Page 39 - BiTS_07_JULY_2020

‘Right Place, Wrong Time’, all of which just ooze funk - mind you, so does almost everything else
here.

There is a cracking remake of Aretha’s ’Rock Steady’, and ‘Compared To What’ is a little more
restrained. This is Maceo’s sixteenth solo album but he retruns to the beginning, more or less, for
‘M A C E O’ and the opening ‘Crossing The Tracks’, both fine renditions.

I did just write “almost everything else” in relation to the funk. There are three exceptions: Hugh
Masekela’s ‘Grazing In The Grass’ makes for a slightly unexpected, mellow closer, though Maceo’s

sax is undoubtedly funky! Then there is a remake of Ray Charles’ associate David ‘Fathead’
Newman’s ‘Hard Times’, which is funky in a different, older, soul-jazz sense – and it makes a fine
and worthwhile contrast. Parker has named Ray Charles as a huge influence in the past.

Prince is another former employer of Maceo’s, and the saxman includes his ‘The Other Side Of The
Pillow’ here – a pleasing, cool blues performance It might be worth mentioning that Maceo’s vocals

hint in one or two places at signs of age, but never seriously enough to spoil anyone’s enjoyment.
Rather, think of it perhaps as adding authenticity.

So, roll back the rug and get on the good foot! Or at worst, prepare for some serious foot tapping…

Norman Darwen

Rusty Ends & Hillbilly Hoodoo The Last of the Boogiemen
Own Label

“Hillbilly Hoodoo” - What's that? Well, besides being the name
of the band, it is also a track on this set and you’re probably not

expecting it to be the curious early rap-flavoured mutant track
that it actually is. Most of the rest of this release is rather more
straight-forward but no less intriguing. There is a strong
rockabilly flavour to many tracks - try ‘Cottonmouth Rock’,
opener ‘Cheap Wine’, the instrumental ‘Unholy Roller’, or of

course, ‘Rockabilly Boogie #1003’, even though there are often
unexpected little twists and turns, like the guitar break in that first-named.

‘I Forgot To Say I Love You’ is a jazzy and soulful ballad. ‘Stiletto Heels And Fishnet Hose’ is a
mean, moody piece of rock and roll and puts forward the position of the aging rocker who can no
longer reasonably sing about ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’, whilst ‘Let Me Cross Your Mind’ has a late
50s/ early 60s feel, emphasised by Gary Falks’ fine sax playing.

Although there is a strong blues undercurrent throughout, the blues per se comes courtesy of the
slow- to mid-tempo ‘We Love Our Way Through The Blues’, and ‘Bob Wills Played The Blues’ does
approximate a bluesy Western swing sound. Rusty provides some autobiographical details on the
danceable blues groove of ‘Midnight Angels’ (I’ve no reason to doubt what he says), and the

album ends with the 50s Chicago blues guitar instrumental sound of ‘Sinner’s Strut’. Rather nice!

Norman Darwen