Donald Ray Johnson – These Blues, the Best of Donald Ray Johnson | Album Review

Donald Ray Johnson – These Blues, the Best of Donald Ray Johnson

Self Release

www.donaldray.com

13 tracks / 59:00

Donald Ray Johnson has certainly managed to get around, and has come a long way since he was born in Bryan, Texas. As a young man he worked the cotton fields and learned how to play the drums, leading to a career that started when he was 14 with legendary blues pianist, Nat Dove. After an all expenses paid trip to Southeast Asia (courtesy of the US Navy), he returned to Southern California, where he hooked up with the blues scene again. You may know of him as a member of A Taste of Honey, which won the Best New Artist Grammy in 1979.

Johnson moved to Calgary, Alberta in 1989 and since then he has recorded six mighty fine blues albums, and his voice is just as good as his work on the traps. These Blues, the Best of Donald Ray Johnson is a compilation of nuggets from this body of work, though it must have been tough to narrow it down to only an hour of material. The thirteen tracks on this disc reveal a lot of versatility as it includes a little rhythm and blues and a touch of country, but it is mostly hard-hitting Chicago style blues. For a Canadian citizen that grew up in Texas and honed his craft in LA, he has a lot of the Windy City in him!

Nine of these tracks are originals, and he included four pretty cool covers for good measure. Donald opens the set with one of these, the Reverend Al Green’s “Ain’t No Fun to Me” which has a rock-solid backline (not surprisingly, he is a drummer after all), with plenty of harp, horns and Hammond. Johnson’s voice is a wonderfully hearty, but still smooth. This is a great tune, and all of the other tracks are just as good, which makes it hard to pick favorites, but I will give it a shot. Here are a few:

- It seems like every great bluesman has written at least one drinking song, and “Me and Jack (Daniels)” is Donald’s contribution to the community. This romp features a popping bass line, and an incredibly visual depiction of a man’s battle with the bottle. In this case the bottle always wins…

- “Always On My Mind” is one of my all-time favorite tunes, and this one provide a cool contrast to the most famous version, which was done by Willie Nelson (sorry, Elvis fans). Though this one also uses mainly country-style acoustic guitar as accompaniment, Donald’s voice is so much smoother than Willie’s that it makes this sad song new to me again.

-Johnny Taylor’s “Last Two Dollars” makes my list, as Johnson lays down some of the sexiest rhythm and blues lyrics you will ever hear. Of course, it helps that he started out with a very well written song that motors right through when played by one of the tightest bands you could put together.

- “No Guitar Blues” has plenty of guitar in it, courtesy of Michael Huston. This slow-rolling smooth blues track bemoans the fact that the blues community expects a front man to have an axe over their shoulder, and not be sitting behind a drum kit. The lyrics are witty and there is a glorious sax break and killer leads from Huston. This original song defines what Johnson is all about, so there was no way he could leave it off this “best of” compilation.

If you are not familiar with his work, These Blues, The Best of Donald Ray Johnson would be a perfect way to become familiar with his work. But be careful, after hearing it you might end up buying his other six CDs!

Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Steve Dawson – Rattlesnake Cage

Good day!

This CD review was originally published in the July 17, 2014 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

Steve Dawson – Rattlesnake Cage | Album Review

Black Hen Music

www.stevedawson.ca

www.blackhenmusic.com

11 tracks / 41:31

Canada has produced scores of righteous musical acts over the years, and it certainly helps that artists can get help from their government through various agencies and that MAPL helps ensure that Canadian music is more widely accessible to the public. It is not a perfect system, but it certainly can help artists get a toehold in the local market, and use it as a springboard to further international success.

One product of this Canadian scene is Steve Dawson, a musician, songwriter, producer, and owner of Black Hen records. During his relatively brief career he has won seven Juno Awards and has produced some very solid work as a sideman and a solo artist, plus he is doing the Lord’s work by helping other artists get their careers started. Steve recently moved to Nashville, which will surely help get his music more attention here in the states.

Rattlesnake Cage is Dawson’s sixth solo release (if I counted right), and this one is unique in that it is an all-acoustic instrumental disc. All 11 songs were written by Steve, and he handles all of the guitar chores, including 6 and 12-string acoustics and a National Tricone. That is all -- no vocals, no overdubs, no effects, and no backing musicians. He used a Neumann M49 microphone that had been hanging in a Detroit church for 50 years to record this album. This is the holy grail of tube microphones, and they are known for having a lovely top end and lots of weight in the lows. He made the most of this hallowed mic, and it captured the essence of his performance perfectly that it sounds like he is playing in your living room.

Right from the first track, “Blind Thomas at the Crime Scene” it is apparent that this album is special. This tune is almost like a country song with a blues melody laid over the top of it. It is easy to forget that there is only one musician here and that there are no overdubs to enhance his super-clean finger picking. He keeps dead perfect time despite the intricacy of what he is doing, and he leaves no doubt that he has the skills to pull off this one-man show.

It is natural to compare Dawson to modern day guitar virtuosos such as Leo Kottke, John Fahey and Gary Davis, which is a huge compliment, but Steve has a style of his own. After one serious listen of this album it is easy to come back later and recognize his playing because this unique amalgamation of blues, jazz, country, and folk is his alone. A neat example of this is “The Medicine Show Comes to Avalon,” a light-hearted ragtime piece that sounds deceptively simple, but his thoughtful writing and exemplary performance skills make it sound less complicated than it really is.

Steve keeps things interesting throughout, and each subsequent song shows that he is not a one trick pony. The title track has a greater dynamic range than the earlier songs as he alternates digging hard into the strings with some slick slide stylings. From there he slows into the ballad-like “Lighthouse Avenue” which is simultaneously gritty and melodic. Then there is “J.R. Lockley’s Dilemna” which is the most bluesy of the bunch, complete with luscious slide steel guitar. Each song is like a new chapter in a book that just cannot be set down.

An all-acoustic guitar album could get tedious, but Dawson prevented this by changing things up with each track and the final song of the set, “The Altar at Center Raven,” arrives too quickly. This 12-string romp is fun and its uptempo melody will leave you with a smile on your face.

It should be mentioned that Steve did a nice job of mixing and mastering all of the tracks so that the level is consistent and the sound is as clear as a bell throughout. His hard work in the studio and post-production set the stage so that there was nothing to distract from his guitars and his talented hands.

Rattlesnake Cage is a breathtaking album of original roots and blues music from Steve Dawson, and it is a must-have for lovers of the acoustic guitar. Steve is touring around Canada for the rest of the year, and unfortunately there are no plans for him to travel south of the border (so far). Hopefully he can use the momentum from this CD to gain new fans from the United States, and we will get to see him perform here soon!

Mahalo!

Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Cameo Blues -- 10,000 Hours

Cameo Blues – 10,000 Hours

Make it Real Records

www.livinblues.com/cameoblues.htm

www.makeitrealrecords.com

11 tracks / 44:49

There is a popular theory that one must put in 10,000 hours of practice to master most complicated skills. I have seen the rule applied to soccer, golf, hockey, and of course music – all you have to do is practice 20 hours a week for 10 years, and you are set. The Beatles did their 10,000 hours by performing over 1200 eight-hour sets in Hamburg between 1960 and 1964, and came back as seasoned performers. They were not an overnight sensation.

Well, 10,000 Hours also happens to be the title of Cameo Blues’ new album. This is their second album, but don’t let the size of their catalog trick you into thinking these are a bunch of newcomers, because this Toronto-based band has been around in one form or another since 1978. If these guys haven’t gotten their 10,000 hours in yet, they must be pretty close because they sure do sound tight.

Cameo Blues is made up of John Dickie on lead vocals and harmonica, Mike Sloski on drums, Ray Harrison on the keys, John Bride on guitars, and Tom Griffiths holding down the low end on bass. They collected 11 tunes for this album: seven originals by Mr. Dickie and his buddies in the band, and four well-known covers. They arranged the album so that all of the originals are up front, and the covers are the last four tracks.

Cameo Blues wisely chose to kick the album off with “Penguin Walk,” a rock and roll boogie that showcases Texas guitar tone, some nice organ work and a driving bass line. The lyrics are smart and the music is well-suited to the band, setting a high bar for the listeners’ expectations. The title track comes up next, and the pace does not let up as Dickie’s distorted voice tears into “10,000 Hours.” Sloski does some very tasteful and appropriate drum work on this tune, and its message about paying your dues should make this song required listening for every new band that hopes for overnight fame and fortune.

The mood lightens up a little with the clever lyrics of “21st Century Rockit 88,” which is a piano-driven bluesy rock number with plenty of slide guitar. Harrison does a fabulous job on the keyboards in addition to receiving writing credit for this track. “Plowing Our Row” is a thoughtful look at our dependence on fossil fuels, without going overboard on political commentary. This is a more straight-up blues song with strong vocal harmonies over a foundation of organ. But the serious tone of this tune is offset by the next track “Gasoline,” which rocks out with a great guitar intro and a thumping bass line. At a little over three minutes, this song ended too soon for me…

10,000 Hours also gets some gospel-inspired Hammond B3 (courtesy of Lance Anderson) on “Hold Your Love,” a sweet ballad that also has some nice piano work by Harrison. Bride provides a super-smooth guitar solo in the middle too, showing he has soul as well as chops.

The last original track is “Talk Radio,” which bemoans what has become of our airwaves. I miss the days when you could actually find decent music on the radio too, guys. Griffiths’ bass is plenty growly on this tune, which is a nice counterpoint to the complicated (and upfront) keyboard parts.

The covers are popular tunes, but all of them are done differently than I have heard before. The first is Willie Dixon’s “Howlin’ for My Darlin’”, which has been shortened to “Howlin’.” Dickie has the perfectly seasoned voice for this straight-up Chicago blues track. Going with the theme, next up is a masterful version of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Sittin’ On Top of the World.” This song has nice interplay between Bride and Dickie, the latter on both vocals and harmonica.

Perhaps the most unexpected track is the cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” which has enough organ to lend a circus/horror show vibe to the proceedings, without veering too far off into Emerson Lake and Palmer territory. It is a complete departure from the original, but rocks just as hard. I will have to sneak this one into my next DJ gig.

The last track on 10,000 Hours is Jimmy McGriff’s “All About My Girl,” and this hard-rocking instrumental gives everybody in the band a chance to shine one last time. This was a great choice to finish up with, and is a capper to a uniformly solid album.

It is nice to find an album with 11 tracks that are all well done, with the added bonus that each of them is unique and steps out in a different direction. I highly recommend that you give Cameo Blues a try and add 10,000 Hours to your play list.