Bman's Blues Report

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Fried Rice & Chicken , from Little Freddie King and its a lot of fun. Opening with Willie Woods' super groove, Cleos Back , Freddie Martin aka Little Freddie King lays down his primitive, real deal blues. King has a loose but smart guitar style on this instrumental, backed by Earl Stanley on bass, Kerry Brown on drums and Crazy Rick Allen on organ. Very cool. Slow blues number, Mean Little Woman features King on vocal and this is where the rubber meets the road. Not only does King have meaty raw chops, but his vocals are authentic and unpolished. Excellent. The Great Chinese is drums laden with cool guitar rhythms. Ray Charles' What'd I Say is spirited with vibrant key work by Allen and  tight guitar and vocal by King. Very nice. Sing Sang Sung is a great rumble with Wacko Wade Wright on drums, Anthony Anderson on bass Bobby Lewis DiTullio on harp and of course Kings own spontaneous riffs on guitar. V...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Born For You , by Rockie Charles and I really like it. Opening with title track, Born For You , Rockie Charles quickly establishes that he is going his own route with influences from many reaches. I am first taken by his smooth vocals and JL Hooker like phrasing, complimented by Jerry Embry on sax. Old Black Joel feels a lot like 60's soul and Clarence Carter. A solid backing band made up of Jerry Pekinto on bass, Rick Allen and Wayne Lohr on organ, Tony D'Alessandro on drums, not to forget Charles' own Spartan guitar playing and with really sweet backing vocals by Karlene Arena and Rhea Kahler, this sound is really earthy. Excellent. On easy paced, Oh My Darling, Look What You're Doing To Me , Charles sings with the ease of Al Green in a style more like Willie Nelson. Smoky Greenwell adds a soothing harp overtone giving the track just the right hint of spice. Please Tell Me It Ain't So is one of m...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The Story Of My Life , by Guitar Slim Jr. and it's really cool. GS Jr. (Rodney Armstrong) is the natural son of Guitar Slim (Eddie Jones). Opening with a classic Guitar Slim track, Trouble Don't Last , Jr. is front and center on guitar and vocals with Shannon Powell on drums, Rene Coma on bass, Milton Batiste on trumpet and Ernest Watson on sax. Title track, The Story of My Life , has a slower tempo and Jr. shows vocal skill along with pointed guitar riffs. Very nice. On Bad Luck Blues , Jr. maintains a lot of Sr.'s sty;e but he has his own flair with stinging riffs. On classic R&B track, Can I Change My Mind , Jr. shows a much smoother vocal style and his guitar playing is jazzy and fluid with Kerry Brown on drums, Charles Moore on bass and Keith Fazarde on keys. Hot! Reap What You Sow is my favorite track on the release with strong Sr. attributes and powerful vocal and guitar work by Jr. A lot more r...