The experts all agree: John Nemeth is one of the rising stars of contemporary blues music. A fine, soulful vocalist with a jazz-inflected style not dissimilar to B.B. King and Ray Charles, Nemeth imparts each performance with passion and emotion. Nemeth has also developed into a solid harmonica player in the mold of Little Walter, and his chops were good enough to earn him a slot with Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets, filling in for the great Sam Myers. Nemeth earned his bones by performing alongside the great blues guitarist Junior Watson.
Nemeth had a couple of well-respected indie albums under his belt before signing with the notable blues-and-roots-rock label Blind Pig Records. His big league debut, 2006's Magic Touch album, made fans and critics alike sit up and take notice, and earned Nemeth a well-deserved Blues Music Award nomination. As good as Magic Touch was, however, it doesn’t hold a candle to the maturity, confidence, and creative growth displayed by the wonderful soul-blues collection Love Me Tonight.
John Nemeth's Love Me Tonight
The swelling instrumental grandeur of the album-opening title track makes it sound like a classic Motown track, and if Nemeth's voice isn't quite that of Levi Stubbs, well, that's no insult. Nemeth's soulful pipes rock "Love Me Tonight" nonetheless, his strident romantic plea complimented by a tasteful, James Burton-styled guitar break and a solid, driving rhythm.
"Just Like You" is a fanciful cross between the Chicago blues and Stax soul, with a very cool throwback 1970s sound, Nemeth's best Wilson Pickett vocal styling, and guitarist Bobby Welsh's vibrato-toned fretwork. By the time that Nemeth hits the harp, it hits your ears like a shiv, stomping and stammering like Little Walter on a Southside stage.
Fuel For Your Fire
Nemeth and crew slow down the proceeds and turn down the lights for a moment to deliver the delightful "Fuel For Your Fire." Nemeth's vocals really soar, reminding of Otis Redding, caressing the lyrics with reckless emotion as the band provides a respectful, minimal backing soundtrack.
The houserockin' "Daughter Of The Devil" sounds like something you'd hear blaring above the din out of some backwoods Mississippi juke-joint. With a raucous rhythm and echoed vocals that provide a sense of distance, Nemeth roars out the words with the gusto of a Delta bluesman. As the band lays down a swamp-blues groove, Nemeth's lonesome harp wails out its song of woe. Elvin Bishop drops by to crank-and-spank some wicked guitarplay.
Nemeth's Throwback Soul
Nemeth's "She's My Heart's Desire" is an odd little bird, an inspired cross between the blues-oriented R&B vocals groups of the 1950s (I'm thinking of the Platters), and the early-60s, R&B flavored reggae that Jamaican singers created after hearing soul tunes blasting out of their little transistor radios, tuned to WLAC and the Hossman in Nashville. With Nemeth's fantastic vocals flying into a wispy falsetto, Welsh adds some twangy six-string licks to the mix.
"Love Gone Crazy" is a worthy showcase for Nemeth's harmonica skills, the song opening with a brace of mournful harp notes before sliding into Nemeth's bittersweet tale of romantic betrayal. Between verses, Nemeth's harp solos burn like white phosphorus while providing an emotional coda to the heartbreak lyrics.
Bishop lends his talents again to the West Side, Chicago-styled rave-up "Country Boy." Nemeth's voice soars above the band's shuffling rhythms, Welsh throws in a few well-placed keyboard flourishes, and Nemeth's blasting harpwork vies with Bishop's vibrating six-string pull, which is reminiscent of his Butterfield Blues Band work.
The Reverend's Bottom Line
There are only a handful of top-notch blue-eyed soul-blues singers floating around the blues world these days - Tad Robinson comes to mind - but John Nemeth can easily make a claim as one of the best on the strength of Love Me Tonight. The largely original material (Nemeth wrote ten of the eleven songs) is spot-on throwback soul with bluesy undertones, a welcome musical trip back to the 1950s and '60s.
Nemeth displays a wide vocal range, a firm grasp on related styles, and a real talent on the harp while his band, especially guitarist Bobby Welsh, are skilled instrumentalists capable of going whatever way Nemeth swings on a particular song. The resulting mix of talent, inspiration, and performance makes Love Me Tonight one of the best blues albums of the year. (Blind Pig Records, released January 27, 2009)
