16-02-2019 BLUES:MiX # 33 blues(y) songs from the BLUES circle 1983-1993

16-02-2019 BLUES:MiX # 33 blues(y) songs from the BLUES circle 1983-1993 # Jimmy Johnson, Mike Bloomfield, James Sparky Rucker, Cash McCall, Eddie Cleanhead Vinson, American Folk Blues Festival, Lonnie Brooks, Jimmy Carl Black and the Mannish Boys, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Tinsley Ellis, The Jeff Healey Band, Johnny Winter, Joanna Connor, Robert Cray

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1983-1993

Chicago guitarist Jimmy Johnson didn't release his first full domestic album until he was 50 years old. He's determinedly made up for lost time ever since, establishing himself as one of the Windy City's premier blues artists with a twisting, unpredictable guitar style and a soaring, soul-dripping vocal delivery that stand out from the pack.

Jimmy Johnson 

Chicken Heads (Bobby Rush, Calvin Carter) 4:01

Heap See (Jimmy Johnson) 4:19

from Heap See / [Rec. Paris 1983] (1999)

Guitar, Vocals – Jimmy Johnson

Bass – Larry Exum

Drums – Fred Grady

Piano – Jene Pickett

Brilliant 1960s blues-rock guitarist who made history with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Bob Dylan. 

Mike Bloomfield 

Hully Gully (Cliff Goldsmith) 4:01

Women Lovin' Each Other (Michael Bloomfield) 4:43

from American Hero 1984

The celebrated blues guitarist Mike Bloomfield performs a variety of blues, R&B, and ragtime classics... He's accompanied by the pianist Mark Naftalin and a skilful rhythm section, and though singing was never his strong point, his consummate guitar playing carries him through.

James Sparky Rucker  - Walkin' Blues 3:45

Cash McCall - I Can't Quit You Baby 6:21

Eddie Cleanhead Vinson - Hold It Right There 4:51

from American Folk Blues Festival 1985

American Folk Blues Festival

The American Folk Blues Festival was a music festival that toured Europe as an annual event for several years beginning in 1962. It introduced audiences in Europe, including the UK, to leading blues performers of the day such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker and Sonny Boy Williamson, most of whom had never previously performed outside the US. The tours attracted substantial media coverage, including TV shows, and contributed to the growth of the audience for blues music in Europe.

Having forged a unique Louisiana/Chicago blues synthesis unlike anyone else's on the competitive Windy City scene, charismatic guitarist Lonnie Brooks long reigned as one of the town's top bluesmen. A masterful showman, the good-natured Brooks put on a show equal to his recordings (and that's saying a lot, considering there are four-plus decades of wax to choose from).

Lonnie Brooks 

Got Lucky Last Night (Lonnie Brooks) 2:59

Skid Row 5:25

from Wound Up Tight 1986

More energetic efforts with a decidedly rocked-up edge. Johnny Winter, long an ardent admirer of Brooks back to the Guitar Junior days, drops by with a passel of fiery guitar licks for the title track and "Got Lucky Last Night."

Jimmy Carl Black was an unusual figure in American rock music, as he achieved lasting fame primarily for a single ad-libbed line on the third album by the Mothers of Invention: "Hi boys and girls, I'm Jimmy Carl Black and I'm the Indian of the group."

Jimmy Carl Black and the Mannish Boys 

Big Leg Emma (Frank Zappa) 3:25

Cut That Out (Junior Wells) 2:18

Let's Talk about Us (Otis Blackwell)

from A lil' dab'l do ya 1987

Although famous for his avant-garde work with Zappa, he was really more of a roots musician and worked extensively in blues, Tex-Mex, and country-rock. He came from a generation of musicians for whom working in a rock & roll band meant playing for strippers, four or five sets per night with more than one version of "Wooly Bully."

Throughout the '60s, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers acted as a finishing school for the leading British blues-rock musicians of the era. Guitarists Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor joined his band in a remarkable succession in the mid-'60s, honing their chops with Mayall before going on to join Cream, Fleetwood Mac, and the Rolling Stones, respectively. John McVie and Mick Fleetwood, Jack Bruce, Aynsley Dunbar, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Andy Fraser (of Free), John Almond, and Jon Mark also played and recorded with the band for varying lengths of times in the '60s.

John Mayall's Bluesbreakers
Chicago Line (John Mayall) 4:57
Dream About the Blues (John Mayall) 5:59
Cold Blooded Mama (Blind Boy Fuller / John Mayall)) 5:05
from Chicago Line 1988
John Mayall's first new studio album to be released in the U.S. in more than a decade shows that his current crop of Bluesbreakers -- Coco Montoya, Walter Trout, Bobby Haynes, and Joe Yuele -- who have been together longer than any previous outfit, play like a seasoned blues band, sparking each other (especially guitarists Montoya and Trout), and never falling into complacency. Mayall presides over the music without dominating it, which makes The Bluesbreakers more of a group than they've been since the '60s.
1981–2008: The band reforms

A hard-rocking, high-voltage blues guitarist most often compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tinsley Ellis is hardly one of the legions of imitators that comparison might imply. Schooled in a variety of Southern musical styles, Ellis draws not only from fiery Vaughan-style blues-rock, but also Texas bluesmen like Freddie King and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, the soulful blues of B.B. King, the funky grit of Memphis soul, and numerous other electric bluesmen. Ellis has been praised in many quarters for the relentless, storming intensity of his sound, and criticized in others for his relative lack of pacing and dynamic contrast (he's also been dubbed a much stronger guitarist than vocalist). Yet no matter which side of the fence one falls on, it's generally acknowledged that Ellis remains a formidable instrumentalist and a genuine student of the blues.
Tinsley Ellis
Can't You Lie (Tinsley Ellis) 3:41
Crime of Passion 3:54
Free Man 3:57
from Georgia Blue 1989
Like most of Tinsley Ellis' albums, Georgia Blue is filled with hot, blistering guitar, mediocre songs and flat vocals. For fans of blues guitar, there's plenty to hear on the album -- the licks and solos burn with a wild, uncontrolled fury...

Blind blues-rock guitarist and singer who developed a unique lap-held style of playing. What made Jeff Healey different from other blues-rockers was also what kept some listeners from accepting him as anything other than a novelty: the fact that the blind guitarist played his Fender Stratocaster on his lap, not standing up. With the guitar in his lap, Healey could make unique bends and hammer-ons, making his licks different and more elastic than most of the competition. Unfortunately, his material leaned toward standard AOR blues-rock, which rarely let him cut loose, but when he did, his instrumental prowess could be shocking.
The Jeff Healey Band
Full Circle (Jeff Healey / Joe Rockman / Tom Stephen) 4:13
I Think I Love You Too Much (Mark Knopfler) 6:27
Hell to Pay (Jeff Healey / Joe Rockman / Tom Stephen) 3:54
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (George Harrison) 5:15
from Hell To Pay 1990
...Background info: This the band's second album and in my opinon their best. After their moderatly succesful album See The Light the band spent a whole year writing for this album and it shows once you actually heard it.
Best Parts
Obviously the guitar playing drives the album. Jeff's voice is very good and it perfect for the overall sound of the album. Though not paid attention to as much as the guitar the bass and drums do a great job and it can be heard between poweful guitar fills and solos in the more bluesy songs.
Worst parts
There is little not to like about this album. I guess the only bad part is Jeff's Mullet on the front cover...
Overall: This is a great album. A few sort of boring yet still good and solid songs near the end but many power tracks and brilliant guitar work.

An exceptionally talented blues and slide guitarist, beginning in the 1960s and stretching into the 21st century. When Johnny Winter emerged on the national scene in 1969, the hope, particularly in the record business, was that he would become a superstar on the scale of Jimi Hendrix, another blues-based rock guitarist and singer who preceded him by a few years. That never quite happened, but Winter did survive the high expectations of his early admirers to become a mature, respected blues musician with a strong sense of tradition.
Johnny Winter
Illustrated Man (Mary-Ann Brandon / Fred James) 3:40
Let Me In (Bo Diddley / Johnny Winter) 4:13
If You Got a Good Woman (Johnny Winter) 4:24
from Let Me In 1991
Let Me In is a star-studded all-blues set from Johnny Winter, featuring cameos from Dr. John, Albert Collins, and several others. Though the set focuses on blues material, Winters can never leave his rock roots behind -- the sheer volume and pile-driving energy of his performances ensures that. For most of the record, his enthusiasm is contagious, but there are a couple of bland, generic exercises that fail to work up a head of steam...

What sets Joanna Connor apart from the rest of the pack of guitar-playing female blues singers is her skill on the instrument. Even though Connor has become an accomplished singer over time, her first love was guitar playing, and it shows in her live shows and on her recordings.
Joanna Connor
Walking Blues (Robert Johnson) 4:22
Fight (Luther Allison) 3:56
from Fight 1992
To date, Joanna Connor's studio work has not lived up the live-wire energy of her personal performances. Fight takes a major step toward setting this right. This stuff wails, especially Robert Johnson's "Walking Blues" which Connor reinvents courtesy of some stinging slidework. While Connor's lack of dependence on cover material rates bonus points, not all her songs are memorable -- even if the guitar playing is.

The guitarist who brought blues back to the charts in the '80s via songs that defined blues themes but added modern and personal twists. 
Robert Cray
1040 Blues (Robert Cray) 5:03
I Shiver (Robert Cray) 5:08
from Shame + A Sin 1993
This time, Cray veered back toward the blues (most convincingly, too), even covering Albert King's "You're Gonna Need Me" and bemoaning paying taxes on the humorous "1040 Blues." Unlike his previous efforts, Cray produced this one himself. Also, longtime bassist Richard Cousins was history, replaced by Karl Sevareid.