Blues CDs New Releases - June 2014
Now this is the way to start the summer, with new CD releases from Janiva Magness, the Mannish Boys, the Royal Southern Brotherhood, Walter Trout, Rod Piazza, and Ronnie Earl, among others! Throw in hot-as-the-dog-days-of-summer blues tunes from relative newcomers like the Alastair Greene Band, Selwyn Birchwood, and the Andy T-Nick Nixon Band and no matter your taste in blues, here's what you'll be listening to in June...
Delta Groove follows up on its initial slate of 2014 releases (Bob Corritore, Terry Hanck & Shane Dwight) with another trio of albums, beginning with the Alastair Green Band’s Trouble At Your Door. Greene has been kicking around Southern California for years, fronting one form of his band or another, releasing four indie albums that display his enormous blues-rock guitar chops and considerable songwriting skills. Oddly enough, Greene pays the bills by touring with prog-rock legend Alan Parsons, but that just shows the range of his skills, and he’s all blues business on Trouble At Your Door, leading his power trio of bassist Jim Rankin and drummer Austin Beede through a dozen livewire performances, most of them original tunes, the lone cover here of Michael “Iron Man” Burks’ “Strange Feeling,” which bristles with enough raw energy to do the late Mr. Burks proud. (Release date: 06/17/14)More »
The sophomore effort from the duo of guitarist Andy ‘T’ Talamantez and singer James “Nick” Nixon, Livin’ It Up builds on the momentum of their critically-acclaimed 2013 debut Drink Drank Drunk. Working again with producer (and talented blues guitarist) Anson Funderburgh, and backed by a top-notch band, the two men rip and roar through a set of lively originals and a cool cover of Delbert McClintons’s “Livin’ It Down.” The band’s sound is a high-flying, okra-frying, soul inspiring blend of Texas blues, New Orleans R&B, Memphis soul, and Nashville twang...in short, the kind of hearty roots ‘n’ blues tunes that you can really sink your teeth into. (Release date: 06/17/14)More »
Award-winning multi-instrumentalist Deanna Bogart follows up on her acclaimed 2012 album Pianoland with Just A Wish Away, a fresh set of eleven songs that highlight the artist’s underrated songwriting chops and her skills as a pianist and sax player. Just A Wish Away was recorded at Dockside Studios in Maurice, Louisiana with producer JoeBaby Michaels and a full complement of some of the best instrumental talents in the blues, including guitarist Derwin Perkins and bassist Charlie Wooten. Bogart wrote or co-wrote seven of the album’s eleven songs, and covers include a duet with guitarist Cris Jacobs on John David Souther’s “If You Have Crying Eyes,” a scorching take on the Doyle Bramhall/Stevie Ray Vaughan gem “Tightrope,” and a funky strut through Sly Stone’s “Hot Fun In The Summertime.” (Release date: 06/24/14)More »
The former White Stripes’ frontman has never been what one could consider a traditional bluesman, but the mantle of Son House, Robert Johnson, and Charley Patton, among others, has undeniably informed a lot of music that he’s made throughout the years. Lazaretto is White’s second solo album, another collection of garage-rock, blues-rock, punk-rock, and other sonic hyphenates that is certain to sell by the truckload and confuse a lot of old-school blues fans. So why include it here? White’s ongoing support of the blues through his indie Third Man Records imprint, his unique vision of the music, and his influence on the next generation of musicians is as important today as the Johnny Winter-produced Muddy Waters albums were in the 1970s. What, you think that today’s guitar-stranglin’ young ‘uns are going to learn about the blues from Imagine Dragons or Fun? If it wasn’t for the Black Keys and Jack White, there wouldn’t even be a hint of the blues on the pop charts... (Release date: 06/10/14)More »
Janiva Magness’ Original offers eleven songs that feature the singer’s usual mix of blues, roots-rock, and soul music. Working again with producer Dave Darling, Magness lays her soul bare with a brutal slate of songs that present the artist at her most transparent. Inspired by the end of her 17-year marriage, and more deaths of friends and relatives than a person should have to endure in such a short timeframe, Magness co-wrote seven of the album’s songs, backing up her words with some of the most powerful vocal performances of her career. What more can you say? She’s a great singer, perhaps the best the blues has at this moment, and every new album is a fresh revelation. Expect Janiva Magness to dominate the Blues Music Awards next spring (again). (Release date: 06/24/14)More »
Guitarist John Primer spent better than a decade backing up the mighty Magic Slim, so it’s safe to say that he knows his ways around the blues. You Can Make It If You Try is a live recording from the early 1990s that features the beloved Chicago blues guitarist backed by the late Slim’s rip-roaring outfit the Teardrops (bassist Nick Holt and drummer Earl Howell), the gang ripping through a crackerjack set list that includes songs from Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Hound Dog Taylor, and much more, eleven high-voltage tracks altogether courtesy of Austria’s finest blues label, Wolf Records. (Release date: 06/10/14)More »
There’s a lot of buzz surrounding this set of Led Zeppelin reissues, the first three titles in the band’s catalog provided a high-resolution digital transfer and their first true re-mastering in some 20 years. Each album is being released in deluxe formats as well, Led Zeppelin I available in five different ways, including a stand-alone version, a two-disc deluxe set with an unreleased live performance, vinyl and more. Why do you care? Aside from re-writing the rules of blues-rock after Cream and the Yardbirds first created the genre, aside from covering two Willie Dixon songs, aside from their enormous impact on rock music, the first two Zeppelin albums fully illustrate guitarist and songwriter Jimmy Page’s love of the blues, even if he was overly enthusiastic in borrowing from the masters at times... (Release date: 06/03/14)More »
Borrowing a little from Willie Dixon and a little from Muddy Waters, Led Zeppelin II offers more of the same from the legendary British blues-rock band. Released a mere months after the band’s 1969 debut, Led Zeppelin II finds a band ready to branch out beyond the restraints of the blues-rock form, cranking up the guitars and, in the minds of many, creating the template from which heavy metal would be stamped a few years later. The deluxe version offers a second disc of studio outtakes and alternate takes that are probably only of interest to the hardcore faithful, although we all know that these reissues are going to sell a heck of a lot of flapjacks! (Release date: 06/03/14)More »
Coming, as it did, a year or so before the release of the band’s fourth album and the chart-busting landmark that was “Stairway To Heaven,” Led Zeppelin III is often treated like the overlooked and underappreciated middle child. Although the band begins its retreat from the blues here, it’s only because they had begun to learn to incorporate it more cleverly into a signature sound, the blues imprinted on their DNA and influencing every song they’d record. Don’t agree? Listen to their haunting version of “Gallow’s Pole,” a British folk song brought to America and sandpapered into the blues by the great Leadbelly before making its trip back home. Zeppelin began to mix traditional and contemporary British folk into their blues-rock sound here, setting the stage for that all-important fourth album. The Led Zeppelin III deluxe edition includes a second disc of studio outtakes and rough mixes that shed light on the band’s “process.” (Release date: 06/03/14)More »
fter a half-dozen acclaimed albums, thirteen Blues Music Award nominations, and a big win last year for 2012’s Double Dynamite album (“Traditional Blues Album of the Year”), the blues supergroup the Mannish Boys returns with this year’s model, Wrapped Up And Ready. Although the Boys’ line-up changes year to year, it has a core of players including harmonica wizard Randy Chortkoff and guitarist Kirk “Eli” Fletcher, joined this time by singer Sugar Ray Rayford, guitarist Franck “Paris Slim” Goldwasser, bassist Willie J. Campbell, and drummer Jimi Bott. With help from friends like Kim Wilson, Candye Kane, Kid Ramos, Bob Corritore, Monster Mike Welch, and others the Mannish Boys kick up the dust with 16 red-hot performances, including 11 original tunes and inspired covers of songs by Roy Brown, Magic Sam, Ike Turner, and others. Really, how can you go wrong with a Mannish Boys CD? (Release date: 06/17/14)More »
Alastair Greene Band – 'Trouble At Your Door' (Delta Groove)
Delta Groove follows up on its initial slate of 2014 releases (Bob Corritore, Terry Hanck & Shane Dwight) with another trio of albums, beginning with the Alastair Green Band’s Trouble At Your Door. Greene has been kicking around Southern California for years, fronting one form of his band or another, releasing four indie albums that display his enormous blues-rock guitar chops and considerable songwriting skills. Oddly enough, Greene pays the bills by touring with prog-rock legend Alan Parsons, but that just shows the range of his skills, and he’s all blues business on Trouble At Your Door, leading his power trio of bassist Jim Rankin and drummer Austin Beede through a dozen livewire performances, most of them original tunes, the lone cover here of Michael “Iron Man” Burks’ “Strange Feeling,” which bristles with enough raw energy to do the late Mr. Burks proud. (Release date: 06/17/14)More »
Andy T-Nick Nixon Band – 'Livin’ It Up' (Delta Groove)
The sophomore effort from the duo of guitarist Andy ‘T’ Talamantez and singer James “Nick” Nixon, Livin’ It Up builds on the momentum of their critically-acclaimed 2013 debut Drink Drank Drunk. Working again with producer (and talented blues guitarist) Anson Funderburgh, and backed by a top-notch band, the two men rip and roar through a set of lively originals and a cool cover of Delbert McClintons’s “Livin’ It Down.” The band’s sound is a high-flying, okra-frying, soul inspiring blend of Texas blues, New Orleans R&B, Memphis soul, and Nashville twang...in short, the kind of hearty roots ‘n’ blues tunes that you can really sink your teeth into. (Release date: 06/17/14)More »
Deanna Bogart – 'Just A Wish Away' (Blind Pig Records)
Award-winning multi-instrumentalist Deanna Bogart follows up on her acclaimed 2012 album Pianoland with Just A Wish Away, a fresh set of eleven songs that highlight the artist’s underrated songwriting chops and her skills as a pianist and sax player. Just A Wish Away was recorded at Dockside Studios in Maurice, Louisiana with producer JoeBaby Michaels and a full complement of some of the best instrumental talents in the blues, including guitarist Derwin Perkins and bassist Charlie Wooten. Bogart wrote or co-wrote seven of the album’s eleven songs, and covers include a duet with guitarist Cris Jacobs on John David Souther’s “If You Have Crying Eyes,” a scorching take on the Doyle Bramhall/Stevie Ray Vaughan gem “Tightrope,” and a funky strut through Sly Stone’s “Hot Fun In The Summertime.” (Release date: 06/24/14)More »
Jack White – 'Lazaretto' (Third Man Records)
The former White Stripes’ frontman has never been what one could consider a traditional bluesman, but the mantle of Son House, Robert Johnson, and Charley Patton, among others, has undeniably informed a lot of music that he’s made throughout the years. Lazaretto is White’s second solo album, another collection of garage-rock, blues-rock, punk-rock, and other sonic hyphenates that is certain to sell by the truckload and confuse a lot of old-school blues fans. So why include it here? White’s ongoing support of the blues through his indie Third Man Records imprint, his unique vision of the music, and his influence on the next generation of musicians is as important today as the Johnny Winter-produced Muddy Waters albums were in the 1970s. What, you think that today’s guitar-stranglin’ young ‘uns are going to learn about the blues from Imagine Dragons or Fun? If it wasn’t for the Black Keys and Jack White, there wouldn’t even be a hint of the blues on the pop charts... (Release date: 06/10/14)More »
Janiva Magness – 'Original' (Fathead Records)
Janiva Magness’ Original offers eleven songs that feature the singer’s usual mix of blues, roots-rock, and soul music. Working again with producer Dave Darling, Magness lays her soul bare with a brutal slate of songs that present the artist at her most transparent. Inspired by the end of her 17-year marriage, and more deaths of friends and relatives than a person should have to endure in such a short timeframe, Magness co-wrote seven of the album’s songs, backing up her words with some of the most powerful vocal performances of her career. What more can you say? She’s a great singer, perhaps the best the blues has at this moment, and every new album is a fresh revelation. Expect Janiva Magness to dominate the Blues Music Awards next spring (again). (Release date: 06/24/14)More »
John Primer & the Teardrops – 'You Can Make It If You Try' (Wolf Records)
Guitarist John Primer spent better than a decade backing up the mighty Magic Slim, so it’s safe to say that he knows his ways around the blues. You Can Make It If You Try is a live recording from the early 1990s that features the beloved Chicago blues guitarist backed by the late Slim’s rip-roaring outfit the Teardrops (bassist Nick Holt and drummer Earl Howell), the gang ripping through a crackerjack set list that includes songs from Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Hound Dog Taylor, and much more, eleven high-voltage tracks altogether courtesy of Austria’s finest blues label, Wolf Records. (Release date: 06/10/14)More »
Led Zeppelin – 'Led Zeppelin I' (Swan Song/Atlantic Records)
There’s a lot of buzz surrounding this set of Led Zeppelin reissues, the first three titles in the band’s catalog provided a high-resolution digital transfer and their first true re-mastering in some 20 years. Each album is being released in deluxe formats as well, Led Zeppelin I available in five different ways, including a stand-alone version, a two-disc deluxe set with an unreleased live performance, vinyl and more. Why do you care? Aside from re-writing the rules of blues-rock after Cream and the Yardbirds first created the genre, aside from covering two Willie Dixon songs, aside from their enormous impact on rock music, the first two Zeppelin albums fully illustrate guitarist and songwriter Jimmy Page’s love of the blues, even if he was overly enthusiastic in borrowing from the masters at times... (Release date: 06/03/14)More »
Led Zeppelin – 'Led Zeppelin II' (Swan Song/Atlantic Records)
Borrowing a little from Willie Dixon and a little from Muddy Waters, Led Zeppelin II offers more of the same from the legendary British blues-rock band. Released a mere months after the band’s 1969 debut, Led Zeppelin II finds a band ready to branch out beyond the restraints of the blues-rock form, cranking up the guitars and, in the minds of many, creating the template from which heavy metal would be stamped a few years later. The deluxe version offers a second disc of studio outtakes and alternate takes that are probably only of interest to the hardcore faithful, although we all know that these reissues are going to sell a heck of a lot of flapjacks! (Release date: 06/03/14)More »
Led Zeppelin – 'Led Zeppelin III' (Swan Song/Atlantic Records)
Coming, as it did, a year or so before the release of the band’s fourth album and the chart-busting landmark that was “Stairway To Heaven,” Led Zeppelin III is often treated like the overlooked and underappreciated middle child. Although the band begins its retreat from the blues here, it’s only because they had begun to learn to incorporate it more cleverly into a signature sound, the blues imprinted on their DNA and influencing every song they’d record. Don’t agree? Listen to their haunting version of “Gallow’s Pole,” a British folk song brought to America and sandpapered into the blues by the great Leadbelly before making its trip back home. Zeppelin began to mix traditional and contemporary British folk into their blues-rock sound here, setting the stage for that all-important fourth album. The Led Zeppelin III deluxe edition includes a second disc of studio outtakes and rough mixes that shed light on the band’s “process.” (Release date: 06/03/14)More »
Mannish Boys – 'Wrapped Up And Ready' (Delta Groove)
fter a half-dozen acclaimed albums, thirteen Blues Music Award nominations, and a big win last year for 2012’s Double Dynamite album (“Traditional Blues Album of the Year”), the blues supergroup the Mannish Boys returns with this year’s model, Wrapped Up And Ready. Although the Boys’ line-up changes year to year, it has a core of players including harmonica wizard Randy Chortkoff and guitarist Kirk “Eli” Fletcher, joined this time by singer Sugar Ray Rayford, guitarist Franck “Paris Slim” Goldwasser, bassist Willie J. Campbell, and drummer Jimi Bott. With help from friends like Kim Wilson, Candye Kane, Kid Ramos, Bob Corritore, Monster Mike Welch, and others the Mannish Boys kick up the dust with 16 red-hot performances, including 11 original tunes and inspired covers of songs by Roy Brown, Magic Sam, Ike Turner, and others. Really, how can you go wrong with a Mannish Boys CD? (Release date: 06/17/14)More »
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}