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THE
HOLLYWOOD BLUE FLAMES "ROAD TO RIO"
Source: Good New Music
Date: 07/2006
Writer: Peter Hund |
Back
in 1997, Fabulous Thunderbirds leader Kim Wilson
started a label called Blue Collar Music. It lasted
for three releases: Wilson’s own “My
Blues,” pianist Fred Kaplan’s “Signifyin’
” and guitarist Al Blake’s “Mr.
Blake’s Blues.”
Kaplan
and Blake are two of the finest L.A.-based white
blues players, a fact not lost on Wilson after
he left his adopted hometown of Austin, Texas,
to return to Southern California. In 2005, Blake
and Kaplan reunited with other members of the
legendary Hollywood Fats Band under the Hollywood
Blue Flames moniker and released “Soul
Sanctuary.” This is the incredible follow-up.
Ably
filling the late Hollywood Fats’ guitar
shoes is Kirk “Eli” Fletcher, part
of the new generation of West Coast bluesmen.
Special guests include Wilson on harmonica on
one track, and guitarist Junior Watson on three
cuts.
A
bonus disc of unreleased live performances by
the Hollywood Fats Band from 1979-80 includes
appearances by Eddie “Cleanhead”
Vinson and Roy Brown.
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