Page 42 - BiTS_07_JULY_2021
P. 42

The second half of the album is acoustic, with Muddy’s/Willie Dixon’s ‘I’m Ready’, ‘Hoochie Coochie
    Man’ and Big Joe Williams’ ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ all taken at a relaxed pace, which I quite liked.

    I’m sure that this was a useful project for the boys to keep their hands in while gigs have been
    cancelled but for me the stripped-down nature of the line-up just focussed the attention onto the
    harmonica and I'm afraid that it just wasn’t good enough.

    Graham Harrison

                                           Will Johns—Bluesdaddy—Galetone Records  ASIN:
                                           B091B8QYGS

                                           I hadn't heard of Brighton-based guitarist/singer Will Johns
                                           before but this is apparently his fourth CD and it marries the
                                           original title track with eleven blues classics such as ‘Hoochie
                                           Coochie Man’ and ‘Rolling and Tumbling’, as well as more
                                           modern songs like Peter Green's 'Oh Well'. Will is the son of
                                           record producer Andy Johns and this album was recorded in
                                           Brighton's Electric Studios with a rhythm section of Chris Gale
                                           (drums) and Richard Sadler (bass) but many of the songs like
                                           opener 'Everyday I Have the Blues' also feature excellent
                                           keyboards and brass to really fill out the sound.

    The trouble with playing such oft-covered songs as 'High Heel Sneakers' and 'Hoochie Coochie Man'
    is that the originals are so well known, I'm afraid that I didn't really think that Will's version added
    anything to Tommy Tucker's original but I did like his version of Muddy's 'Hoochie Coochie Man'
    which featured some blistering lead guitar and also muscular vocals. B.B. King's powerful slow
    blues 'Sweet Little Angel' is also handled nicely with Clapton-esque lead guitar and both Hammond

    organ and piano and there is also a poignant version of BB's 'Walking and Crying' with its beautiful
    accompanying clarinet. The title song 'Bluesdaddy' was my favourite track, with its very impressive
    melodic electric slide playing and it left me wanting to hear more of Will's original songs rather
    than the blues covers. I was hoping that the cover of Robert Johnson's 'When You Got a Good
    Friend' was going to be acoustic featuring more slide guitar but he goes down the Clapton route of a
    full band version, nice enough but I would have liked an acoustic track for a bit of variety. The
    album does sound really good with great playing from both Will and the band but I thought that
    many of the covers just weren't distinctive enough to bring something new to these songs that we
    have heard so many times.

    Graham Harrison

                                           Superdownhome—No Balls, No Blues Chips—Dixiefrog  ASIN :
                                           B08XS1Z5RW

                                           Superdownhome are from Italy and comprise Beppe Facchetti
                                           (bass, drums, percussion) and Enrique Sauda (vocals, guitars)
                                           and on this record they get help from British band Nine Below
                                           Zero's Dennis Greaves on guitar and Mark Feltham on harmonica.

                                           'Can't Sweep Away' is a moody opener with slide guitar, while
                                           Otis Rush's 'Homework' is rocked up and Robert Johnson's 'Stop
                                           Breaking Down' features guest Popa Chubby on guitar. The
                                           original songs 'Booze is My Self Control' and '24 Days' both
                                           reflect their line-up’s similarity to the Black Keys and other
                                           bands of limited size, while their take on the oft-covered
   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47