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We begin with a version of Little Milton’s very appropriate ‘Lonely Man’, a hard driving blues
with riffing brass and a blistering guitar solo from Mike then Fred James’ title track is a brooding
slow blues with more great guitar and Mike’s heartfelt vocals “Life is hard; and then you die!”

‘Have a Talk with God’ is a melodic funky song by Calvin Hardaway and Stevie Wonder but it’s
Mike’s own song ‘Forever My Love’ that for me is the standout track here - a slow blues with
strings and biting lead guitar that reminded me of Gary Moore.

It’s not all poignant slow blues though, ‘No One To Talk To (But the Blues)’ is a rocker, Tinsley
Ellis’s ‘Dying to Do Wrong’ is swampy with Mike on slide guitar, ‘Darkness’ by Tab Benoit is
moody and atmospheric and Walter Trout’s ‘Nobody Moves Me Like You Do’ is a real hard-
hitting powerhouse blues.

Although I liked that Mike picked songs here by his contemporaries - Tinsley Ellis, Tab Benoit
and Walter Trout - it’s also good to hear him going back to classic blues by covering Gary Davis’s
‘Death Don’t Have No Mercy’ and this is a thoughtful and very moving version.

The production throughout is very good, as is the playing by all involved but it is Mike Zito
himself who is outstanding on every track, both his superb lead guitar work and also his
emotion-filled vocals. I think that making this record must have been very hard for Mike but it
is a very fine achievement and he should be very proud, it is a wonderful tribute to his wife
Laura, who at only 48, died way too soon.

Graham Harrison

Dr. Feelgood—Live in Caen—Grand Records ASIN :
B0CPLQ1NN9

I was lucky enough to see the original line up of the Feelgoods
early on several times on their infrequent visits to the North West
and was very impressed. However, I also liked the 2022 album
‘Damn Right’ by the current version of the band and this live
album (also recorded in 2022) features ‘Mary Ann’, ‘Damn Right’,
‘Keep It Under Cover’ and ‘Last Call’ from that album alongside

R&B perennials and Feelgood classics. The current band is Rob-
ert Kane (vocals and harp), Phil Mitchell (bass), Kevin Morris
(drums) and Gordon Russell (guitar).

We kick off with the driving ‘Drives Me Wild’, closely followed by ‘No Mo Do Yakamo’ and then
it’s Bo Diddley’s ‘I Can Tell’ and the aforesaid ‘Mary Ann’ – which sounds just fine alongside
these older songs. ‘She Does It Right’ remains an absolute classic and this version is great with
Russell’s guitar closely following Wilco’s original and again the recent ‘Damn Right’ fits right in
alongside the older material and features harp from Kane. As with the original Feelgoods don’t
underestimate how important the rhythm section is, with such a small ensemble they need to
fill out the sound and drive everything along and they certainly do this – listen to ‘You Don’t
Love Me’ which also features great guitar from Kane. We also get the band’s 70s chart hits ‘Back
in the Night’ and ‘Milk and Alcohol’, as well as the later ‘Going Back Home’ and ‘Down at the
Doctors’ and the R&B bangers ‘See You Later Alligator’, ‘Riot in Cell Block #9’ and ‘Route 66’.
OK, this isn’t the original band but I think that they do a great job in keeping the Dr. Feelgood
sound alive and this is certainly an excellent showcase for them with their newer Feelgood-style
songs fitting in seamlessly alongside Feelgood and R&B classics.

Graham Harrison