Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Cold Chills , from Henry Gray and Bob Corritore and it's a heaping serving of Chicago blues. Opening with Cold Chills , Henry gray is upfront on lead vocal and piano and Corritore has great tone and fullness. Backed by Bob Margolin on guitar, Johnny Rapp on guitar, Chico Chism on drums and Pops McFarlane on drums, this unit is tight. Fats Domino's Don't You Lie To Me is a great track for Gray with natural piano spotlight and Corritore is mic'd forward in the mix which I really like. John Brim gats the mic on slow blues, Moonlight Blues , also taking the lead on guitar with Corritore on harmonica, Paul Thomas on bass, and Chism on drums. This track has a great feel and balance. Eddie Taylor Jr leads the way on guitar and vocal on Going Away Baby with Corritore on harmonica, Illinois Slim on on guitar, Brian Fahey on drums, and Bob Stroger on bass. Very nice. Gray is back on piano on Mother - In - Law Blues...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release (releasing today), Don't Let The Devil Ride! , from Bob Corritore & Friends and it's super. Opening with Willie Buck's shuffle track, Went Home This Morning , Bob Corritore on harp joins up with Willie Buck on lead vocal, Mojo Mark on guitar, Troy Sandow on bass and Brian Fahey on drums for a solid opener. On Little Walter's Tell Me Mama , Oscar Wilson is on lead vocal and Corritore lays out a real nice harp solo with Priimetime Smith on guitar, Henry Grey on piano and Johnny Rapp on guitar. Alabama Mike has the lead on Laundromat Blues and with really expressive lower octave work from Corritore, particularly nice soloing from Atkinson on guitar and strong piano work from Welch making this one of my favorites on the release. Corritore original, Fork In The Road , features Oscar Wilson on vocal, with Henry Grey on piano and Johnny Rapp on guitar with Corritore in in mostly a strong supportive role cho...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Howlin' At Greaseland , from Kid Andersen's Greaseland Studios and it's strong. This all-star tribute release to Howlin' Wolf features many of today's greatest blues players. Opening with Meet Me In The Bottom , Alabama Mike is upfront on lead vocal backed by Rick Estrin on harp, Alex Pettersen on drums, Bobby Yamalov on bass, Kid Andersen on guitar and slide and Lorenzo Farrell on piano paving a wide path. On Smokestack Ligntnin' , John Blues Boyd has the mic, joined by Rockin' Johnny Burgin and Kid Andersen, Joe Kyle Jr. on bass, Estrin on harp, D'Mar on drums and Jim Pugh on piano. Very nice. Howlin' For My Darling features Terry Hanck on sax and vocals, backed by Johnny Cat Soubrand on guitar, Andersen on bass, Pettersen on drums and Pugh on piano. Both Hanck and Soubrand stretch a bit instrumentally adding nicely to the tight groove.  Tail Dragger is upfront on I'm Leaving Yo...

Bob Corritore, one of the top Chicago blues harp players on the planet today and owner of the Rhythm Room in Phoenix, AZ brought a terrific concert to town last night and I was fortunate enough to be in attendance. Corritore, a native of Chicago moved to Arizona over 30 years ago and is such a part of the blues music fabric here that he is sometimes taken for granted by locals. Making routine appearances here around his own recording and touring schedule he often becomes a complimentary musician to guests in his own house. His instrumental release, Taboo is certainly one of the best contemporary blues harp releases that I have heard. Last night, hosting a great group of Chicago musicians, Corritore took the stage with Eddie Taylor Jr. (guitar and lead vocal),Illinois Slim (guitar) and Brian Fahey (drums). This was a terrific set of straight up Chicago blues showing just how good Taylor is both as a lead singer and blues guitarist and giving Corritore the opportunity to...

I just received the newest release, Blues Won't Let Me take My Rest from Henry Gray and Bob Corritore . Featuring 10 previously unreleased out of 14 included tracks, this release features not only Gray and Corritore, but many other of the greats in recent blues history. Opening with Let's Get High , a great piano shuffle with Gray on lead vocal backed by Willie "Big Eyes" Smith on backing vocal and drums and Corritore on harp, this is a great opener. Gray's vocals on Blues Won't Let Me Take My Rest are a stark contrast to Clapton but this is real and Gray's piano with Corritore on shielded harp, Bob Margolin and Johnny Rapp on guitar and Chico Chism on drums, this sounds a lot like Muddy's band. New Orleans flavored boogie, I'm In Love Again features a cool harp riff by Corritore and hot guitar riffs by Rapp. Robert Jr Lockwood is featured on vocal and guitar on Robert Johnson's Ramblin' On My Mind , one of my favorite tracks on the rel...

I just received the newest release of Tail Dragger 's work, Stop Lyin' which was recorded in 1982 but never released, and I have to say I believe that it his best work to my ear. Opening with So Ezee , with Jimmy Dawkins on guitar and Little Mack Simmons on harp. A classic Chicago track, Burks really plays some nice riffs on harp and TD is in good form. Lafayette Leake is also a standout on piano on this track. Where Did You Go is a strong slice of "Smokestack Lightning" and a terrific track with solid vocals from TD. Ain't Gonna Cry No Mo is a terrific slower blues track featuring Johnny B Moore and Jesse Lee Williams on guitars, Willie kent on bass, Larry Taylor on drums and Eddie Jewtown Burks on harp. Solid harp and guitar work punctuate this track. Don't You Want A Good Man follows along the lines of Trouble No More and Moore shines nicely on this track. On classic TD track, My Head Is Bald , Jimmy Dawkins and Leake are again present with Little Mac...

TO VIEW THIS MESSAGE AS HTML - CLICK HERE   Voting is underway for the 2013 Living Blues Awards . It's that time of year again…time to vote for your favorite Delta Groove artists in the Living Blues Awards !Delta Groove artists have received a total of 6 nominations this year, including The Mannish Boys "Double Dynamite" , Tail Dragger & Bob Corritore "Longtime Friends In The Blues", and Smokin' Joe Kubek & Bnois King "Close To The Bone" for Best Blues Album of the Year (New Recordings), Kirk "Eli" Fletcher for Most Outstanding Musician (Guitar), Bob Corritore for Most Outstanding Musician (Harmonica), and Elvin Bishop for Best Blues DVD of 2012 for "That's My Thing" . ...

TO VIEW THIS MESSAGE AS HTML - CLICK HERE   The nominees for the 34th Blues Music Awards have now been announced, and once again Delta Groove and its artists continue to make their presence felt. This year you can find our artists acknowledged in 9 categories including the prestigious Album of the Year , Traditional Blues Album of the Year , Band of the Year , and the Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues Female) . The 34th Blues Music Awards will be Thursday May 9, 2013 at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis, Tennessee. Show your support for your favorite artists and releases by voting today! To register and become a member of The Blues Foundation and be eligible to vote for your favorite artists, please visit the Blues Foundation website at www.BLUES.org . 34TH BLUES MUSIC AWARDS - DELTA GROOVE NOMIN...

James Yancy Jones, aka Tail Dragger, was born in Altheimer, AR, in 1940. He was brought up by his grandparents and was influenced as a child by the electric Chicago blues of Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, and especially Chester Burnett, the Howlin' Wolf. Jones was a Howlin' Wolf devotee, right down to his deep, gruff voice. After moving to Chicago in the '60s, he began playing with blues legends on the West Side and South Side. It was Howlin' Wolf who gave Jones the title "Tail Dragger" because of his habit of showing up late to gigs. When Jones first appeared on the Chicago blues circuit he was known as Crawlin' James. A number of local West Side and South Side blues artists, including Hubert Sumlin, Carey Bell, Eddie Shaw, Mack Simmons, and Willie Kent, got their start playing in Tail Dragger's bands. American People The difficult lifestyle that contributes to many blues lyrics caught up with Tail Dragger in 1993 when he shot and killed fello...

JAMES YANCY JONES, known as THE TAIL DRAGGER, is a long-time disciple of Howlin' Wolf; in fact, the Wolf gave James the moniker "Tail Dragger" emanating from one of the Wolf's now-classic songs. The Tail Dragger followed Wolf from club- to-club, watching and getting pointers from the larger-then-life Howlin' Wolf for more than 20 years. The Wolf allowed "The Dragger" to perform his blues while Wolf took a break on weekend shows. Soon "The Dragger" was playing his own numerous club dates on the West and South Sides of Chicago. TAIL DRAGGER is from Altheimer, Arkansas and during his formative years he saw Sonny Boy Williamson and Boyd Gilmore perform at house parties and country suppers. Dragger soon heard the records of Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters and Elmore James and his musical tastes were set in stone. Tail Dragger remains intensely loyal to his early influences. The Tail Dragger, by his own admission, sings only lowdown blues. "Lowdown blu...

The concert begins with Wolf's Louise and Dragger and the band are tearing it up. This is an authentic Chicago blues club with an authentic Chicago blues band playing! Louise shows great guitar solos by Rockin' Johnny Burgin and Kevin Shanahan as well as well as great harp work by Martin Lang. Next up is Big Joe Williams's Baby Please Don't Go . Dragger works the crowd as the band stays tight. Shanahan plays a cool older looking worn red 335 and Johnny what looks to be a tobacco burst Epi Emperor. Johnny plays particularly articulate licks and Lang's harp riffs are right on target. The video and sound quality is strong and you can almost smell the inside of this club (if you've ever been in a club like this). There's a dart board behind the drummer and stains on the ceiling tiles. The walls have the 4x8 luan mahogany paneling that was popular in the 60's running both horizontal and vertical. The walls are painted red elsewhere and you can see the insid...

I opened the mail yesterday and found a real treat. I received a copy of the recording, It Ain't Over celebrating Delmark's 55 years in business live at Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago. I have been in this club many many times and this would have had to be the blast of all blasts. The opening track finds powerhouse singer Zora Young doing some power funk with a backing band featuring Lurie Bell and Scott Cable on guitars, Roosevelt Purifoy on keys, Bob Stronger on bass and Kenny Smith on drums. Young's Till The Fat Lady Sings is a great opener for this show. Bell throws down some great blues riffs on the funk playing his 335 and as Purifoy starts to rap out the funk on the keys Young starts to channel the godfather of soul with some squeals that would make JB proud. The rhythm section on this band is remarkably tight and Cable gets in some hot riffs on his Strat. I notice three amps on stage throughout the night which appear to be a Brownface Vibroverb, a Pro Tweed ...

Tail Dragger & Bob Corritore collaborated on the powerful album Longtime Friends In The Blues which was just released last week on the Delta Groove label. With promotion just started 2 weeks ago this CD has been met with an initial wave of positive reaction. To see the first 15 glowing reviews of this CD click here . To see the Roots Radio Report for this week which debuts this CD at #17 click here . The CD has been listed in the the "Top 50 Breakthrough Recordings" in the Antiquarian Librarian which lists all musical genres! To see this listing click here . Tail Dragger and Bob will headline the Stompin' At The Savoy festival in Helsinki, Finland on April 14th . To see the beautiful poster for the festival click here . There will be an official CD release party on Thursday, June 7 at B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted in Chicago which BTW is the day before the Chicago Blues Festival . Features on Tail Dragger will appear in upcoming issues of Living Bl...