unna Greenleaf, and John Del Toro Richard- son.
Soul of the King is an absolute gem and
I highly recommend it for all blues fans. -Phillip Smith
Humble Pie Joint Effort (Cleopatra) This one is praised
as the “lost” Humble Pie album of 1974, recorded with the classic lineup of Steve Marriott, Greg
Ridley, Dave Clempson, and Jerry Shirley. Why then does the record company use pho- tos of the 1969 Pie with Peter Frampton in them? Maybe to capitalkize on the fact that he is retiring? Who knows. Even still, there are some fine rockers here, including some never before heard originals and smoking covers of James Brown’s “Think;” The Beatles’ “Rain;” and Betty Wright’s “Let Me BeE Your Love- maker.” The sound is raw and electric, funky and soulful. Songs like “Snakes and Ladders” and
“Charlene” are so good, it was almost worth the 44-year wait to hear this, their ninth album. A&M turned the album down at the time, now we can turn them up! By the way, if you missed the boat on Humble Pie, allow me to highly recommend your pur- chasing Rockin’ the Fillmore live as well!
-Michael Buffalo Smith
Robert Connely Farr & the Rebeltone Boys Dirty South Blues (DIY) Growing up in
Bolton, Mississippi (hometown of Charlie Patton and The Missis- sippi Sheiks) and men-
tored by Jimmy ‘Duck’ Holmes, puts Robert Connely Farr in a righteous spot to carry the torch for Bentonia blues. Now a resident of Vancouver, Farr enlisted the expertise of Leeroy Stagger to produce this ten-track album featuring nine tremendous original songs, called Dirty South Blues. Backing Farr, is the Rebeltone Boys, comprised of Evan Ushenko on lead guitar, Tyson Maiko on bass, Kyle Harmon on drums, and Michael Ayotte on keys. The hypnotic rolling rhythm of “Ode to
the Lonesome” quickly garners my attention as Farr poignantly reflects upon his fortress of solitude at the Cyprus Swamp. Title-track “Dirty South Blues” gets real quite fast with Farr’s matter-of-fact lyrics accented by gobs of swampy slide guitar. “Magnolia” is captivating and gut-wrenchingly dark. Ayotte contributes a thick layer of ominous keys adding to the inten- sity.
Farr pays homage to the oldest surviving
juke joint in Mississippi with the wonderfully gritty original “Blue Front Café”. The Blue Front Café, owned by Jimmy ‘Duck’ Holmes is one of the many sites on the Mississippi Blues Trail, and is still in operation today. Holmes even shares writing credits with Farr, on “Just Jive Blues”, a ripping piano-heavy blues tune with lots of twang. This is a fun one indeed. The way Farr tackles Skip James’ “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” is plumb terrific. Dirty South Blues is one rock-solid
record of blues, and Robert Connely Farr is the real deal.
-Phillip Smith 42
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