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THE
HOLLYWOOD BLUE FLAMES "ROAD TO RIO"
Source: Blue Suede
News
Date: 07/2006
Writer: MB |
As
good as this band is, and they're great - there's
a danger of the main disc being overshadowed by
the 2nd disc in this package, which features live
unreleased tracks by their own earlier incarnation,
the Hollywood Fats Band. And those feature a couple
tracks each with Eddie ?Cleanhead? Vinson and
Roy Brown! Keeping up their own end Disc one has
3 bonus tracks featuring Jr. Watson, and Kim Wilson
is also on a track. There's not really any danger
though, other than what you'll sense in the tracks
when they want you to. This stuff is the real
deal Blues, both down and dirty and at the same
time played and recorded so cleanly you're sitting
in the middle of the band. It reminds me of the
best of Canned Heat, only better! I guess in the
same sense that Isaac Newton meant it, these guys
are standing on the shoulders of giants. In this
case of course, they are among those giants themselves!
How do you stand on your own shoulders? Not easy
my friends, but listen to these two discs for
a clue. I can't really imagine ANY fan of vintage
Blues styles finding anything to be disappointed
with in this - Disc one will easily be worth the
entire price of admission, whatever it is. The
tunes are mostly collaborations of band members,
several with all of them listed. One might imagine
composition by committee not working well, but
one would be wrong. But then ?Long Black Cadillac?
is called original and it's clearly based upon
a familiar one, with lyric changes. What the hell
though, that's the blues tradition in a nutshell.
And by the way, two of these tunes were written
by Al Blake (harmonica, vocal, guitar) and Michael
Mann - Hollywood Fats himself - back in 1980,
and never recorded before. You can't go wrong!
Wow, it's so refreshing to hear a band that is
comfortable in laid back grooves and doesn't feel
like they have to push notes at people! There
are people who boast in song about how their love
will make you forget any lover you've ever known.
I'm not gonna claim this set will make you forget
Howlin' Wolf, Slim Harpo or Jimmy Reed, but it's
sure as hell going to sit proudly on my shelf
next to their recordings! What would it matter
what's on Disc Two? But that one has some familiar
tunes like ?Baby Let's Play House?, Shake Rattle
And Roll?, Freddie King's ?Side Tracked?, ?Rockinitis?,
Vinson's ?Cleanhead Blues? and Brown's ?Love For
Sale?. Roy Brown for Chrissakes! How many live
Roy Brown recordings do you have? Who wouldn't
bet on a sure thing? Slap your money down Jack,
here it is! See the ad! |
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