Brooks' groove
But most of all he's an accomplished bluesman : soulful powerful baritone voice, excellent guitar technique, and again unlimited energy. Behind him, his band is as tireless as the boss, offering him flawless support, notably featuring his own son Ronnie Baker Brooks on rhythm guitar, and the appealing Tom Giblin on keyboards, and everybody can lean on the solid groove of the rhythm section : bassist Lafayette Lyle and drummer Jimi Schutte.
The repertoire is not your usual Chicago blues. I would even dare say it's not Chicago blues, but what is the Chicago style if not the aggregation of many styles brought by the musicians who migrated to the Windy City area, as I explained above. So it's not surprising that Brooks appealing style is actually closer to the muscular sound of Texas blues seasoned with the spicy flavors of the bayous of his native Louisiana.
It includes five original from Brooks and four covers, one of them (the Texas blues style rocker “Got Me By The Tail”) co-written by his second rhythm guitarist Osee Anderson with one Margaret Sampson, the others from Lenoir and King as already mentioned, and the fourth one from blues industry omnipresent writer-producer-record company owner Deadric Malone aka Don Robey, who co-signed “In The Dark” with one Herman Parker.
The problem with this kind of album is that all the tracks are perfect, each in its own style, which is an uncommon performance for a live, so that you can't pick up any real favorites !
After his excellent and famous opening “Two Headed Man”, Brooks gives a particularly strong vocal performance on his original “Born With The Blues”, a notable moment of blues guitar on “Cold Lonely Nights”, a stirring show on “One More Shot” and an incredible seven-minute piece of pure jubilation on the final “Hideaway”.With such an impressive live album, Brooks proves that rhythm and soulfulness are totally compatible. ■
■ About Alligator Records
► Blues and The Alligator - The First Twenty Years of Alligator Records, documentary directed by Jim Drowning, 1989 : https://youtu.be/XrosngPR4g0
■ Lonnie Brooks live
► LRBC atmosphere with Magic Dick, Lonnie Brooks, Taj Mahal, Debbie Davies, Chubby Carrier, Benny Latimore and more…, late 1990s : https://youtu.be/0CYqOdbNgNI
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| The 80th birthday bash |
■ Father & Sons
► LRBC, 2012 :
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