PETER LEWIS - Just Like Jack [USA rock, blues, country 2017] SteadyBoy Records SB-0050

 

Despite his 55-year musical career – starting in 1963 with The Cornells and continuing with West Coast Legends Moby Grape – this is just his 2nd solo album (the other one being a self-titled album in 1995), released as CD in America (SteadyBoy Records) and LP in UK (Shagrat Records), somehow celebrating the 50 years anniversary from Moby Grape’s debut album, June ’67! Album consists of 10 songs “painted” by Peter’s 6 and 12 string lead guitars and his “attractive” haunting deep but warm baritone voice! The album was recorded in Austin, Texas over the past few years presenting a variety of rock styles from blues folk to country. Typical Moby Grape! Of course, the highlight of this LP is “Sailing”, a song written by Peter and his fellow bandmate Alexander ‘Skip’ Spence back in the day (“Oar” period). Peter worked on the song with Skip whilst he was still alive. He added a few parts and the result is a mind-blowing west coast psychedelic mid-tempo shimmering tune! The CD version comes with different artwork while “Valley Music Festival” is replaced with an exclusive track “Screwball”. It deserves to be placed next to “Moby Grape”, “Wow” and “Grape Jam”, and I am happy for it.

Peter

JOHNNY GUITAR WATSON - Untouchable! - The Classic 1959-1966 Recordings [USA r&b, blues, soul] 2007 Ace CDCHD 1180

 

Like many a journeyman bluesman, Johnny "Guitar" Watson led something of an itinerant recording life during much of his career, wandering from label to label in the 1950s and 1960s with just a little chart success. Untouchable! does a great service to collectors by assembling 27 tracks from 1959-1966, many of which, surprisingly, had not only never previously come out on CD, but had never been reissued in any form. While in general these are blues/R&B crossover sides, there's more variety than one might think, and though the hopping between styles makes it a little uneven, it makes for a better listen in one gulp than you might expect. There's some relatively straight blues, particularly in the earlier sides; there are rather more blends of blues/R&B with pop than many blues fans might realize exist, sometimes on covers of pop standards, and sometimes employing strings; and there are cuts, particularly in the mid-'60s selections, that verge on out-and-out soul. It's true that the three songs most likely to be familiar to general blues and rock fans are among the very best material here, those being "Looking Back," which was covered by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (with Peter Green on guitar); "Cuttin' In," a 1962 Top Ten R&B hit and one of Watson's most effective fusions of blues (with biting guitar) and orchestration; and "Gangster of Love," one of Watson's signature tunes (though this 1963 King single, fine as it is, is not his original version). But everything here is at least OK, and much of it is above average to excellent, even on some tracks where the influences of others like Clarence "Frogman" Henry, the Olympics, the Temptations, and Ray Charles are obvious. There might be a little less guitar pyrotechnics than some straight-ahead blues fans would like, and it's unfortunate that a few interesting cuts referred to in the liner notes from this period were not available for licensing. But overall it's a solid overview of a time when Watson was among the more interesting (and certainly overlooked) artists building bridges between the blues, R&B, and soul.

Watson

BO DIDDLEY, MUDDY WATERS & LITTLE WALTER - Super Blues [USA blues 1967] 1992 MCA MCD09168

 

In 1968, Chess Records' lesser known subsidiary Checker Records engaged in an interesting experiment. Perhaps inspired by similar blues supergroups such as Cream and Steampacket, or 1964's Two Great Guitars, which paired Bo Diddley recording alongside Chuck Berry, Checker brought together some of the best artists in their roster - Diddley, Muddy Waters, and Little Walter - to combine their talents into an album of hard-hitting, soulful Chicago Blues. The three bluesmen were brought together by legendary R&B producer Ralph Bass to record Super Blues, an informal jam session which featured a backing band of blues greats such as Buddy Guy on guitar, and Otis Spann on piano. Critics remain divided over the merits of Super Blues as an album, but most agree it occupies a remarkable place in history both as an experiment and as a shape of things to come. Recorded at a time when electric blues influence on the mainstream was at it s height, shades of Waters & Bo's future proto-funk experimentation can be heard throughout Super Blues' rough-at-the-seams, yet still loose and relaxed tracks. The main players sound as strong as ever, as impromptu vocals and humorous asides are tossed into off-kilter re-workings of classic tracks like Diddley's "I'm A Man", Waters' "I Just Want To Make Love To You", and Walter's "My Babe". A truly unique release to come from the ranks of Chess, Super Blues is a rare glimpse at three blues powerhouses from within the studio itself.

Super Blues