The Blues Blog 15 Approaching the Winter Solstice it’s a time for reflection, and this month’s Blog features retrospectives, live collections, and, at the beginning and end, some returning heroes. It’s a pleasure in more ways than one to be reviewing “Superhero”, the new release from Candye Kane, since it’s an album that very nearly didn’t happen. To call Kane a “colourful character” runs severe risk of understatement. A former teenage mother from dysfunctional hillbilly stock turned glamour model and porn actress, she is as well known for championing the rights of sex workers and large sized women as she is for her nine previous CD’s and a musical history ranging from Los Lobos to Social Distortion. In 2008 she fought and won a desperate battle against pancreatic cancer, something which has inspired both the sentiments of the title track and the impressive energy of the collection as a whole. Spanning a wide range of r&b, jazz and blues styles her voice is in fine form throughout, if arguably at its most appropriate on the rockier numbers such as her dynamic re-working of Willie Dixon’s “You Need Love”. She is ably supported by Laura Chavez, the astonishing 25-year-old guitarist who co-writes many of the songs, as well sharing production credits, and a supporting cast of Delta Groove luminaries, including Mitch Kashmar (vocals on “I Like ‘Em Stacked Like That”) and the ubiquitous Kid Ramos. It’s a welcome return for an artist who’s formidable in every respect, and it would be good to see her gracing some UK stages with these new songs in the near future. The aforementioned illness no doubt prevented Candye Kane from appearing at the 3rd annual Delta Groove Showcase in Tunica Mississippi, now scheduled each year to accompany the Blues Music Awards ceremony. Fortunately plenty of her stable mates did make the trip, and the two separate discs, which capture highlights of the All-Star Blues Revue’s twelve-hour show, serve as a welcome introduction to the stellar range of talent currently assembled on the label. Familiar names including The Mannish Boys, Phillip Walker and Los Fabulocos here rub shoulders with up-and-coming stars such as Mike Zito, Jason Ricci and The Insomniacs, and there’s precious little slack across twenty-one tracks of blistering blues, rock and soul. It’s refreshing to hear some well worn studio cuts given extended live work-outs on stage and they offer a tantalizing appetizer of what went down on the day itself. Although ideal as a souvenier or a sampler these CDs don’t entirely work as live shows. Taking each artist a single track at a time obviously doesn’t let any performance develop properly, and the “build up”, something really crucial in the live blues experience, is sadly lost. However, if that leads casual listeners to explore in greater depth by investing in full-length albums by anyone that particularly catches their ear (which they certainly should) then the record company will no doubt consider “Live at Ground Zero Volumes 1 & 2” to have done its job. Catfish Keith is something of an acquired taste, but “Live at the Half Moon” (Fish Tail Records) at least succeeds in providing a genuine account of what an evening in his company is all about. Another old trooper, this is his fourteenth release since 1991, and takes the form of an intimate unaccompanied show in the celebrated London venue, during which he sets out his credentials to be as much a part of the legacy of the Delta as R.L. Burnside or the Dickinson brothers. It’s not an easy listen; versions of songs by Fred MacDowell, Blind Willie Johnson, John Hurt and the Reverend Gary Davis are dark and doom-ridden, full of sin and damnation and delivered with as much fulsome (but measured) sermonizing as the originals. His in-between song patter lightens the mood a little, suggesting (as does his singing voice) something of a less menacing Tom Waits. Like his forebears Keith brings with him a hypnotic quality, and for those hardy souls prepared to stand the course there’s something profoundly authentic and deeply rewarding about what he does. Not easy to dance to though. In truth there’s little for me to say about “Songs from the Road”, Ruf’s new collection of eleven live cuts from Jeff Healey, that won’t be obvious simply from the fact that it exists. Healey’s output is notoriously consistent, and on this batch of covers (including the evergreen “White Room” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”) the playing and singing is immaculate and the recording pristine, so it won’t disappoint his legions of fans in any way. Recorded variously in Norway, England and Canada, the song selection is fitting testimony to his versatility and willingness to break out of the blues axe-man straightjacket, so if you’re up for hearing the late virtuoso run through relatively faithful interpretations of “Come Together”, “Whipping Post” and “Teach Your Children Well” then best wade right in. The accompanying DVD features a wholly different set, rocking it up with numbers such as Neil Young’s “Like a Hurricane” and AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell”. Another recent release, which more or less speaks for itself, is Walter Trout’s “Unspoiled by Progress” (Provogue), a fourteen track collection covering his twenty years in the business. What Trout lacks in subtlety he more than makes up for in full-on rock power, to the extent that many commentators regard his blues credentials with suspicion. Relentlessly hardcore throughout, there is little difference in style and mood between old favorites such as “Goin’ Down” and “Life in the Jungle” (both dating back to 1991) and the new songs which book-end the track list. Of these, “They Call Us the Working Class”, for all it’s contemporary political comment has a distinct flavour of Deep Purple circa 1972 about it, while the outstanding “So Afraid of the Darkness” employs one or two recognizably Hendrix-inspired stylings. If failing to follow fashion is a crime then Trout is bang-to-rights guilty, but the man found a groove early on and to his credit has stuck with it. Those purists who find heavy rock an anathema (however strong the material and however well played) would be advised to steer clear of this, but then after all this time they should know that already. Yet another old stager reporting for work this month is none other than soul man Percy Sledge, who’s “My Old Friend the Blues” makes its appearance courtesy of resurrection specialists Blues Boulevard. Like several other returning legends he has enlisted the help of famous friends including Mick Taylor, Ian McLagen and Jakob Dylan, and has been gifted some nice new numbers by Carla Olson and others, as well as choosing well from the songbooks of Steve Earle, Jackie Lomax and the Gibbs. Unlike other artists who have allowed themselves to be taken over by modern-day production teams however, Sledge has managed the contributions of others carefully, and this remains very much his own creation. I’m not fond of quoting record company press releases, but it’s hard to beat the label’s description of his voice as having “the colour of a muted trumpet” since forty-three years on from “When a Man Loves a Woman” there’s an added richness about his delivery of mellow tunes such as “Lonely Hobo Lullabye”, “Love Come Rescue Me” and “Misty Morning” that comes with age and experience alone. Throughout in fact there’s an enviable maturity about this release that, coupled with some fine playing and sympathetically restrained production, makes it one of the years most welcome surprises www.deltagrooveproductions.com www.catfishkeith.com www.rufrecords.de www.provoguerecords.com www.music-avenue.net Next