Before moving into 2011, I wanted to address a pair of albums that I couldn't work into any columns late last year, when they were actually released. On the surface, relative newcomer Eden Brent's Ain't Got No Troubles and veteran Paul Oscher's Bet on the Blues couldn't be more different: Oscher is the down-home blues purist, while Brent blends and weaves the form into music that is bluesy, but not necessarily blues. But both are… more »
"My brain is always ticking, my brain," Mose Allison sings to the tune of "This Train," kicking off 2010's The Way of the World. That brain's always been fully engaged in his process, but now that he's in his early 80s, you could forgive him the boast. Since he started singing, he's had a way with a wryly observational lyric, married to an equally breezy, bluesy tune. The Way of the World is typical Mose,… more »
Technically, I suppose, you can divide Muddy Waters'recording career neatly into three "phases": the 1941-2, acoustic field recordings for Alan Lomax of the Library of Congress, his 1947-75 run with Chess Records and the Blue Sky albums produced by Johnny Winter beginning in 1977 and ending well before Muddy's 1983 death. Of course, that still leaves holes in his discography - such as the four 1946 tracks Muddy cut for Columbia before signing with Chess,… more »
Nick Moss learned his Chicago blues the right way - through apprenticeships. He was barely out of his teens when he took over the bass slot in Jimmy Dawkins 'band in 1993, and from there he joined the Legendary Blues Band, which had originally been staffed by Muddy Waters vets and still boasted Willie "Big Eyes" Smith on drums and Pinetop Perkins on piano. Bandleader Smith switched him to guitar, and Moss made his recording… more »
After a string of mediocre albums throughout most of the 1970s, Muddy Waters hooked up with Johnny Winter for 1977′s Hard Again, a startling comeback and a gritty demonstration of the master’s powers. Fronting a band that includes such luminaries as James Cotton and “Pine Top” Perkins, Waters is not only at the top of his game, but is having the time of his life while he’s at it. The bits of studio chatter that close “Mannish Boy” and open “Bus Driver” show him to be relaxed and obviously excited about the proceedings. Part of this has to be because the record sounds so good. Winter has gone for an extremely bare production style, clearly aiming to capture Waters in conversation with a band in what sounds like a single studio room. This means that sometimes the songs threaten to explode in chaos as two or three musicians begin soloing simultaneously. Such messiness is actually perfect in keeping with the raw nature of this music; you simply couldn’t have it any other way. There is something so incredibly gratifying about hearing Waters shout out for different soloists, about the band missing hits or messing with the tempos. Hey this isn’t pop music, it’s the blues, and a little dirt never hurt anybody. The unsung star of this session is drummer Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, whose deep grooves make this record come alive. The five-minute, one-chord “Mannish Boy” wouldn’t be nearly as compelling as it is if it weren’t for Smith’s colossal pocket. Great blues from one of the dominant voices of the genre. – Daniel Gioffre
