Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Doug Otto and Hurricane Harold – Blues at Barkin’ Jack’s

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This CD review was originally published in the February 19, 2015 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

Doug Otto and Hurricane Harold - Blues at Barkin’ Jack’s

Self Release

10 tracks / 36:53

A lot of new blues music has to be described in terms of the other genres that have influenced its sound, for example, blues-rock, country-blues, and the old standard: rhythm and blues. There is no struggle to figure this out with Doug Otto and Hurricane Harold’s new CD, Blues at Barkin’ Jacks. This release is mostly blues at its most basic level – guitar, voice, and harmonica, and all of it is played with a remarkable brilliance. No drums, bass or keyboard were needed to achieve their goals, and the effect is really cool.

Both of these gentlemen hail from the Twin Cities, and those long cold winters in the great white north have apparently given them the opportunity to hone their chops! Doug Otto provides the guitar and vocals for this project, but he also finds plenty of work with his own bands, the Getaways and North Country Bandits, as well as sitting in with the No Accounts. Hurricane Harold Tremblay is a master harmonica man (a mentor of Curtis Blake), and co-founder of Cool Disposition. He also hosts a weekly blues show on KFAI radio in Minneapolis and leads the All-Star Revue, which features some truly fine artists from Minnesota – he is a genuine renaissance man.

Blues at Barkin’ Jacks has ten tracks that are mostly covers of wonderful vintage blues tunes, along with three originals that were written by Otto. It was recorded live in the studio with no overdubs and no more than two takes for any song. Jeremy Johnson did a wonderful job of engineering and mixing the guys’ time in the studio, and the final product has a clean sound that makes it sound like these guys are playing in your living room.

After starting off the set with a slow-driving rendition of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Asked for Water,” the duo plays the first of the three originals, “Broken Thoughts.” Otto’s writing on these songs has more of a roots and country-blues theme, and all of them are well suited to his pleasant tenor vocal range (which makes him sound a bit like Eric Clapton). His songwriting is mature, with good imagery and phrasing, which can also be found on “Heart to Heart” and “My Time is Moving Slow.” The latter gives Tremblay a chance to sing harmonies, which is a cool effect as his voice lends a unique droning effect. This is the standout track in the album, without a doubt.

The rest of the songs are straight-up Maxwell Street blues material, as can be heard from Muddy Waters’ “Long Distance Call,” which uses subtle electric guitar chording with a heavy bass beat while Harold shows off his fine feel for the harp. Otto’s guitar tone is outstanding on Skip James’ haunting classic “Hard Time Killing Floor,” and he also delivers a surprisingly good falsetto vocal performance, which is a hard thing to accomplish for most singers.

The classics continue with Lonnie Johnson’s “She’s Making Whoopie (in Hell Tonight)” which would be a hard song to write today, but in 1930 there were no political correctness police to contend with. There are also a couple of well-done Robert Johnson tunes, “Hell Hound on My Trail” and “Kind Hearted Woman,” that are delivered in a wonderfully laconic style.

Despite the good craftsmanship these gentlemen showed on the cover tunes, the originals are exceptionally special, and are the highlight of this disc. A full-length album of Otto-penned originals would surely be a good listen, and hopefully this pair will have the chance to continue their work and head back to the studio to give us a bit more of this wonderful stuff.

There is a lot to like about Blues at Barkin’ Jack’s, and Doug Otto and Hurricane Harold really delivered the goods. Their bare bones live sound is clear, and the selection of tunes that they assembled works well together. There is no mistaking this album for anything but the blues, and you should certainly give it a listen!

Mahalo!

Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Hank Mowery – Account to Me

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This CD review was originally published in the February 13, 2014 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

Hank Mowery – Account To Me

Old Pal Records

www.hankmowery.com

10 tracks / 38:07

Many musicians record tribute albums that include material made popular by artists that have inspired them or touched their lives. Most always, the muse is a nationally or internationally known artist that has been active in popular culture for decades. Then there is Hank Mowery, who just released Account to Me, an ode to Gary Primich -- a blues singer and harmonica master who left us too soon, and who has not gotten the recognition he deserves.

Gary Primich was a Chicago native who moved to Austin where he made a name for himself with his blues harp and his voice. Over the course of his career he played with a lot of great groups, cut nine of his own records, and produced a very good instructional CD on how to play the harmonica. Primich passed away in 2007, just short of his 50th birthday, but not before he had the chance to touch Hank Mowery’s life. Hank ran the Rhythm Kitchen Café in Peoria, Illinois where his band, The Hawktones, played, and Gary was one of the acts that was invited to join the action on stage.

Hank Mowery is no slouch on the harmonica either, and it was natural that he would be the one to record this album, especially as he had the blessing and participation of Gary’s father, JV Primich, the executive producer of Account to Me. Hank took care of the harp and vocals on this project, and was joined by Patrick Recob on bass (Primich’s bassist, by the way), Troy Amaro on guitar, Chris Corey on the keys and John Large behind the drum kit. This disc includes five songs that were written by Primich, and two of them had not been previously released.

“Spend a Little Time” is the first track up, and it is an original that was penned by Mowery and Recob. This is fast-paced rocker with a hammering piano line and a heavily distorted organ that takes the place of the guitar. Mowery proves himself right away with his throaty voice and wailing harp. One thing to note is that he chose to record this project at Grand Rapids’ Goon Lagoon Studios in an analog format (instead of digitally), giving this album a rich vintage tone.

The next song up is the title track, a previously-unreleased Primich number that JV brought to the studio. “Account to Me” is a lovely ballad that features Amaro’s tremolo-soaked guitar with a sparse backline and Recob on the acoustic guitar. As this is a plaintive story of love and honesty it is all about the words and vocals, and the harmonica’s interplay with the guitar is just the icing on the cake. This is followed up by “Put the Hammer Down,” a snappy rockabilly song that Gary wrote about life on the road and his desire to get back home again.

Junior Valentine contributed his guitar talent on three of the songs that were written by Primich including “My Home,” which is one of the standout tracks on Account to Me. This shuffle is what the blues are all about, and this will be heard in both the melody and the lyrics. The extra guitar gives this a real barroom feel, and Mowery is at his best behind the microphone. You just cannot beat lines like: “Our bedroom looks like it’s been through a war since you made tracks and walked out that door.”

The two covers on Account to Me are both the kind of songs that Gary loved and made his mark with. Memphis Slim and Matt Murphy’s “Banana Oil” is a groovy Latin-influenced instrumental with a generous dose of Hammond B3 from Corey and plenty of edgy harp from Mowery, and at only 2 ½ minutes it leaves the listener wanting more! The other re-do is Reverend Robert Wilkins’ “That’s no Way to Get Along,” and guest artist Jimmie Stagger’s voice and National guitar join Mowery’s harmonica for this hill-country blues track. This bare-bones acoustic piece provides a marked change of pace and vibe, and is a wonderful way to bring the album to a close.

It should be pointed out that if you buy this CD it includes a terrific booklet of liner notes that were put together by Mowery’s friend Tad Robinson, who is also a fabulous vocalist and harmonica player. It contains a nice write-up of Primich’s harp style, and detailed notes about each song on the disc. This added bonus is something that used to be commonplace, but sadly has become quite rare in recent years.

Account to Me is a nice piece of work, and goes beyond the scope of most tribute albums as half of its content is made up of originals and covers that also celebrate the subject artist. Any musician would be overjoyed to have such a well thought out and produced album as their legacy. If you love the blues, rock and roll or rockabilly, Hank Mowery and his friends deliver the goods, and you should give this CD a listen.

Mahalo!

Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Lazy Lester – You Better Listen

Lazy Lester – You Better Listen

Bluestown Records

www.lazylester.net

www.bluestownrecords.com

13 tracks / 43:20

Lazy Lester is anything but lazy; at 78 years old he is still touring and recording today. Born in 1933 as Leslie Johnson, he is the living link to the Louisiana blues scene of the 1950s and 1960s, when he had a string of hits on Excello records. He did quite a bit of solo work, but is most notable for his work with Lightnin’ Slim.

Lester broke into the business on the strength of his harmonica playing, but has a unique voice and guitar chops to boot. The years have been kind to the man, and his voice has gotten more character and is pleasing to hear. He still blows a mean harp too.

He describes his music as “swamp blues”, a combination of blues, early country music, and swamp pop. He says his main influences are the country singer Jimmie Rogers and legendary southern harp men Jimmy Reed and Little Walter, but I hear a bit of Detroit and Chicago blues influence in there too.

Lazy Lester’s latest album, You Better Listen, is an old-time blues album with non-traditional origins. Lester recorded this material at Juke Joint Studio in Norway, which is not exactly next door to his northern California home. The album was produced by guitarist Morten Omlid, who is part of Spoonful of Blues, which is the backing band on this project. This is the same group that Lester hooks up with for his annual tours of Norway.

The 13 tracks on You Better Listen are a compilation of original material, old blues hits, and a couple of classic country tunes, all in Lazy Lester’s swamp blues style. Through the usual studio magic, Lester is able to play guitar, sing and blow the harp simultaneously on many of the songs.

Staying true to his roots, Lester kicks off the album with the Lightnin’ Slim’s “Rooster Blues”, and this track proves that his voice is still amazing and his harmonica is as sweet as ever. The other thing this recording shows is that his Norwegian brothers from Spoonful of Blues have a great feel for the blues and are very good musicians in their own right. It is more than cool that Lazy Lester covered Slim Harpo’s “Scratch my Back”, especially when you consider that Lester was a percussionist on Slim’s original hit recording. The raw drum sounds and guitar reverb come off perfectly for this old-time blues standard, and there is a great play between the harp and guitar. This turned out to be one of my favorite tracks on You Better Listen.

There is a classic country vibe in much of Lazy Lester’s work, and on this album he broke down and gave us a real-live country tune, “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”. This Roy Acuff number has been thoroughly converted to a honkytonk song with a healthy dose of saloon piano, which is pretty cool in my book.

It would be easy to just cover old Excello hits, but Lester wrote four new tracks for this album. “Courtroom Blues” has a simple background with a slow tempo, but throws in plenty of harp as well as an old favorite, the Hammond organ. Prison lyrics always are a sure-fire hit subject for blues music, too.

Another Lazy Lester original is the “OJ Shuffle”, a quick-paced instrumental with just the bare bones of instruments: harmonica, guitar and the simplest of percussion. There is nothing like a good shuffle, and this one delivers the goods. You Better Listen wraps up with the “Paradise Stomp”, an instrumental that honors his new hometown. It provides a change of pace and a healthy countrified dose of Lester’s harmonica to put an appropriate end to this project, sort of like the music over the credits at the end of a good movie.

Overall this is a great album with solid tunes and Lazy Lester’s inimitable voice, but I must warn you that it sounds like it was recorded 50 years ago. The producer and mixer must have been going for a retro vibe, because the background instruments are muddy and the lead vocals, harmonica and guitars are a bit gritty. It works for me, but if you are looking for rocket-ship modern production you will be a bit put out.

I will leave you with one last bit of trivia before I go: Excello producer Jay Miller came up with the nickname Lazy Lester not because of a poor work ethic, but in honor of Lester’s slow style of talking and his easygoing manner.