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.

No comments about Rougher Than The Rest.

1 comments about My Sunday Best.

1. I first heard Mr. B at the Ann Arbor Arts festival playing an upright on the street. I bought My Sunday Best and it moves me every time I listen to it. He has a great touch on the keyboard and brings out the full feeling of the Blues.

No comments about 1993 Portland Waterfront Blues Festival.

No comments about Big River Blues.

5 comments about Together For The First Time ... Live!.

1. ONE OF THE BEST PAIRINGS OF BLUES ARTISTS YOU'LL FIND.
   PERSONALLY, THE ONSTAGE PATTER BETWEEN THESE TWO
   GIANTS IS WHAT MAKES THIS LIVE RECORDING WELL WORTH
   THE PRICE OF ADMISSION (YOU COULD TELL THEY WERE HAVING
   A BALL AND IT'S INFECTIOUS). THOUGH IT MIGHT BE IMPROVED
   WITH REMASTERING, DON'T WAIT, YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE WITHOUT
   HEARING THIS PRICELESS RECORDING.



2. to begin, the audio was bad there was a lack of bass and it didn't have that live feel to it. It should have been remastered, with the technology available today, it would have been a five star recording.



3. BB King, iconic blues man, and Bland live - it's a classic must have.



4. What can I say, Bobby Blue Bland and BB King. messin' around on stage. A great interplay of two great bluesmen just having fun.
   
   Not the all time best of either one, but absolutely worth the price of admission



5. Is there anything better than B.B. King? Only when he's with Bobby "Blue" Bland. Great.

5 comments about Live at Carnegie Hall.

1. Live At Carnegie Hall was recorded on October 4, 1984 (one day after Stevie's thirtieth birthday), and is a highlight of Stevie's early days with his band, Double Trouble. There are also guest appearances by John Hammond, Jimmie Vaughan, Dr. John, vocalist Angela Strehli (who sings an enthusiastic lead vocal on C.O.D.), and the Roomful Of Blues horn section. The performance is an intimate, but rousing, blues celebration of Stevie's birthday. At the end of the night, Stevie says, "Thank you very much for making this my best birthday ever...forever!". Musically, you couldn't ask for better. The sound and production are smart, and the performances are clean and inspired (that's an understatement on some of the songs!). The absolute best recording ever of Cold Shot is here, Testifyin' sounds great, and Lenny is simply AMAZING. It really makes you wonder why Stevie doesn't get even more recognition as a guitar god than he already has. Things That I Used To Do and Dirty Pool are both jaw-dropping, Stevie at his blues guitar best. Pride And Joy and Iced Over both sound as good as ever and the horn section adds to the sound instead of hampering it, and it gives the songs new life. More than just really good blues, Live At Carnegie Hall is an intimate documentary of a very special night in the life of Sevie Ray Vaughan, his friends, and his family. There's a lot of love, warmth, and personality on this one, and some really fine electric guitar fueled blues music, too.



2. Of all his CD's, this feautures some of Stevie's best playing, and it's LIVE! The acoustics of Carnegie Hall add tremendous depth to his soulful playing here, and he just rips and rips away without holding anything back. As an added bonus, this was right near the end of his career when he had his head on straight and his chops were peaking. You are really missing out if your collection doesn't include this one.



3. There is such history in this venue, and for Stevie to play there it was quite an extraordinary event. The recording is fabulous in your face guitar,
   like they had the mic inside his cabinets, protected by a noise gate. Great, great live performance here.



4. Live at Carnegie Hall is a must-have for the diehard SRV fan who wants to get a taste of the guitar master's live perfomance electricity. I purchased his Live Alive CD prior to this one and was somewhat disappointed (Live Alive was recorded at the depths of SRV's drug and alcohol addiction and lacked the luster and originality of his previous works).
   
   This, however, was a real treat. His torrential solo on Dirty Pool and collaboration with his brother, Jimmie, on Things that I Used to Do were flawlessly executed and super-charged. I am always amazed at how he could bend and twist notes in ways unheard of, but these two songs were absolutely mind-boggling.
   
   The second half of the CD, where SRV adds the Room Full of Blues horns and Dr. John on keyboards, was a pleasant surprise. Initially, I was skeptical, thinking it would be like "gilding the lilly, but it's a great R&B sound that every SRV fan should experience. In addition, Angela Strehli was outstanding on her fiery vocal on C.O.D.
   
   The only issue that prevented me from giving this a five-star rating, is the muddy sound on the first two or three songs (Carnegie Hall was originally designed for acoustic performances). Don't let this stop you from adding this one to your collection, though.



5. SRV and friends play up a storm. Herein are arguably the definitive recorded versions of "Cold Shot", "Pride and Joy" and "Things That I Used To Do". The horns really add warmth to the sound, but Stevie Ray is front and center. Eric Clapton has said he was in awe of Stevie Ray Vaughan for his flow; the way solos just poured out of him, and there are some blazing examples on this recording.
   Yes, the man was a great guitar play, an absolute master of the form, but something that is rarely mentioned is that his singing was as emotive as his playing. He was in great voice on this night too.

No comments about Groove: Live.

3 comments about The Siegel-Schwall Reunion Concert.

1. this album combines very talented musicians with the energy of a live performance. fun band to listen to. drinking, getting over women, trying to love women, nothing but the blues.



2. I haven't heard any other albums by them, but this one is smoking. You get 7 minutes of blues healing with upbeat harp and guitar jams in "I Don't Want You To Be My Girl," and another 7 minutes in "Hush, Hush," hee hee hee. Not that "Leavin'" should be overlooked because it is only 3 minutes long - that song smokes too. Yep, this is a good CD to help forget some woman. The CD ends with the best version of "Got My Mojo Working" that I have ever heard.



3. A great live album by a fun and talented band, luckily brought back together and recorded. Jim Schwall and Corky Seigel front a talented and honest band that puts out down home music the way it's supposed to be played.

No comments about Live at Antone's.