Audio Files

By GINA VIVINETTO, GERRY DOYLE and PHILIP BOOTH

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 1, 2001

MORE BETTER BLUES: Still excited by the Tampa Bay Blues Festival, which ends today? Then continue getting your blues on with these recent reissued classics and a new release from a former Tampa Bay powerhouse.

MUDDY WATERS, MUDDY WATERS AT NEWPORT, 1960 (UNIVERSAL) -- Muddy Waters defined the aggressive sound of Chicago Delta blues. Now reissued with bonus tracks, his landmark live album Muddy Waters At Newport, 1960, considered one of the genre's finest live recordings, showcases Waters' power. From the opener I Got My Brand On You to the riveting Got My Mojo Working, it's non-stop growling and grousing, complemented by Waters' chill-inducing slide guitar.

Waters' blues are bipolar. He is always devilish and wry. Even tunes such as (I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man sound at once cheerful and combative.

And check out Waters' band: Harmonica comes courtesy of the great James Cotton. The rhythm section of Francis Clay (drums) and Andrew Stephenson (bass) is stellar. Otis Spann's piano licks add simple, perfect flourishes.

Folks say this is the album that turned on a generation of British rockers, namely Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones, to the blues. Surely, At Newport could make a convert of anyone. Grade: A.

- GINA VIVINETTO, Times pop music critic

BOBBY BLAND, TWO STEPS FROM THE BLUES (UNIVERSAL) -- Bobby "Blue" Bland is an anomaly among blues stars because he plays no instrument. Bland, who performs tonight in Tampa, is a singer, but a singer of such strength and dignity that his voice has catapulted him to legendary status. Two Steps From The Blues, his reissued album from 1961, contains six top 10 R&B smashes, including I Pity The Fool, which must have inspired Mr. T.

Bland's delivery is soulful and smooth, not raucous. Most blues belters could fry eggs with their fiery, mean growls. Instead, Bland uses his warm, seductive croon to melt butter -- and your heart. Listen to I'll Take Care Of You and understand. Grade: A.

- G.V.

(Bland performs at 8 tonight at Centro Asturiano, Tampa. Tickets are $25. (813) 598-8021)

LUTHER ALLISON, LUTHER'S BLUES (UNIVERSAL) -- Every guitar hero can make his or her guitar scream. But Luther Allison makes his talk dirty.

The remastered Luther's Blues showcases the Chicago blues legend's eardrum-thrilling guitar skills and his whiskey-roughened alto voice like a front-row seat in a smoke-filled dive. The notes make your heart dip and soar with each verse about love, betrayal and hard living. And although most of the tracks were recorded in the studio, the last one -- a medley of I'm Gonna Miss My Baby, Bad News is Coming and the Thrill Is Gone -- demonstrates with the deft flick of a guitar pick how talented Allison is, no matter what the venue.

The new CD lets you listen a little closer to the talents of a blues genius. And that's something to be happy about. Grade: A

- GERRY DOYLE, Times staff writer

LUCKY PETERSON, DOUBLE DEALIN' (BLUE THUMB) Lucky Peterson, a former Tampa Bay area resident now based in Texas, is a monster singer, guitarist and Hammond B3 organ player, and an electrifying performer. So why hasn't he climbed to the top of the heap in the blues world? Blame it on unfocused management, personal demons or the winds of fate.

Peterson, a star at age 6 (take that, Jonny Lang), undeniably has the goods, as demonstrated with his ninth album. It's a smartly varied set, from the bruising Chicago-style blues of the title track, pumped up with a stinging, showy six-string lead, to the Lone Star shuffle of the closing Remember the Day. Lucky tries on some funky New Orleans R&B with Mercenary Baby and Doin' Bad, Feelin' Good, both penned by Jon Cleary, the CD's keyboard pounder and a solo artist in his own right.

James Peterson joined forces with his son for songwriting duties on the down and dirty slow blues of When My Blood Runs Cold and the affecting family-history piece 4 Little Boys. Lucky does his wizardly organ thing on Don't Try to Explain, which might remind some of his masterful, woefully underappreciated 1996 collaboration with Mavis Staples. Lucky strikes. Again. Grade: B+

- PHILIP BOOTH, Times correspondent

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