Blues Brothers
A great pairing for performers who have felt and sung the
blues genuinely in their own ways, this is a pleasing rather than brilliant
collection. However, it is its relative ordinariness – considering their names
and reputations – that makes it so effective. Every track is solid, no more and
no less. There are two interesting covers of others’ well-known blues
offerings, James Taylor’s Steamroller
and John Mayall’s The Laws Must Change.
The original album, released in 1971, was titled Guilty and had eleven tracks; this version released in April of
last year [though there may have been another earlier compilation/variation]
has fourteen tracks, including four live cuts, one of Going Down Slow where Witherspoon introduces Burdon as a gentleman responsible for that great group
called War – it’s a damn shame an Englishman had to come all the way from
London to get a bunch of soul brothers, you know, and make a big star out of
them when nobody in America would touch ‘em. Not the greatest outdoor recording
[the wind is a-blowin’] but it’s got character. There’s also a good bar-room
version of Chuck Berry’s Have Mercy Judge and some cool wah-wah guitar on Soledad.
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