Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, From The Patio, Live at Poor House Bistro, Volume 1, from Ron Thompson and it's a strong, raw performance. Opening with Willie Dixon's Meet Me In The Bottom , Ron Thompson on vocal and guitar gets a running start with his grinding tempo with Scotty Griffin on drums, Dave Chavez on bass, Sid Morris on piano and Jim Pugh on organ. His solid groove and unpolished but excellent blues vocals are spot on. On Lightning Hopkins' Bring Me My Shotgun , Thompson shows just how close to the "real blues" his work is with excellent vocals, slide work and minimal bass and drums. Excellent! Bob Geddins' Tin Pan Alley, made popular to most by SRV gets a real nice workout by Thompson with not only really soulful vocals and solid piano work by Morris but with some real nice electric guitar work by Thompson. Very nice. Guitar Slim's Done Got Over It is another potent track with Jim Pugh on organ solo and rocka...

Celebrating The Blues With Heartfelt Gospel Feeling Seven veterans of the blues unite and share the feeling with the world About six months ago Neil Barnes, a west coast bluesman here in the United States, contacted me about a project he had been working on for years.  He told me about his idea of assembling great soulful, powerful voices along with a band that could deliver a sound as if it came out of heaven. I must say that Neil had my attention. So we worked together and created the one sheet that would accompany the new release as it went into radio distribution. Months would go by and every once in a while I would get a note from Neil letting me know the project was very much alive and that he was grateful for my patience and my assistance.  In one such note he let me know that he had retained Todd Glazer, the Alaskan Blues Radio promoter.  This meant...

Ron Thompson (born July 5, 1953) is an American electric blues and blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. Thompson has released seven albums since 1983 on labels including Blind Pig. He has worked with Little Joe Blue, John Lee Hooker, Lowell Fulson, Etta James and Big Mama Thornton. Thompson commented on his preferred style, "blues is like a medicine, or religion to me, it'll cleanse your soul". Meanwhile, Mick Fleetwood stated, "Ron Thompson is my favorite guitarist" Thompson was born in Oakland, California, United States, and had mastered basic guitar and slide guitar techniques by his mid-teens. He was educated at Newark Memorial High School, in Newark, California. In the early 1970s, Thompson played backing to Little Joe Blue, and worked solo and as a sideman in San Francisco Bay Area clubs. He joined John Lee Hooker's backing band in 1975, staying with him for three years. In 1980, Thompson formed his own group, the Resisters, and secured a recor...

Not many living blues musicians can say they have performed with and recorded for legends like Big Mama Thornton, Tina Turner, Bruce Willis, Luther Tucker, Jimmy McCracklin, Pee Wee Crayton, Carla Thomas, Booker T. Jones, Percy Mayfield, Etta James, B.B. King, and Jimmy Reed. Ron Thompson can, and that’s just the beginning! Ron Thompson is a legendary rhythm and blues guitarist and master keyboardist whose career began in the rough and tumble world of East San Francisco Bay nightclubs and bars in the early ‘70s. During many years of touring coast to coast with John Lee Hooker, Hooker was quoted as saying, "Ron Thompson, he's my main man!" After serving as John Lee Hooker’s bandleader for seven years, Thompson went on to form his own group, Ron Thompson and His Resisters, which continues to tour extensively in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Central America.