quARTERNOTES by Michael Buffalo Smith
I have been aware of my southern rocking buddy in France, Didier Cere for many years now (I am fortunate to know several great French southern rockers!) but I was not aware of what a good singer Didier is until receiving his band Bootleg- gers new album Southern Roads (Big Cactus Country). The man can sing and play a mean acoustic guitar. It amazes me how a Frenchman sings and it sounds like a Texan! I just love the band and the album. The fact that they enlisted the late great Rusty Burns (Point Blank) to add his distinctive Texas guitar to the awesome “Short Change Hero” is pretty cool in itself. (They dedi- cated the album to Rusty as well). Among the nine great tracks are a very nice cover of Delbert McClinton’s “Sending Me Angels,” Otis Taylor’s “Ten Million Slaves,” a very rocking song anti- slavery song which is followed by a fantastic in- strumental cover of the great Alan Lomax recording “Negro Prison Blues” that incorporates Lomax’s actual field recording, and Blind Willie Johnson’s “John the Revelator.” Its a one, two three punch. Next comes “Hangman Tree,” and Norman Greenbaum’s classic “Spirit in the Sky” done ZZ Top style! The guys end the set with the bluegrass classic “Man of Constant Sorrow,” rocked up Bootleggers style. A really fine album for any fan of southern rock, country rock or Americana - that means you! They Call Me Mud (Severn) is a smokin’ new blues album fromMud Morganfield, son of the legendary Muddy Waters. The album was recorded in Chicago with a cast of Chicago all- stars joining in. While most of trhe songs were written by Mud himself, he does cover a couple of his father’s tracks, “Howling Wolf” and “Can’t Get No Grinding.” The album is filled with much of the sound reminiscent of his dad, but Mud is his own man. While he will always pay tribute to his father, many other influences come through in
Mud’s music, including the sounds that were pop- ular when he was growing up, the ‘70s and 80’s sounds of soul, Motown and r&b come shining through. Mud is at his best on songs like “Cheatin’ is Cheatin,” and the soulful “Who Loves You,” a song that features his youngest daughter Lashunda Williams in duet on a smooth groove duet, and he does an excellent job of his dad’s “Howlin’ Wolf” with slide and harp. Mighty fine. Blues and soul combine on They Call Me Mud. It’s a good ‘un. . . Living legend John Mayall is back with his John Mayall Trio and a red hot live release called Three for the Road (Forty Below). Besides John (vocal, keys, harmonica), the band includes Greg Rzab (bass) and Jay Dav- enport (drums). Recorded live in Germany during the 2017 tour, the 50-plus year British blues vet- eran and his band smoke through a ten song set that includes Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “I Feel So Bad;” Lionel Hampton’s “Ridin’ On the L&N”; Sonny Landreth’s “Congo Square; and a pair of Mayall compositions, “Lonley Feelings” and “Stream- line.” To say that it is an awesome CD is a bit of an understatement. Hello? It’s John-freakin’- Mayall. Get you some. . . Bernard Allison knows blues, and on his latest Let it Go (Ruf), produced by legendary producer Jim Gaines, finds Alison stripping it down to basics and con- centrating on songwriting. The album is already being touted as one of the best records of 2018. All 12 songs are stellar, including the funky blues of “Cruisin’ for a Brusin,” and “Backdoor Man” is the ultimate cheating song, with Alison with a .44 in hand investigating the possibility that his woman is cheating. The album is filled with excel- lent songwriting. Songs like the title track, “Let it Go,” a tale of love gone bad, and his acoustic cover of his father Luther Allison’s “Castle.” Just a great album. •
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