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Chords and Notes
VISHWAMBHAR PATI
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This week at Music World...
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Mike Bloomfield: Essential Blues 1965-69
Don't Say that I Ain't Your Man
CBS-Sony, CD, Rs. 395
MICHAEL BLOOMFIELD (1944-1981) was a white guitar prodigy who began haunting the blues clubs that dotted Chicago's predominantly black South Side ghetto while still in his teens. There he learnt his chops firsthand from the blues giants of the day, like Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Albert King. This CD is a sampler of his work during different phases of his roller-coasting career in the mid-to-late '60s, a career that was tragically cut short by a drug overdose in 1981.
The first five tracks are covers of blues standards, all recorded during a famous interlude called the "John Hammond-Bob Morgan" sessions. Though Bloomfield's vocals are barely adequate, (especially on a plaintive lament like Little Walter Jacobs' "Last Night" or Muddy Waters's lusty workhorse "Got my Mojo Working"), much eloquence flows from his guitar and Charlie Musselwhite's impassioned harp-blowing on this outing. Being the earliest of Bloomfield's offerings on this CD, his emphasis in these tracks was on competent note-for-note rendition of the originals rather than long solos or extended jams.
Another white Chicagoan called Paul Butterfield was the anchor of that famed club-based blues academy, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Its frequently changing line-ups included guitarist Elvin Bishop, keyboard player Mark Naftalin and ex-Howlin' Wolf bassist Jerome Arnold. Circa 1965, the Butterfield Blues Band was jamming with several of the South Side blues heavyweights, and was quick to snap up Bloomfield's crowd-stunning talent. It was during this phase that the band backed Bob Dylan's then ill-received, but now classic, electric debut "Like a Rolling Stone" at Newport, 1965. They went on to record Dylan's seminal Highway 61 Revisited album. "Born in Chicago" showcases Butterfield's strong vocals and harmonica virtuosity.
The second track from this period is an instrumental track entitled "Work Song". Featuring inspired solos on harmonica, organ and guitar, with Jerome Arnold's jazzy bass line weaving through it, this eight-minute workout is a gem from the Butterfield days.
After parting ways with Butterfield in 1967, Bloomfield's next venture was the rock powerhouse Electric Flag. Featuring Nick Gravenites on vocals and percussion, Buddy Miles on drums, Barry Goldberg on keyboards, and backed by a brass section, this band made a brief sensation in its day. A cover of Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor" is the only track from this phase, and the lack of a rasping Wolf-like blues vocalist is offset somewhat by the track's jazzy overtones. The historically-minded listener might want to compare it with Jimi Hendrix's revved up 1967 Monterey version.
"Albert's Shuffle" and "Stop" are the standout tracks on this compilation, and by themselves alone worth the price of admission. They date back to an outing released by Columbia as "Supersession", and Bloomfield had the supreme chemistry of Al Kooper on organ and Steven Stills on guitar. The tracks are long, and could have easily died from an overload of technical showmanship, but the musicians' imagination and pure blues training see them soar to great heights.
Among the last five tracks, though featuring a host of great musicians and some jazzy improvisational excursions, mark a tapering off in Bloomfield's creativity. His Albert King-inspired runs on "Mary Ann" and "Don't Throw Your Love On Me So Strong" are superb, but his vocal efforts are unequal to the task.
The album as a whole is a kaleidoscopic glimpse into the blues revival of the '60s, and its impact on American rock of that period. A must have for the hardcore blues/classic rock devotee.
The Robert Cray Band: Heavy Picks
Mercury Records,
Cassette, Rs. 135
IN THE nearly century-old history of recorded blues, only a handful of blues artistes, white or black, ever achieved any degree of commercial success. Robert Cray happens to be one of them. Son of a Georgian serviceman, Cray apprenticed with the legendary Texas blues guitarist Albert Collins. The distinctive Collins "cool sound", single string upper register runs against a backdrop of horns or organ/keyboards, can be heard all through Cray's playing. His own contribution has been to free himself from the standard 8-bar/12-bar blues format and emphasise the blues via his guitar solos.
This selection is again a career-span sampler, starting from "Too Many Cooks" from his 1983 debut album "Who's Been Talkin", right up to "Consequences" and "Forecast Calls For Pain" from his 1990 offering Midnight Stroll. It also includes his popular track "Right Next Door" from the chartbusting 1986 album Strong Persuader, and the title track from the 1989 Grammy-winning album Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark.
The secret of Cray's crossover chart success lies in his smooth, articulate vocals and evocative lyrics, generally revolving around themes of unrequited love, betrayal, marital infidelity, ménages a trois, and other amorous complications. On this album, the high points of Cray's tried and tested formula are "Right Next Door", "I Guess I Showed Her", and "The Dream". This last track, incidentally, is from a phenomenal blues album called Showdown where Cray and his two Texas guitar gurus, Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland, tear the house down.
Robert Cray has also guested on John Lee Hooker's The Healer. He accompanied Eric Clapton on his two-week Royal Albert Hall residencies, and featured on his album Journeyman. His consistent musicianship over the last two decades has aged like a fine wine. One hopes he will eschew chart ambitions for a while, and be a bit more adventurous with his considerable talents.
VISHWAMBHAR PATI
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