June 17, 2022

Elvin Bishop's Big Fun Trio - Something Smells Funky 'Round Here (2018)

► The album

His Eminence Bishop and his pals
Three pals playing together some blues in Bishop's home studio just to have a good time, that's what this album is. As their name, Big Fun Trio, let it be guessed, their music is unpretentious and that's probably what makes it so enjoyable.
Bishop, who grew up in a farm in Iowa then Oklahoma and was 75 when this album came out, has been a key figure of the post-1960 blues scene, playing with some of the greatest blues artists since he started with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in Chicago back in 1963.

Bishop (left) & Mike Bloomfield,
in the Paul Butterfield Blues Band times
After leaving the P3B, he moved to the San Francisco area where he played next to Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield, B.B. King and many others before embarking on a solo career. In 1975, his "pop" song "Fooled Around And Fell In Love" hit the commercial jackpot and earned him comfortable royalties.

But it was not the kind of music he really wanted to play. He didn't do any album for seven years, but continued with live performances. In 1988, he definitely returned to his blues roots and signed with Alligator Records, releasing five albums between 1988 and 2000. New period of silence, until 2005 when he went back to the studios and released his album "Gettin' My Groove Back" on Blind Pig Records, a revealing title, that brought him a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.


The Big Fun Trio was formed in the end of 2015, with his friends Bob Welsh from The Fabulous Thunderbirds on piano and guitar, and blues drummer Willy Jordan on cajón (a hand-played Peruvian percussion box) & vocals, three buddies who refuse to let age keeping them from having fun ans play blues. "Something Smells Funky 'Round Here" is their second production. Now a veteran of the blues scene, Bishop penned three songs and co-wrote two more with his two pals.

The title song is a straightforward charge against Donald Trump, then occupying the White House. No need to say more, the song speaks for itself. The band sounds as greasy as a Mississippi BBQ on a scorching windless summer day. The soul "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher" is a solid revisited version of the R'n'B hit originally recorded by Jackie Wilson in 1967 (not to be mistaken with Sly and the Family Stone's funky "I Want To Take You Higher" released in 1969 and performed the same year at the Woodstock Festival… boom laka-laka-lak'  ! boom laka-laka-lak'  !... remember ?). The band has more energy than needed, not Sly (who had a whole lot too) but our Big Fun Trio veterans.

The songs follow on, one after the other, nice energetic blues with good (slide) guitar licks from Bishop, powerful virtual bass from  Welsh on keyboard, and steel beat from Jordan : "Right Now Is The Hour" (but not to turn off your stereo !)... "Another Mule" (a laid-back rural blues from Bishop’s 1995 "Ace in the Hole" album, a mix of Dave Bartholomew’s “Another Mule” and Muddy Waters’ "Long Distance Call", with double-entendre lyrics : "When your left eye starts to jump/And your heart begins to thump/Man that's all/Another mule is kickin' in your stall")... "That's The Way Willy Likes It"... "Bob's Boogie" (with a hot Bob Welsh on piano)... "I Can't Stand The Rain" (another revisit of a famous classic from Ann Peebles in 1973, and later re-popularized by Tina Turner, with nice slide guitar and a heavy bass sound)… "Stomp" (another shaky slide boogie)… "Lookin' Good" (a humorous number talked by a boozer Bishop making fun of getting old)… "My Soul" (featuring an accordion ― a great idea !), and the album suddenly stops.
Finished already ?! You didn't feel the time passing (36" to be exact), so you play it again (Sam !) just because it's unpretentious but warmly enjoyable ! ■


● Elvin Bishop site : https://www.elvinbishopmusic.com/

Interviews
● For French speaking people, a long 2014 interview from the Bands Of Dixie magazine : https://www.sweethomemusic.fr/Interviews/ElvinBishop.php
► To watch or to listen
● 2021, Elvin Bishop & Jim Campilongo (from Patreon.com) talk about Elvin’s great new record with Charlie Musselwhite “100 years of Blues”, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, jamming with Jimi Hendrix, “Travelin’ Shoes”, “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” and more… :
● 2019, audio interview : https://youtu.be/inJ6a3WqoZc
● 2018, audio interview on Casey Radio, Melbourne (Australia) : https://youtu.be/nkvbW3xDT6k

For those who mlssed it on Blue Dragon, listen to it here : https://youtu.be/g3oTC27W_mc
[1. Keep On Rollin' (4:36) 2. Honey Babe (2:46) 3. It's You, Baby (2:11) 4. Ace In The Hole (2:34) 5. Let's Go (4:35) 6. Delta Lowdown (3:00) 7. It's All Over Now (3:36) 8. 100 Years Of Blues (4:53) 9. Let The Four Winds Blow (3:24) 10. That's What I'm Talkin' About (5:02) 11. Can't Take No More (3:15) 12. Southside Slide (2:40)]


Elvin live
● 2021, Club Fox, Redwood City (California). guitarist/vocalist Elvin Bishop, guitarist/pianist Bob Welsh and percussionist/vocalist Willy Jordan launches The Big Fun Trio, accompanied by the amazing Christopher "Kid" Anderson : https://youtu.be/WaBN0a6XkzU
Bishop & Musselwhite
● 2020, Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite. The Music Hall, Tarrytown (NY) :
● 2019, Elvin Bishop's Big Fun Trio with Rick Estrin & Kid Anderson, White Mountain Boogie N' Blues Fest., Thornton (New Hampshire)  :
● 2019, with Tommy Castro, Crest Theatre, Sacramento (California) : https://youtu.be/C4U8g-KhNyU
● 2018, Chenango Blues Fest. :
● 2017, Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, Berkeley (California) : https://youtu.be/_6TAjViZHGE
● 2017, Venice Blues Festival, Venice (Florida) : https://youtu.be/uTroyFR8TRg
● 2017, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love", Dimitrou’s Jazz Alley, Seattle (Washington) : https://youtu.be/7-baASnWot4
● 2016, Big Bull Falls Blues Fest., Wausau (Wisconsin) :
● 2016, Club Fox, Redwood City (California) : https://youtu.be/3hxhM0xtOVM
● 2016, Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise :
→ https://youtu.be/1BUoNTjVT_M (Elvin Bishop, Mickey Thomas, Ronnie Baker Brooks & Tommy Castro)
● 2014, the Coach House, San Juan Capistrano (CA) : https://youtu.be/vt1w51mdzhA
● 2013, Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise :
→ with Tab Benoit : https://youtu.be/PSylS_wAGr8
→ with Mickey Thomas : https://youtu.be/c0Xi5mikPJk
● 2013, Callahan's Music Hall, Auburn Hills (Michigan) : https://youtu.be/a3XI_SOBWDw
● 2013, Cajun Blues Fest., Isleton (California) : https://youtu.be/cJgSOp4OMT8
● 2013, with S.E. Willis Band, The Poor House Bistro, San Jose (California): https://youtu.be/ooW9rdUVI4w
[Elvin Bishop: Vocals & Guitar, S.E. Willis: Keyboard, Bobby Cochran: Drums, Bob Welsh: Guitar, Ruth Davies: Bass, Nancy Wright: Sax, Ed Earley: Trombone] 
● 2012, with James Cotton, Santa Cruz Blues Fest. : https://youtu.be/hQ2Xa3R7S3M
● 2012, Vinnie's Bar & Grill, Concord (CA) : https://youtu.be/fgvGQRhb95c
[Elvin Bishop: Vocals & Guitar with BeauFunk Band : Timm Walker : Bass & Vocals, Ian Lamson : Guitar, Simon Russell : Keyboard, T. Moran : Drums. + guests : Takezo : Vocals & Guitar, Mike Rinta : Trombone, Keith Crossan : Sax, Steve Willis : Accordion]
● 2010, Big Bull Falls Blues Fest., Wausau (Wisconsin) :
● 2009,  Harvest Jazz & Blues, Fredericton (New Brunswick, Canada) : https://youtu.be/MqByjQJav_E
● 2003, Terrassa Jazz Fest., Barcelona (Spain) :
[Elvin Bishop – vocals & guitar - Ian Lamson : rhthm guitar -  Ed Earley : trombone & vocals - Steve Willis : piano, keyboards, vocals - Jerome Hammond : bass - Bobby Cochran - drums, percussion & vocals]
● 1996, Pig Out in the Park, Spokane (Washington) : https://youtu.be/uMoutWaZ0Zs

The good ol' times
● 1984, Marin Civic Auditorium, San Rafael (CA), Paul Butterfield, Rick Danko, Carlos Santana & Elvin Bishop : https://youtu.be/qwULVEMod4U
● Unknown date, The Bottomline, New York : https://youtu.be/bbwAJAs3mLw
● 1980, Cain's Ballroom, Tulsa (Oklahoma) : https://youtu.be/jI44vOry1AM
 [Elvin Bishop : Guitar/Vocals,  Tyler Eng : Drums, Terry Hanck : Sax/Vocals, Jerry McKinney : Sax/Vocals, Carl Severied : Bass, Gary Vogensen : Guitar/Vocals/Harp, Clay Cotton : Keyboards] 
● 1979, Soundstage, with Mighty Joe Young & Son Seals : https://youtu.be/huuynfQQRcY
● 1977, Midnight Special, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" with Mickey Thomas on vocals : https://youtu.be/HvVRvkbfZCc
● 1973, Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco (California) : https://youtu.be/rPjoWix9afA
● 1970, Elvin Bishop Group, Fillmore East, New York (NY) : https://youtu.be/uPPKTvMC00w


Bob Welsh

Willy Jordan
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June 16, 2022

Blind Mississippi Morris - You Know I Like That (1995)

► The album

Mister "Real Deal on Beale"
The title song "You Know I Like That" starts and you're hit by a blow : what a wild voice ! what an incredible harmonica ! This is vintage raging electric blues here, not imitation. Solid real-life experience Delta blues stinking hard life and tribulations from beginning to end. You know the guy isn't faking. It all comes from the guts, full of resentment and bitterness against injustice : injustice of being blind since the age of four, injustice of a family who sent him to an institution at the same age, injustice of poverty, injustice of lingering segregation despite the 1965 civil rights law, ten years after Morris Cummings was born in Clarksdale...

Still, Morris, his superb harmonica and his powerful voice have made their way to become renowned on Memphis Beale Street where he's been called "the Real Deal on Beale ", and received glorious awards and praise (rated one of the 10 best harmonica players in the world by Bluzharp Magazine, Mississippi Music Foundation’s “Lifetime Achievement Award”, and two Grammy Award for “Harmonica Player of the Year") after an almost life long struggle against the bad cards life gave him.
Examples ? Here are some . Less than a week before he was scheduled to leave for a 12-day tour of blues clubs in England, he lost his North Memphis house to foreclosure. He had three days to pack up and leave. Add to that 13 divorces (!), 12 children of whom only one is living with him, past trouble with the police, two bankruptcies, and multiple aborted hopes to have his sight partially restored by treatments… Looks like a really mean mojo was hidden in his cradle (infos from RAM Entertainment  https://ramentertainment.com/blind-mississippi-morris). So don't be surprised if he shouts a tough and rough hard-edged electric delta blues !

Blind Mississippi Morris
& Brad Webb (water color painting)
The album was recorded in 1995 in Memphis. Except for the final medley (Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, J. L. Hooker), most of the songs were co-written by or with his Memphis native friend Brad Webb, a song-writer, guitarist, arranger, producer and sound engineer who also co-produced the album, most likely the one who had the idea to use old lamp amplifiers to give the album its vintage sound.
Morris, who incidentally is a cousin of Willie Dixon, is backed by the Pocket Rockets, a band he's been working with for a long time which includes the same Webb on slide guitar.

So lets go back to where we started : the title song "You Know I Like That". Rough powerful voice and aggressive slightly distorted blues harp (harmonica) over solid heavy work from the band which augurs the best for the rest of the record. That is soon confirmed with "Nobody Ever Gives Me What I Want" : Morris' wild vocals and harp is reminding Howlin' Wolf. Then, introduced by the short street-corner sounding "The Woman I'm Lovin'", the fast rolling "Good Evening"  offers unbelievable harp and great background guitar over heavy drumming.

Next are "Killing Kind" in the same vein, the excellent acoustic "Hwy 61" where Morris voice seems to come through a wall of water, "Funk N' See" and its chopped rhythm, the sticky swampy damp "Going Back To Louisiana" led by top guitar work from Webb (slide) and David Daniels, before the pounding "Junkyard Dog". "When A Woman Gets In Trouble" is slow and moody, featuring a B-3 organ while Daniel's guitar has some early B.B. King accents. Morris blues harp and vocals ere fine as always.

With Brad Webb
The treat goes on through "Lover's Moon", "Mean St" which well deserves its title and whose multi-vocal chorus reminds Injun chants, the acoustic mid-tempo boogie "Second Hand Store" and its hypnotic guitar line, the excellent jumping "Beale St. Tonight", and finally the great low-down "Medley" whose "dirty" sound transports you straight in the hot dusty Delta.

Morris, amazing both vocally and on his blues harp, is keeping the legacy of the blues, bringing it back to its original rebellious spirit, that of the Afro-Americans of the Delta still shackled in poverty and social injustice despite the abolition and the end of official segregation... ■

About BMM
→ BMM site : https://www.blindmississippimorris.com/
→ Q&A with Paula (?) and the audience, Delta Music Show, 2014 : https://youtu.be/vcRLw8Nx3yY

About Brad Webb
→ BW site : http://www.bradwebb.com/index.html
→ On Xperience Productions : http://www.xperienceproductions.com/brad-webb.html
→ On RAM Entertainment : https://ramentertainment.com/brad-webb-friends
→ On the Memphis Blues Society site : https://mbs.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=539640&module_id=143411

BMM Live
● 2021, New Orleans Jazz Foundation : https://youtu.be/Ufuhy7zwtgA
● 2019, The Blues At the Crossroads : https://youtu.be/jxOXGNJ2DmA
● 2018, Beale Street Music Fest., Memphis : https://youtu.be/kJZkE1PA_Yg
● 2017, B.B. King's Club, Beale Street, Memphis : https://youtu.be/ACtIdDTYbDo
● 2017, at the Blues City Cafe on Beale Street, Memphis : https://youtu.be/98kQUgZcnIc
● 2016, benefit concert for Preston Shannon at B.B. King's Blues Club, Memphis : https://youtu.be/qfiPx2-sD-M
● 2016, Blue City Cafe, Memphis : https://youtu.be/18bo11QmGyE
● 2015, "I'm A Man" with the Albert King Jr. Band : https://youtu.be/9HekMnVp_Ig
● 2014, The Beale Street Music Fest., Memphis :
→ "Mojo Working" : https://youtu.be/S4CC_FO1F0M
→ "You got to find a friend" : https://youtu.be/EM35hx9KclM
→ "Let It Roll" : https://youtu.be/ed4b9vaeA5g
→ "One Way Out" : https://youtu.be/bKrrxesERhg
→ "Scratch My Back" : https://youtu.be/sfQUkIGYFew
● 2014, "Death Letter Blues" with Frank Monteleone on guitar, Como (Mississippi) : https://youtu.be/kKVlEul7f-Q
● 2014, Delta Music Show : https://youtu.be/g_IqCrpFXis
● 2014, 1st annual Mississippi Saxophone-Harmonica Fest., Clarksdale : https://youtu.be/BoLr4T9BsS4
● 2014, "Trouble In Mind" (Muddy Waters Cover) with Frank Monteleone, Memphis : https://youtu.be/KIPmQvtS3C0
● 2013, Beale Street Music Festival, Memphis :
→ "The Thrill Is Gone" : https://youtu.be/NgYC7nm2AJk
● 2013, "Hoochie Coochie Man" with Dustin Haigler on Hammond B-3 Organ, B.B. King's Blues Club, Memphis : https://youtu.be/5qOFUiVgkXg
● 2012, "Little Red Rooster" with Brad Webb, Beale Street Music Fest., Memphis : https://youtu.be/FNOBmRbUPPI
● 2012, "Cross Cut Saw", B.B. King's Blues Club, Memphis : https://youtu.be/3-L2_pochOg
● 2011, King Biscuit blues fest., Helena (Arkansas) with Brad Webb (slide guitar), Groove Parker (bass), Rodney Polk (drums) and David Pierce (B-3 organ)  : https://youtu.be/4oL8SuJIpe0
● 2011, "One Way Out", B.B. King's Blues Club, Memphis : https://youtu.be/BAFGBURa8qo
● 2011, Central BBQ, Memphis, with Brad Webb & Washboard Shorty :
→ "Little Red Rooster" https://youtu.be/okgfZaZLF1Y
 ● 2010, with Brad Webb, Center for Southern Folklore, Memphis :
→ "Rollin' and Tumblin'" : https://youtu.be/iR0mJPifVes
→ "Little Red Rooster" : https://youtu.be/wtkOuLuL8qA
→ "You Know I Like That" : https://youtu.be/4djFtBo5f1I
→ "I Got My Mojo Working" : https://youtu.be/i1QGLdTFTes
→ "Down Home Blues" with The Saint Charles Saints Choir  : https://youtu.be/6HFig_G2wDs
→ "Mysterious Woman Blues" : https://youtu.be/nlb9FUuginc
● 2010, with Brad Webb, B.B. King's Blues Club, Memphis :
● 2010, Crossroads Blues Fest. : https://youtu.be/TlxznPLGgX4
● 2008, Ground Zero Blues Club, Clarksdale (Mississippi) : https://youtu.be/kAQOLGfM5Hk
● 2008, with Brad Webb, River Arts Fest., Memphis :
→ "Mysterious Woman Blues" : https://youtu.be/FAWam9LPElY
● 1995, "Junk Yard Dog" with The Pocket Rockets, Black Diamond Club, Beale Street, Memphis : https://youtu.be/KHJ_FRafzvE



With Mick Jagger

With Brad Webb (front left), renowned Memphis bassist
Melvin Lee (back right) & keyboardist Russell Wheeler
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June 12, 2022

Son Henry Band - Glenn Highway Blues (2004) / Heartache And Trouble (2006) / Long Way Home: Live at the 4th Avenue Theater (2007)

► The albums

Coming in from the cold

He came out of nowhere in 2004 with an album as raw as the wild majestic mountains of Alaska where he then lived and sharpened his claws like a bear by playing remote roadhouses hidden in the snowy landscape, but his pounding sound dominated by his greasy lap steel guitar often evokes the North Mississippi Hills ( on his personal blog, he actually wrote in December 2007 : "Yeah, take them all, R.L. Burnside is still the king.") : straight blues without any unnecessary ornaments appreciated by tough Alaskan oil fields workers.

In 2005, he decided to move to North Scotland, in Aberdeen, probably to keep the same kind of chilly climate. The guy was apparently not afraid of long flights and jet-lags, regularly playing in the US, but also across Europe.

The three CDs we're talking about here are his first, released between 2004 and 2007. He did three other albums since : two solo works, one released in 2013 and the second due in the summer of 2022, and one with the Son Henry Band in 2016.

Mississippi Hills sound, but blended with a good measure of Texas style and a touch of Chicago blues, especially on the second album : combined with Henry's slide and steel guitar amazing technique (he uses a lap steel instrument) and his gritty vocals, this mix produces a refreshing, original, energetic and very attractive sound that penetrates your body and soul. Once hooked on it, hard to quit !

Often hypnotic as a Hills Country boogie, rocking the Texas way or in a slower Chicago blues manner, Henry captivates.


● Glenn Highway Blues (2004) : raw as can be
It was recorded in Anchorage (Alaska). Of these three albums, this is probably the most greasy and rhythmic one. The opening track, "Glenn Highway Blues", which gives the album its title, immediately announces the Son Henry Band's rough and raw sound just like the following "Hummingbird" : saturated slide guitar or lap steel, pounding drumming (John Clark) and bass (Joel Lockman). And the lyrics prove that Henry is not a bad songwriter either.
"Second Glance", a slightly country-tinged blues ballad, features some strong guitar solo and a soulful voice. Right next comes the very rock'n'rolling "Memphis Train", the kind of track that makes you jump from the couch and dance like a little devil. "Heartache In My House" has a Southern blues-rock color a la Dickey Betts, with exciting slide guitar.
On "She's My Home" Henry also plays harmonica, while the band sounds more coarse and greasy than ever.
"Peach Street Blues" is an irresistible down-home shuffle brew made of raw Hills Country and Texas blues. Dance, dance, dance ! the slide guitar  shouts. The almost 7" "Long Way Home" is in the same vintage vein, and the final jumping "Cold, Cold World" closes the album with the same crude sound.
A very exciting CD that will undoubtedly thrill the raw electric country blues amateurs, who will ask for more of this Alaskan mountains blues...



● Heartache And Trouble (2006) : looking towards Texas and Chicago
And happily, more is coming on the second record. The sound is globally cleaner, less saturated ― some will probably regret it ― and closer to the traditional Chicago blues style, especially because of the prominent space left to Otto 'Ottomatic Slim' Lenz on harmonica. The album is calmer, featuring more slow and mellow numbers than on the previous one. On vocals Henry's gets the nice help of Blue Lisa Monroe on a couple of tracks.
"Granite City Shuffle" and "Richer Than A Sheik" open the album in a definite Texas style, followed by the low tempo title song "Heartache And Trouble". Then surges the heavy shuffling "First Thing Smoking", where one finds back some of the spirit of the first album, this time with the harmonica dueling with the guitar.
"Teardrops On My Pillow", another heavy low tempo song, is followed by the much faster "Love My Baby", both with the same guitar-harmonica dueling. Another long soulful slow ― almost lazy ― blues, "Middle Man", comes next.
Blue Lisa Monroe brings her vocal on the final tracks : the mid-tempo "They Say Love" and "Going Back To Dallas", a much livelier number.
Altogether, this second album is missing some of the raw spirit that was excitingly driving the debut album.



● Long Way Home : Live at the 4th Avenue Theater (2006 or 2007) : back to his roots
After two studio albums, it was time to discover how the man sounds on stage. His third and live album, released in 2007, has the answer. Recorded in Anchorage at the 2005 "Blues for my Brother" benefit concert in support of the Brother Francis Homeless Shelter, a cause Henry never misses, it offers a new panorama of Henry's style : mixing the raw sound of the first album that made the band's reputation and the quieter atmosphere of the second, it also features a couple of extra musicians around the threesome core of the band (Henry, Lockman and Clark) : Stu Schulman on guitar and slide guitar, and Melissa Bledsoe Fisher on keyboards. Blue Lisa Monroe is here too, while Otto 'Ottomatic Slim' Lenz appears on one song only. Nine live tracks completed with five studio recordings. A new sound for quite a pleasing result, laid-back on some tracks, rockier on others, always grooving.
The show opens on "Let The Good Times Roll", a perfect standard start for a live event, and moves on to the pounding "Bad Boy" featuring great slide guitar from Henry and Schulman, and Melissa Bledsoe Fisher's piano, before delivering a high slide version of the first album's roots Delta styled "Long Way Home". Next, the slow soul "Bring It On Home To Me" is again lit by superb slide parts by both Henry and Schulman, a recurrent double-task throughout the whole album.
Boogie time with "Help Me" : Melissa Bledsoe Fisher's organ is relayed by Texas style guitar leads. The bottlenecks start to melt ! Then comes  the nasty "Hip Shake" with the definitely excellent Blue Lisa Monroe on vocals over burning guitars, one of the highlights of the show, very reminiscent of the John Lee Hooker style. Blue Lisa goes on singing the heavy energetic rhythm'n'blues "You Were Wrong". The guitar strings are hot, close to snapping. SRV is not far. Still the band continues with an infernal version of "Messing With The Kid" with great piano, harmonica and incandescent guitars before closing the live part with a powerful version of B.B. King's "Beautician Blues" enlightened by Bledsoe Fisher keyboard. Pffff, catch your breath, it's not finished, the studio tracks are next !
Melissa Bledsoe Fisher
Difficult after such an explosion of energy to fall back into the quieter atmosphere of a recording studio. Don't worry, it starts with the laid-back but grooving "Walking Shoes" led by keyboard riffs and slide, followed by the fast swinging "Black Cat Blues". Next is "Luke's Black Cloud Blues", a kind of melodic copy cat (he he he !) of the previous track but in a different hypnotic tempo and different lyrics.
Then comes "Right Hand Road", a classic mild Texas rocker, before the final and surprisingly jazzy "I Can't Decide", a cool number which allows Henry to prove he's also at ease in the jazz guitar style.
A wonderful album indeed.

● The mysterious Karl "Son" Henry Mann
Several things are unclear about Son Henry : after checking the available information from different sources about his career, I couldn't figure out for sure if he had resided and/or worked for some time in Texas, nor if this was before moving to Alaska or… after leaving Scotland.
In his blog he wrote last February : "We packed up everything and left Texas to move north to Upstate NY. The weather is better, the overall situation is more relaxed and it's a good place for a roots musician to be based these days, strategically placed between Boston and Chicago and all points in between. I've got a great new band started which you'll be reading about in the coming months."
And to be accurate, I don't think he was Alaskan by birth either. He certainly lived and made his debut there but it seems that he was born and spent his youth in the state of New York. When ? No indication either. The man is shy about his private life it seems. I wouldn't blame him for that. Even the exact release dates of these first albums are unclear depending on the info channel you check…
Anyway, these details are not so important as far as his music is concerned. What is certain is that he his a great bluesman, a great slide/lap steel guitar player and an attractive singer. What else do we need to know ? Just enjoy these three albums. Up to you to decide which one you prefer… ■



The very scenic Glenn Highway in Alaska : http://www.glennhighway.org/

Live videos (uneven quality but that's all there is...)
● Son Henry Band at Aberdeen Moorings, 2013 : https://youtu.be/P0VvkOBhENk or https://youtu.be/CNJeg4aDX_I
● At the Arbroath Bell Rock Blues Festival, 2011 : https://youtu.be/fLVLsKTkBUQ
● Son Henry with the T. Rogers Blues Band, Gastroblues Fest., Paks (Hungary), 2009 :
→ "Can't Be Satisfied" : https://youtu.be/9k1ScRHy49o
→ "Richer Than A Sheik" : https://youtu.be/dz0NFIyH3Wk
→ "Let Me Lay My Head Down" : https://youtu.be/AubqvvApJ0E
● Unidentified songs, 2009-2010 :
→ https://youtu.be/9fve-TFBsTE
→ https://youtu.be/tcEgkD8En3Y
→ https://youtu.be/83wbii0tAq0
→ https://youtu.be/v_Qx_igigOo
● Son Henry Band with Tim Aves (harp) and Paul Lester (drums) :
→ "Let me lay my head down", South-of-England tour, 2009 : https://youtu.be/ApFDwpI6sZw
→ "Write me a few of your lines", live on SAINT FM in the heart of the Essex Delta (!), 2009 : https://youtu.be/uwlSlvaiAAI
● Solo & acoustic, 2008 :
→ "Walking Blues" : https://youtu.be/5lfTF6zEgzE
→ "Sackcloth and Ashes" : https://youtu.be/CbbWxR5FUJU
● "Love in Vain", the Stirling Tollbooth, Scotland, 2006 : https://youtu.be/vkt895kZT8g
● "Voodoo Chile", lap steel version, 2006 : https://youtu.be/BRnQJYS-emU
● "She's My Home", 2006 : https://youtu.be/vzARtCKVZQk
● For fun : Henry's son Chris (5 years old !) playing the congas, Anchorage (Alaska), 2005 : https://youtu.be/RdrhIuGcMzc















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