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The Weekend Blues Band—Misunderstood—
Bad Monkey Records
The Weekend Blues Band are the new kids on the block to
the British Blues scene. They are the brainchild of Colin
Bennett and Colin Steele better known as Bennett & Steele;
the song writing team from Essex that have been writing
hits for other artists since the 1980’s. Now they have formed
their own band and released this brand new album, “Misun-
derstood”.

‘Blues On Mars’ is a guitar driven rocky blues whilst ‘Cosmic
Lounge Blues’ has a more gentle feel with a hint of Santana
in the guitar work. ‘Good Blood Turned Bad’ has a real
Whitesnake vibe to it and ‘Guilty Of Love’ is a rock based tune with a great hook. The title track
from the album, ‘Misunderstood’ is a minor blues with a more mellow feel and hints of Gary
Moore in there too.

The strong vocal line of ‘Monday Blues’ really cuts through whilst ‘Standing On Your Own’ is a
slow blues number. Another slow blues, ‘Swan On A Lake Of Burning Fire’ has its dramatic title
borne out as a slow burner which unfolds over seven minutes and there is a touch of some
lovely Hammond organ in there too. There is a driving beat to ‘The Road Less Travelled’ whilst
‘Too Nice To Rock’ is a riff based rock blues tune. There is a more familiar traditional twelve
bar blues format with ‘Wychcraft’.

The eleven self penned tunes are well written with lyrics that are more American in style and
the tunes are in a format that really suits the blues rock genre. The instrumentation is good
throughout with the back line of Billy ‘The Thump’ on bass and ‘Sticks’ Johnson on drums
keeping things tight if a little rigid. The keys from Johnny ‘Fingers’ really enhances the overall
sound in particular the Hammond sound. Colin Steele’s guitar work is both powerful and
driving if a little indulgent at times. The star of the show is undoubtedly ‘Storm’ Guthrie on
vocals who has such a great strong powerful voice that sounds not too dissimilar to the great
David Coverdale.

In fact there is an overall feel of Whitesnake about this band. If you think of the likes of bands
such as, Michael Schenker, Rainbow and Europe; that is the area where this band sits in the
world of blues rock. A fine debut album. Let’s see what Bennett & Steele conjure up next!

Ged Wilson

Nick Gravenites—Rogue Blues—M. C. Records

Nick Gravenites is a veteran of the Chicago blues scene.
Having been born in the Windy City he went on to form the
band Electric Flag with Mike Bloomfield in 1967. As a song-
writer Nick has penned many great blues tunes including
‘Born In Chicago’ the opening track for the Paul Butterfield
Blues Band debut album. These days at the grand old age of

85 Nick can no longer play guitar due to arthritis in his
hands but he can still sing and features as the lead vocalist
on his new album “Rogue Blues”.