Page 50 - BiTS_05_MAY_2024_Neat

Sue Foley—One Guitar Woman—Stony Plain ASIN :
B0CSV52NJS

On this album Sue Foley puts down her beloved pink paisley
Telecaster and instead plays an acoustic Mexican Flamenco
Negra guitar to pay tribute to pioneer women guitar players such
as Memphis Minnie, Elizabeth Cotten and Maybelle Carter. We
begin with Cotten’s beautiful, melodic ‘Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie’,
then it’s the Memphis Minnie (real name Lizzie Douglas) song
‘In My Girlish Days’, a haunting version with great vocals and
guitar from Sue. ‘Lonesome Homesick Blues’ is a Carter family
song where Sue replicates Maybelle’s ‘scratch’ guitar technique
while singing the song solo rather than having the originals’ three-part harmony. ‘Mal Hombre’
is the signature song of ‘Tejano’ singer Lydia Mendoza (a big favourite of Linda Ronstadt) which
Sue sings in both Spanish and English and ‘Motherless Child Blues’ is a blues by another Texan
singer Elvie Thomas with Sue’s version being lighter and more melodic.

‘My Journey to the Sky’ is a celebration of another great woman guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe
with Sue’s take being slower and gentler and ‘Nothing in Rambling’ brings us back to Memphis
Minnie. The next song ‘Maybelle’s Guitar’ is different, it’s an original by Sue paying tribute to
Maybelle Carter’s guitar playing but ‘Freight Train’ is the famous Elizabeth Cotton song and
this is a lovely finger-picked version, while ‘Last Kind Word Blues’ is a heart-breaking blues by
Mississippi’s Geeshie Willie, a singer/guitarist who isn’t as well-known as she should be.

We also get two instrumentals - the classical ‘Romance in A Minor’ by Paganini and recorded
by guitarist Sharon Isbin and also the atmospheric ‘La Malaguena’ by Cuban composer Ernesto
Lecuona popularised by Charo in the 1970s. I was really impressed by Sue’s solo acoustic
playing on this record (as well as her singing) and not just on the blues songs that we know
she can do but also the country and ethnic material. What’s more I think that going forward
she should definitely include some acoustic tracks on future recordings alongside her usual
electric blues.
Graham Harrison

Sean Riley and The Water Stone—Cold Hands—Pugnacious
ASIN : B0CQTKRGXJ

This is the debut album by New Orleans-based Sean Riley and
his band The Water (so-called because they have a fluid
membership (!), Riley sings and plays guitar, plus he wrote nine
of the album’s ten songs. The members of The Water here are
Phil Breen (organ), Bruce Barnes (accordion/harmonica),
Waylon Thibodeaux (fiddle), Dean Zucchero (bass) and Mike
Barras (drums), with Tiffany Pollack, Megan Harris Brunious &
Whitney Alouiscious Sanders (backing vocals). The album was
recorded at the Rhythm Shack Studio in New Orleans and
produced by Dean Zucchero, who according to Sean “achieved a
big budget sound on a working musician's budget!” The sound is quite original - a blend of
country blues, Cajun, blue grass and rockabilly all with that loping Crescent City vibe. ‘Dance
Me One More Time’ is an infectious, dance-y opener with slide guitar, accordion and backing
vocals and ‘Go Easy On Me’ is a delicate melodic song whose opening reminded me of Mississippi