Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: The DogTown Blues Band – DogTown Blues

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This CD review was originally published in the March 26, 2015 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

The DogTown Blues Band – DogTown Blues | Album Review

Self Release

www.thedogtownbluesband.bandcamp.com

12 tracks / 52:22

DogTown is the West Los Angeles neighborhood that separates the communities of Venice Beach and Santa Monica. In the 1970s it was the rougher part of town and it was the nexus of the skateboarding revolution that brought the sport into the mainstream. This neighborhood captures the essence of the LA surf and skate culture, and the guys from the southland-based DogTown Blues Band have adopted it as their moniker. The band recently self-released their debut album, DogTown Blues, which brings a cool mixture of blues and jazz for your listening pleasure.

Though they met up in Southern California, the band members bring diverse musical influences from all parts of the US to the studio. Producer, songwriter and guitarist Richard Lubovitch hails from Chicago, and in his career he has been a sideman for Rufus Thomas and Gatemouth Brown and run his own recording studio. He wrote eight of the twelve tracks for this disk, with help from singer Q. Williams and harpmaster Bill Barrett. They were joined in the studio by Wayne Peet on keys, Tad Weed on piano, Trevor Ware and Tom Lilly on bass, and Lance Lee on the skins. There is not enough room here to run down all of their CVs but they have a wealth of experience, having played with big-time acts that include Kenny G, Diana Ross, Edgar Winters, Kenny Burrell, and Lindsey Buckingham.

DogTown Blues kicks off with “She Was Not a Girl at All,” and right away the PG-13 rating is guaranteed for this album – do not put this in the mix for you kid’s next birthday party. Though these guys are top-flight musicians, they are still having a ton of fun. Q. Williams’ voice is throaty and full of wry humor as he leads the band through this hearty blues romp. Their sound is huge with piano, Hammond organ and a super-tight backline. You will find a similar humorous theme to the slightly misogynistic “Ugly Girl Blues” which brings things right into R-rated territory.

But these guys are no joke, as they can tear off some serious blues too. “Slow Jam Blues” is a guitar-driving instrumental with a killer harmonica lead. This is followed-up by the “Sexy Man Blues” which features Weed cutting loose on his boogie woogie piano for a couple of top-shelf breaks. “Drunkard Blues” slows things down a bit, and lets Q. Williams’ fabulous voice take the front of the stage with a rich foundation of organ setting the mood.

These tunes are interspersed with four covers, including a smooth instrumental version of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Wang Dang Doodle,” a 1960 tune that was written by Willie Dixon. Then there are three other songs that you would never expect to find from a group with “Blues Band” in its name. The first of these is an instrumental of the Young Rascals’ 1967 chart topper, “Groovin’.” The vocals are switched out for Barrett’s harmonica and Lubovitch’s guitar in this laid back jazz-influenced R&B tune, and it all comes together very nicely. It is interesting that the DogTown Blues band only did instrumental versions of these tunes, as it makes it seem like they have great respect for the originals, but want to make them their own by providing a different type of voice. It is a good strategy, as it makes the album much more interesting.

There is also a sweet re-do of the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s “Take 5” with Lubovitch taking on Paul Desmond’s sax part. Richard does a great job of capturing the sax feel with his axe in what is probably the most recognizable jazz hit of all time. The final cover finishes up the album and it is way outside the box: Frank Zappa’s epic song from 1969, “Son of Mr. Green Genes.” This one was an instrumental to start with, and Richard cut this fusion/prog-rock classic down to five minutes to make it more accessible. They also took a more laid back approach to bring it more into the conventional jazz realm, and it works out just fine.

DogTown Blues is well recorded, and the songs are sequenced seamlessly so that nothing is out of place and the album can stand a singular whole, not just a collection of diverse songs. This project is a terrific debut from the DogTown Blues Band, and they are going to have to aim high to top this one. If you like jazz and blues, it is worth your time to give it a listen!

Guns N’ Roses Not in this Lifetime Tour: Live at Dodger Stadium

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When I learned that Guns N’ Roses was going on tour with three of the original members, I was very interested in seeing what they had to offer. But, when I heard the Los Angeles stop was going to be at Dodger Stadium I lost interest pretty quickly. Dodger Stadium is a hassle to get to, huge outdoor shows rarely have very good sound, and large groups of people are usually terrible to deal with.

But, I kept getting emails about how there were still good seats available, and a few days before last week’s show I bit the bullet so I could see what it was all about, and I am glad that I did.

GNR’s Not in this Lifetime Tour brings frontman Axl Rose back together with Slash and Duff McKagan, who (to me) were the heart of the original band. The other original members, Izzy Stradlin and Steven Adler, were not included in the group for this tour. Other touring band members include drummer Frank Ferrer, guitarist Richard Fortus, and keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Melissa Reese.

I attended the first of the two Los Angeles shows, on Thursday, August 18. The tickets and website were a bit vague as to what time the show would actually start, but I arrived and got parked pretty close to the “doors open” time of 5:00PM. After getting into the stadium the concession guys told me that the warm-up band would start at 6:30 and the main act would start at 8:00. Right.

The stadium was pretty empty at 6:30 when The Cult hit the stage, and it was cool to see that they started on time. Long-time members Ian Astbury (vocals), Billy Duffy (guitar), and John Tempesta (drums) were joined by newcomers Grant Fitzpatrick (bass) and Damon Fox (keyboards). The band was able to cover their big hits, including “Fire Woman,” “She Sells Sanctuary,” and Sweet Soul Sister.” Duffy did a tight job on the guitars, and Astbury showed that he still has a good vocal range, though it seemed like he did not have the breath and stamina to carry all of the vocals; the band helped out a lot with backing vocals on the choruses for most every song. Still, it was a solid set and the Cult was a solid opener, finishing up at 7:20PM.

With the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds as the soundtrack, the crew broke down The Cult’s equipment and prepped for Guns N’ Roses. I was curious when GNR would actually go on, as Axl is notorious for starting shows hours after their scheduled time. But, again, at 8:00PM the lights went out and the band hit the stage with “It’s So Easy,” and this cut from Appetite for Destruction was exactly what the crowd was looking for.

From there they played songs from their debut album, GNR Lies, Use Your Illusion 1 & 2, and Chinese Democracy; and with two dozen songs in the playlist this ended up being a nearly three hour set. I have heard that Axl runs hot and cold, but he was definitely on his game this evening. He was mobile on the stage, was able to hit the high notes, and got the job done. He did take breaks from time to time, but he did well. As an added bonus, he kind of looks like an older version of Cybill Shepherd nowadays.

Slash has lost nothing over the years, and he has one of the strongest left hands in the business. He did an extended solo break that included a kind of hokey rendition of the theme song from The Godfather, but it played well to the audience. He also had good rapport with Fortus, and this duo did a bang up instrumental version of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were here.”

Duff McKagan is a crowd favorite, and his bass work was good but was often lost in the mix. One high point of the show for me was when he took the microphone to lead the band with a rousing rendition of The Misfits’ “Attitude.” I was glad to see that he still has love for the Fender Jazz Bass Special, too!

The rest of the band was tight, with kudos to Frank Ferrer for his powerful and skillful drumming. I had a hard time hearing any of the keyboards, but Dizzy Reed and Melissa Reese were able to provide a solid job on the backing vocals.

There really were not any clunkers in the set, though the audience reaction to the songs from Chinese Democracy was tepid. This was true of “Catcher in the Rye,” which kicked off the encore, but the band made up for it with the inclusion of “Patience,” the Who’s “The Seeker,” and the closer, “Paradise City.”

All in all, this was a great show – the energy was good, the band clicked, and they did not leave out any of the hits. If you have the chance to see them, do it. This is the closest that you are going to get to seeing an 80s vintage Guns N’ Roses show. Trust me!

Mahalo!

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!

Brothers Brown – Dusty Road | Album Review (Release Date: March 28)

Brothers Brown – Dusty Road

335 Records

www.335records.com

12 tracks / 46:49

When people talk about musical supergroups, it often conjures images of shredding guitar heroes and metal band members who are trying to figure out what to do with their lives now that the 1980s are over. This is not what we got with the Brothers Brown, a group of four supremely talented musicians who got together and recorded Dusty Road, an album of very tight and original American music.

It is better to get to the confusing part right away – the band is led by two guys names Paul Brown. The first Paul Brown is a Grammy winning Los Angeles-based producer, guitarist, singer, and songwriter. And Brother Paul Brown is a Grammy nominated Nashville-based producer, keyboardist, and songwriter. The backline is also from Nashville, and they are David Santos on bass (Billy Joel, Elton John, etc.) and Pete Young behind the drum kit (Loretta Lynn, Burrito Brother, and more). All four members get production and writing credit for the dozen tracks on their debut album, Dusty Road, which is scheduled for release on March 28, 2016.

Brothers Brown’s Facebook page says this is a blues band, but when they kick off their set with “Cup of Tea,” you will hear that it is not possible to shoehorn their sound into a single genre. With trick rhythms on the drums, classic organs sounds, jazzy piano, countrified lead vocals, and R&B backing vocals, there is a lot going on here. But there are a few things that are easy to define: these guys can write a slick song, and they are really good musicians. Things do not let up from here, as every other song on this disc as just as good.

There seems to be an equal partnership in this group. The Browns get frontman duty (of course) but we also get to hear how well Santos sings on the country-rocker, “The River,” and Young gets his turn behind the mic on the bluesy ballad, “Drink You off My Mind.” When trying to find a group to compare these guys to, I am at a little bit of a loss, but am going to go with Steely Dan. Why? Not because they sound like them, but because there is a bit of jazz in their sound, their lyrics are clever and cover a wide range of subjects, and they seem to have tried really hard to achieve perfection.

After hearing how tight the band is and how well this album is put together, it is hard to believe that each member recorded their own parts in their own studios, and shared their files for the final product. These guys sound like they have been playing together for years, which is a testimony to their talent and professionalism.

So, the Brothers Brown’s Dusty Road is a very good album, but where does the band go from here? As with many other supergroups, these guys already have active careers, and I have not heard of plans for shows or a tour. So, check out the album when it comes out on March 28, and like their Facebook page so you can keep up with what is going on with the band. Let’s hope they keep this gig going for a bit longer!

Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Janiva Magness - Original

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This CD review was originally published in the August 7, 2014 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

Janiva Magness – Original | Album Review

Self Release through Fathead Records

www.janivamagness.com

11 tracks / 44:45

When folks talk about the blues they always bring up Chicago, Memphis and New Orleans, but there is also a killer blues scene in Los Angeles. One of the most talented artists in L.A. is singer/songwriter Janiva Magness, who has eleven records in her catalog and more blues awards than you can shake a stick at, including the Blues Foundation B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year (multiple times), and Song of the Year for “I Won’t Cry”!

But it took a long time to get to this point, and Janiva’s life story would make for an incredible book. She was born in Detroit, became orphaned as a young teen, was placed in a dozen foster homes before she came of age, and had to give up her own daughter for adoption when she was 17. This is a grim biography, but fortunately she found support from her last foster mother and inspiration from an Otis Rush concert that helped her set her sights on a career in music. After working as a sound engineer, getting gigs as a backing singer (including Kid Ramos and R.L. Burnside), and forming her own band (The Mojomatics), she made her way to Los Angeles, where she self-published her first album in 1997.

Magness’ latest CD is the self-released Original, her finest work to date. This is her first album on her own after six years with Alligator Records, and Janiva is treading new ground by stepping up and co-writing seven of the eleven tracks on the disc. This project was produced, recorded, and mixed by Dave Darling, who worked on her three previous albums as well as with an impressive list of artists that includes The Stray Cats, Brian Setzer and Glen Campbell.

From the first track the listener will know why she did not have a blues label make this record. There is blues foundation to everything she does, but this music expands into soul, roots and Americana, so it is impossible to assign it to any one genre. “Let Me Breathe” gives heartbreaking insight into the feelings of emptiness and guilt following a hard break-up, accompanied by sultry and soulful lyrics with hard blues guitar riffs. This contrasts well with the message of hope found in “Twice as Strong” an upbeat pop/soul song with neat background harmonies and the tight backline of Gary Davenport on bass and Matt Tecu on drums.

“When You Were My King” is one of Janiva’s collaborations with the Australian songwriting team of Lauren Bliss and Andrew Lowden, and they definitely clicked on this one. This bittersweet R&B tune slows things down and serves a vehicle for Magness to display her softer side. Jim Alfredson sets the background with his keyboards, and Darling contributes a sweet guitar countermelody. After mourning the loss of her love, for the next track she opines that that void needs to be filled. “I Need a Man” is an upbeat rocker with a Bo Diddley-esque beat that gives the lady a chance to tear loose and her emotion proves to be contagious.

One would think that with her tough upbringing and plenty of bad turns in recent years (divorce, deaths of friends and family, and a major surgery that could have taken her singing voice), that this could be an album of pain and bitterness. Janiva somehow puts all of this into perspective and provides a healthy dose of introspection and hope, as seen in the standout track “With Love,” which features Dan Navarro of the hit songwriting team, Lowen and Navarro, on backing vocals.

The album’s closer, “Standing,” is another group effort from Magness and Bliss/Lowden with a pretty melody (Alfredson’s piano and Zach Zunis’ guitars are lovely counterpoints) and poignant lyrics of loss and strength. Though this is a very slow rhythm and blues track it is far from dull as it builds drama throughout, even as it slowly rolls to a close. This song is the final reminder that Original maintains good pacing throughout and it is helped along with slick production, good musicians and classy arrangements. There is nothing to find fault with here, and Dave Darling fulfilled his role as producer handily.

Original is a stunning album in its honesty and craftsmanship; Janiva Magness has a hit on her hands and surely there will be a few more awards coming her way. But her live show is exceptional too, and these songs will make the transition to the stage very well. So buy the CD, but also make plans to see her on the tour as she has a staggering number of stops before the end of the year and there will surely be one near you!

Mahalo!

Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: David Reo – Life is Good

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This CD review was originally published in the June 26, 2014 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

David Reo – Life is Good |Album Review

Self Release

www.davidreo.com

12 tracks / 44:00

After growing up in Rhode Island, David Reo has made the entertainment industry his life’s work, having attended the venerable Berklee College of Music in Boston and then moving on to Tinseltown to make a go of the television genre. While working on a few standout series (remember Happy Days?) he started writing and recording his own music in 1984. Since then he has produced other acts as well as playing a couple thousand shows with The Preachers Blues Band around the Los Angeles basin.

David’s fourth album, Life is Good, is a collection of a dozen blues-based and country songs, eight of which are originals. Besides writing these songs, Reo provided the vocals and guitar for the album. A score of other musicians contributed to this project, including Evan Grosswirth on bass, Pete Gallagher on the skins, Jim Calire on keyboards and sax, and Bill Flores on the pedal steel. Jeff Cowan was the engineer and producer for the album, which was cut in Ventura.

The album is divided into two parts: the first act is a set of original blues tunes that were written by Reo, and the second part is a collection of country songs that includes a few cool covers. The blues portion of the show kicks off with “Shell Shocked” a big-sounding song with in your face horns and slick guitar fills. This is our introduction to David’s pleasant tenor voice and it is readily apparent that he has a good feel for the rhythm and blues he is slinging.

“Uzbekastan” is really unexpected, with a Benny Goodman feel that is provided by righteous clarinet from Geoff Nudell and Gene Krupa-esque tom pounding from Gallagher. This song does not go whole-hog big band, as the guitar provides most of the melodies, but it still swings like mad and the lyrics are funny and fit well with the musical theme. This is followed up with “You Won’t Matter,” a more conventional slow-burning blues song with a hot horn section and fantastic piano and organ work throughout.

Reo finishes up his blues set with a “Too Far from Home,” which has a laid-back California-themed feel and lyrics. Michelle Corbin sings lovely harmonies on this one and Nic Mancini brings his vibraphone into play, which is something that does not happen much on blues albums that come across my desk.

There is a definite break when the country action starts with Led Zeppelin’s “Hot Dog” from their 1979 album, In Through the Out Door. The original is an Elvis-infused blues song with country elements, but David and his crew takes it all the way to Nashville with a bit of Albert Lee chicken pickin’ guitar, which is an improvement over what was kind of a strange song to start with.

Other country covers include Buddy Holly’s “Love’s Made a Fool of You,” which was made popular by The Bobby Fuller Four, and Lefty Frizzell’s “That’s the Way Love Goes” which was taken to number one by Merle Haggard back in 1984. A standout track from the country side of things is Reo’s take on Juice Newton’s “River Of Love,” a lovely song with fine vocal harmonies and prominent fiddle and cello parts.

To close out the set, Reo takes a completely different direction with “Jimi Jam,” which is a heavy dose of the psychedelic blues rock that was pioneered by Hendrix back in the late 1960s. It is well set up as Grosswirth and Gallagher play a nifty backline jam that allows Reo and Guy Martin to cut loose a little. The rest of the album is all about the songs so David had to put his guitar on the back burner, and it is nice that he finishes up with a cut that illustrates what a masterful axeman he is.

Life is Good is a solid effort from David Reo, and if you like your blues served up country style this CD will be right up your alley. If you want to hear more from David, he is playing regularly with The Preachers Blues Band in clubs around L.A., and he also just released an album of country classics which should be a real gas.

Mahalo!

Laura Tate – I Must Be Dreaming |Album Review

Laura Tate – I Must Be Dreaming

Self Release

www.musicbylauratate.com

12 tracks / 40:37

Laura Tate has done quite a lot with her life, as she has forged successful careers as an actress and award-winning filmmaker, as well as being an advocate for educational and humanitarian causes. But if you are reading this you are probably most interested in her singing. She has an impressive voice and has not limited herself to just one genre; she is equally capable in singing rock, jazz, country, blues, or musical theatre.

This is fortunate for us, as her new album, I Must Be Dreaming, is a wonderful blend of cool American music, and a worthy tribute to the master songwriter, Mel Harker. Though Laura started out in Dallas and now lives near El Paso, she spent a good portion of her life in Los Angeles, where she became acquainted with Harker. She used some of his songs on her previous two albums, but this time she set aside all twelve of the tracks for his work, and it is awesome!

Tate took care of the vocals on this new release (of course), and she was joined in a Los Angeles studio by a fine crew that included Terry Wilson (guitars, bass, and drums), Billy Watts (guitar), Lee Thornberg (brass), Paulie Cerra (sax), David Fraser (harmonica), Lewis Stephens and Jeff Paris (keys), Karen Hammack (piano), Teresa James (backing vocals), and Wally Ingram (percussion). This is a huge crew, but they were needed to get all of the sounds that can be heard on I Must Be Dreaming.

The songs cover a lot of ground, but they are all have positive feel and the lyrics are clever with vivid imagery that draws the listener in. Though she chose material from Harker’s existing library of work, these songs all sound like they were put together with her voice in mind. It kicks off with a country Rocker, “Snake Tattoo,” and from then on no two songs sound the same. There is lounge jazz for the title track, a beautiful ballad (“If Ever Forever Should End”), a little “Cowboy Jazz,” and even the reggae/ska-inspired “Counting Up the Ways.” Besides these examples, there are bits and pieces of blues, rock, western swing and big band.

Throughout all of this, Laura maintains her cool and exerts an impressive vocal presence. She is able to sing brassy, sultry, and rocking sounds with no problem, and doing a country twang or bold blues is no problem at all. But this is not just the output of a talented voice - she is able to overlay heartfelt emotion, which moves her abilities to a higher plane. There are also no issues with hearing her, as the engineering and mixing are first rate; I have no complaints at all with this disc, which is a rare thing.

I Must Be Dreaming is a fun album, and Laura Tate has the chops to pull off all of these well-written songs. Check it out and hear it for yourself, and keep an eye on her website to see if she has any shows coming up!

Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Barry Big B Brenner – Keep It Clean

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

Barry Big B Brenner – Keep It Clean

Self Release

www.bigbbrenner.com

10 tracks / 35:16

In the last half of the 20th century there was a fundamental change to blues music as electric guitar, electric bass and keyboards breathed new life into this age-old genre. But, there is a still a primal allure to the purity of pre-electric blues, and this is where Barry Big B Brenner excels.

Barry Brenner grew up on the south side of Chicago where he taught himself to play the guitar and sing. Although he became more than proficient with the electric guitar, he decided that his career would be centered on a more acoustic sound. After being in bands and playing along such notable musicians as Albert King and Eric Burdon during his 30 years on the stage, he is now on his own playing a seemingly endless series of solo acoustic club gigs near his new hometown in the Verdugo Hills area of Southern California.

His third self-released CD is Keep it Clean, a collection of ten original and traditional blues and folk tunes. If there is anything you do not like about this release it is all on Barry, as he pretty much did all of the work on this disc. He took care of all of the vocals and instruments (including acoustic six-string, twelve-string and National guitars), as well as all of the production and arrangement. That being said, chances are good that you are not going to blaming Brenner for anything, as this album is a neat piece of work.

The album starts off with “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” a song that begs more research. The exact history of this song is unclear before it was first published in the 1920s, but it is rumored to have connections with the Underground Railroad. Legend has it that the gourd that is referred to is The Big Dipper constellation that slaves used to help to navigate their way to the north. It is a somber folk tune sung in Brenner’s distinctive whiskey voice and accompanied by a few layers of strummed and fingerpicked guitars.

This recording project uses overdubs that allow Barry use vocal harmonies and have more than one guitar on each track, but there is none of the usual big-label polish here. There is a vibrant feel that carries over from his live show (I have attended one of his gigs), and there is a great variation in volume and presence within each song that that adds drama and interest to tunes that have inherently simple words, as well as his amazing instrumentals.

The three instrumentals each have a unique feel, letting the listener know that Brenner is not a one-trick pony on the guitar. “Reap what You Sow” is a slow blues song with heavy National guitar, “Cochinonas” has a jaunty Latin feel and “St. Elmore’s Fire” is a folk blues. They are all very good, but the last one on the list is the standout of the instrumentals, as it has the most interesting melody and harmonies, as well as exceptional slide guitar work.

Some of the tracks are more folk-oriented, but their lyrics carry the spirit of the blues down deep in their soul. These include “The Back of His Hand,” a song that implores the listener to appreciate what they have and to remember that fortunes can change in a heartbeat -- this is not the Dwight Yoakam song, in case you wondering. The other is “Stack O’Lee,” which was a #1 hit for Lloyd Price in 1959, though the best version is the one that Mississippi John Hurt cut in 1928. The lyrics are an the intriguing story of Billy Lyons’ murder on Christmas day of 1895 by notorious St. Louis pimp “Stag” Lee Shelton. Brenner brings both of these songs to life with his pleasant voice and harmonies, showing that his guitar is not the only thing he has mastered over the last three decades of his career.

The strongest track on Keep it Clean is Blind Boy Fuller’s 1938 song “Pistol Snapper Blues,” and you may be familiar with the version that was recorded by the Irish blues guitar legend, Rory Gallagher. Barry kept a traditional country blues sound for this song, and when listening to it there is no way to tell that it was not recorded during the 1930s: it is that timeless.

The album ends on a happy note with the title track, which was a hit for Charley Jordan in the 1930s, and more recently covered by Lyle Lovett while Barry was in the process of recording Keep it Clean (bad timing, I guess). Big B’s version benefits from sweet upbeat fingerpicking and the fun lyrics that make it seem more like a good-time summer tune than the southern blues that it actually is.

Keep it Clean is a solid album, and Barry Big B Brenner did a good job of keeping this project on track and arranging a collection of well-matched roots and blues songs that can stand by themselves or work together as a whole. If you like this CD, you should check out his live act, as he has plenty of shows around So Cal, including regular gigs at South Pasadena’s Firefly Bistro for the weekly Burgers, Beer and Blues show and their Sunday Blues Brunch.

Mahalo!