Provogue Records artist: Ronnie Baker Brooks - Times Have Changed - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Times Have Changed, by Ronnie Baker Brooks and it's terrific! Opening with Joe Tex number, Show Me, Ronnie Baker Brooks (on vocal and guitar) is kicking ass and taking names right out of the chute featuring Steve Cropper on guitar, Steve Jordan on drums, Willie Weeks on bass, Felix Cavaliere on Hammond, Ben Cauley on trumpet, Lonniie McMillan on tenor sax and Jack Hale Sr on trombone. Big Head Todd sits in on Doing Too Much, a cool blue rocker with Leroy Hodges on bass, Charles Hodges on Hammond and Turner on piano. Recently passed and sorely missed, Lonine Brooks, sits in on Twine Time, a cool, sixties style surf rocker. Rapper, Al Kapone  sits in on traditional blues style track, Times Have Changed, with Weeks setting a great bass line and Brooks' solid vocals and guitar riffs. The addition of Jessie Munson and Wen-Yih Yu on violin, Beth Luscome and Jennifer Puckett on viola, and Mark Wallace and Jonathan Kirkscey on cello add a refined note to the short Kapone rap. Curtis Mayfield's Give me Your Love, a cool jazz infused soul track featuring Angie Stone on vocal has a true Mayfield smoothness. Robert Cray track, Old Love has great style and featuring Bobby Blue Bland on vocal and his own stylistic guitar work makes this a true favorite. On high stepper, Wham Bam Thank You Sam, Brooks really struts with cool vocals, great guitar accents, a solid bass line from Hodges and super R&B style horns. Very cool. Closing the release is When I Was We, featuring Hubby Turner on piano supporting Brooks' warm vocals.

Very nice conclusion to an exceptional release.

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Ronnie Baker Brooks Announces Appearances To Support First New Album In Ten Years

RONNIE BAKER BROOKS ANNOUNCES CONFIRMED APPEARANCES 

PLANNED TO SUPPORT RELEASE OF TIMES HAVE CHANGED, 

HIS FIRST ALBUM IN TEN YEARS

Produced By Steve Jordan, Featuring Lonnie Brooks, “Big Head” Todd Mohr, Bobby “Blue” 

Bland, Steve Cropper, Angie Stone, Eddie Willis, Al Kapone, Felix Cavaliere, Lee Roy Parnell

Out On Provogue / Mascot Label Group January 20, 2017

Chicago, IL --- Ronnie Baker Brooks has announced planned initial appearances for 2017.  Following the Legendary R&B Cruise – At Sea in late-January, he will begin the run at SPACE in Evanston, IL on February 3.  Additional shows are confirmed in St. Paul, Des Moines, Milwaukee and Dubuque (detail below).  Today, the second instant gratification track has been provided to purchasers in front of the January 20^th release.  

Brooks, 49, was born in Chicago, and started playing guitar around age six. At 19, he joined his father, Lonnie Brooks who by then had influenced some of the most well-known bluesman of our history: Jimmy Reed, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Johnny Winter, and Junior Wells. For 12 years, the two would tour together, putting Ronnie out front with Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and Koko Taylor. 

Times Have Changed, Brooks’ first album in ten years, carries with it the weight of grown perspective and time spent perfecting old material. Brooks worked it with Steve Jordan, whose work runs from Keith Richards to Stevie Wonder, John Mayer and Eric Clapton. With that comes a lesson in rhythm and blues history. Brooks refers to the director as “a walking encyclopedia of music detail and equipment”, a professor through which Brooks could take that next developmental step. “Once we got the ball rolling, my confidence went higher and higher”, he says. “I’m a better musician for this experience.”

The experience Brooks is talking about is that which came together over the course of a few weeks at Royal Studios in Memphis, the home of Al Green, Syl Johnson and Bobby “Blue” Bland. Jordan and Brooks brought in a mint press of Memphis music royalty: Stax Records staple Steve Cropper (Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave), Archie Turner (Al Green, Syl Johnson, O.V. Wright), jazz saxophonist Lannie McMillan, and R&B icon Angie Stone. For several tracks, Brooks also enlisted brothers Teenie (guitar), Charles (organ) and Leroy Hodges (bass) of the legendary Hi Rhythm Section, which served as the house band for hit soul albums by artists like Al Green and Ann Peebles. “We used the same mics that Al Green used on his record”, says Brooks. “Matter of fact, we were using much of the same band! It kind of took that vibe.” The first track recorded was a cover of Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly hit Give Me Your Love. The second, Twine Time, the instrumental jam from Alvin Cash. 

Several tracks on Times Have Changed were recorded at the legendary Blackbird Studio in Nashville. “It had great hospitality, a great vibe, great tone, great equipment,” Brooks said. “And of course I got to get closer to some of the musicians who live there, Felix Cavaliere, Steve Cropper - they all live there, and it just created a great atmosphere. One of the key things for me was that we got Todd Mohr there, and he was willing to play rhythm guitar along with Lee Roy Parnell, so we got a nice little chemistry going with the three guitar parts together.”

‘Times’ also comes laden with original hits. Five of the eleven tracks were penned by Brooks. Raised on others’ music, he’s always considered the songwriting process to be as sacred. “It’s like having a baby”, he says. “You see it come to life. Once you play it live, it grows even more. That was the most fun part of it, for me: the creative side. Coming up with a song people can relate to, and you relate to, it just snowballs. It’s almost like therapy for me. Like the song Times Have Changed: I wrote that song years ago. I sent Steve my songs and he picked that one. It’s kind of timeless. Every day something’s changing. Now, when I play it live, you can see the effect of it. Initially, it was just an idea: just a riff. Now, this song has influence on people. We were just in Europe this year, after the bombing in Brussels. And we’re playing Brussels. I played that song; people were in tears. It helped them heal.”

The complete track listing features: “Show Me” (feat. Steve Cropper), “Doing Too Much” (feat. “Big Head” Todd Mohr, “Twine Time” (feat. Lonnie Brooks), “Times Have Changed” (feat. Al Kapone), “Long Story Short,” “Give Me Your Love (Love Song) (feat. Angie Stone), “Give The Baby Anything The Baby Wants” (feat. “Big Head” Todd Mohr & Eddie Willis), “Old Love” (feat. Bobby “Blue” Bland), “Come On Up” (feat. Felix Cavaliere & Lee Roy Parnell), “Wham Bam Thank You Sam,” “When I Was We.”

Brooks will stage the following appearances.  Additonal dates will be announced as they are confirmed:

1/21                                                                             Legenday R&B Cruise – At Sea

2.03     Evanston, IL                                                   SPACE

2/10     St. Paul, MN                                                   MN Music Cafe

2/11     Des Moines, IA                                               Blues Fest

2/24     Milwaukee, WI                                               Shank Hall

2/25     Dubuque, IA                                                   Mystique Casino

It's My Own Fault - BB King and Bobby Blue Bland

Born January 27, 1930, Rosemark, Tennessee. Moved to Memphis 1948. Played with Billy 'Red' Love and other influential Delta musicians. First recording was Dry Up Baby (Modern 848). Entered Armed Services 1952, joined Johnny Ace Revue after discharge, having signed with Duke Records. First smash hit, It's My Life Baby, 1955 followed by years of consistent success in R&B market. In the 50s and early 60s, Bobby "Blue" Bland was one of the main creators of the modern soul-blues sound. Along with such artists as Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and Junior Parker, Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with blues and R&B. Bobby's style of soul-blues was punctuated with a big-band sound and slick, B.B. King-flavored guitar riffs. Bland was born and raised in Rosemark, a small town just outside Memphis. In 1947 he moved to the city with his mother and began his career, first as a singer in the gospel group the Miniatures, then in the loosely knit blues group the Beale Streeters, which included such future blues stars as Johnny Ace, B.B. King, Junior Parker, and Rosco Gordon . Bland's first recordings were from 1950 to 1952, when he cut sides for the Modern and Chess labels. Being drafted into the army in 1952 put his career on hold, but shortly after his discharge in 1954, he began a long-term relationship with Duke Records. This would result in dozens of records, many of them big sellers in the R&B market. Bobby's first Duke single, "It's My Life, Baby," was released in 1955. Two years later, he scored with the seminal Texas shuffle "Farther Up The Road" (115 k, 10 sec.), which went to number 1 on the R&B charts. Follow-up records included two 1961 hits, "I Pity the Fool," which also made it to number 1 on the R&B charts, and "Turn on Your Love Light," which went to number 2. "That's the Way Love Is," a 1963 release, gave Bland his third number 1 hit. From 1957 to 1961 Bland played the chitlin' circuit with Junior Parker and his band, the Blue Flames. But in 1961 Bland broke with Parker, went out on his own, and rose to his greatest popularity. Because Bland neither composed nor played an instrument, he relied on others for songs and inspired instrumentation. Joe Scott, his bandleader and arranger, and for years one of Duke label owner Don Robey's chief talent scouts, helped create Bland's big-band sound. Just as important to Bland's sound was guitarist Wayne Bennett, who complemented the horns and Bland's vocals with jazz-influenced solos,a la T-Bone Walker and B.B. King. Bland worked with Scott and Bennett until 1968 when the band broke up, partially the result of Bland's alleged alcohol problems. But Bland resuscitated his career in 1972, this time with producer Steve Garrie and bandleader Ernie Fields, Jr. Rather than dwell on R&B ballads, Garrie gave Bland a blues-based sound that resulted in two of his more commercially successful albums: California Album (1973) and Dreamer (1974). Both works were released on the ABC-Dunhill label, the company that purchased Duke in 1972. Despite Bland's extensive recording catalogue, his long-term success on the R&B charts, and his near-constant touring (often with longtime friend B.B. King), he rarely crossed over into the pop realm. Dozens of blues and R&B influenced rock vocalists, however, have credited Bland as a main influence. Throughout the 70s, 80s, and early 90s, he continued to record, mostly for the Jackson, Mississippi, blues label, Malaco. Bland was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. He continues to perform regularly. "Farther Up The Road" is from The Best Of Bobby Bland Copyright © MCA Records Inc., 1974. If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!

Blues Medley - Bobby Blue Bland, Johnny Taylor

Robert Calvin Bland (born January 27, 1930) better known as Bobby "Blue" Bland, is an American singer of blues and soul. He is an original member of the Beale Streeters, and is sometimes referred to as the "Lion of the Blues". Along with such artists as Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and Junior Parker, Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B.

Bobby Bland was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1981, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997
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