THE HOLLYWOOD BLUE FLAMES "DEEP IN AMERICA" Source: Blues Bytes Date: 04/2010 Writer: Graham Clarke

Deep In America, the latest release from the Hollywood Blue Flames, continues the band’s efforts to update the traditional blues of the 1950s. The band sprung from the ashes of the Hollywood Fats Band, fronted by the late Michael “Hollywood Fats” Mann, in 2005. Four members of the group (singer/harmonica player Al Blake, keyboardist Fred Kaplan, drummer Richard Innes, and bass player Larry Taylor) are Hollywood Fats alumnus, while guitarists Junior Watson and Kirk “Eli” Fletcher have been added since the new group’s inception in 2005.

Deep In America consists of 14 tracks, with mostly original compositions written by Blake (Kaplan wrote the sparkling piano-driven instrumentals “Crescent City Rock” and “Hushpuppy”). These songs touch on traditional blues themes, but also inject some modern flourishes. Among the many highlights are “Rambler & A Rollin’ Stone,” “My National Enquirer Baby,” and a trio of acoustic country blues tunes (“Music Man,” “Hip-Hoppin’ Toad,” and “Leavin’ California”).

The covers include L. C. McKinley’s swinging “Nit Wit,” a swampy take on Jimmy McCracklin’s “I Don’t Care,” and a reworking of Sonny Boy Williamson I’s “Jalopy To Drive” that nearly eclipses the original. Considering that these recordings were done over a five-year period, it’s a remarkably cohesive set and will please fans of classic blues.
As with their previous release, 2006’s Road To Rio, Deep In America is a two-disc set. The second disc is a collection of live tracks from the Hollywood Fats Band, circa 1979 and 1980, and is not to be missed. The band broke up not long after these recordings, frustrated by lack of work in the dreaded disco/glam rock era, and the tapes sat in storage until rediscovered by Blake.

Most of the tracks on the second disc are covers of familiar blues tunes, like Tampa Red’s “She’s Dynamite,” Arthur Gunter’s “Baby, Let’s Play House,” Freddy King’s “Hideaway,” and a pair of Memphis Slim tunes (“Blue and Lonesome” and “Lonesome”). The recordings bear witness to the fact that Hollywood Fats was an incredibly gifted guitarist (check out his work on “Hideaway”) who left this world much too soon in 1986.

Fortunately, the Hollywood Blue Flames are working hard to keep his memory alive. Down In America is a stellar set from start to finish.