Too Slim & the Taildraggers Blue Heart Underworld Records 2013 Blind Raccoon

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1 Too Slim & the Taildraggers Blue Heart Underworld Records 2013 Blind Raccoon If a flame throwing guitar player is going to keep the blues burning in the wet Northwest, he has to keep the pilot flame lit all the time. Tim "Too Slim" Langford does just that. Even though he recently relocated to Nashville, Too Slim and the Taildraggers spent their career in Spokane, Washington starting in On their seventeenth CD, Blue Heart", recorded in Nashville, Langford keeps the fire white-hot. Langford makes his opening statement with a power riff lighting up his blues-rock ode to the muddy Mississippi, "Wash My Hands". He expertly paces the album, switching to slow blues burners like "Minutes Seem Like Hours" and the title track "Blue Heart" and then to the soulful lament "When Whiskey Was My Friend". "Good to See You Smile Again" (with vocals by Jimmy Hall) could be pouring out the door of any blues club in Chicago, while "Make it Sound Happy" could have a pop feel about it, in the unlikely event a bluesman like Langford would do pop. Langford wrote most of the eleven songs on the album, aside from "Shape of Blues to Come" written by David Duncan and "Preacher" by Ross Sermons. He's got a feel for clever lyrics, tossing out lines like "...who needs a bunch of dumbass lawyers? Not me." and "...don't you know weirdoes rule the world?" Not to be left out, Duncan pens the line "She mortgaged my soul and slapped on a lien". Langford is joined on this release by a group of veteran musicians - Reese Wynans on B3 organ, Tom Hambridge on drums (serving double duty as producer), Rob McNelley on guitar, and Tommy MacDonald on bass. Jimmy Hall contributes harp to the title track in addition to vocals. Although the album was recorded in Nashville, Langford must not have been there long enough for any country influences to rub off. If he stays there much longer, some country music just might wind up with a touch more blues. "Blue Heart" is a good album with no weak points. Well worth getting. Tim Parker Roomful of Blues 45 LIVE Alligator Records 2013 Roomful of Blues is celebrating 45 years of performing blues. As a band they have a pedigree most bands could only dream of. Their roster of members and former members reads like a who's who of top tier musicians, including Lou Ann Barton, Curtis Salgado, AI Copely, Duke Robillard, Ronnie Earl and Travis Colby. Founded in 1967 by Duke Robillard and AI Copely, they plated hardcore Chicago blues, and later settled into articulating the nuances of Jump blues and Swing, even performing with Count Basie, the master of these

2 blues forms. They are an institution; a standard if you will. The great thing about this band is that they never rest on their laurels, they are always learning and growing, and they do not stagnate. Their performances never grow stale, and they deliver their "best show" every time they take the stage. 45 LIVE is a culmination of all sorts for the band. As this is a live band in the truest sense of the word, 45 LIVE is a real treat. Issued on the Alligator Records label, it is produced and mixed by Chris Vachon. Recorded live over the course of several nights at the Ocean Mist in Matunuck, RI, the album showcases the band at their very best. These enthusiastic performances are full of life, and their obvious love of the blues. The CD features 14 tracks specifically chosen by the ensemble's resident guitar virtuoso (Chris Vachon) to encapsulate a blues institution that many describe as an instrumental powerhouse. The band touches all blues oriented styles, such as deep blues of Chicago with the aforementioned "Easy Baby". Louisiana with "Jambalaya" and "Crawdad Hole," jazz with their tribute to Illinois Jacqueton "Straight Jacquet", or that true Kansas City big band feel with Pemberton playing the blues shouter fronting in the style of Big Joe Turner, Walter Brown or Jimmy Rushing. Lots of Roomful of Blues favorites offered here as well, touching on rarely played numbers like "Dressed Up To Get Messed Up" to more recent cuts like "Turn It On, Turn It Up" If you are a Roomful of Blues fan, this album is a must for your collection. For the rest of you blues lovers, this is a must for your CD shelf too it is brilliant! Pick this CD up yesterday! Larry Simmons Hadden Sayers Rolling Soul Blue Corn Records 2013 "Rolling Soul" is the seventh release by Texas bluesman Hadden Sayers. While not giving up on the electric blues heard on his previous release, Hard Dollar, Sayers is focusing on his soul and R&B roots, with emphasis on songwriting- he wrote all 12 tracks - and powerful vocal performances. Highlights include the Memphis soul inspired" Something Wrong in the World", the light funk touch on "That's What You Do", and the wah-wah guitar and clavinet combo on "Don't Take Your Love (Out on Me)." Singer/songwriter Ruthie Foster, who made an appearance on Sayers previous CD Hard Dollar, is again tapped for a duet on "Lay Down Your Worries". In my opinion, the duet with labelmate Foster is a solid contender for any critics "Blues Duet of the Year" list. This song is brilliant. Rolling Soul will be another unforgettable album for Sayers, just like Hard Dollar. Rolling Soul, a reference to the 1962 Airstream he hauls around to hundreds of gigs across the country, is literally a road journal, with each song coming with the city and the year the song was written and what inspired them printed in the CD inside sleeve. "Rolling Soul" is a must own! Fantastic fusion of rock & blues that makes for one amazing album... Check it out! As Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top said, Hadden is pretty much my hero. This is echoed by The Austin Chronicle,

3 "Houston's best all around rock & blues guitarist. Larry Simmons The CD Woodbury Band Monday Night! Wide Willie Productions 2013 Blind Raccoon Seattle Washington, home of tasty coffee, and birthplace of grunge music. Seattle is also the home of the CD Woodbury Band. Formed in 2009, former members of the Bluescats teamed up with guitarist CD Woodbury. Woodbury s previous work ranged from playing a Texas roadhouse to teaming with international jazz, blues and rock musicians. This five piece band has put together a great first album on Monday Night! What first stood out to me, is how extremely tight the band is. This disc has a great variety of styles, ranging from classic blues to dance-swing, with a little R&B mixed in. There are 10 tracks on the disc, none of which you really want to skip over. The first tune, These Blues Keep Me Right Here showcases some great keyboard work from Chris Kliemann and backing sax from Mike Marinig. Been So Long an up tempo rocker with a driving beat. Several lead swaps through the song that feature keyboards, sax and guitar. CD s vocals really stand out on this one. Pawn Shop slows things down as CD sings about getting pennies on the dollar for his beloved Gibson after falling on hard times. Please, please mister pawn shop man. Just a few more dollars till I get back on my feet If you re a fan of Steely Dan, then you ll enjoy Pleasure s All Mine. Written by sax player Marinig, I found several similarities ranging from keyboard style, the sound of CD s guitar, and even the words do it again find their way into the chorus. The benefit of four band members having played together for some time, combined with the experience of guitarist CD Woodbury, makes for a very enjoyable debut release that gets better with each listen. Greg Gibbs Willie Big Eyes Smith and Roger Hurricane Wilson Live Blues Protected By Smith & Wilson BlueStorm Records Live Blues is an example of the bonding that can take place between musicians who meet at a show, sit in together for a song and decide to expand on that experience. Willie Smith was the drummer for decades in Muddy Waters band but had

4 made the transition to a front man, singing and playing harp. Roger Wilson is a journeyman blues guitarist and singer. They met at a festival in 2007 when Willie was bandleader for Hubert Sumlin and Roger was invited to join them onstage. At a jam after the show, they played some more and talked about doing something together in the future. This live performance from 2009 is the result of that conversation. Opening with Eyesight To The Blind by Sonny Boy Williamson gives a good indication of what follows. Willie is relaxed but confident in his interpretation of this classic. The release is a nice mix of original songs and cover songs, such as Long Distance Call, Got My Mojo Workin and Can t Be Satisfied -Muddy Waters, How Long Blues -Leroy Carr, Hoochie Coochie Man -Willie Dixon and my favorite, Willie s excellent rendition of Scratch My Back by Slim Harpo. Not to be outdone by these famous blues men, Willie and Roger come to the forefront with a fine collaboration on an instrumental of Willie s Dreamin. Filling in the performance with several more original songs makes this a nice, well-rounded performance of the blues from these long-time musicians. The combination of harp, guitar and vocal provides a solid backbone to the blues, and Willie Smith and Roger Wilson certainly demonstrated it with this performance. Danger Ron Clay Swafford Rooster Lost Cause Records 2013 Bucklesweet Media If you like your piano with the right hand doing a lightning fast honky-tonk dance on top of a solid boogie-woogie bass line, you're probably going like "Rooster" by Clay Swafford. If you like your blues thrown back to the 1920's and 30's with a Bessie Smith-like vocal over the piano, you're probably going to like this album. However, if your idea of the blues is a scorching lead guitar anchored by pounding drums, you're probably better off to spend your money on a different album. For his first release on Lost Cause Records, 30-year old Swafford had a definite concept for what he wanted to do - make music like you'd hear at a 1950's rent party. He got that sound by going back to the basics. He and the producers wheeled an old upright piano into the studio and then brought in Diunna Greenleaf to sing. For most of the album, Swafford alternates solo piano boogies with backing Diunna's barrelhouse vocals in some old-school classics. Most of the solos are Swafford originals. They not only showcase his well-honed chops, but just as importantly, show his great love and appreciation for the foundation of his music. Each tune is a tribute to the piano greats who have influenced him - Otis Spann, Professor Longhair, Big Joe Duskin and others. "Messin' Around Davenport" in particular grabbed me. It's Swafford's take on Ray Charles' "Mess Around" which in turn was Ray's take on a 1928 Cow Cow Davenport riff. Although Swafford has a sure hand with boogie, he's able to slow it down with a moving instrumental version of "Amazing Grace" that was recorded almost by accident. He was playing it during a break when someone flipped on the recorder halfway thru the song.

5 On alternating tracks, Swafford backs Diunna on a grab-bag of classic blues, including songs from Big Mama Thornton, Little Walter, Big Joe Turner and others. She's got a powerful blues-drenched voice that meshes perfectly with Swafford's boogie-woogie piano. It just isn't necessary to add any other instruments, and wisely they didn't. All the songs work well, but I particularly like their version of Floyd Dixon's "Hole in the Wall". It perfectly hits Swafford's vision of rent party blues. The last three songs on the album are shown as bonus tracks. They were recorded in separate sessions, and feature Swafford's piano virtuosity on different sounds. Bob Margolin joins him with slide guitar and country blues vocals on the first two tracks, tasty versions of Muddy Waters' "Mean Disposition" and Elmore James' "Fine Little Mama", while Bob Corritore and the All-Stars join him on the final track, "Tin Pan Alley". Even though these bonus tracks were recorded at different times and places with different people, it's easy to imagine that some folks showed up to the rent party to sit in with a guitar, bass and drums. "Rooster" runs for not quite 50 minutes, or about the length of the first set at the rent party. It would be fun to hear what happens in the second set. Tim Parker