Bman's Blues Report

I just received the newest release from Cleopatra Records, A Tribute to Creedence Clearwater Revival . Opening is a rousing Fortunate Son with Mike Zito and Sonny Landreth on slide guitar. These guys tear it up...nuf said! The Mynabirds are up next with Bad Moon Rising , a female interpretation of the track sounding like a blend of U2 and Crissy Hines with a Bo Diddley rhythm. Proud Mary is covered by Blitzen Trapper . An easy rocker with light drums, vocals, a few tidy guitar riffs and keys. Down On The Corner is covered by Spirit Family Reunion with a solid Cajun flavor. A raspy but solid lead vocalist, nicely blended backing vocals and accordion cover most of the melody with addition of banjo and harmonica as well as assorted percussion instruments. Have You Seen The Rain is covered by Dead Man Winter . This is a simple vocal track with minimal instrumentation (tambourine and acoustic guitar) and I think that it's one of the purest tracks on the release. Looking Out My...

The South Memphis String Band, a trio composed of Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars), Alvin “Youngblood” Hart (Grammy-winning bluesman) and Jimbo Mathus (Squirrel Nut Zippers), launches its first tour on April 23, 2009 in Dallas, Texas, targeting the East and South. The three friends, bound by Memphis and North Mississippi roots, will tour ahead of recording their debut album later this year. So far only two songs have been unveiled, both at the trio’s MySpace page myspace.com/southmemphisstringband. So the April and May dates will be an opportunity for fans to get in on the ground floor. Although they’d known each other for years, the trio’s musical spirit gelled last year when they recorded a yet-unreleased album with Luther’s father, legendary producer Jim Dickinson, called New Moon Jellyroll Freedom Rockers. The South Memphis String Band was greatly influenced by the Mississippi Sheiks, Gus Cannon & the Memphis Jug Band and other string bands and jug bands of their i...