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Fantastic booklet notes and session details from James Chumet and Gary Blailock will give you lots
of information about Baby Boy and his career. As a writer, Warren was often humorous with his
lyrics. “I asked the lady was she married” “No but I have a special friend” “Lady I don’t mean to be
embarrassing, but is it possible you could cut me in?” (My Special Friend Blues : 1950)
Baby Boy Warren, like so many others, should be much better known than he is, hopefully this
release will go some way to achieving that.
Highly Recommended
Bob Pearce
Debra Power—I’m Not from Chicago—Independent
Well, the title is fair enough, I guess, Debra is in fact from Canada.
She is also now a fixture on the Calgary, Alberta blues scene, a
recording artist who made her own debut set in 2016 (“Even
Redheads Get The Blues”) and a mighty fine, pounding piano
player and singer.
There is a lot to like about this release, starting with the rocking
opener, ‘Magnificent Heart’, with its Jerry Lee Lewis influence,
before Debra affirms that she is “Hardwired For The Blues” with a
lovely and lively mid-tempo item – nice sax playing by Mike Clark
and guitar work from Steve Pineo on this too. In fact, the accompanying musicians excel throughout.
The excellent Keeshea Pratt duets with Debra on the ballad ‘What Colour Is Love’, and another guest
on the album is the late Harpdog Brown, who died in January this year. He contributes to the rocking
blues of ‘New Shade Of Blue’, ‘The Last Time I Saw Memphis’, and the broom-dusting title track.
A further couple of rootsy ballads offer another side of Debra’s talents and showcase the quality of
her vocals. Then there is the amusing, autobiographical ‘Debra Marie’…
All in all, this is well worth your time – very enjoyable.
Norman Darwen
Michael Dotson – Peligroso Blues Live – Solo Blues SB002
“Solo Blues” covers a Spanish blues magazine, record company and
tour promoter, with this release being one of those to mark its
thirtieth anniversary. Michael Dotson may seem a strange choice
for this, a little–known Chicago bluesman. But within the first few
seconds of this release – “I’m gonna start off with some, er, John
Lee Hooker”, he tells the audience before launching into a wonder-