Live in ’67 — Volume Two
Forty Below Records
By Randy Murphy

Last summer, I reviewed John Mayall’s new album chronicling a series of live dates in various London clubs during the spring of 1967. Now, Mayall and his pals at Forty Below Records have released, on honest-to-goodness vinyl no less, the next volume of these remarkable recordings.

To review how these historical performances came to light: Tom Huissen, a 16-year-old Dutch blues devotee, shadowed Mayall and this particular edition of The Bluesbreakers — Mayall on organ and vocals, John McVie on bass, Peter Green on guitar and vocals, and Mick Fleetwood on drums (and in this album, R&B singer Ronnie Jones sitting in on “Double Trouble”), around London during April and May of 1967 while toting his single-channel, reel-to-reel tape deck. Thankfully, Huissen captured on these priceless tapes a small taste of the nascent blues scene of mid-sixties Britain.

Just as the first release, these recordings are not close to high-fidelity, though to my ears this second volume on vinyl sounds a bit warmer than the first volume on CD — besides, listening to this music on a turntable, well, just feels right.

The performances Huissen captured here are invigorating and potent. While there’re no clunkers in the batch, there are a couple of soul-stirring highlights. The first cut, Mayall’s “Tears In My Eyes” showcases Peter Green’s ability to shift his guitar playing flawlessly from soulful into combustible in just a few short bars. “Greeny” a full-tilt, straight-ahead boogie number is another highlight, as is John McVie’s bass solo on “Chicago Line.”

But again, the whole album is terrific and it’s difficult to single out one or two tracks for recognition. It would also be quite difficult to underestimate the value of these recordings, and the only thing that overshadows their historical importance and cultural legacy is their musicality. Besides, how can blues tunes recorded in London’s Marquee Club or the Ram Jam in 1967 possibly go wrong?

So, my advice is to buy these albums, spend a few pleasant days listening to them, and then go see Mayall live at the Aladdin on November 7.

1:13:08

Tears In My Eyes / Your Funeral And My Trial / So Many Roads / Bye Bye Bird / Please Don’t Tell / Sweet Little Angel / Talk To your Daughter / Bad Boy / Stormy Monday / Greeny / Ridin’ On The L&N / Chicago Line / Double Trouble.

 

Introducing John Blues Boyd: The Real Deal
Little Village Foundation

If you listen to just one new artist this year, you should direct your attention to John Blues Boyd. At the age of 71 he has released his debut disc with the urging and guidance of the Little Village Foundation.  Boyd claims that he always had a feeling for the blues, but life had to come first, making ends meet to cover his expenses. It wasn’t until his wife of 49 years, Dona Mae, passed away in 2014 after an extended illness, that Boyd was finally able to look into the blues — not only as a means of coping with his loss, but as a profession.

The album, appropriately titled Introducing John Blues Boyd: The Real Deal, was recorded in Kid Andersen’s Greaseland Studios in San Jose. There is a lot of autobiography behind the songs presented here. The album opens with a bit of retrospective on Boyd’s life, “I Am The Real Deal,” and the closing piece “John, The Blues Is Calling You” brings the events of his life up to date. The love for his wife and her suffering is documented in three tunes, “I’m So Weak Right Now,” “When Your Eyes Met Mine” and “Screaming In The Night.” A fourth number, written by Kid Andersen and Rick Estrin, is yet another tribute to her, titled “Dona Mae.” Of the songs included on the album, all but three were penned by Boyd. The only exceptions (aside from the already mentioned “Dona Mae”) were written by Rick Estrin, including an outstanding take on Estrin’s humorous “That’s Big!”

Every track on the album is pure blues that resonates with every note. The Real Deal is just that; blues played at its absolute best in traditional electric Chicago or Delta fashion. And having spent a great deal of his life living in Mississippi, the exposure was there. Not to mention his cousin was the late legendary bluesman Eddie Boyd.

Being released by Little Village Foundation, Boyd was accompanied in the studio by a gathering of the talented musicians that have become go-to artists for the group. They include such well-known blues greats as label leader Jim Pugh, Rick Estrin, Kid Andersen, Aki Kumar, Big Jon Atkinson, June Core, Terry Hanck, D’Mar Martin, Frankie Ramos, and Robert Welsh to name just a handful. Bringing John Blues Boyd into the studio is another prime example of the label’s drive to bring lesser known or overlooked musicians to the forefront. And we should all be happy that John Blues Boyd now has music that we can all hear! And from the sounds of it, we should be hearing a great deal more from this new 71-year-old artist as he has claimed in a recent article that he has already recorded 52 songs and has another 60 ready to lay down. This is without doubt, one of the best blues releases of the year! And though the term has been overused, mostly for people undeserving, John Blues Boyd truly is “The Real Deal.”

Total Time: 45:33

I Am The Real Deal / You Will Discover / I’m Like A Stranger To You / That’s Big! / The Smoking Pig / That Certain Boy / Dona Mae / I’m So Weak Right Now / When Your Eyes Met Mine / Screaming In The Night / (Have You Ever Been To) Marvin Gardens / Be Careful With Your Love / John, The Blues Is Calling You

Blues Immigrant
Tongue ‘N Groove Records

Chicago-based harmonica ace Matthew Skoller is back with his fifth release. It’s fitting for a musician who has been laying down some of the sharpest harp music in The Windy City for nearly three decades, working alongside the city’s greats like Junior Wells, Lurrie Bell, John Primer, Koko Taylor, The Kinsey Report, that he has brought many of his best friends with him to create a masterful recording, Blues Immigrant, including guitarists Carlos Johnson and Eddie Taylor Jr. and keyboard professor Johnny Iguana.

Skoller is not afraid to address social issues in his music, something that has never been far from most blues music since the genre first took roots well over one hundred years ago. He sadly talks about the disappearance of the mom and pop businesses that made this country great in the number “Big Box Store Blues.” And he tackles how corporate greed is over-powering consumerism and life in general with “Story Of Greed.” The title track, “Blues Immigrant,” offers an autobiographical account of Skoller’s life beginning with his grandparents arrival in the country in 1922. But sometimes he thinks that regardless of just how much history has gone by and the troubles he’s seen, he still feels that he needs a green card to reside — has he paid enough dues, or does he need a green card to play the blues?

A welcome addition to the album is Skoller performing the Blues Music Award nominated song that he wrote for Lurrie Bell, “The Devil Ain’t Got No Music.” His presentation is sleek and filled with his signature vocals and burning harmonica.

Most of the tunes on the disc were written as part of Skoller’s songwriting partnership with Vincent Bucher, who also co-produced the album. But there are some great cover tracks included, too. Among those is a terrific take on Haskell “Cool Papa” Sadler’s “747,” perhaps best known by Joe Louis Walker’s version of the song. Luther “Snake Boy” Johnson’s “Get Down To The Nitty Gritty” and Papa Lightfoot’s classic instrumental “Blue Lights” both shine highly.

Skoller truly strikes home with his satirical piece “Only In The Blues.” It’s a sad vision, but quite true. Where but the blues can you find “His girlfriend is his manager / His brother books the gigs / Ex ol’ lady does the website / And supports his only kid / Thinks it’s only temporary / And he calls ‘payin’ dues’ / It’s a funky situation found only in the blues.” Or how about the performer being called the real deal and legend who out-sells BB King and Buddy Guy, despite the face that he’s only nine years old. Come to think about, this probably is more factual than satire.

Matthew Skoller continues to prove with every release he puts out and every performance he plays, he is one of Chicago’s true modern masters of the blues. And yes he has paid his dues. This is exactly the type of music you expect to hear when you think about Chicago blues. And it is amongst the very best to be found!

Total Time: 43:10

Big Box Store Blues / The Devil Ain’t Got No Music / Blues Immigrant / Only In The Blues / Tear Collector / Story Of Greed / 747 / Organ Mouth / My Get It Done Woman / Get Down To The Nitty Gritty / Blue Lights

 

Been There Done That
McKenna Records

Barbara Healy has long been one of the finest vocalists in the lower Willamette Valley whose talent is reflected in her amazing, passionate songwriting and performances. Since the 1980s she has been delivering smoking hot music filled with heartfelt soul in bands such as The Allnighterz, The I-5 Nine and her current outfit Groove Too. Her latest release, Been There Done That, is her sixth recording overall, the second with Groove Too, and it is filled with her own personal experiences.

All of the material on Been There Done That is original with the exception of the closing take on Big Jay McNeely’s classic “There Is Something On Your Mind.” Healy shares songwriting duties throughout with bandmates guitarist Gerry Rempel and keyboardist Gus Russell, and the band consists of bass player Scoop McGuire, drummers Brian West and Alex Huber, and “The Treacherous Horns” featuring Dave Bender on trumpet and flugelhorn, and Tony Johnson on sax. All musicians provide over the top performances and very tasteful solos throughout the entire recording.

The album opens up with a moody, slow burning number, “Struck By The Blues,” with all of the members taking nice showcase runs behind Healy’s precise vocal delivery. Rempel especially puts forth some sizzle on his guitar strings on this one. That is followed up with a bit of humor as Healy tells her pursuer to “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is,” because buddy if you’re not going to deliver on what you claim to make her feel good, just stay out of her neighborhood. On “I Close My Eyes” there is so much going on in today’s world that she would like to close it all out of her mind. “Rumba Of The Heart” has a Latin percussive flow with a little New Orleans piano flavor, and another burning guitar solo. “Shake It Up” has a terrific Memphis R&B feel and may show Healy’s magnificent voice at its very best making it a stand out track among a disc full of winners. The final original “Four Alarm Fire” is introduced with some seriously punchy horn work that brings the song on strongly and the pace is fitting of its title and makes you want to snap your fingers right in time.

Been There Done That is a very pleasing collection of bluesy-soulful fun. There is a reason why Barbara Healy has stood tall within the Eugene and Oregon, blues scenes for four decades. When you have talent like this, material like the songs gathered here, plus an assembly of fantastic musicians, you have the formula for not only longevity, but for first-class releases as seen here.

Total Time: 37:04

Struck By The Blues / Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is / I Close My Eyes / Rumba Of The Heart / Shake It Up / Four Alarm Fire / There Is Something On Your Mind

 

Devestatin’ Rhythm
Ark-O-Matic

Even if David Vest were not the articulate songwriter that he is, his piano playing would still be able to tell stories that’d capture your attention. His expressive boogie style just has a way of its own to speak of the greatest tall tales you may have ever heard, but everything he offers on those keys ring true and deliberate. And it makes you envision images of everyday life or perhaps images you really don’t want to see in reality, but they’re out there.

Vest is a three-time Maple Award (Canada’s own Blues Music Awards) winner for piano player of the year. He is joined once again by The Willing Victims, and a couple of “Special Victims,” too. They have worked with Vest on his previous two recordings since the pianist relocated from Portland to British Columbia, and they are among some of the most highly-regarded blues artists in Canada: Teddy Leonard on guitar from the band Fathead, and Maple Award-winning bass player Gary Kendall and drummer Mike Fitzpatrick, both who have worked countless years with Downchild Blues Band. The Special Victims Unit are Pete Carey on sax and Howard Moore on trumpet. Their horns add an extra spunk to many of the tracks on this album.

“West Coast Saturday Night,” written by the band as a whole, opens the disc with a nice New Orleans approach featuring sharp guitar work by Leonard. That flows into the shuffle of “Stop This Madness” as Vest reflects on current world situations. The boogie is laid all out on “Kingsnake” as he states that music has been said to be a young man’s game, but that’s all right with him as he’s not playing a game. And he’s not joking! He takes a moment to remember a number of blues greats who have moved on to the afterlife, but despite their absence “The Blues Live On.” The only non-original track on Devestatin’ Rhythm is the cover of Leon Payne’s “Lost Highway,” best known as sung by Hank Williams. The country feel is delivered perfectly on this track between Vest’s piano and Leonard’s slide guitar.

Devestatin’ Rhythm continues the remarkable work that David Vest has been enchanting audiences with for nearly six decades. Without doubt he’s going to keep that piano’s keys primed and pumping with the best boogie delivery of its kind anywhere as long as he’s got breath to breathe. He’s no throw-back, he’s bona fide pianist who’s lived the life and still carries the tradition on. And his lyrics are going to make you smile, or maybe just make you think a little deeper on some subjects that we may experience today.

Total time: 40:08

West Coast Saturday Night / Stop This Madness / Staring Down The Barrel Of The Blues / Kingsnake / We’re All Sharecroppers Now / The Blues Live On / Biscuit Rollin’ Baby / Lost Highway / Come Back To Bed / Red Dirt Remedy