Bman's Blues Report

John fell in love with the blues as a child when his father and an older cousin played guitar and sang at night after a hard day in the fields. His mother moved to Chicago to secure a job and support her family. She promised to bring John and his sister to the big city when they reached age 18, leaving them with family. Depressed and lonely, young Primer frequently went into the neighboring woods, where he cried his troubles away and began singing the blues in solitude. He eventually built himself a diddley bow on the side of his grandmother's house out of broom wire, two nails and a brick and began accompanying himself as he sang, eventually playing for dimes and quarters in his schoolyard. After listening to Jimmy Reed , Little Milton, B.B. King , Albert King and Muddy Waters on his grandmother's record player, his biggest dream was to play alongside Muddy Waters one day. 🎵 LISTEN & SUPPORT THE ALBUM ▶ Listen to Album Samples (Clic...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Grown In Mississippi , by John Primer and it's deep rooted blues, Delta style. Opening with John's Blues Holler , an authentic style acapella track replicating the sounds that Primer heard by field workers in his youth. Rolling into Born In Mississippi with Primer showing his slick finger work and his warm vocals on acoustic guitar. Fluid, precise and solid. Very nice. Willie Dixon's Down In The Bottom features Primer guitar and vocal and Watermelon Slim on slide dobro, and backed by Billy Earheart on piano. Very nice. Bobby Rush joins on Nothin' But A Chicken Wing adding some nice harp work to this funky blues track featuring Primer on lead vocal and guitar, Harvell Thomas Jr on bass and Quicksand Martin on drums. This track is stripped down and moving. Another track with a cool funk is When I Met The Blues driven by Lee Williams on drums and featuring Lightnin' Malcolm on guitar and Primer on guita...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Hard Times , from John Primer and it's a fat slice of Chicago blues. Opening with contemporary blues rocker, You Got What I Want , John Primer on lead vocal and guitar  set up another solid blues performance with  the Real Deal Blues Band. Steve Bell on harmonica lays down some real nice harmonica riffs, backed by Lenny Media on drums and David Forte on bass. Title track, Hard Times , has a cool driving blues feel with Primer on slide and vocal and featuring  Johnny Iguana on piano. With an aggressive bass line by Forte on I Won't Sweat It , Primer sings the blues at half tempo over a double time tempo. A cool solo by Bell on harmonica and a nice guitar solo of his own gives this track traction. One of my favorite tracks on the release is soulful, Tough Times featuring Primer's daughter on her vocal debut. Primer lays in some real nicely phrased guitar lead on this one diving it another dimension. All Al...