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Featuring
Robert Lowery
Skip Rose
Ron Thompson
Sonny Rhodes
Luther Tucker
Charlie Musselwhite
HiTide Harris
The Gary Smith Blues Band
"As Charlie Musselwhite succinctly put it, 'blues is blues.' It can be the sweet ballad kind, or hard driving Chicago style, or even the low down country type. Whatever the kind, it's contained within this album -- the feeling and depth of the blues being played today in the San Francisco Bay Area.
"For guitarist HiTide Harris, these sides are his very first solo efforts. As a member of the John Mayall Band, Harris recorded and toured Europe and Australia in 1974. Tide's guitar playing and singing rank him as one of the finest blues musicians to surface in recent years.
"Gary Smith's career began with guitarist Robben Ford in 1970. The following year he formed his first band with bassist Steve Gomes whose solid backing has been a key to the band's success; they have been playing Bay Area clubs ever since. 'Solid Sender' is an instrumental in the vein of Little Walter. It's a showcase stopper that every harp player carries in his bag.
"Guitarist Ron Thompson was born in Oakland where the records of Jimmy Reed and Muddy Waters first provided him with a basic blues background. 'Blue Chariot,' a Delta influenced acoustic slide piece, is a classic that clearly exemplifies this young guitarist's abilities.
"Robert Lowery was born in Shula, Arkansas, near the Louisiana border. His earliest influences were local bluesmen, however, he eventually fell under the influence of Sam Hopkins and Son Jackson. He moved to Oakland in 1956 and is known for his rather uncanny ability to duplicate the sound of Robert Johnson. 'Crossroad Blues' is performed in typical Johnson style, the slide work impeccable, the duplication incredible.
"Sonny Rhodes has been playing the blues in California since the early 1960s when he moved to Fresno from Smithville, Texas. In Texas, he heard a lot of blues, especially T-Bone Walker who remains Rhodes' deepest influence as a guitarist. 'Keep Holding On' is a Jr. Parker tune that Rhodes first heard in Texas, lending a unique interpretation, and featuring a biting West Coast-style guitar.
"Luther Tucker is a veteran of numerous Chicago groups including the bands of Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Junior Wells, and James Cotton before finally settling in San Francisco. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1936, Luther Tucker is one of the great lead guitarists in the blues today! 'Mean Old World' goes back to when Tucker worked with the Otis Rush band in Chicago.
"It has been the wish of these musicians to present this album as a joint effort, a cooperative recording in which the final product is an expression of all involved to be shared by all, and one which transcends commercial consideration and allows each performer his interpretation of the blues."
- Tom Mazzolini, San Francisco 1976
1. Messaround
2. Blues For Mr. P.
3. Is That Any Way To Treat Your Man?
4. Crossroads Blues
5. The Highway Is Like A Woman
6. Solid Sender
7. Tuckerology
8. Canadian Sunset
9. Charlie Stone
10. Mean Old World
11. Tipitina
12. Keep Holding On
13. Never Will Forget Your Love
14. Gambling Man Blues
15. Blue Chariot
16. Paycheck Blues
17. Step It Up And Go
18. Tennessee Blues
19. If I Die
20. Sweet Home Chicago |
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