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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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Showing posts with label Johnny Mastro and Mama's Boys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Johnny Mastro and Mama's Boys. Show all posts

Monday, January 22, 2018

Ruf Records artist: Ghalia & Mama's Boys - Let The Demons Out - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Let The Demons Out, from Ghalia & Mama's Boys. Yes, this is Johnny Mastro's Mama's Boys. Opening with  4AM Fried Chicken, a driving rock n roller, Ghalia Vauthier has that natural rockin vocal style and Mastro really rides tight on harp with Smokehouse Brown on guitar, Dean Zucchero on bass and Rob Lee on drums and percussion. Super opener. Press That Trigger is a cool track with traces of SB Williamson and Alvin Lee with a pinch of the Pretenders. Mastro's harp shows solid tone and Smokehouse's guitar riffs are sparse but cool. Blending a little contemporary styling into delta style blues, Addicition is a cool, mostly primitive blues track with Ghalia on vocal and slide guitar with only the basics of percussion by Lee and Mastro's harp filling the air. Very spatial. A great rocking boogie, All The Good Things is really infectious (like a boogie should be). Vauthier really winds it up vocally and Zucchero bass line sets up perfectly for Brown's British blues style guitar attack. Excellent. Vauthier really works, Little Willie John's I'm Shaking putting in a lot of emotion and Brown's guitar riffs are perfect. Shuffle track, Waiting has traditional Chicago blues bones with a nice solo by Mastro and shared vocal lead between Vauthier and Mastro. The killer on this track is Brown's smoking slide work. Stand back! See That Man Alone is a real nice blues based rocker with a heavy bottom. Very nice. Wrapping the release is Hiccup Boogie, a real John Lee Hooker style boogie with super pace. Vauthier sets the line vocally but it's Zucchero, Brown and Lee who deliver the goods on this cooker with maestro fanning the flames on harp. Super closer.



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Thursday, July 5, 2012

Rip Cat Records artist: Johnny Mastro & Mama's Boys - Luke's Dream - New Release Review


I'm just getting the opportunity to listen Luke's Dream, the new Johnny Mastro and Mama's Boys' cd on Rip Cat Records. This cd is gritty and grimy...just the way I like it. Luke's Stomp, a stripped down track with harp, tambourine, resonator and vocal sets a good pace to open the recording. Thunder Roll picks up the challenge and with a solid drum beat and droning bottom, drives the blues rhythm under a raw and raucous track. I really like the tone of the guitar on this track and the bottom of the track is just solid. Knee High is another great track with primitive rhythms and raw slide work. Mastro is a cool vocalist and knows just how to get the harp pushing the envelope. A jagged track with overdriven vocals and heavy hitting guitar chords. Cool guitar riffs are played almost under the track allowing a lot of breathing space for the natural boogie. Junker Blues takes a more straightforward 8 bar approach. This track again with great slide playing rips a hole in it! Mr. JJ's Man is an uptempo Harp jam with light guitar and vocals along for the ride. Hurt finds the grinding guitar man back wringing the breath out of his guitar. Using unusual phrasing the band builds a lot of tension and Mastro's vocals and harp are a good addition to this rough hewn battle axe. Tonight We Ride lays down familiar Chicago style sounds with the harp and vocal taking the lead and distorted guitar driving the track. Francine is another butt kicker that takes you to Hound Dog Taylor land. Great drive, great distorted guitar. great slide and gritty vocals. I mean, what else do you really want? Step back and let the boys play! My Rocket leads of with a screaming harp and cool slide. It has a very simple vocal structure ... almost early Steve Miller like... but they do boogie. The recording finishes up with Temperature, which takes a lot of different concepts and rolls them into a very raw and effective blues track. I've heard a number of tracks that have components of this song, but I've never heard anything quite like this. Listeners who are embracing the new primitive blues should absolutely love this recording. This is one of the most sonically pleasing and real primitive blues sounding cd's I've heard in a very long time! This cd was released on July 3rd. Find a copy while you can!

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