A Shot Of Blues: October 1995

Just when you thought that there were no good new blues discs out there, along comes Capricorn with four releases, three of them part of Capricorn’s Fat Possum Records list. These discs run the gambit of blues, from straightforward juke joint guitar-pickin’ Delta blues to raw, rough, roadhouse grinding rockin-blues to deep and funky blue boppin’ to contemporary mixed traditional blues. There’s something here for everybody, so read up and check them out. 

Junior Kimbrough 
All Night Long
Fat Possum/Capricorn

For those of you who enjoy the tradition of the juke joint, check out Junior Kimbrough. This guy has been playing for over 30 years and it shows. If Robert Johnson were alive, he’d drive all night just to hear Junior play at his joint off Highway 4 in northern Mississippi’s hill country, or he would buy the CD All Night Long. The man’s voice moans with the blues in his soul, and his fingers coax the same out of his guitar. Listening to him play, one can just imagine the intimacy he has with his six string, plucking and bending notes other blues players only dream of. From “Work Me Baby” right through to “Slow Lightnin’” Junior colors the air so very blue. When he doesn’t play solo on the disc, he’s backed up by Gary Burnside on bass (a neighbor’s son) and Kenny Malone on drums (Junior’s son). This threesome cuts a smooth, slick groove oozing soul and blues. When they play “Nobody But You,” this threesome grooves and moves like hot sex, pushing and grinding outside on a midsummer’s day in a muggy rainstorm. If you can find it, buy this disc. 

Paul “Wine” Jones
Mule
Fat Possum/Capricorn 

Deep out the Mississippi Delta comes Paul “Wine” Jones, with a voice rough and mellow as Wild Turkey 101, and a bag of guitar licks every bit as hot as that same whiskey on fire. With his gang Sam Carr on drums, Kenny Brown on guitar, and Big Jack Johnson “The Oil Man” also on guitar, Jones plays hard and raw, pumping out tunes that force you to move with the beat. The tunes on this disc sound much like they must live, in a dingy joint forgotten by time. This is not overproduced schmaltz—it is raw, rough blues. “Bad Times In Mississippi” combines a punch beat with multiple guitars woven into one strong line that Jones’ voice and wa-wa wrap right around. My favorite is “My Baby Got Drunk,” a fine tune about a woman on the sauce who calls up her boyfriend and babbles away at him, declaring her love and how she wants him back. It’s a story of unrequited love, told only the way a master blues man can. This hot tune is followed by my second favorite on the disc, “Mad Dog On My Trail.” The first line sets the scene: “My wife caught me with another woman, and put a mad dog on my trail.” There’s a lesson to be learned here, and Jones teaches it well. This is definitely a fine party disc. 

Dave Thompson
Little Dave and Big Love
Fat Possum/Capricorn

There are a lot of guitars players out there with “Vaughn-itis.” They want to play hot licks faster than anyone else, become famous beyond their dreams, and live the life of a legend. Many of them fall short because they can’t play well enough, or they do not have the determination to keep trying to make it, or they just plain play shit music. None of these can be said of Dave Thompson. If anyone’s betting at who has a chance at the gold ring of success, put your money on Thompson. The first track says it best: “Standing Up On My Own” is exactly what Thompson is doing. He quit his day job to play. For a guy in his mid-20’s with a wife and four kids, that’s about as ballsy as it gets. It sure makes for good lyrics, like those in “I’m Having It So Hard.” If you can’t pa? the bills, you either get a day job or play your heart out. Thompson, plays his heart out. Backed up by Big Love (Lawrence Blackwell on rhythm guitar, Anthony B. Evans on drums, and Allen Hite on bass), Thompson deals out some of the hottest funky blues you will hear this summer. This disc is a MUST BUY. 

The Freddy Jones Band 
North Avenue Wake Up Call
Capricorn

Spend a year on the road and you will be tired, I guarantee it. If you live in Salt Lake like I do, you can appreciate the potholes on I- 80 as you head into town after such a long trip. Just as your eyes begin to close solid and your head rolls backward into deep sleep, the pits on I-80 jar you awake as nothing else can. The same thing happens on your way into Chicago, as the Freddy Jones Band discovered after a year of touring. When they hit North Avenue on their way into the city, they got their wake up call as the van hit the holes. You would think that they would just want to rest after their four, but no. These guys had a lot to get out: the pictures of the faces and the places on the road screamed to get out of their heads. So they hit the studio and put North Avenue Wake Up Call together. If you have been living under a rock for the past year, you may not have heard of The Freddy Jones Band. These guys rolled through town a while back, and man did they rock. This new disc is not a let down, either. “Waitress” sets the scene for the rest of the disc. From it’s hot guitar intro to the story of the waitress, this tune is a great example of what’s happening to the blues in the 90’s. The players are incredible musicians, better than their youth should allow. I got to meet these guys: Jim Bonaccorsi on bass, Rob Bonaccorsi on rhythm/slide and lap steel guitars, Marty Lloyd on vocals and acoustic guitar, Wayne Healy on vocals and lead guitar, and rocking Simon Horrocks on drums. They came out of the blues clubs in Chicago with a mix of blues and rock that has to be heard. Perhaps even better than they play is what they play. Their songs tell stories and tales with genuine, original lyrics; they really know how to write. Check out “Hold On To Midnight,” “Ferris Wheel,” and “Rain” if you doubt me. All of the songs are worth listening to. Thank you, Freddy Jones Band, for realizing there are people who still listen to the words of songs, hoping to find something there, and for playing the music so well, so hard, and so truthfully.

Read more from the SLUG Archives
Record Reviews: August 1995
Mark Lanegan: August 1995