Blues

The doldrums of summer have come early this year, as shown by the blues chart for the week ending June 22nd, 2013. Swap a few chart positions around, move James Cotton's excellent Cotton Mouth Man back into the Top Ten where it belongs, and you pretty much have the same chart as last week (and the week before). Still, it's fairly solid collection of music, Swamp People notwithstanding...

Still, it's a pretty good week for new releases and you can't go wrong by putting down hard coin for Delbert McClinton & Glen Clark's Blind, Crippled & Crazy, King King's Standing In The Shadows, Lurrie Bell's Blues In My Soul, and/or Studebaker John's Maxwell Street Kings' Kingsville Jukin'. I'd recommend them all, which is an expensive week, but if you could only grab up one title from the indie record store in your neighborhood, I'd go for the Delbert & Glen disc, an entertaining collection of roots 'n' blues that's right in Delbert's wheelhouse. U.K. blues-rockers King King are the week's underdog, but of what I've heard, the band rocks like nobody's business and, of course, Lurrie Bell is Chicago blues royalty and he always delivers a solid effort.

Here are this week's Billboard Top Ten blues albums, ranked by sales:

10. Shouting Matches - Grownass Man (Middle West Records)
9. Gary Clark, Jr. - iTunes Session (Warner Brothers)
8. Various Artists - Swamp People (Rounder Records)
7. James Cotton - Cotton Mouth Man (Alligator Records)
6. Charlie Musselwhite & Ben Harper - Get Up! (Stax Records)
5. Joe Bonamassa - An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House (J&R Adventures)
4. Boz Scaggs - Memphis (429 Records)
3. Beth Hart - Bang Bang Boom Boom (Provogue Records)
2. Gary Clark, Jr. - Blak and Blu (Warner Brothers)
1. Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa - Seesaw (J&R Adventures)

New releases: Delbert McClinton & Glen Clark's Blind, Crippled & Crazy (New West Records); King King's Standing In The Shadows (Manhaton Records); Lurrie Bell's Blues In My Soul (Delmark Records); Studebaker John's Maxwell Street Kings' Kingsville Jukin' (Delmark Records)

Photo of Lurrie Bell's Blues In My Soul courtesy Delmark Records

Omar Dykes, as both a solo artist and with his infamous outfit the Howlers, has made a career with his individual brand of rootsy, raucous Texas blues for around three and a half decades now. As he proved with his 2008 collaboration with guitarist Jimmie Vaughan, On The Jimmy Reed Highway, Dykes has never been shy about wearing his influences on his sleeve, either...so when it was announced that Omar was going to be releasing a tribute album to the one and only Howlin' Wolf, the question wasn't "why?" but rather "what took him so long?"

On July 9, 2013 Provogue Records will release Runnin' With The Wolf, Dykes' masterful tribute to the late, great Chester Burnett, a/k/a Howlin' Wolf. The album, recorded in Austin, Texas with a talented bunch of players that included guitarists Derek O'Brien, Eve Monsees, and Casper Rawls; bassist Ronnie James, and drummer Wes Starr, among other guest musicians, features a red-hot 15 songs - all but the title track a cover of a song either written by or made famous by the Wolf.

Of course, Howlin' Wolf had a lot of luck with producer/songwriter Willie Dixon's songbook, so you have such classic Dixon-penned rockers like "The Red Rooster," "Spoonful," "Back Door Man," and "Wang Dang Doodle" as well as Burnett's originals like "Smokestack Lightning," "I'm Leavin' You," and "Howlin' For My Baby." Dykes' title track is a whip-smart and rowdy remembrance of all these songs, name checking a veritable history of the blues.

"We're not going to play a Howlin' Wolf song just like it was played back in the day because we can't," says Dykes in a press release for the album. "Nobody can do it since for one thing, nobody can play the guitar like Hubert Sumlin, who must have come here from a hovercraft. When I first heard Hubert play, I swore he was from outer space because there is no one like him. The same goes for Howlin' Wolf. Hubert was the perfect guitarist for Howlin' Wolf."

Talking about his performances on Runnin' With The Wolf, Dykes says "my intent was not to copy the songs but to stay close to the spirit. I tried to modernize the songs. I didn't want to do what some guys do, which is poke holes in the speakers and get that exact guitar sound. Why copy something note for note and follow every little detail, when it's already available in the original form? That's exactly how I feel. I wanted to have fun with songs that I've loved ever since I was a kid."

Lest anyone worry that Dykes' is falling into a trap of performing nothing but well-chosen cover songs, he reassures fans that, his tribute albums aside, he has been writing plenty of new material. "I still have songs," he says. "I'll have them out sooner or later. I'll do my own stuff anyway and this is just something on the side. I did Jimmy Reed, who I love and adore. Now it's time for Howlin' Wolf. There was never anyone like him."

Related content: Omar Dykes & Jimmie Vaughan - On The Jimmy Reed Highway CD review

Photo courtesy Provogue Records

The Allman Brothers Band's 1973 album Brothers & Sisters was, like its predecessor, overshadowed by tragedy. While founding guitarist and band namesake Duane Allman died during the making of 1972's Eat A Peach, bassist Berry Oakley was killed in a similar motorcycle accident blocks away from where Allman died while the band was recording Brothers & Sisters ("Wasted Word," "Ramblin' Man," and "Come and Go Blues" feature Oakley's bass work).

The Allman Brothers just kept on truckin', recruiting Lamar Williams on bass (who would later join Southern rockers Sea Level), Williams joining another new band member, keyboardist Chuck Leavell in the re-vamped band line-up. Guitarist Dickey Betts took a larger role in songwriting, bringing four new songs to the album alongside Gregg Allman's three. When Brothers & Sisters was released in August 1973, it shot to the top of the charts on the strength of the hit single "Ramblin' Man" (which, itself rose to #2), where it spent five weeks at number one before it would eventually earn Platinum™ sales status.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Brothers & Sisters, and to celebrate the event, Universal Music is reissuing the album in multiple formats on its Mercury Records imprint. One June 25th, 2013 Brothers & Sisters will be available on vinyl and CD in a remastered version featuring the album's original seven songs. A deluxe two-CD version will include the original (remastered) album on disc one while the nine-song second disc features rehearsals, jams, and studio outtakes.

The "super deluxe" four-disc Brothers & Sisters is the real attraction at this anniversary party, the first two discs duplicating the "deluxe" edition, discs three and four featuring the Allman Brothers Band live in concert at the Winterland Ballroom on September 26, 1973. The two discs offer up sixteen actual performances (plus an "intro" by promoter Bill Graham), eleven of which are previously unreleased, and feature four songs from Brothers & Sisters (the best ones) along with such ABB fan favorites as "Midnight Rider," "Statesboro Blues," and "Whipping Post."

While many critics and music historians consider Brothers & Sisters to be a minor entry in the blues-rock band's extensive catalog (especially in light of the band's phenomenal first four albums), fans have long looked at the recording as the Allman Brothers Band's triumph over tragedy, their most commercially-successful album and one well worth revisiting in this deluxe format.

Photo courtesy Universal Music

Not a lot to jump and down about when looking at the blues chart for the week ending June 15th, 2013, as pretty much everything stays the same (again). Charlie Musselwhite and Ben Harper's excellent Get Up! album jumped up five spaces, Ana Popovic's Can You Stand The Heat dropped down a few spaces, and Gary Clark, Jr.'s iTunes Sessions "digital LP" reappears mid-chart after a six-week absence. The most notable occurrence this week is the debut of Popa Chubby's Universal Breakdown Blues album, which inched its way into the number ten spot in its first week of release.

A couple of big new releases this week in the form of Mike Zito's Gone To Texas and guitar monster Walter Trout's Luther's Blues, his tribute to the late, great blues guitarist Luther Allison. Both should fare well once sales are factored into the chart, Trout being a perennial visitor to the Top Ten, Zito an occasional guest whose profile is much larger this time around after a successful stint on the road with Royal Southern Brotherhood. The Rev's personal pick this week is an archival release, Climax Blues Band's Live At Rockpalast 1976, a document of the underrated band's performance on the popular German TV show Rockpalast in, well, 1976...

Here are this week's Billboard Top Ten blues albums, ranked by sales:

10. Popa Chubby - Universal Breakdown Blues (Provogue Records)
9. Ana Popovic - Can You Stand The Heat (Artist Exclusive Records)
8. Various Artists - Swamp People (Rounder Records)
7. Beth Hart - Bang Bang Boom Boom (Provogue Records)
6. Joe Bonamassa - An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House (J&R Adventures)
5. Gary Clark, Jr. - iTunes Session (Warner Brothers)
4. Charlie Musselwhite & Ben Harper - Get Up! (Stax Records)
3. Boz Scaggs - Memphis (429 Records)
2. Gary Clark, Jr. - Blak and Blu (Warner Brothers)
1. Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa - Seesaw (J&R Adventures)

New releases: Climax Blues Band's Live At Rockpalast 1976 (Repertoire Records); Mike Zito's Gone To Texas (Ruf Records); Walter Trout's Luther's Blues (Provogue Records)

Photo of Climax Blues Band's Live At Rockpalast 1976 courtesy Repertoire Records

The venerable Living Blues magazine has announced the nominees in its 20th annual Living Blues Awards, and the publication has expanded the awards slate this year with the addition of "Best Blues Books of 2012" to the ten other categories. Winners are chosen by the magazine's winners.

You'll find a Living Blues Awards ballot with all the nominees in the pages of issue #225 of Living Blues, on the newsstand now. This issue features a great Kenny Neal cover story along with articles/interviews on guitarist Melvin Taylor, blues rookie Selwyn Birchwood, Nashville blues scene stalwart James "Nick" Nixon, and the great Tinsley Ellis. Plus, the issue features a photo essay from blues historian and producer George Mitchell on North Mississippi Hill Country blues artists.

Pick up the new issue of Living Blues at a newsstand near you and vote for your favorites on the magazine's website. Voting takes place through July 15th, 2013 and winners will be announced in the August issue.

Related content: 2012 Living Blues Award Winners

Photo courtesy Living Blues magazine

Circle the date on your calendar because on June 21st, 2013 at 12:00 noon Pacific (3:00 PM Eastern) you can watch a rare talent perform on your computer screen when blues singer extraordinaire Gina Sicilia drops by the Bing Lounge.

Sicilia's actual performance will take place at the studios of Portland, Oregon radio station KINK-FM and will be streamed live through a nifty little viewer the station has on its website that it's dubbed "The Bing Lounge" (sponsored, evidently, by Microsoft's Bing search engine). The station does this thing quite a bit, so it's worth checking their performance schedule to see if there's an artist you'd like to watch perform live.

Sicilia will perform material from her fourth album, It Wasn't Real, released in late April by Vizztone Records after a successful Kickstarter campaign that we wrote about right here. Recorded at the MorningStar Studios in Sicilia's Philadelphia hometown, It Wasn't Real was produced by four-time Grammy® Award winner Glenn Barrett, who has worked with artists as diverse as rocker Ben Vaughan and jazz legend Grover Washington, Jr. Aside from her exhilarating vocals, It Wasn't Real also displays Sicilia's maturing skills as a songwriter tackling difficult emotional turf. The one cover song is an electrifying reading of the 1961 Etta James' classic "Don't Cry Baby."

"These songs mean a lot to me," Sicilia says in a press release for the album. "My goal is to write in a way that's observant and soulful, and to get at the pleasures and the pressures of love, joy, family, and responsibility...all the complexities that are part of living. And with Glenn's help and the support of the great band he put together, I think I've made my best album."

You can check out Sicilia's live streaming webcast on the KINK-FM website on June 21st.

Related content: Gina Sicilia - Can't Control Myself CD review

Photo courtesy Vizztone Records

No big shocker, really, looking at the blues chart for the week ending June 8th, 2013...Seesaw, the fine album from singer Beth Hart and mega-popular blues-rock gitman Joe Bonamassa, debuts at number one just as the ol' Reverend predicted. Now the question is, just how long will the dynamic duo hold on to the top spot? Between the two of them they have three albums in the top ten, and Bonamassa's Beacon Theatre set is bubbling under at number 13. I expect this one to ride out the summer at or near the top of the chart.

Otherwise, much of the Top Ten this week remains the same, with a couple of notable exceptions. Easy Livin', the album from Southern Hospitality - a roots 'n' blues supergroup of sorts that includes Damon Fowler, JP Soars, and Victor Wainwright - re-enters the charts at number ten, and an abomination called Swamp People: Music Inspired By The Television Series debuts at number seven.

The Swamp People compilation shoots for a "Cajun" flavor similar to the TV show, but I doubt that old Buckwheat Zydeco, Beausoleil, and Neville Brothers tracks were "inspired" in any way by Swamp People, and the same goes for the album's rootsy Americana from Hank Williams (dead for 50+ years), Bobby Charles, and Tony Joe White. Plus, this ain't exactly blues music, but I'm not sure that Rounder Records knew what to do with this thing once they licensed the trademark. So it goes...

Here are this week's Billboard Top Ten blues albums, ranked by sales:

10. Southern Hospitality - Easy Livin' (Blind Pig Records)
9. Charlie Musselwhite & Ben Harper - Get Up! (Stax Records)
8. James Cotton - Cotton Mouth Man (Alligator Records)
7. Various Artists - Swamp People (Rounder Records)
6. Beth Hart - Bang Bang Boom Boom (Provogue Records)
5. Joe Bonamassa - An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House (J&R Adventures)
4. Ana Popovic - Can You Stand The Heat (Artist Exclusive Records)
3. Boz Scaggs - Memphis (429 Records)
2. Gary Clark, Jr. - Blak and Blu (Warner Brothers)
1. Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa - Seesaw (J&R Adventures)

Photo of Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa's Seesaw courtesy J&R Adventures

Fresh off his success as an integral part of the Royal Southern Brotherhood, singer, songwriter, and guitarist Mike Zito has hit the studio to record what is his seventh album (and fourth major league release). On June 11, 2013 Ruf Records will release Gone To Texas, Zito's debut album for the label.

Recorded in "gumbo country" at Dockside Studios in Maurice, Louisiana, Gone To Texas was produced by Zito (now based in nearby Beaumont, Texas) and engineered by New Orleans roots 'n' blues studio wizard David Ferrell, who worked with Zito on his 2011 album Greyhound as well as the Royal Southern Brotherhood's self-titled debut. The combination of the two men's studio talents resulted in an album that blends Zito's heavy Texas-flavored blues and Americana roots with a distinctive New Orleans flavor.

Zito is backed on Gone To Texas by his road band The Wheel, comprised of notable bassist Scot Sutherland, drummer Rob Lee, and guitarist/saxman Jimmy Carpenter. Zito also called upon some friends to visit in the studio, and the album includes special guests like Delbert McClinton, who adds vocals and harmonica; singer Susan Cowsill; guitarist Sonny Landreth; and keyboardist Lewis Stephens (who plays with McClinton). Gone To Texas features a slew of new originals from the Blues Music Award winning songwriter, Zito complimenting his own considerable song construction skills with a pair of well-chosen covers - McClinton's "Take It Easy" and Blind Willie Johnson's "Let Your Love Shine On Me."

Gone To Texas is a very personal album, and starkly honest, Zito visiting lyrical themes of failure and redemption. "Texas saved my life. Sounds a bit dramatic, but absolutely true," Zito says in a press release for the album. "Historically, Texas has been the saving grace of many desperate men. In the early 1800s, men who had large debts or committed crimes would run off to Texas to hide from the colonies and their creditors. This was called 'Gone to Texas.' New Spain (Mexico at that time, including Mexican Texas) took in all the runaways and vagabonds it could hold. Many of these men found a new life in what would be Texas, returned for their families, paid their debts off, only to fight and die for the freedom of Texas from Spanish rule."

"Texas was my last stand as well," says Zito. "I ended up there after running away from all of my problems and mostly myself. I left on the Greyhound bus and got off in Texas, leaving my family behind. My drug addiction is no secret and Texas is where I confronted my problems and made a change that has saved my life...Southeast Texas has taken me in and given me a new life. This is a much different place than the south side of Saint Louis where I grew up. They all take it for granted around here, but it is a very unique place in the world."

Related content:
Mike Zito - Today CD review
Royal Southern Brotherhood - Royal Southern Brotherhood CD review

Photo courtesy Ruf Records

For our Canadian friends, the party this summer will be held on the riverfront in Windsor, Ontario from July 12th to 14th, 2013. I'm talking about the Bluesfest International, of course, which celebrates its 19th year at the Riverfront Festival Plaza in Windsor, right across the river from the Motor City and within easy travel of nearby burgs like Cleveland, Chicago, Buffalo, and much of the northeast U.S. really.

The musical line-up of Bluesfest International 2013 is worth traveling for, the opening Friday featuring talent like blues guitarist Larry McCray, legendary guitarist Dick Wagner (who has played with Alice Cooper and Lou Reed as well as pursued his own lengthy solo blues career), blues-rockers Cactus, and the one and only Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.

Saturday's line-up is equally impressive and truly highlights the international nature of the Bluesfest, featuring homegrown Canadian blues band Saigon Pharmacy, British-born Canadian bluesman Jack De Keyzer, popular Australian roots 'n' bluesman Harper, American roots 'n' blues artist Scott Holt, and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Gregg Rolie, founding member of both Santana and Journey.

Sunday afternoon includes performances by Ray Fuller & the Bluesrockers, Chuck Jackson, Detroit's "Queen of the Blues," Thornetta Davis, British blues-rock royalty Savoy Brown, and legendary Canadian blues band Powder Blues, who are celebrating the band's 35th anniversary this year. Bluesfest International ticket prices are reasonable, single-day passes are available, and you can check out the festival's website for more details on tickets and performance schedules.

Mitch Ryder photo by Thomas Kraft, courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Over the past few years, talented blues guitarist Rory Block has been paying tribute to her musical influences with albums dedicated to such stellar artists as Rev. Gary Davis (2012's I Belong To The Band), Mississippi Fred McDowell (2011's Shake 'em On Down), and Son House (2008's Blues Walkin' Like A Man). On June 4th, 2013 Block will square the circle, as it will, when Stony Plain Records releases her Avalon: A Tribute To Mississippi John Hurt album.

Ten of the eleven tunes on Avalon are well-worn but time-tested songs from the Mississippi John Hurt canon, including such classic material as "Candy Man," "Frankie & Albert," "Spike Driver Blues, "Stagolee" and, of course, "Avalon." The album's single original track is Block's "Everybody Loves John," a heartfelt ode to the legendary bluesman's talent and influence.

"Mississippi John Hurt was a truly unique artist," says Block in a press release for Avalon. "He left a resounding impact on our musical landscape. We think of him as outwardly mellow, sweet, and as one writer described it, singing in a 'whisper.' But have you pondered the words? Alongside gospel material, this gentle man sang about sex, murder, mystery, violence and steamy sensuality. It gets ever deeper the more you listen."

Block has based her performances on Avalon on Hurt's original recordings, but looked deeper than most blues artists in interpreting the material. "Most people finger pick simply, carefully, and with enough volume to be heard and enjoyed. But next to the masters we can find ourselves tinkling away while the train pulls out of the station. Mississippi John Hurt bounced rhythmically from side to side while he was playing - did this bounce add power and jauntiness to the notes, or did his extra strong attack on the strings create the bounce? We can never do polite versions of these songs if we want to capture some of the power that made the originals great and enduring."

Related content: Rory Block - Blues Walkin' Like A Man CD review

Photo courtesy Stony Plain Records