The Catch-Back, vol. 8 : Memphis Gold, Kenny Neal, Little Joe McLerran, Percy Strother, Selwyn Cooper

...they deserved to be featured here…

Memphis Gold - Pickin' In High Cotton (2011)

Memphis Gold, born Chester Chandler in 1955 in Memphis, has been an active "bluesician" for some 60 years but, oddly enough, he has only 4 albums out so far, this being the last one to date. A Vietnam veteran himself, he is also active in veterans and fellow blues musicians health help fund raising events.

His career could have stopped abruptly in 2008 though. He fell some 35 feet down from a tree and suffered a triple fracture of the back that could have left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Fortunately his strong will plus good medical care helped him to avoid such an unfortunate fate. As a consequence, he now walks with a cane and sits most of the time during his shows, as it appears in most of the videos proposed below.

The Super Catch-Back, vol. 4 & 5 : Boney Fields - Maria Muldaur - Toronzo Cannon - Tab Benoit, Debbie Davies, Kenny Neal - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Cyril Neville - Wes Montgomery - Buckwheat Zydeco - Kenny Burrell & Jimmy Raney

...they deserved to be featured here…

 

Boney Fields & The Bone's Project - Red Wolf (2003)

Howlin' Fields

The wolf is howling and growling out there in the background, red like a chili pepper and hot as the infernos. On the cover, with his dark bowler hat, wicked eye and sharp teeth ready to tear your flesh, he's fronting a jungle jumble of fearsome musical animals, and from the CD disc he's throwing a threatening look at you.

This is not Howlin' Wolf but Boney Fields, and “Red Wolf” is a highly enjoyable album by the champions of funk jubilation, Boney Fields and his Bone's Project band, one of the baddest horn section on the circuit today (Fields on trumpet, Nadège Dumas on tenor sax, Max Pinto on baritone sax and Pierre Chabrèle on trombone).

Kenny Neal - A Tribute To Slim Harpo & Raful Neal (2005)

► Get the album at the usual place...

The Neal clan's great homage

Kenny Neal is a family bluesman. On this album originally planned as a tribute to his "uncle" Slim Harpo, a close friend of his father Raful Neal and a legendary swamp blues harp player, he plays with another legend, his own father Raful on vocals and harmonica, and with his brothers Frederick Neal on keyboards, Darnell Neal on bass, and his nephew Tyree Neal on drums. Raful eventually passed away during the making of the album, but fortunately after recording most of the vocals and harmonica parts. The tribute then extended to Raful too.