THE HOLLYWOOD BLUE FLAMES "DEEP IN AMERICA" Source: Big City Rhythm & Blues Magazine Date: 02/2010 Writer: Gary von Tersch

Before succumbing to a heroin overdose in 1986, prodigiously talented guitarist Michael "Hollywood Fats" Mann winningly straddled the contrasting blues styles of his native West Coast and Chicago with an assurance and creative flair I really haven't heard the likes of since. I only had the pleasure of seeing him perform once (I believe I was in the audience at Palo Alto's Keystone club in 1979 where three tracks on the vintage "live" disc here were recorded) but still vividly recall that wide, mustachio'd grin and his astoundingly flashy, totally engaging fretwork. The fellows with him that evening (vocalist and harmonica maven Al Blake, rock-ribbed pianist Fred Kaplan, bassist Larry Taylor and madcap drummer Richard Innes) reformed as the Hollywood Blues Flames years later, ultimately working with guitarists like Junior Watson and Kirk Fletcher--who are all over the title disc here that draws from various recent studio sessions with previously unreleased material including out and alternate-takes and a few newly recorded songs.

Highlights featuring Watson (Canned Heat, Rod Piazza) are the opening, in-the-groove cover of L.C. McKinley's rollicking novelty blues "Nit Wit" and a hip-wiggling revival of Sonny Boy Williamson's great Trumpet side "Jalopy To Drive" AKA "Sonny Boy's Jump" (with, natch, some sharp harp-work by Blake) along with a band original, the modernistically clever "National Enquirer Baby," that allows the enterprising Watson plenty of room for his tube amp-sounding elaborations. Likewise, the Compton-born Fletcher shines on Kaplan's heads-up instrumental homage to Fats Domino titled "Crescent City Rock" as well as on a stunning arrangement of the traditional "Rocky Mountain Blues" and the Southside-suffused "He's A Blues Man" (yet another band original) that recalls Muddy and his early band at their grittiest. The slinkily deliberate confessional "Bad Boy Blues," where Fletcher teams up with Watson, is also a lot of fun.