Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the newly released, Soul Man Explosion by Sam and Dave and it's a great set of rocking soul music. Opening with classic, Soul Man , Sam Moore and Dave Prater of course are front and center on rich vocals. With great horn backing and Steve Cropper on guitar, this is a great opener. I Thank You was another big one and the groove sounds as fresh as it did decades ago. A cover of Sam Cooke's Wonderful World is smooth as silk with nice backing vocals and of course excellent lead vocals by Sam and Dave. C an't You Find Another Way has a great R&B rhythm and great trumpet highlights make this a hidden gem. Wrapping the release is an instrumental cover of Soul Man . This is classic R&B and a lot of fun.   If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow ...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The Blues , from William Shatner, yes that William Shatner. What's it like...you'll have to see for yourself.  Opening with blues classic, Sweet Home Chicago , Shatner teams up with Brad Paisley who throws down some cool blues and country riffs along with Jurgen Engler on guitar, bass and banjo, Chris Lentz on keys and Adam Hamilton on drums, bass, guitar and harmonica. Shatners vocals are freeform and emotional. Otis Rush's I Can't Quit You Baby , features Kirk Fletcher who runs some real nice glues riffs of his own and manages Shatner's freeform vocals nicely. Cream's Sunshine of Your Love is up next, mostly in spoken word and I gotta say that Hamilton's work on drums is exceptional and Landreth wails on slide. Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore takes BB King's, The Thrill Is Gone to the next level and Shatner's vocals are as relaxed as I've ever heard on this track. Pat Travers ...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Blues For A King , from BB King's daughter, Shirley King and it's jam packed with blues and legends. Opening with Joe Louis Walker's All Of My Lovin' , King is up front on lead vocal backed by Walker on guitar and Jurgen Engler on guitar, bass and drums. Holding firm on a R&B setup, King sets a straight 60's styling radio track. With super guitar work by Elvin Bishop under King's bluesy vocals, I Did You Wrong has a cool shuffle beat and a tight bottom. An unexpected rock gem, Steve Winwood's Can't Find My Way Home features Martin Barre with some excellent guitar and is one of my favorites and also possibly King's best vocal effort on the release. Gallow Pole maintains it's folk roots but with a rock edge and underlying guitar work by Harvey Mandel with really is a strong compliment. A rework of a Jr Wells track features vocal and harp by Wells, adding guitar by Walker, ba...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Tele Masters , from Arlen Roth and it's super. Featuring a who's who of telecaster players, this release has it all. Opening with Remington Ride with Steve Wariner and Cindy Cashdollar, this track has a lot of country spice and great picking. Wariner and Roth each take turns showing their chops and Cashdollar's lap steel work is impeccable as always. backed by Tom Hambridge on drums, Tommy MacDonald on bass and Billy Panda on acoustic guitar, this is a super opener. A funky, lumbering arrangement to Big Bill Broonzy's Key To The Highway gives it a fresh new life. Jack Pearson has a great voice on lead and sharing lead guitar  with Roth, this track has really digs in. One of my favorites. A track featuring a great finger picking shoot out is Bunky with Brad Paisley. If you are wondering if this release is a guitar players album...oh yeah! Will Ray and Roth strut tall with Link Wray's Rumble . Keep...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The Last Shade Of Blue Before Black , by The Original Blues Brothers Band and it's great! Opening with Jimmy Reed's Baby What You Want Me To D o, Bobby "Sweet Soul" Harden with Tommy "Pipes" McDonnell on harp and vocals and Rob "The Honeydripper" Paparozzi on harp and vocals take center stage with super harmony and John Tropea plays terrific guitar soloing backed by Tom Malone on trumpet, Baron Raymonde on alto sax, Eric "The Red" Udel on bass, Lee "Funkytime" Finkelstein on drums, Leon "The Lion" Pendarvis on organ, Rusty "Cloudmeister" Cloud on clav, Wurlitzer and piano. High stepping, Cherry Street , features McDonnell on lead vocals, Birch Johnson on trombone and Raymonde really rips on alto sax. Eddie Floyd is up on lead vocals on slinky, On Saturday A Night , and guest Tom Malone on bari sax  and with tight, warm horn backing. Harden ta...

Severn Records Announces October 6 Release Date for New CD from The Original Blues Brothers Band featuring Steve Cropper & “Blue Lou” Marini, The Last Shade of Blue Before Black Special Guests Include Eddie Floyd, Joe Louis Walker, Paul Shaffer, Dr. John, Matt “Guitar”Murphy and Joe Morton ANNAPOLIS, MD – Severn Records announces an October 6 release date for The Last Shade of Blue Before Black , the new album from the legendary Original Blues Brothers Band, featuring guitarist Steve Cropper and sax player “Blue Lou” Marini, with special guests Eddie Floyd, Joe Louis Walker, Paul Shaffer, Dr. John, Matt “Guitar” Murphy and Joe Morton. “Had anyone told me in 1978 that in 2017 I would still be traveling around the world and playing with the Blues Brothers’ Band, I would have said they were out of their minds,” says “Blue Lou” Marini. “But, amazingly here we are with a new CD and still playing all over the world. This album is a true labor of love and I’m so pr...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Times Have Changed , by Ronnie Baker Brooks and it's terrific! Opening with Joe Tex number, Show Me , Ronnie Baker Brooks (on vocal and guitar) is kicking ass and taking names right out of the chute featuring Steve Cropper on guitar, Steve Jordan on drums, Willie Weeks on bass, Felix Cavaliere on Hammond, Ben Cauley on trumpet, Lonniie McMillan on tenor sax and Jack Hale Sr on trombone. Big Head Todd sits in on Doing Too Much , a cool blue rocker with Leroy Hodges on bass, Charles Hodges on Hammond and Turner on piano. Recently passed and sorely missed, Lonine Brooks, sits in on Twine Time , a cool, sixties style surf rocker. Rapper, Al Kapone  sits in on traditional blues style track, Times Have Changed , with Weeks setting a great bass line and Brooks' solid vocals and guitar riffs. The addition of Jessie Munson and Wen-Yih Yu on violin, Beth Luscome and Jennifer Puckett on viola, and Mark Wallace and Jonatha...

RONNIE BAKER BROOKS ANNOUNCES CONFIRMED APPEARANCES  PLANNED TO SUPPORT RELEASE OF TIMES HAVE CHANGED,  HIS FIRST ALBUM IN TEN YEARS Produced By Steve Jordan, Featuring Lonnie Brooks, “Big Head” Todd Mohr, Bobby “Blue”  Bland, Steve Cropper, Angie Stone, Eddie Willis, Al Kapone, Felix Cavaliere, Lee Roy Parnell Out On Provogue / Mascot Label Group January 20, 2017 Chicago, IL --- Ronnie Baker Brooks has announced planned initial appearances for 2017.  Following the Legendary R&B Cruise – At Sea in late-January, he will begin the run at SPACE in Evanston, IL on February 3.  Additional shows are confirmed in St. Paul, Des Moines, Milwaukee and Dubuque (detail below).  Today, the second instant gratification track has been provided to purchasers in front of the January 20 th  release.   Brooks, 49, was born in Chicago, and started playing guitar around age six. At 19, he joined his father, Lonnie Brooks...

RONNIE BAKER BROOKS ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF  TIMES HAVE CHANGED, HIS FIRST ALBUM IN TEN YEARS Produced By Steve Jordan, Featuring Lonnie Brooks, “Big Head” Todd Mohr, Bobby “Blue” Bland,  Steve Cropper, Angie Stone, Eddie Willis, Al Kapone, Felix Cavaliere, Lee Roy Parnell Out On Provogue / Mascot Label Group January 20, 2017 Chicago, IL --- Brooks, 49, was born in Chicago, and started playing guitar around age six. At 19, he joined his father, Lonnie Brooks who by then had influenced some of the most well-known bluesman of our history: Jimmy Reed, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Johnny Winter, and Junior Wells. For 12 years, the two would tour together, putting Ronnie out front with Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and Koko Taylor.  Times Have Changed , Brooks’ first album in ten years, carries with it the weight of grown perspective and time spent perfecting old material. Brooks worked it with Steve Jordan, whose work runs from Keith Richards ...

Lester Chambers was born and raised with his seven brothers and five sisters in pre-WWII rural Lee County Mississippi. His god-fearing Baptist parents encouraged all thirteen of their children to sing in the choir of a little country church where his father was a Deacon. This early passion for music continued when the family moved to South Central Los Angeles in the early 1950's where the elder Chambers' help to establish the Greater Mount Zion Baptist Church in a storefront building. The popularity of that new church had a lot to do with the rocking gospel Lester and his brothers served up every sunday. Around the time the Beatles left England for America Lester and his brothers ventured into LA's fabled Ash Grove coffee house and began singing their special blend of gospel and folk music. An old guitar, stand up bass and those heavenly voices led by Lester on harmonica and cowbell soon had folks lined up down Melrose in West Hollywood. One night in 1967 Ash Grove owner ...

I just received the newest reissue from Concord Music Group (April 2, 2013), Albert King 's Born Under A Bad Sign . With addition of liner notes by Bill Dahl, this release has a full spectrum picture of Kings work. Featuring the Stax "House Band"; Steve Cropper (guitar), Booker T Jones (piano), Isaac Hayes (piano), Donald "Duck" Dunn, and Al Jackson Jr, (also known as Booker T and the MG's)and Wayne Jackson, Andrew love and Joe Arnold (also known as the Memphis Horns); King has the backing that can deliver anything he may want. The release opens with one of King's most well know tracks, Born Under A Bad Sign . Yes, Eric Clapton and Cream didn't hurt any by covering it, but it was Albert King that really breathed the life into it and it was his gateway to stardom. King has a very distinctive guitar playing style often attributed to his playing left handed (although the guitar was strung right handed) giving it a unique sound but I personally think Al...

Donald “Duck” Dunn (November 24, 1941 – May 13, 2012) was an American bass guitarist, session musician, record producer, and songwriter. Dunn was notable for his 1960s recordings with Booker T. & the M.G.'s and as a session bassist for Stax Records, which specialized in blues and gospel-infused southern soul which became known as Memphis Soul. At Stax, Dunn played on thousands of records including hits by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, and many others. Dunn also performed on recordings with The Blues Brothers, Muddy Waters, Freddie King, Isaac Hayes, Levon Helm, Neil Young, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Wilson Pickett, Guy Sebastian, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan, Roy Buchanan, Steely Dan, Tinsley Ellis and Arthur Conley. Dunn was born in Memphis, Tennessee. His father nicknamed him "Duck" while watching Disney cartoons with him one da...

Steve Cropper (born Steven Lee Cropper, October 21, 1941, Dora, Missouri), also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and has backed artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas and Johnnie Taylor, also acting as producer on many of these records. He later gained fame as a member of the Blues Brothers band. Rolling Stone lists him 36th on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.Mojo ranks Cropper as the second-best guitarist ever. When he was nine years old, Cropper moved with his family to Memphis, Tennessee. At the age of ten, he strummed his brother-in-law's Gibson guitar for the first time. Cropper received his first guitar by mail order at 14 and started playing with local musicians. His guitar heroes at the time included Lowman Pauling of the "5" Royales, as ...