Duke Robillard has roamed over nearly every inch of the blues landscape these past 33 years since the debut recording of his first band, Roomful of Blues. It seems as though he would need no introduction, but because Robillard has done so much, and in so many different contexts, there are few who have any idea of the full range of his talents. After all, in addition to his tours of duty with Roomful of Blues and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Robillard has recorded or toured with the likes of Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Dr. John, and Jimmy Witherspoon. And he’s released nearly thirty albums as a leader himself.
Duke Robillard's Low Down and Tore Up
Like the blind men and the elephant, casual listeners can assume Robillard is all about jump blues, or jazz, or R&B, or whatever particular segment of his great love for blues-based forms they’ve happened to hear. This year, with the release of Low Down and Tore Up, Robillard is focusing on the hard-driving gutbucket blues styles of the mid-to-late 1950s, as exemplified by such greats as Guitar Slim, Eddie Taylor, Elmore James, Sugar Boy Crawford, and Pee Wee Crayton. Robillard covers material by each of these, and a few others.
The first thing to notice about this record is the devastatingly perfect sound of it. Robillard and his touring band, augmented by a couple of ex-members who dropped in for the session, just went into the studio and played live, recording the entire album in the space of a couple days. Producer/engineer Jack Gauthier has a paragraph in the liner notes detailing the specifics of microphone placement which led to this particularly exciting sonic blend. We may not understand exactly what he means, but listening to the results, there is no question that Gauthier knows how to make a blues band explode out of the speakers.
Mercy Mercy Mama
Speaking of explosions, the first four songs on the album are all raucous barn-burners which conjure up images of wild dance-floor extravaganzas. Guitar Slim’s “Quicksand” is a hot number which immediately shows how tight and exciting the band can play, as well as letting tenor saxophonist Sax Gordon blow like a wild-man, and Robillard matches him with an equally powerful guitar solo. Eddie Taylor’s “Trainfare Home” is just as exuberant, with Robillard adapting the songwriter’s less-is-more approach to guitar. Robillard also does a nice job making us feel the need for the singer to escape his situation: “I’m gonna ask my baby, lend me trainfare away from here/You know you don’t need me, baby, you don’t need me here.”
“Mercy Mercy Mama” dates back further, to the 1940s heyday of Tampa Red, and it gives alumni pianist Mark McCabe a chance to shine, as well as allowing Robillard to show he can still rock out with a 1940s-styled guitar tone. Sugar Boy Crawford’s “Overboard” ups the ante, with a double-time groove that allows only the fleetest of feet to keep up. Drummer Mark Teixeira spits out the words faster than the ear can take them in, and his playing is like lightning and thunder rolled together. McCabe shines on piano again, and Robillard’s guitar sends the electrons skittering from his amp straight to our ears.
Blues After Hours
After this, Robillard skips ahead to a much more relaxed atmosphere for Pee Wee Crayton’s “Blues After Hours.” This is seduction, pure and simple, and what his voice doesn’t mention, his guitar reveals clear as daylight – this dance will end in the bedroom. Once there, it’s time for “Want Ad Blues” from the John Lee Hooker songbook, which is pretty much straight up sex. Robillard can’t quite match Hooker’s lasciviousness, but he gives it a pretty game run for its money. His guitar work here is also a very nice homage to Hooker’s style.
Other highlights include the jazzy “It’s Alright” by Jimmy McCracklin, which really sounds like a refugee from a 1950s strip show; Gordon’s tenor practically strips the clothes off through the stereo. The Elmore James instrumental “Tool Tag Boogie” gets a Texas groove translation, and the whole band sounds like it’s having a blast playing it. A spirited take on the perennial blues favorite “I Ain’t Mad At You,” pumped up by solid piano and a driving back-beat, sounds joyously fresh. And Crawford’s “What’s Wrong” has Robillard’s best vocal on the record. He has a great time singing in the persona of somebody who can’t quite figure out what’s happening around him, goaded on by the piano and tenor saxophone.
Steve's Bottom Line
Duke Robillard is revered for his guitar skills and ability to work with a band to arrange old songs in exciting ways. His vocals are a potential sore point. He has a great grasp of blues phrasing, and he works in a sense of humor when appropriate, but over the course of 14 songs, his weaknesses do become apparent. He just doesn’t have enough vocal range, or produce quite enough nuance on the more serious songs, to make his singing match his playing.
But, with playing this good, and a band this energized, and songs, most of them fairly unknown to all but the most ardent collectors, well worth hearing, Duke Robillard has added another enjoyable piece to his life-long musical puzzle. (Stony Plain Records, released September 20, 2011)
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