helenekhoffman's Full Review: Blues Guitar Greats (Easydisc)
Easydisc (a subsidy of the roots rock label Rounder) is a producer of genre specific budget compilations--at about $6-7 bucks a pop, they're a pretty good bargain. Having found their Surf Guitar Greats collection enjoyable and a lot of fun, I decided to have a go at their blues rock comp (called, naturally, Blues Guitar Greats.) I can't say I liked it as much as the surf volume, but this was a still a decent purchase.
Blues Guitar Greats focuses on contemporary recordings (in this case, the ten songs featured were waxed between the late 70's and mid 90's), so one shouldn't go in expecting a "blues for dummies" aural tutorial on this extraordinarily influential roots music style. It seems Rounder just slapped together a bunch of artists they had some connection to, liked, and wanted to promote...and as such collections ago, it's entertaining and listenable enough.
This comp is dominated by two specific styles of blues music--electric Midwest/urban blues and electric Texas roadhouse blues, though occasionally you'll hear other stylistic influences (I would've preferred even more diversity than they offered here, but oh well.) As one can expect from the title, Rounder picked tracks that feature hotshot guitarists/prominent fleet fingered guitar solos.
I groaned when I saw that George Thorogood would be kicking the proceedings off, but fortunately he's represented here by the only song of his I can count as a guilty pleasure. That would be his typically aggressive, sledgehammer subtle cover of Hank Williams' "Move It On Over" (featuring his trademark simple, greasy bottleneck playing.) I've put this on the juke a few times while playing competitive pool (one of the few songs I can get away with playing that doesn't give me the stinkeye from working class bar patrons.)
There are three instrumentals where the respective guitarists are given free rein to show off, and I think it was a sequencing mistake to put two of these back to back as tracks 2 & 3--no disrespect to these fellas' formidable talents, but having such an unbroken stretch of wank so early in the collection kinda slows down its momentum. I get varying degrees of enjoyment out of all these showcases, though--Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown's "Alligator Boogaloo," is frisky and funky with a cool big band horn arrangement, while Little John King's "King's Crosstown Shuffle" is a sweaty Chicago barroom shredfest frequently interrupted by rudely blaring brass. Ronnie Earl injects a nifty swing jazz/rockabilly sensibility into his "Robert Nighthawk Stomp" (I'd reckon he's a Chet Atkins fan.)
One of the ways to measure a compilation of this nature's success is how excited it gets ya to jump online and find out more about its artists. To be honest, only Johnny Copeland's "Don't Stop by the Creek, Son" really inspired me in this way before doing research for this review--I was drawn to the guy's gravelly, battery acid bark and the music's gritty, swamp funk bite. Copeland grew up on the Louisiana-Arkansas border and started gigging as a teenager in the 50's (while pursuing boxing as a hobby.) Though he steadily worked as musician through the subsequent decades, the apex of his popularity in the blues world didn't come until the 90's. (Sadly, Copeland is no longer with us, having succumbed to complications from surgery to correct a genetic heart defect in 1997.)
Barbara Lynn also has a fairly interesting backstory as one of the very first female instrumentalists to score a hit (she plays her axe left handed like Jimi Hendrix.) Her selection "The Payback" is taken from a 1994 comeback album, and while I would consider this more 60's soul/R&B than blues, it's a quality cut. She has a much more understated playing style than the guys on the comp, preferring to glide fluidly under the prominent brass section rather than step out front. The remaining selections on Blues Guitar Greats aren't at all bad, just a lot less memorable--though The Smokin' Joe Kubek Band's "Just For A Little While" got my attention through its spooky intro, and held it through Bnois King's showstopping vocals (which glide effortlessly from guttural growls to falsetto shrieks.)
I do have one more significant complaint: Given the price, I didn't expect detailed liner notes or sumptuous packaging, but these liners are even skimpier than they were on the surf volume. Not that it killed me to make a quick trip to Allmusic Guide or anything, but would it have killed them to include just a little background about each performer? Even if it's just like, a line or two?
But all in all, this isn't a bad little collection as far as these things go, especially for fans of contemporary electric blues. Blues Guitar Greats squeaks by with a recommendation.
Track List:
1. Move It On Over - George Thorogood & The Destroyers
2. King's Crosstown Shuffle - Little Jimmy King
3. Robert Nighthawk Stomp - Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters
4. Don't Stop By The Creek, Son - Johnny Copeland
5. Too Hot To Handle - Duke Robillard
6. One Way Or Another - Walter "Wolfman" Washington
7. Trouble - Preston Shannon Band
8. Alligator Boogaloo - Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
9. The Payback - Barbara Lynn
10. Just For A Little While - Smokin' Joe Kubek Band featuring Bnois King
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.