CastrocasterFrom the start his band line-up was build according to the blues-rock trinity ― guitar-bass-drums ― but he added an extra instrument to spice up the R'n'B flavor : a saxophone held by the fourth member of the band, Keith Crossan. And last but not least, he is also a striking songwriter.
 |
| The Dynatones (Castro is in the middle with the guitar) |
In the 1980s, hanging around the artists district of North Beach in San Francisco, he used to jam with musicians like Johnny Nitro and Johnny Ace. By the end of the decade, he joined a renowned SF band, The Dynatones, for a couple of years, touring all across the country and backing artists like Carla Thomas or Albert King…
,%20castro%20&%20shad%20harris.jpg) |
| Johnny Nitro (left), Castro & Shad Harris |
He formed his own combo, the Tommy Castro Band, in 1991, with Randy MacDonald (bass/vocals, ex-Dynatones too), Keith Crossan (saxophone/vocals) and Shad Harris (drums/vocals). The band toured California intensively, delivered a notable performance at the 1994 San Francisco Blues Festival, and the Bay Area Magazine declared them Club Band Of The Year for the Bay Area in 1993 and 1994.
 |
| Keith Crossan |
Shortly after, they were signed by Blind Pig Records and the first official album, “Exception to the Rule”, came out in late 1995, followed two years later by “Can't Keep a Good Man Down”. With Blind Pig, the Tommy Castro Band became simply… Tommy Castro.
 |
| Randy MacDonald |
From then on, Castro's career never slowed down. In 2001 and 2002, he and his band were asked by B.B. King to be the opening act of his summer tours, and were usually invited by King to join him on stage each night for the finale.
Altogether, up to now Tommy Castro and his band have released nearly 20 studio and live albums. About a decade ago, Castro traded his beloved Fender Stratocaster for a Delaney model specially designed for him baptized… Castrocaster !
The first Castro album and certainly the most enjoyable of the three reviewed here. The Castro R'n'B sound is already at his best. The tracks are good, each has an interesting side to it, the boss' voice is quite appealing and he already demonstrates his writing capacities : on the ten titles of the album, he co-wrote three and wrote four.
 |
| Harris, Castro & MacDonald |
“Me And My Guitar” sounds like a Castro attempt to put out a song à la Albert King's “I'll Play The Blues For You”. Straight blues is not totally absent : with its Freddie King touch, “How Long Must I Cry” sounds like a classic, in fact it's a Castro original.
There's one striking thing about this album and the following : the songs seem to be written to be performed live...
The Castro band's second opus, nearly as good as the first one, features some new attractive titles in the same hybrid style. Castro signs or co-signs eight of the twelve songs, and Crossan, one (“Hycodan”). The two remaining tracks are from Steve Schuffert (“Suitcase Full Of Blues”) and Albert King (“Can't You See What You're Doing To Me”).
The line-up hasn't changed and Castro's guitar playing is as cutting as on the first album. The two openers (“Can't Keep A Good Man Down” and “You Knew The Job Was Dangerous”) have the energetic taste of Texas blues. The R'n'B side comes in the third track, “Suitcase Full Of Blues”, with Crossan's sax.
Personally I appreciate particularly “You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do” for its exciting rhythm guitar driving groove; the stirring funky “High On The Hog” with the enlightening sax of Crossan and Jim Pugh's Hammond B-3 organ in the back, the best number of the album for me; and “Hycodan”, a slow pounding number signed by Crossan, which stands apart with its Roy Buchanan touch, a unique sound built around Crossan's soulful sax and Castro's mellow guitar. |
| Jim Pugh |
“My Time After Awhile”, famous for the Buddy Guy original version, is the first of two blues numbers mixed with R'n'B drops of sax, Texas style guitar à la SRV and passionate vocals from the boss. The second is “Can't You See What You're Doing To Me”, an Albert King cover fueled with heavy R'n'B sax riffs, and scorching solos and intense vocals from Castro.
 |
| Crossan & Castro |
The novelty of this second opus is the introduction of the vintage soul number “I Want To Show You”, certainly an appealing song for soul amateurs.
The remaining tracks, in the same R'n'B vein, feature two up-tempo rocking titles, “Take The Highway Down” and “You Only Go Around Once”, and “Nobody Loves Me Like My Baby”, a sax-spiced rock'n'roll with searing guitar and the help of Commander Cody on piano.
What's impressive on this second opus is that, again, there's not one single really bad track. No matter what your personal tastes are, these twelve tracks will make you feel alive and kicking.
Ten year after their debut Castro and his musicians sound like the well of inspiration has seriously dried down. The first half of the album (#1 to 6) is an eclectic series of blues-rock tracks obviously oriented to fit the commercial FM radio format requirements : the opening “Just Like Me”, the following “Let's Give Love A Try”, “What You Gonna' Do Now?”, “The Next Right Thing” despite its funky touch… These songs have a dull air of deja-vu. Even the acoustic “Anytime Soon” is an ungraceful attempt to mix soul, country and Tex-Mex styles. And despite the nice slide guitar of Roy Rogers, the title song, “Soul Shaker”, is not different.
 |
| K.D. Bowe |
The Castro R'n'B blend of the first albums seems to have vanished and you wander if it's the same band playing. Actually it is, except for the arrival of Chris Sandoval behind the drums (Harris left in 1998). Is it due to the fact that Castro co-signed all the tracks with new writing partners, particularly K.D. Bowe ?
Or is it the result of the addition of a large number of guest musicians : the same multi-instrumentalist Bowe (acoustic & electric guitars, drum loop, bass, organ), Tom Poole (trumpet and flugelhorn), Steve Spirn (guitar), Armando Morales (congas) and Bryan Hanna (percussionist and drum programming), as well as a small choir of vocalists, the New Directions ?
The sound is rich, too rich, and, in my view, spoils the original hard-hitting style of the band.
It's only from #7, the soul “No One Left To Lie To”, that things get a little better. It's followed by the horn and guitar-riffed “Wake Up Call” (not John Mayall's) with a Latin touch. Unfortunately “The Holdin' On” and “Big Love” are more in the vein of the first half. I'm not sure the association with Bowe was a very good idea.
The gripping “Take Me Off The Road” with its appealing repetitive riff turning in a blazing boogie, is undoubtedly the best and most exciting track of the album, followed by “The Crossanova”, also standing out for similar reasons added with the light exotic taste of Crossan's flute.
Two really enjoyable tracks out of twelve : this makes this 10th anniversary album quite disappointing... ■
■ Listen to the albums (audio)
► “Exception to the Rule” : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2FLxajeSGIAXiBffCohhBOXHZr6HrFnL
► “Can't Keep A Good Man Down” : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2FLxajeSGIBsu0m6m_7Km059_LQhhcyM
► “Soul Shaker” (YT Music) : https://music.youtube.com/browse/MPREb_gAklEWLl0eo
► The Mint, Los Angeles, unknown date :→ #1 : https://youtu.be/4joUZiDUsmo
→ #2 : https://youtu.be/dCvh8iiQMTs
► Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, 2005 :
→ #1 : https://youtu.be/W2jWaDXbJS0
→ #2 : https://youtu.be/azad_zQGGeA
→ #3 : https://youtu.be/IWOPt-FLkLI
► Jam feat. Magic Dick (harmonica), Ronnie Baker Brooks (guitar), Deanna Bogart (sax)…, Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, 2007 :
→ #1 : https://youtu.be/kvp2D4W04uo
→ #2 : https://youtu.be/VFl5FCqnh7Q
→ #3 : https://youtu.be/PsSUkTFfKGs
► New Morning, Paris, 2011 : https://youtu.be/JBuwlUUD5L8► Boulder, CO, 2013 : https://youtu.be/-flRfkhbaVI
► With Rick Keyes Music Caravan, BellyUp, Solana Beach, CA, 2013 : https://youtu.be/LFLWhLJqHos
► The Qbus, Leiden (Netherlands), 2014 : https://youtu.be/sD2fBa1ba5E
► Blues From the Top, Winter Park, CO, 2014 : https://youtu.be/aC81ZRYWxd8
► Carlsbad, CA, 2015 : https://youtu.be/l9Bsg1GHzLI
► Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), 2015 : https://youtu.be/gDdG3Krcdlk
► Funky Biscuit, Boca Raton, FL, 2016 : https://youtu.be/zU0U28yZZVw
► Le 112, Terville (France), 2016 :→ #1 : https://youtu.be/5_iyghrhqdg
→ #2 : https://youtu.be/aAqOU21vnBk
→ #3 : https://youtu.be/U7B2ZRvO9gY
► Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival, Chiriquí (Panama), 2016 : https://youtu.be/FS2IMeEi_bY
► Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa, FL, 2017 : https://youtu.be/Ndhydr-DEEM
► Chenango Blues Festival, Norwich, NY, 2017 : https://youtu.be/vj3HYcuiREw
► With Mike Zito, Six Strings Down Tour, New England Blues Summit, 2017 : https://youtu.be/iumKoYjNDh4?t=106► Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise :
→ 2017 : https://youtu.be/xO0tzW7Ga80
→ 2018 : https://youtu.be/UfG1BnUmC5c?t=176
► The Bean Blossom Blues Festival, IN, 2018 : https://youtu.be/3cUTHiWW2EY
► The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano, CA, 2018 : https://youtu.be/Oush9BZJ93E
► Texas Jam House, Big Beat Dallas, Las Colinas, TX, 2018 :→ #1 : https://youtu.be/QkZLegl1Hm0
→ #2 : https://youtu.be/i70lKScuqe0
→ #3 : https://youtu.be/viS0QmlsRmQ
→ #4 : https://youtu.be/fOPsIdUGE70
► Quasimodo Club, Berlin (Germany), 2019 : https://youtu.be/AD7cRJqk98Y
► New Morning, Paris, 2019 : https://youtu.be/N30xLMaxu8U
► Can't Stop the Blues virtual concert, 2020 : https://youtu.be/tpl5bTuNzpM?t=4726► Virtual concert on Corona Live, 2020 : https://youtu.be/ZG3pLtKLVIU?t=131
► Rancho Nicasio, Nicasio, CA, 2020 : https://youtu.be/F7XVr1jGzG0
► Bull Run Restaurant, Shirley, MA, 2021 : https://youtu.be/xjPq9-jhQ6c
► The Alley, Sanford, FL, 2022 : https://youtu.be/fiVpuO8DnEI
► Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY, 2022 : https://youtu.be/GElJF95aGpE?t=497
► Big Bull Falls Blues Festival, Wausau, WI, 2022 : https://youtu.be/gp4p0N5i73A► Jimiway Blues Festival, Ostrow (Poland), 2022 : https://youtu.be/tKSHWYRG1E4
► Zaragoza (Spain), 2022 :
→ #1 : https://youtu.be/HTCRqnvjqes?t=44
→ #2 : https://youtu.be/xspRSJPkU1g
→ #3 : https://youtu.be/9vvfBQtnwIo
→ #4 : https://youtu.be/wjYjZgL1pfA
→ #5 : https://youtu.be/Ytvh0nkcbdA
 |
| Playing his Castrocaster |
 |
| 68 years old. Already ?! |
No comments:
Post a Comment