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much ‘band tracks’ without extended guitar solos. If (like me) you’re a fan of Eric playing the
blues you’ll be very glad to have these tracks.

Graham Harrison

Bobby Rush—All My Love For You—Deep Rush ASIN :
B0C6WK6TQW

Bobby is 89 years old and grew up in rural Louisiana where as a
child he picked cotton on his family’s farm, living in a house with
no electricity or indoor plumbing – as detailed in his autobiogra-
phy ‘I Ain’t Studdin’ Ya: My American Blues Story’. He went on to
become the most popular entertainer on the southern Chitlin
Circuit and the most popular bluesman for black audiences with

his raunchy mix of blues and soul. This new album carries on in
that tradition with ten original songs and Bobby is backed up by
Dexter Allen (guitar, bass) and Joey Robinson (keyboards,
drums.) Opener ‘I’m Free’ is auto-biographical mid-paced funk with brass, while ‘Running in
and Out’ is more bluesy with Bobby playing nice harp, in fact sounding much like Howlin’ Wolf’s
‘How Many More Years’.

The brass is back for the raunchy ‘I Want You’ a great funky blues that quotes the Stones’ ‘Miss
You’ and ‘One Monkey Can Stop a Show’ and ‘TV Mama’ are both catchy songs with humorous
lyrics. In ‘I’m the One’ Bobby again provides auto-biographical details and he goes on to say “I’m
not like BB King, I’m not like Guitar Slim, not like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and all of them,
I’m the one who put the funk in the blues”. Bobby is in fine voice throughout here, he plays good
harp and the band sound great, many of his songs are very derivative although I guess many
people new to the blues won’t pick up on that but what he has in spades though is boundless
energy and a certain down-home charm.

Graham Harrison

Jimmy Regal and The Royals—First and Last Stop—Lunaria
Records ASIN : 0C7CTHF9B

I really liked their last CD 2020’s “Late Night Chicken” and then I
got to see them live at the Red Rooster Festival where they were
fantastic. This new album sees the trio of Joff Watkins (vocals,

harmonica, guitar), CJ Williams (guitars, bass) and Sammy Samu-
els (drums) augmented on the first track ‘New Flame’ with a
riffing brass section, with Watkins’ beefy harp echoing the brass
and more brass on the following funky ‘Ain’t Done Yet’. ‘Can’t
Keep from Losing You’ is a poignant country-ish song with Wil-
liams on lap steel and Tricia Cavies Nearne on backing vocals and
‘Do Whatever You Can’ is another downbeat song but the trance blues ‘Empty Streets’ picks up
the pace with slide guitar from Mr. Williams.

The brass - Tich Walker (trumpet), Al Nicholls (sax), Chris Rand (sax), George Simmonds
(trombone) - is back on ‘You Can’t Run’ with again Joff echoing them on harp and ‘Show Time’
is delicious Sarf’ London blues. The title track is African-inflected with Alan Hughes on djembe,
while ‘Mickey Two Suits’ is a driving instrumental with Toby Kinder on organ. The band return