrill is Gone"; as soon as you get it turn it up, sit down and close your eyes...

5 comments about Live in Montreux.

1. This is Buddy Guy & Junior Wells in 1974 playing their hearts out. It has a good live feel & not as restrained as some of Mr Guy's earlier recordings, as live is where he does it best!
   
   Fantastic CD, strongly recommended.



2. A solid collection of live blues (recorded in 1977), the bulk of which consists of Junior Wells and/or Buddy Guy backed by Jimmy Johnson, Dave Myers, and Odie Payne. Tracks 1 to 11 were originally issued by the French label Black & Blue; tracks 12 to 16, which do not feature Guy/Wells, were previously unreleased. Note that "Hide Away" (track 11) doesn't feature Guy either -- that's Jimmy Johnson leading the backing band on the outro tune of the set, after Guy and Wells have already exited the stage.
   
   The tunes sung by Wells are the keepers. If Amazon sold this album in mp3 format, you'd do fine by snapping up only "Driving Wheel," "Help Me," "Come on in This House," "Messin' with the Kid," and "Don't Start Me to Talkin'" (mislabeled here as "Somebody's Got to Go"). Harp-wise, this stuff is very good; vocally, it's a knockout, on par with Junior's singing on the Live at the Golden Bear album and the Pepper's Lounge segment of It's My Life, Baby! The Montreux rhythm section flubs some of the stop-times and endings (and Johnson's guitar is a bit muddy at times), but Wells keeps everything rolling with his "one...two...you-know-what-to-do-HEY!" shtick.
   
   The Buddy Guy material (tracks 1 to 3) is good, but he doesn't hit his groove as well as Junior does; the only song Guy really nails is "One Room Country Shack." He makes up for it, though, with his lead guitar playing behind Wells. (For those interested, the obligatory dueling-guitars moment occurs during "Messin' with the Kid," when Jimmy Johnson apes Buddy Guy on the first guitar break, and then Guy gets his revenge 12 bars later.)
   
   The bonus tracks, featuring the same rhythm section but with different front men, are a mixed bag. The underrecorded Andrew "B.B." Odom sings a nice minor-key slow blues ("I Don't Know"), and Jimmy Johnson stands out with his cover of "So Many Roads." The rest hovers around mediocrity: a short Hubert Sumlin instrumental, Eddy Clearwater trying to do Muddy's thing on "Hoochie Coochie Man," and a reminder that Dave Myers was no Lowell Fulson ("Blue Shadows"). Still, this album -- which clocks in at 68 minutes -- packs a lot more punch than comparable "live in Montreux" sets by Albert King and Little Milton.



3. Want to learn some tunes for an "open mike" blues jam? THEN CHECK THIS DISC OUT!!! There is enough material here to keep the serious blues student busy for months. Drummers, harpists, bassists, and guitarists alike. Each one of these tunes are popular at all blues jams (Am I sounding like Jamey Abersold?) For the price it can't be beat!



4. I have a problem with how this product is advertised. Neither Junior nor Buddy play in any of the extra tracks, and they are not that good either. Buddy only sings the first 3 songs, the rest are Junior's. Buddy plays a killer version of Hideaway, and Junior's sings 'mojo working' almost as good as Muddy Waters. The extra tracks really spoil the fun.



5. This may not be the best blues CD I will EVER own, but it is definitely the best blues CD I own NOW! Buddy Guy could play circles around Jimmy Page; his playing has speed, grace, and style. And Junior Wells is known as one of the greatest harmonica players who ever lived, but he was also a great singer, in fine form here. Listen to his usually low voice reach those high notes on "Come In This Old House". Wells and Guy were a great team; they do a version of "Messin' With the Kid" to bring the house down. I put this CD on more than any other blues CD I own -- including ones by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and other greats.

1 comments about Montreux Festival.

1. Are you cool with putting on a CD and listening to only 1 or 3 songs? If not, pass on Montreux Festival and go buy one of the many excellent CD's that are available by Albert King, Little Milton & Chico Hamilton!

   The 3 Albert tracks here are outstanding - Albert in all his funky, string-bending, stage-bantering glory. But if you're buying it for the Albert tunes, you're only getting about 17 minutes of music.

   Little Milton is a blues stud in his own right, but not when you can't hear his guitar. What you can hear on this disc is him screaming to the sound guys "gimme some mike!" Unfortunately, he never gets it. The drums, bass, horns, and vocals are there, but that doesn't cut it. Little Milton without the guitar work is Little Milton you can do without! If you're interested, I recommend the albums Little Milton Sings Big Blues ('66) or Grits Ain't Groceries ('69).

   Chico Hamilton is an extremely talented jazz drummer and was influential on pyschedelic rockers such as Carlos Santana. Some of his music was on the bluesy side of what label-slingers call "soul jazz" and could work alongside some of Albert's stuff. In View is a good 12-minute jam of mostly drums, saxophone, and bass, but it isn't really bluesy and makes me wonder why it was chosen for inclusion on this album.

   If you're already into these guys, stay away from this one. If you're not, I highly recommend all 3 of them as musicians, but go with a different album.

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.

1 comments about House Rockin' and Blues Shoutin'!.

1. is aleways the best. This album will not let you down. As advertised, it is solid, live blues from a bunch of top-talents. The Fabulous T-Birds attracted me to this one, and, along with all the others, do a great job.

5 comments about Hooker 'n' Heat (Recorded Live at the Fox Venice Theatre).

1. I have to say first that I'm not a huge Canned Heat fan as I see them as quite mediocre compared to a group like Butterfield Blues Band. I am however a huge John lee Hooker fan and was extremely disappointed he is only on 3 of the 10 songs. The title of the album is pretty misleading and I feel a bit cheated. If you are like me and love John Lee but find Canned Heat to be so-so skip this one and get the original Hooker 'N Heat 2 CD set and you'll be much happier. AS I recall Hooker is on almost every song on it. It isn't live but is more like a jam session and has some interesting chit chat between John lee and the band. I give that one 4 stars out of 5.



2. Don't be fooled like I was- John Lee Hooker only plays on the last few songs of the album. I got the album hoping to hear the following Hooker & Heat collaboration Hooker 'n Heat but it ended up being an uninspired concert put on by Canned Heat. I like Canned heat, but the album shouldn't have been titled Hooker 'n Heat if Hooker only briefly showed up. Don't buy this one expecting to hear much of the Hook.



3. I won't try to convert non-Canned Heat fans, but for those who care, this the last recording by Bob Hite, the last live recording by Ronnie Barron, and one of the few live recordings by Hooker.



4. This was one of my best live cassettes, almost worn out to transparent. Happily enough I got the Cd.
   Well, Canned Heat certainly knew how to boogie, I reckon; although we are missing the Blind Owl, the Bear was still there fronting the proceedings. The whole set is great but I prefer the boogie ones with the Chamber Brothers supplying backing vocals and The Hook himself, what can it be said, just that's too sad he just sang on three tunes. Vintage blues and boogie. Don't think twice it's alright! buy it the now.



5. This CD is a fair representation of a live concert in the mid-seventies when JLH sat in for a few songs at the end of the night. The crowd is enthusiastic and the energy from the band is high, but the only really standout tracks are the last three, featuring John Lee Hooker. Canned Heat plays a decent back-up role to a true legend and they swing and groove and growl well enough. Nothing earth-shattering, but there are some very enjoyable moments. The best aspect of this disc is the very palpable sense of atmosphere conveyed through a pretty well recorded gig. Simple, party type blues/rock, but JLH adds some magic.

1 comments about Big Joe Williams at Folk City.

1. This is a very good live album by Big Joe Williams. However, his live performance on the Fred McDowell/Williams Yazoo DVD is perhaps better than this. If you can find this album at a reasonable price, you should pick it up, though there is nothing on this disc that will measure up to the great Blues recordings of the 1920s and early 1930s. Big Joe Williams has tons of cds, so I look forward to checking out all of them and informing you as to which ones are keepers. This one is a keeper, but isn't up there with Furry Lewis' "Shake 'Em On Down" album, Buddy Moss' 1960s work, or Johnny Shines' solo Country Blues performances.