Various Artists This is the Blues Volume 3 Review by Gary Hill
This is (as the title suggests) the third installment in a blues collection. It features a number of artists putting in blues performances. It’s kind of a mixed bag. Nothing here is really bad, but there are a couple of tracks I wouldn’t consider the blues. There are two numbers, though, that are serious screamers and those two would be worth the price of admission all by themselves.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2010 Volume 5 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Crawlin' King Snake - Peter Green Splinter Group
This is a real stripped down, old school blues cut. It’s quite cool and has a lot in common with music dating as far back as Robert Johnson.
If You Be My Baby – Dave Peverett / Rod Price / Southside Johnny / Harvey Brooks / Mo Potts This rocks out a lot more. It’s still real blues, but with a hard electric edge.
Bad Like Jesse James – LLC A slow blues grind, this is quite a tasty one. The vocal delivery here makes me think just a bit of George Thorogood. This is a lot grittier than Lonesome George, though. It’s definitely more stripped down, too. I really like this one a lot.
Little Red Rooster - Savoy Brown Here we get a killer performance of a classic electric blues rocker. It’s a real screamer with some incendiary guitar work, a passionate vocal performance and some tasty ivory tickling. I absolutely love this song. It’s one of the definite highlights of the set.
Serves Me Right To Suffer – Gary Moore / Jack Bruce / Gary Husband This slow blues jam is awesome. It reminds me in some ways of the bluesiest music from ZZ Top. It’s just plain magic and another standout.
Little Wheel - Gary Brooker / Andy Fairweather-Low / Matt Pegg / Henry Spinetti There’s a lot more of an old school blues sound to this one. The vocals remind me a bit of Dr. John in places.
Showbiz Blues - Rory Gallagher / John Cook / Rich Newman / Spoon Percussion and harmonica kick us off here. After a while, though, it powers out to a more rocking jam. This reminds me a bit of the kind of blues treatment the Stones might do. It’s a real screamer.
One More Mile – Mike Clark / Lou Martin Piano leads us out, but the guitar joins rather quickly. It’s definitely more of an old school, mellower, blues jam. There’s a lot of jazz in the mix, too.
I've Got News For You – Clem Clempson / Jack Bruce / Mark Teltham / Ronnie Leahy / Neal Wilkinson Another slow, electric blues, this is strong. It’s not a highlight, but it’s not far from it.
The Same Way – Mick Abrahams / Dave Lennox / Jim Leverton / Graham Walker A harder rocking number, this is still a rather slow blues. It’s got some tasty guitar soloing and is one of the stronger pieces here. There’s some tasty keyboard work on show, too.
The Supernatural – Vlas Yngstrom / Ulf Ivarsson / Christer Bjorklund / Frank Marstokk There’s an almost jam band sound here, but the guitar solo really screams. This is an instrumental performance.
Hellhound On My Trail - Ken Hensley The main instrument here is the piano, but there’s some tasty acoustic slide blues guitar, too. This is very much an old school style of blues.
Fleetwood Mac - Larry Mitchell / Stu Hamm / Jonathan Mover While this is a blues track, this is not a blues performance. The first half is in a screaming, nearly metal jam and then there’s a short little fusion mellow treatment. Stu Hamm’s bass solos as the fusion continues. Then it screams back out with guitar fury. This is a killer tune, but I’m not sure it belongs on a blues compilation.
Merry Go Round – Luther Grosvenor / Ness Roden / Dave Moore / Steve Dolan / Mike Kellie Now, this smoking blues number is more like it. It’s got that slow blues feeling with some fiery guitar soloing and a real passionate vocal performance. This is another highlight of the set.
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - Jeff Beck / Siggi Josiah / Earl Green / Kingdom Choir / Dave More / David Hadley / Richard Bailey / Pete Brown I’m not sure I’d call this one blues, either. It’s more of a gospel cut. It’s cool, but not really my cup of tea – and not really the blues.
