I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Live , from Zac Harmon & The Drive and it's super! Opening with soulful, NTRO , Nate Robinson on bass and Gino Iglehart on drums set a solid foundation, with Corey Lacy building on keys and lush guitar work by Zac Harmon and Kingston Livingston really setting the bar. Terrific opener. Blue Pill Thrill has super movement and soulful vocals by Harmon. Lacy on keys works the rhythm with Robinson and Iglehart and Livingston and and Harmon play stinging riffs on guitar really giving this track some kick. Deep blues track, Feet Back On The Ground features Albert King like stinging riffs and super soulful vocals by Harmon. Keeping the music floor low allows Harmon plenty of space to go dynamically from soft to wow quickly adding real emotion to the track. Excellent! Boogie Down is a strong jam with a firm piano base by Lacy giving Harmon plenty of headroom for vocal corralling. Lacy lays in some real tasty keyboar...
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I started a quest to find terrific blues music and incredible musicianship when I was just a little kid. I also have a tremendous appreciation of fine musical instruments and equipment. One of my greatest joys all of my life was sharing my finds with my friends. I'm now publishing my journey. I hope that you come along!
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Rockfold Records artist: Mick Clarke Band - Ruff 'n' Roar - New Release Review
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Bman
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I just received the newest release, Ruff 'n' Roar from the Mick Clarke Band (Live at Scratchers) and it's hot! From the opening riff on the opening track, Elmore James' Happy Home, this release rips. Mick Clarke (guitar and vocal), joined by Chris Sharley (drums) and Eddie Masters (bass) really know how to crank it up. This band has the energy of early Savoy Brown or ZZ Top. What that means is endless boogie with flaming hot slide riffs! On Good Morning Blues, Clarke has his amp tuned in just right for that fat saturation and his riffs are thick. Masters keeps the blues vamp going an Sharley sets a tight bottom for a great romp. On Memphis Slim's Rockin' the Blues, MCB gets that Hooker electric boogie really cranking. This track was "made for" Stilladog. Showing his relentless slide attack, Clarke tears it up! Slowing it down just a little on 9 minute plus, Love Me Or Leave Me, gives the band a breather and solos, including a nice one from Masters and a tense one from Clarke are straightforward and solid. Very nice! Walking Blues, a classic by Mr Son House, gets an update and a solid bottom driver. Clarke blazes a red hot path with his slide guitar. Excellent! Bo Diddley style track, Little Rachel, has the advantage of not only an infectious beat but raw slide work. This is what bands want to sound like live! Cheap has that gritty early ZZ Top beat and that earthy, fat Billy Gibbons tone on guitar. I gotta tell you, there's hardly a serious guitar player on the planet that won't tell you that he admires Billy Gibbons tone and Clarke has it here. Excellent! Who doesn't love Hound Dog Taylor? Everybody loves Hound Dog Taylor. Give Me Back My Wig is a classic and Clark hits it here. He's not copping HDT's tone but he is tearing up the slide so if you are a slide blues freak like me...eat it up! Wrapping the release is Willie Dixon's You Need Love starting with a classic Hooker (Boom Boom ) riff and with Masters and Sharley driving like it's Radar Love. Clarke throws down every blue rock riff you've ever heard (and a few you haven't) in this intense 7 plus minute closer. This is one hell of a show and if this three piece band hits this town...I'm there!
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Since this album is apparently one of the blog reader's favorites, I would suggest the Mick Clarke albums "Crazy Blues" and ESPECIALLY "The Instrumentals" which is absolutely incendiary!! This one is Ruff and Raw (being live and all) but those two will explode out of your speakers!!
Lucille Bogan (April 1, 1897 – August 10, 1948) was an American blues singer, among the first to be recorded. She also recorded under the pseudonym Bessie Jackson . The sexologist and music critic, Ernest Borneman , stated that Bogan along with Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith , was in "the big three of the blues". She was born Lucille Anderson in Amory, Mississippi , United States, and raised in Birmingham, Alabama . In 1916, she married Nazareth Lee Bogan , a railwayman, and gave birth to a son. She first recorded vaudeville songs for Okeh Records in New York in 1923, with pianist Henry Callens . Later that year she recorded " Pawn Shop Blues " in Atlanta, Georgia , which was the first time a black blues singer had been recorded outside New York or Chicago. In 1927 she began recording for Paramount Records in Grafton, Wisconsin , where she recorded her first big success, " Sweet Petunia ", which was covered by Blind Blake . She also recorded for Brunswick...
Charles LoBue was one of the fathers of the custom electric guitar business. Charles came to the industry after taking classes from Michael Gurian, first working in and around the guitar repair business in NYC in the mid 60's. Charles' interest in the business began by doing basic repairs on factory made guitars. These were primarily made by Gibson and Fender, the "Gold Standard" for electric guitars, as well as any guitar including acoustics which came through the door. As a professional player in the U.S. in the 60's, Gibson and Fender were the most likely choices if you wanted an electric guitar. It is well known that the Brits used European made guitars as well, primarily due to their accessibility. By the mid late 60's both companies had been sold to larger corporations which were not primarily in the guitar business. The basic perception even today is that the guitars made by these companies during this period were inferior in quality and also l...
It is with great sadness to report that J. Blackfoot (born John Colbert , November 20, 1946) died today, November 30, 2011 at Methodist Germantown Hospital near Memphis, TN. We will keep you abreast of service information as we receive it. J. Blackfoot will truly be missed. “Like” Bman’s Facebook page (available in over 50 languages). I will not relay senseless nonsense. In this way I can get out the word on new talent, venues and blues happenings! - click Here
Since this album is apparently one of the blog reader's favorites, I would suggest the Mick Clarke albums "Crazy Blues" and ESPECIALLY "The Instrumentals" which is absolutely incendiary!! This one is Ruff and Raw (being live and all) but those two will explode out of your speakers!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dog!! Always a good ear!
DeleteAlways trying to point folks in the right direction. That's all.
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