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So yes, this is more of an alt- rock and -blues set. Think of people like Jon Spencer’s Blues Explosion
with its dirty sound and an approach that isn’t afraid to mix it up. There’s some psychedelia to
‘The Shot’, whilst ‘Should Be Easy’ has elements of The Doors and T.Rex, to my ears! ‘Thinking Of
You On The Moon’ is a fairly straightforward, relatively mellow ballad, whilst ‘Got To Be Gone’
and ‘No Face Blues’ end this interesting release with a catchy acoustic number with Americana
touches and a country-tinged sing-along respectively.

Norman Darwen

(www.lunariarecords.com)

Jay Gordon & Blues Venom—Live at Woodystock 2022—
Shuttle Music SHU142041

This is a live recording from the Woodystock Festival (yes, that
“y” is very important!) in Laughlin, Nevada. Although Jay
recorded with the great Phillip Walker, there’s not much trace
of that here. This offers straight-forward, full-on blues power
trio stuff, gruff vocals and plenty of loud, dirty guitar work,
including slide, over a functional rhythm section who know they
are there mainly to keep the groove going.

It certainly goes down well with the crowd, if the noise they
make is any indicator. Jay and band tackle a few standards like
‘Hoochie Coochie Man’, and a perhaps revealing cover of Robert
Johnson’s ‘Crossroads’ - no prizes for guessing the most likely source of this one, though there is
also a Hendrix influence. Among the remaining tracks are ‘Good Morning Little Schoolgirl’, most
likely from Ten Years After, George Thorogood’s ‘I Drink Alone’, southern rockers Blackfoot’s
‘Train Train’, and a medley of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Green River’ and swamp-rocker
‘Suzie Q’.

All tracks here except two run over five minutes, giving plenty of time for Jay to stretch out. So,
this is an hour’s worth of in-your-face, high energy blues-rock, loud and proud - if that’s what you
crave, look no further.

Norman Darwen

(www.bluesvenom.com)

Mean Old Fireman - Rescue 3 - Independent

Blues and a bit of rock is the order of the day here from Boston,
Massachusetts-based Mean Old Fireman, a.k.a. gravel-voiced
singer and slide guitarist Ned Bollé, and his group. What might
stand out most to many UK readers will be the two versions of
‘Werewolves Of London’, the Warren Zevon hit from 1978. Both
the acoustic (mainly banjo and slide) and reggae-tinged electric
version work well and certainly brought a smile to my face, and

if you’re looking for the blues connection - well, both Mick
Fleetwood and John McVie played on the original.

The remainder of the set though does tend towards more
obvious blues items. The opener, ‘I’m Not Crying’ is a busy, almost boogaloo styled blues, with
gutsy sax playing by Marty Phillips (who gets all sleazy on the following track,’12 Bars’) and a hot
organ break by John Wadkins. I guess I should have expected the Scottish touch to ‘Highland Blues’,

‘Lynn, Lynn’ is a heavy rock number, and ‘The Emptiest Drum’ is another gritty rock-flavoured