B.B. King

Gettin Close to Christmas Roadhouse Blues on BMFR

Tune in today on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com for my Gettin’ Close To Christmas Roadhouse Blues Nooner at High Noon EST! I’ll have some new tunes by Lucky Peterson, Diane Blue, Sugaray Rayford as well as some classics by Luther Allison, Freddie King, and Johnny Copeland.

The intended playlist is below:

ARTISTTITLE
Arlen RothTuff Tele
Luther AllisonGive Me Back My Wig
Travellin’ Blue KingsNinety Minutes
Mindi Abiar And The BoneshakersAll I Got For Christmas Is The Blues
Ash GrunwaldTrouble’s Door (feat Mahalia Barnes & Kim Wilson)
Dan Bubien & The Delta StrutsMemphis Sky
Freddie KingThe Danger Zone
Buddy GuyHome For Christmas
Sugaray RayfordSomebody Save Me
Honey HoundsGirl Like That
Dynamite Blues BandI Still Don’t Know
Albert CollinsDon’t Mistake Kindness For Weakness
Ana PopovicSoulful Dress
Coco MontoyaBluesman’s Christmas
Johnny CopelandEverybody Wants A Piece Of Me
Annika ChambersTwo Bit Texas Town
Albert KingAngel Of Mercy
Diane BlueThat’s a Pretty Good Love
Ben Racine BandThe Pleasure’s All Mine (Live)
B.B. KingBack Door Santa
Lucky PetersonThe Blues Is Driving Me
Big Daddy WilsonCrazy World
Zack Walther BandPayin’ For It Now
Angel ForrestRoll On Down
Dave P. MooreFort Necessity
HeavyDrunkPick You Up Along The Way
Delta MoonChristmas Time In New Orleans

The Mid August Roadhouse Blues on BMFR

Join me today at 3 pm EST on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com for some mid August Thursday afternoon roadhouse blues on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com.

Here is the intended playlist:

ArtistTITLE
Mindi AbairHaute Sauce
24 PesosI Am The Blues
Robin TrowerComing Closer to the Day
Rudy RottaNo One Cares
The Weary TimesAnymore
Amnesia Blues BandChampagne & Reefer
Altered Five Blues BandDon’t Rock My Blues
Dave AlvinEast Texas Blues
The Teskey BrothersMan Of The Universe
Ryan Foret And Foret TraditionHarry Biscuit And The Jam
Tab BenoitMedicine
Tiffany Pollack & Eric JohansonBlues In My Blood
Shane DwightLevy Girl
Luther AllisonBad Love
Hubert SumlinBring Your Love To Me
Z.Z. HillDown Home Blues
Freddie KingHoochie Coochie Man
Albert KingAngel Of Mercy
B. B. KingBlue Shadows
Etta JamesCigarettes & Coffee
Big Daddy WilsonAint Got No Money
Sugaray RayfordDark Night of the Soul
Frank BeyWhere You Been So Long
Michael LeeGo Your Own Way

Roadhouse Blues Bin for Mid April 2019

It’s spring time, well almost in New England, and here is what I am listening to as I await freakin’ warmer weather …..

Manx Marriner Mainline – Hell Bound for Heaven (2019)

Manx Marriner

Harry Manx is a blues original.  His primary musical instrument is the Mohan Veena,  often associated with classical music from India, which gives Harry’s music a surreal sound that is perfect for the blues. His partner for the album is Steve Marriner, a gifted harmonica and guitar player who also performs on the drums, organ, and bass.  Both have great voices and contribute songs for Hell Bound for Heaven, released by Stony Plain Records.

The recording has a mix of what I call roots blues and gospel tunes.  I particularly enjoyed their rendition of the legendary Charlie Patton’s Rattlesnake.  And the songs Hell Bound for Heaven, Nothing, and Everybody Knows will get a lot of spins on my personal stream (http://s1.nexuscast.com:8043) and during my upcoming sets on Blues Music Fan Radio.  Great tunes from a duo of Canadian artists!!!

Stony Plain Records 2019

Harpdog Brown – For Love & Money (2019)

Harpdog brown

To be officially released on April 26th, Harpdog Brown’s For Love & Money recording is a great throwback to the swing and jazzy feel of the blues in the late 1940’s.  If I didn’t know better I would swear this Canadian from British Columbia had grown up in New Orleans.  With a heavy emphasis on piano and horns on the album, Harpdog reminds me alot of the best of Dr. John….gravely voice, gritty lyrics, and fantastic musicianship.

I particularly enjoyed Thinkin’ and Drinkin’, Blue Light Boogie, Buzzard Luck, and Vicious Vodka.  An album best enjoyed with your woman and a martini and cigar in hand for sure!

Dog House Records 2019

Brandon Santini – The Longshot (2019)

Brandon Santini

Brandon Santini turns up the amplifier (and I’d say it’s about time!) on his new album, The Longshot.  An up and coming harmonica player and vocalist who has already been nominated for the BMA blues harmonica player of the year award (2014), his future is bright to say the least! I always have felt that Brandon, who I became aware of in 2012, had the ideal voice and harmonica skills to lay down some badass blues rock……and now he has.

He is backed on this outing by a solid group of musicians; Timo Arthur and Jed Potts on guitars, one of my favorite keyboard players John Ginty, Chuck Combs on bass, and Reid Muchow on drums.  Ginty, Santini, and Ben Elliot produced the album.

I loved Somebody’s Gotta Go, Back to You, Beggin’ Baby, Going Home, and Drive You Off My Mind.  All of them are now in rotation for my DJ sets.

I certainly think this album deserves early consideration as a nominee for Blues Rock album of 2019!  Keep crankin out dem roadhouse blues Brandon!!!

American Showplace Music (2019)

Mark Wenner’s Blues Warriors (2018)

Mark Wenner

A side project for long time Nighthawk Mark Wenner, this album is a refreshing celebration of tunes by Muddy Water, B.B. King, Sonny Boy Williamson, Fats Domino, Big Joe Turner, Elmore James, and Slim Harpo.  Mark is a gifted singer and harmonica player and his brilliance carries this upbeat bluzin’ album.  Fellow Nighthawk, Mark Stutso joins him on drums, along with talented guitarist Zach Sweeney, singer and guitarist Clarence “The Bluesman” Turner, and features the double bass of Steve Wolf.

I loved every cut on this CD including King Bee, Trust My Baby, Rock A While, Hello Josephine, (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear, It’s My Own Fault,  and Dust My Broom. The album includes a really nice cover of a relatively unknown tune by Muddy Waters Diamonds at Your Feet that I have worked into my blues sets al ot over the years and the only original song, written by Mark, is an instrumental tribute to the legendary Jimmy Reed entitled Just Like Jimmy.

If you want to spend some time listening to straight up rockin’ blues from the fifties, you can’t do better than downloading and listening to this album!

Ellersoul Records 2018

Mary Lane – Lady Regent of the Chicago Blues

She is 83 years young and along with Buddy Guy, who has called her “the real deal”, they are the reigning regents of the Chicago Blues.  And it does not get better than Mary Lane’s new album Travelin’ Woman.

Mary Lane Travelin Woman

The personification of the “great migration” of African Americans from the cotton fields of the American south to the city of Chicago both before and after World War II, Mary sings the blues the way only someone that has endured the degradation and hard times of segregation, and still maintained their pride and spirit, can.  Heartfelt and upbeat, the 10 songs on this album are a testament to the power of song sung by a voice of greatness.

The title cut, Travelin’ Woman, is a reminisce about her journey from Arkansas to the blues stages of Chicago that she shared with B.B. King, A.C. Reed, Elmore James, Magic Sam, Junior Wells, and Howlin’ Wolf. Blues Give Me a Feeling is a great tune about her love affair with the American music genre. Some People Say I’m Crazy, Bad Luck and Trouble, Ain’t Gonna Cry No More, Ain’t Nobody Else,  and Rain in My Heart are all bad ass Chicago blues. And amidst all these great songs, Leave That Wine Alone, is my hands down favorite.

Mary Lane

Produced by Jim Tullio, who also co-wrote most of the songs on the album, the CD features guest appearances by Billy Branch, Corky Siegel, the late Eddie Shaw, Indiara Sfair, Gene (Daddy G) Barge, Colin Linden, and Dave Specter.  This is only her second album, the first was done twenty years ago or so, but she has been a fixture on blues stages all over Chicago for decades. Man…the rest of us have missed it until NOW!

Also, filmmaker Jesseca Ynez Simmons is putting the finishing touches on a documentary about Mary’s life entitled I Can Only Be Mary Lane.  I am looking forward to its release and being able to see it!

Folks, you absolutely HAVE to listen to this slice of blues greatness! Mary Lane has sowed the blues for over sixty years…..with Travelin’ Woman she finally reaps the recognition and fame that she has long deserved.  Keep crankin’ out the blues Mary…we are all now your loyal subjects!

Women of the Blues Records 2018

Ben Vee’s Roadhouse Blues Christmas 3-5 pm EST Dec 20, 2018

Come join us at http://www.bluesmusicfan.com from 3-5 pm EST today as I do the Roadhouse Blues Christmas Style!  Hope you get a chance to tune in…but if not…..have a damn fine Christmas in any case!

Here’s the intended playlist….

ARTIST TITLE
Widow Blue Pow Wow Blues
Mindi Abair And The Boneshakers I Can’t Wait For Christmas
Joe Bonamassa Christmas Boogie (One Little Kiss)
Coco Montoya Bluesman’s Christmas
C.J. Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band Zydeco Christmas
Shemekia Copeland Stay A Little Longer, Santa
Warren Haynes Everyday Will Be Like A Holiday
Joe Louis Walker Christmas Comes but Once a Year
Dave Hole Fattening Up The Turkey
Kara Grainger Man With Soul
Melissa Etheridge Merry Christmas Baby (Album Version)
Joe Bonamassa King Bee Shakedown
The Black Tongued Bells Kingbee Jam
Tinsley Ellis Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’
Eva Cassidy Take Me to the River
Mark Knopfler Just A Boy Away From Home
Freddie King Woman Across The River
Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials Christmas Time
Lynyrd Skynyrd Santa’s Messin’ With The Kid
Margit Bakkens Please Come Home For Christmas
Rachelle Coba High and Dry
Steve Cropper Let’s Make Christmas Merry, Baby
Kara Grainger Working My Way Back Home
Saverio Maccne The Only Thing I’ve Got
Joe Bonamassa Merry Christmas Baby
Lonnie Brooks Christmas On The Bayou
B.B. King Christmas Comes But Once A Year

Joe Bonamassa – Redemption

Joe B 1.jpg

From Joe B.’s fan art work!

 

The synthesis of the electric blues, British blues, delta blues, and progressive and classic rock, Joe Bonamassa merges them all  on his new album Redemption to create an  inspiring anthem to the roadhouse blues.  Since his first solo album in 2000, Joe has been building a loyal following among blues rockers, blues fans, and old time classic rockers yearning for a sound that has largely disappeared from main stream broadcasting.  All of them should be thrilled to listen to his latest recording.

Joe is certainly one of the finest electric guitar players on the planet, has a fantastic voice, and is under rated as a song writer. On Redemption, he showcases all three elements of his talent.  The Ghost of Macon Jones is a blues rock ballad with guitar work that hints at Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers Band and has haunting synthesizer and keyboard play by band member Reese Wynans.  On Molly O, Joe creates a rock masterpiece on par with Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir.  Anton Fig on drums and Michael Rhodes on bass provide an insistent beat as Joe takes his guitar to places only the very best can go. On the title cut, Redemption, the delta and gospel blues merge with Led Zeppelin and Black Country Communion influences to create a fantastic rock paean.  Deep in the Blues is a notable song with that same ethereal quality that Eric Clapton has always brought to his music.

On King Bee Shakedown and Evil Mama,  Joe finds that sweet spot between the blues and rock I call the roadhouse blues on upbeat horns infused tunes. On I Got Some Mind Over What Matters, Joe channels a bit of Muddy Waters on a sweet delta electric blues tune.

When Joe was a youngster, B.B. King invited him on stage to give the audience a glimpse of his talent and on Just Cos You Can Don’t Mean You Should Joe displays some of the same mastery of the electric guitar that the King of the Blues saw almost 30 years ago.

Joe B Redemption

Love is a Gamble is some bad ass grindin’ blues in the mold of Albert King, Freddie King, and Luther Allison.  Pick Up The Pieces is a down home New Orleans style blues tune with echoes of Dr. John in the rhythms and lyrics. And Stronger Now in Broken Places is a heart tugging acoustic number that highlights Joe’s stellar voice.

Over the years, Joe has recorded several songs that seem directed right at me, a laser pointed straight at my heart. Self Inflicted Wounds joins the songs Drive, Different Shades of Blue, and Driving Towards The Daylight from previous albums as soul searching epics that I will never forget.  On an album filled with great songs, it is my favorite.

Joe has earned the admiration and accolades from  music critics and reviewers like myself since the release of his third album, Blues Deluxe, back in 2003. It is my fervent hope that this album finally takes Joe into the main stream for contemporary rock audience downloads; the final piece in the puzzle. The mainstream contemporary rock genre has been decimated over the years; Joe and his music are the path back!  Redemption is an interesting and intense synergy of the blues and rock and worthy of comparisons with the works of B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Led Zeppelin, and Eric Clapton. He has internalized influences from some of the greatest and with Redemption makes the statement that he represents the best of all of them: a blues man, a blues rocker, a rock guitar virtuoso, and, in my opinion, the best roadhouse blues man alive today.

Joe Bonamassa – Redemption (2018 J&R Adventures)

 

P.S. You can listen to Joe and enjoy many more roadhouse blues artists on my 24 hour blues stream at Ben Vee Roadhouse Blues !

 

Ray Bonneville – Roots Blues at its Best on “At King Electric”

Ray Bonneville

Around the smokey campfire of the roots blues you find drifters and story tellers huddled close together on a cold night drinkin’ whiskey from the bottle or at best with a paper cup and regaling each other with songs and tales of mistaken choices and loves lost; Ray Wylie Hubbard and Bob Dylan come to mind.  Ray Bonneville belongs there too.  Born in Canada, he grew up in Boston, served in the United States Marine Corps in Vietnam, worked as cab driver back in Boston, and then set out on the road in the seventies playin’ small clubs all across North America.  He was good enough as a musician and singer to appear on stage as the opening act for Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and Dr. John. Like Dylan, he can be a one man band with his guitar, harmonica, and a rhythmic tappin’ foot.

Over the years, Ray has released eight albums and several have won him awards and critical acclaim.  His latest, At King Electric,  was recorded in Austin, the natural home of the roots blues.  It is blues at its dark loneliest Americana roots with songs of addiction, Codeine, and eternal drifting, Forever Gone.  The tune, Make a Hole In You, will indeed cut you to the core and South of the Blues takes you to a place where the downtrodden and forlorn can lose themselves.

ray bonneville portrait

Ray is a fantastic songwriter and the imagery he invokes will probe deep into your soul. And the music is just……well …I encourage you download the album for yourself and find out.  Few albums I have heard over the last several years have grabbed me like this one.  From the deepest darkest places the blues can go, Ray has lifted up haunting portraits of misfortune, desolation, and emptiness that accompany all of us at one time or another on our lifetime journey….they are beautiful works of art and worthy of your time and attention.

Ray Bonneville – At King Electric (2018 Stonefly Records)

A Fierce Shot of the Rockin’ Blues – Sean Chambers

Sean Chambers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With a great roadhouse blues voice tinged with the spirit of Johnny Winter and a  guitar style reminiscent of both Gary Moore and Alvin Lee, Sean Chambers is my first nominee for rockin’ blues artist of 2017.  His new album, Trouble & Whiskey, is an intense display of virtuoso guitar work and inspired vocals.  He does a great job of covering B.B. King’s “Be Careful with a Fool” and absolutely tears up Canned Heat’s “Bullfrog Blues“.  And “Cut off my Right Arm” features some bad ass guitar licks.  “Gonna Groove” is funked up blues perfect for dancin’ to on a Saturday night at your favorite juke joint.  “I Need Your Lovin‘” is just incredible blues rock and “Sweeter Than a Honey Bee” is some fine swamp blues..appropriate for this Florida based artist.

Sean truly shines on the grindin blues title cut, “Trouble and Whiskey” and the sultry blues rocker “Handyman” (with Jimmy Bennett).  And I absolutely loved the instrumental “Travelin’ North” featuring New Jersey’s bad ass John Ginty on keyboards. The slidin blues cut “Bottle Keeps Staring at Me” conjured visions of Johnny Winter and is sure to be a hit.

I seldom recommend every song on a CD but this is a pleasant exception. (My second in a row!) His talent should come as no surprise since he honed his skills playing with the great Hubert Sumlin starting back in 1998 and he has been payin his dues ever since…hopefully it will now pay off in a big way!  This is my first exposure to Sean and I intend to go back and listen to some of his other albums including “The Rock House Sessions” which was produced by Reese Wynans.

Sean will be touring the rest of June in Florida and then wander up to Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts in July!  I can only hope he will add a date in Connecticut so that I can get a shot of his bad ass rockin’ blues live!

Sean Chambers = Trouble and Whiskey (2017 American Showplace Music label)

https://www.facebook.com/seanchambersmusic/

B.B. King – The Best of the Bluesman

I have had a couple of people ask me for album recommendations for B.B. King.  From a discography of over 40 studio albums and a dozen or so live recordings, I think these 5 are quality representatives of a lifetime of recording:

  • Completely Well (1969) ABC Records
  • Live in Cook County Jail (1971) Geffen Records
  • Blues on the Bayou (1998) Geffen Records
  • Riding with the King (with Eric Clapton) (2000) Reprise Records
  • One Kind Favor (2008) Geffen Records

And now for some of the best B.B. King single tunes:

  • Three O’ Clock Blues (1991 Remaster)
  • The Thrill is Gone (1969)
  • When Love Comes to Town (with U2) (1988)
  • Why I Sing the Blues (1992)
  • Lucille (1968)

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.  And if you have a set of five favorites, just a leave a comment!

A Toast to B.B. King

When a bluesman passes, we mourn for just a bit and then celebrate their lives with song, the clinking of glasses, and the telling of stories amongst friends.

I first saw B.B. King at the age of sixteen back in 1969.  I attended a Johnny Winters concert and BB was the opening act.  I had no idea of who he was.  Dressed in a white shirt and black tie, he and his band came up on stage to the murmurs of the teenage crowd.  “Who is this dude?”  Once he started playing, the audience sat in stunned silence as BB began to make love to Lucille. It was an electrifying performance and by the third or fourth song, everyone was on their feet. I will never forget that night; I was introduced to the blues by the King himself!

The traveling bard telling stories and singing songs is one of the oldest art forms known to man.  B.B. told the story of the blues in concert a reported 15,000 times in his career. He rose from humble roots in the cotton fields in Mississippi and spread the music of the blues literally across the globe. And his legacy of songs will be sung long after we return to the dust from whence we came. If you have a story about B.B., share the memory with family and friends and us……

Rest in peace Riley King!  I count it a blessing to have lived during the era of the King of the Blues, though I wish you could have stayed just a little longer.