No comments about Live '82.

No comments about Live At The Ram Jam Club.

4 comments about Live at the Electric Ballroom, 1974.

1. This is as good a blues performance as you will ever get. The original album cover had a photo closer to the time of the concert (1974). The recordings were actually made from some old reel-to-reel tapes a King associate had laying in his closet. We are presented with Freddy King playing and singing a powerful, intense electric blues set. "Big Legged Woman" highlights the set, and the acoustic cuts are special because they are the only recordings of King playing acoustic, not to mention he played great. If you collect live albums, this one is a must-have.



2. this live CD perfectly depicts freddie in his prime. at an emotional and talent high freddie does a great preformance. the sound quality ain't perfect but aint bad it sounds like it was recorded with analog!!! (which is great) all in all i own alot of freddie king alblums but this one gonna stay in my CD player for a while!!!



3. Freddie King was a monster of the blues and this CD shows exactly why. His guitar playing is ferocious, explosive, incendiary, soulful, emotional, and beautiful all at the same time. Freddie does several of his best known tunes including Hide Away, Have You Ever Loved A Woman, Key To The Highway and Dust My Broom. These are just as great as Clapton's versions, though they sound a bit different. Buy this CD for Freddie's awesome singing and guitar-playing, but you'll also get some fascinating interviews with him and two acoustic performances. As good as Freddie sounds on an electric guitar, he sounds just as good on an acoustic. Highly recommended.



4. This CD captures the essence of Freddie King in the type of venue in which he was at his best - live, in front of an appreciative audience. I was lucky enough to have heard him several times before his death. Once was in November of 1975 at Oklahoma State University's Gallagher Hall. The concert was particulary memorable in that Freddie had the 300 or so people who attended make the 6000+ seat sports arena sound as if it were sold out. That place was rockin'! This CD gives the listener a feel for what it was like to hear and experience his music on a night such as that, something you'll never get from his studio recordings.

   Much of enjoying Freddie's music was visual. He was a big, powerful looking guy that played with a lot of obvious emotion; emotion that at time made him seem as if he were angry. He had a manner that said, "If you don't like what I'm playin' or how I'm playin' it, I'm gonna come down there and kick your butt." You couldn't help but like the guy's music, otherwise he was going to kill you! This demeanor doesn't really come through on the CD but if you turn it up loud, I mean really loud, then you'll have the next best thing to having experienced the Texas Cannonball at his finest.

No comments about Live at the Renaissance.

5 comments about Travelin' On.

1. As you can see, every review of this CD is five stars, and let me tell you, NO ONE who appreciates great music from the heart will give this CD any fewer stars. It is definitely the best live blues CD of the entire 1990s--hands down. Mooney takes the blues and, while honoring its tradition, makes his own guitar style and type of virtuosity. You will swear you are listening to two guitar players on some of these tracks, but the credits don't lie--it's a three piece band--it's just him, his bassist and drummer! The audience adds a lot to the recording with their well-placed cheers after many of his great solos. His vocals are great, too--reminds me somewhat of Howling Wolf. Great songs, both covers and originals here. A MUST HAVE for all blues fans!!!



2. I was skeptical when I read about this being the best live blues cd recorded in the last 25 years. If it's not the best, its certainly in the top 10. John Mooney's work on this cd is the funkiest slide blues that I have ever heard. His version of Junco Partner is OUTSTANDING. If you like funky blues with a ton of energy - get it!



3. this CD used to be import only, but now you can buy it here. i once had the good fortune to meet John Mooney and recited his catalog to him and begged for more. He modestly told me "oh, there's this live thing they did in Germany". I spent untold bucks tracking this down until i called the Crosscut label in Germany- i bought 5 copies at $25 each PLUS shipping from Germany,to give to my closest friends and they still thank me to this day. you'll never find this one in "the bin" it's just too rockin'. if you've ever seen John live then just buy it right now.



4. DUH! It is, after all, the Mooney man... have you been to a show



5. Now that you are aware that it exists, you must buy this CD. Even if you've never heard of the guy and somehow stumbled across this review, you owe it to yourself. John Mooney is best experienced live, and this disc is the best approximation to a live gig possible. The combination of delta slide guitar and syncopated second-line New Orleans rythms that Mooney pulls off is complex, unique and astounding... gutsy, funky, driving, and soulful. As strong and identifiable a slide guitar player as Duane Allman and Lowell George, Mooney's mentor was Son House and it's clear that he learned from the best. However, he's a true innovator taking the blues new directions. His gruff vocals are somewhat similar to John Hiatt. When I saw him blow the roof off of a club in New Orleans a few months ago, I felt like I was seeing Stevie Ray Vaughn in Austin in 1981, when no one but the locals knew who he was but they KNEW what he was capable of... get this disc and you'll be in the know as well. Funky, gritty takes on classics like Junco Partner and Shortnin' Bread, more traditional delta blues like the outstanding Robert Johnson covers and a great version of Muddy Waters' Standin' 'Round Cryin', and a few great originals like the title tune. Greasy, sweaty and grimy like the blues was meant to be, with a virtuoso's ability yet a confident restraint... always soulful, never showy.

3 comments about Live Around the World: The Best of Junior Wells.

1. Hot! This man could make the hips shake on the statues in the park, and this live album proves it! Junior never lost power, never mellowed with age. He just cut his groove deeper, played his funk sharper, and sang his heart out in every show. Feel it here, and again on Live At Buddy Guy's Legends B000003D5R, and if that doesn't satisfy you get more Junior live again on Last Time Around B00000DF9M for truly uplifting down & dirty Chicago blues!



2. When he was at his best, Amos "Junior" Wells was an electrifying live performer. This album finds him in his sixties, shortly before his death, and his speaking voice in particular has become hoarse and a little frail, but his harp playing still sizzles, remaining melodic and invigorating all the way through.
   
   Backed by his eight-piece touring band, the last of the great Chicago harpists, and the last living member of Muddy Waters' legendary 50s ensemble, lays down excellent versions of "Sweet Sixteen", "Little Red Rooster", and "Waitin' On The Night Train", as well as a tough "Messin' With The Kid", and a slow, stylish "Hoodoo Man". And Wells' performance on "What My Mama Told Me" is superb, but that track is weighed down a little by too much organ and not enough Junior.
   
   The production is almost too smooth and clear, and the band gets dangerously close to funk rather than blues a couple of times, which partly ruins "Got My Mojo Working". But the slow numbers in particular are really good, and pianists Johnny Iguana (!) and Steve Utting play some great blues piano...they just need to stay away from that organ.
   "Live Around The World" should have been recorded at some greasy club date with a real blues combo instead of this slick, horn-laden eight-piece band. But Junior Wells himself sounds neither tired nor disengaged, and while this shouldn't be your first Junior Wells-purchase, it certainly isn't one to avoid either.
   3 1/2 stars.



3. This show is what used to come regularly out of Chicago on tour, but, sadly, since all the greats are gone, just doesn't anymore. This is Junior Wells at his best, with a cold shot tight band, and all his best stuff. Great Little Red Rooster, Waiting for The Night Train, and Hoo Doo Man. Do not miss this CD if you are a Chicago Blues fan. It is a must.

2 comments about Live from the Outskirts.

1. This is simply one incredible disc. I tend to seek out Live recordings mainly, due to the raw, inspired, creative energy only found on those, and I must say that CYRIL LANCE: LIVE FROM THE OUTSKIRTS may very well rank up there with the best of them, those "definitive" Live recordings that we all dearly love. This is truly epic, world-class material that deserves a lot more attention than it currently has received.
   
   The band is caught on tape in top-notch shape, they are tight and talented, with incredible energy and excitement injected into every single performance. Neel's solid vocals and neo-Juliard-league piano add such a refined and sophisticated touch to the whole experience, and Cyril's guitar work is absolutely riveting. The instrumental sections just go on and on, the whole band pulsating as one balanced, cohesive organism, steadily increasing in energy and complexity, until you just think they HAVE to start winding down, but that's when they shift into high-gear and take off into the Stratosphere. Pure adrenalin rush! The material is a mixture of blues, blues/rock, funk, and soul (while eschewing all cliches), and should appeal to a very wide audience indeed.
   
   The digital recording and final mixdown is of impeccable quality. Rip as lossless AIFF to your iPod and enjoy the sonic purity.
   
   I cannot recommend this CD highly enough.



2. When Cyril Lance moved to North Carolina, the Old North State had a VERY good day.
   
   Lance is truly indefinable by genre, but is acknowledged as a true guitar virtuoso. He can play Blues as authentically as the masters and stacks up excellently against any of today's Jam Bands.
   
   Live from the Outskirts is as fine an example of capturing the essence of the artist's live performances as has come along in quite some while. The album sounds studio quality while capturing the energy of an Outskirts performance perfectly.
   
   Cyril has surrounded himself with some of the finest musicians in his adopted State. B-3 ace Dave McCracken can hang with anyone who has ever played the organ. Kelly Pace is the drummer who everyone wishes could be in his or her band and Bassist/singer Chris Carroll has the chops and voice that excite music lover.
   
   This is a perfect follow-up to Cyril's breakout release, Stranger in My House, a definate must-own release. Anyone who appreciates awesome guitar playing and exceptionally well crafted songs will love these two items.
   
   And on a personal note, Cyril is a wonderful person and an absolutely driven musician as well.

No comments about Blues Legacy: Lost and Found Series, Vol. 1.

5 comments about King King.

1. You are reading a review on one of THE best white boy blues bands EVER!
   
   This title is no longer in print. Lester Butler and friends are raw and full on.
   
   Absolutely brilliant white boy blues.



2. I agree with everything said about this band. A friend gave me a tape in the early 90's and I wore it out! I can't say too much more without repeating what others have said but what always struck me was it's raw energy and it was recorded with the same rawness. Love it! All you guys that saw them live are f-n lucky!!!



3. I bought this CD by chance years ago in a record shop in the Bon Accord Centre in Aberdeen, and I've gone back to it again and again. The great harmonica player Lester Butler drives everything along, Paul Size plays guitar, man it's just a great album, no question about it. There are one or two clips of the band playing in Holland on youtube, check them out. Also check out the Lester Butler Tribute Band, they play every now and again & I keep trying to shoot across to Holland & catch them live. Sadly Lester was killed at 38 years old. But his music is loved by a lot of people. I'm one of them. A fantastic blues album.



4. I was living in SoCal when I stumbled upon the Red Devils at a CD Listening Bar. I was hooked. I play blues harp, and this album captures the raw energy of a true blues band in full swing. I saw Lester Butler many, many times over the years, and while others were technically better, no one played to the limits of their abilities like Lester did. If you like this, his one other album is "13 Featuring Lester Butler". If you like Blues Harmonica, or raunchy house blues, you will love this album!



5. I was set to see this band at the Hootenany in OC (Calif.) and the day before the show, the day before, they broke up. I about cried. A few months later Lester Butler was dead. (The same thing happened in reverse with Joe Strummer - saw him at the Hooteneny in July and he passed away in Nov.) Yeah, the Red Devils had far and away the best "coulda been" potential of any band I've ever known. Hell, this one album is enough to put them up in my top 5. Real, wicked good blues. Fierce with much soul. Butler was completely in the zone and pulled of some amazing harp licks. You have to listen to it and pass it along.

No comments about Live at Maybeck Recital Hall, Vol. 29 (John Campbell at Maybeck).