We’ve had a tasty batch of blues albums during the first half of 2019. Here’s the ones that have risen to the top for us:
Elles Bailey, Road I Call Home
Superb sophomore album from English singer-songwriter. Blues-infused Americana, with eleven strong songs featuring Bailey’s impressive, soulful vocals.
Tulle Brae, Revelation
Ten original, well-crafted and hugely enjoyable songs, full of energy and emotion. Blues rock, delivered with a huge amount of soul and underpinned by Tullie’s gospel roots. Here’s our review.
Savoy Brown, City Night
Savoy Brown’s Taste and Try Before You Buy was one of the first blues songs I ever heard on Decca’s 1969 World of Blues Power. With many line-up changes along the way, the band has been powering through the blues for over five decades – this is their 40th album. Now a 3-piece, headed by original band member Kim Simmonds, they’ve given us a thoroughly unreconstructed, but hugely enjoyable album of powerful blues rock
Gary Clark Jr., This Land
Texas bluesman’s 3rd studio album and his best. Seventeen tracks where he cleverly and successfully fuses a number of styles from rock, R&B, hip-hop and soul, with a dash of reggae. Check out our piece on this album.
Rory Gallagher, Blues
New collection of blues recordings from the Irish artist released in what would have been his 50th year of recording. Gallagher was one of the great white blues guitarists of the rock’n’roll era. 36 tracks over 3 CDs – electric and acoustic and live – exude a raw energy, and include special guest sessions with legendary blues artists Muddy Waters and Albert King. An wonderful overview of Gallagher’s career.
Christone Ingram, Kingfish
Quite simple a terrifically enjoyable album, with twelve original songs that feature Ingram’s mellifluous vocals and stunning guitar work. The album is very definitely the blues, with familiar themes of lost and unrequited love but there’s a positivity throughout that is very tangible. Full review.
Keb’ Mo’, Oklahoma
Rich, typically Keb’ Mo’ style rootsy blues, featuring collaborations with Rosanne Cash, Taj Mahal, Jaci Velasquez, and his wife, Robby Brooks Moore. Producer Colin Linden and Robert Randolph pitch in to, to great effect in a potent and hugely enjoyable set of songs which will surely compete for a Grammy.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd, The Traveler
Eight originals and two covers from the ever-consistent Shepherd, accompanied by a group of talented musicians. Shepherd has become not only a not class blues rock guitarist, but a fine song-writer. Mind you, it’s the acoustic Tailwind, with its positive vibe, that stands out for me.
Joanne Shaw Taylor, Reckless Heart
Blues rock, full of energy from Detroit-based British artist. It’s an upbeat album with some fiery, up-tempo tracks, driven by Taylor’s top notch guitar work (with no guitar pedals) and her superb, raspy vocals.
Mavis Staples, We Get By
Remarkable vocal performance by the 80 year old Staples, aided and abetted by producer Ben Harper. In songs of hope and determination, she sings, “things gotta change around here” and we’re “not too far down the wrong road to turn around.”
Walter Trout, Survivor Blues
Walter Trout’s 28th album covers songs that have inspired him along his long musical journey, including numbers by Elmore James, John Mayall, Hound Dog Taylor, Fred McDowell and J.B. Lenoir, putting his own inimitable stamp upon them. Walter Trout is an exquisite guitarist, an accomplished singer and he’s given us another gem.
Tedeschi Trucks, Signs
4th studio album from the impressive Tedeschi Trucks outfit, with its typical meld of classic rock, old soul and blues, into a full-bodied Americana. It’s a calmer than previous outings, however, with Tedeschi’s incredible vocals to the fore, supported, as always by Trucks’ exquisite slide guitar.
Jontavious Willis, Spectacular Class
Wonderful album of acoustic blues, produced by Keb’ Mo’. Described as a “wonderboy” by Taj Mahal, no less, Willis matches his skilful country blues guitar with rich, soulful vocals.
Gospel blues has a long history reaching back to the likes of Blind Willie Johnson and Rev Robert Wilkins right through to recent work by Kelly Joe Phelps and Ry Cooder. It’s not surprising, given the close relationship between the spirituals and the blues. It’s a genre rich in musicality, spirituality and inspiration. Here are 16 gospel blues songs that are really worth listening to.
Blind Willie McTell: I’ve Got to Cross the River of Jordan
Nobody can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell, sang Bob Dylan. True, but McTell also left us a fine collection of gospel blues songs, including River of Jordan, which focuses our attention on the inevitable journey we all must take across Jordan – on our own, facing the consequences of our lives. There’s some fine slide playing on the song and McTell’s vocal performance is strong and compelling. The song is essentially another version of Nobody’s Fault but Mine.
Arguably Willie Johnson’s masterpiece, it is making its way across the universe as part of the musical offering on the Voyager space craft. Recorded in 1927, it features Johnson’s inspired slide playing which creates an incredible other-worldly, eerie effect and his agonized moaning. You really cannot hear the words of this old spiritual which focuses on Christ’s trial in the Garden of Gethsemane, but Johnson’s vocals and slide work more than evoke this terrible hour. Click here for our more detailed look at this song.
Rev. Robert Wilkins: Prodigal Son
Wilkins’ compelling retelling of the gospel story of the prodigal son was recorded in 1935, six years after he had recorded the same song with secular lyrics. Now, having turned his back on the blues and an ordained minister, he re-recorded the song, and eventually performed it at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964. For more on the song, go to here.
Skip James: My God is Real
The music of Skip James, the most enigmatic of all the Delta blues figures, was ominous, bleak and mysterious, made primarily for his own emotional release. James was an exceptional guitarist, with a trademark E-minor tuning and an eerie falsetto vocal delivery. After making some seminal blues recordings, in 1931 he moved to Dallas, where he served as a minister and led a gospel group. His My God is Real, speaks of a deep, very personal experience of faith.
Josh White: My Soul is Gonna Live with God
White was a prolific blues artist and civil rights activist in the first half of the twentieth century. He took a clear anti-segregationist and international human rights political stance and recorded a number of political protest songs. He also recorded gospel songs under the moniker, The Singing Christian. His 1935 My Soul is Gonna Live with God puts his guitar playing chops and his fine singing on display and focuses on the Christian hope for after death.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe: Rock Me
Rosetta Tharpe was a major star during the 1940s and 50s and was an inspiration to the early generation of rock’n’roll artists. She grew up immersed in the church and her faith was a constant inspiration to her music throughout her life. Rock Me, one of her most loved songs, was written by Tommy Dorsey and first recorded by her in 1938. An instant hit, the song contains various Biblical and hymn references. Isaiah 41 comes to mind: “For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” The song was also another of Blind Willie McTell’s gospel recordings, under its original title, Hide Me in Thy Bosom, in 1949.
And check out this fine recent version by Brooks Williams, accompanied by Hans Theessink:
Mississippi Fred McDowell: You Got to Move
Fred McDowell’s song was brought to prominence by the Rolling Stones on their Sticky Fingers album. It’s essentially a song about the Christian hope of resurrection – “when the Lord get ready, you got to move!”
For a great recent version, check out Paul Thorn’s take on his Don’t Let the Devil Ride album. Check out our conversation with Paul, including his comments on the song here
Sister Fleeta Mitchell & Rev. Willie Mae Eberhard: Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down
Most people are more familiar with Robert Plant’s version of this old spiritual, but Fleeta Mitchell and Willie Mae Eberhard’s stripped down version which appears on Art Rosenbaum’s 2007 album of traditional field recordings is well worth checking out. The song is based on Jesus’s words in Luke’s gospel when he said, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning.” For Christians, the power of evil personified by the “Adversary” is under judgement because of the coming of Christ and ultimately we are not to despair, because good will triumph under the Lordship of Jesus.
Mississippi John Hurt: Here Am I, Oh Lord, Send Me (Don’t You Hear My Saviour Calling?)
John Hurt is renown for his blues and his rhythmic, alternating bass guitar style, with fast syncopated melodies. Reputed to be a gentle soul, his music is quite transcendent, whether blues or gospel. Here Am I, Oh Lord Send Me is a fine example of his technique and is based on Jesus’s words in John’s gospel about the fields being ready for harvest. The song has a devotional feel about it, with the singer offering himself for God’s service.
Rev. Gary Davis: I Am the Light of this World
Born blind, black and in the American South, Davis had little going for him, and yet he became a master of the guitar, ending up in New York City where he was recognized for the musical genius he was. Davis stayed faithful to his calling as a minister of the gospel until he died and only in the last decade of his life was he persuaded to sing blues songs publicly. His ragtime, blues and gospel performances are all outstanding. I Am the Light of this World recalls the words of Jesus in St. John’s gospel.
Check out Ian Zack’s riveting biography of Gary Davis – reviewed here.
Larry Norman: Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?
Blues-based rock, rather than strictly blues, but this song from Only Visiting this Planet in 1972 puts to rights the misconception that the blues is the devil’s music. Norman, the father of Christian rock, takes up the line from Salvation Army founder William Booth almost a century earlier and then proclaims loudly, “there’s nothing wrong with playing blues licks.”
And in a similar vein, check out Lurrie Bell’s The Devil Ain’t Got No Music, from his 2012 album with the same title.
Eric Bibb: I Want Jesus to Walk With Me
Often played by Eric Bibb in his concerts, he captures completely the dual nature of this old spiritual – on the one hand mournful about the trials and tribulations of life, and yet hopeful about the reality of the presence of Jesus in the midst of those trials. As Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
From the 2012 album, Blues for the Modern Daze, Walter Trout’s dazzling technique, intensity and emotion seizes you, along with the hard-hitting lyrics. The song recalls the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4 and calls for more neighbourliness in our relations. Trout reminds us that “Jesus said to feed the hungry, Jesus said to help the poor,” and finishes he song with a searing criticism of modern “so-called Christians” who “don’t believe in that no more.” For more on the song go to here.
Ry Cooder: Everybody Ought to Treat a Stranger Right
Ry Cooder has produced one of the best gospel albums ever in Prodigal Son, reviving and updating a number of old gospel songs as well as a couple of his own. We could have picked almost any song from the album for inclusion, but his excellent version of Everybody Ought to Treat a Stranger right is surely a song for our times, with xenophobia at an all time high. Strangers, sojourners and immigrants were all to be treated with care and welcome according to the Hebrew bible – “And if a stranger dwell with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God,” (Leviticus 19:33-34). And reflected in the words of Jesus in Matthew 25 – “I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me … When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? … Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”
Phelps’s 2012 album, Brother Sinner and the Whale, is arguably the best gospel roots album ever. Phelps’s guitar work and slide playing, as always, is immaculate, and the songs are a remarkable testament to Phelps’s rediscovered faith. They brim with creativity, inspiration and spirituality. His reworking of the old hymn, Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah is masterful, but we’ve chosen his own Goodbye to Sorrow here, which is simply a wonderful song and packed with theology:
“My God came to earth a humble man
As part of a divine and master plan
When they crucified our Saviour He set the captives free
That death would lose dominion over you and over me
I have said goodbye to sorrow as I lay before the cross.”
Click here for Down at the Crossroads’ comments on this album here.
Blind Boys of Alabama: Nobody’s Fault But Mine
Singing together since 1944, the Blind Boys have been singing blues tinged gospel for an awfully long time and you’d be hard pressed to pick the best of. For a good list, check out Paste’s take here. We’ve gone with this sparse arrangement of another Blind Willie Johnson song, Nobody’s Fault but Mine, which is full of the personal regret and heartache. The plaintive harmonica, the slide guitar and the tight harmonies combine to make this an outstanding version of the song.
The other day I tweeted a quotation from Bruce Iglauer, founder and head of the independent blues record label Alligator Records, which got scores of likes and retweets. It clearly struck a chord. It said simply,
“Blues is the most important, most emotionally fulfilling music ever.”
Blues music, Iglauer has said, “speaks to some primal, necessary place in people’s consciousness.”
The quotation in my tweet was taken from an interview Mr. Iglauer had done with Dr. Marie Trout, and appears in her excellent and highly-readable book “The Blues: Why It Still Hurts So Good.” Marie Trout explores the world of blues music and its fans, helping us understand why this music speaks so deeply to people. In interview after interview, and in Marie’s analysis, we get to appreciate the way that the blues helps people gets their lives into perspective, feel a sense of community, find a means of emotional expression and catharsis, and helps them “keep on keeping on.”
Dr. Trout has done us a great service in this book, helping us blues fan understand better what we know deep down – that the blues has the power to touch us deeply. On one level it’s simple music, both lyrically and musically – but there is something in the rhythm, the repetition, the emotional content of the lyrics, and the actual structure of the musical form that has extraordinary power. And, of course, the genesis of the blues in a situation of oppression and suffering, inevitably bleeds through and adds its own weight to our sense of it.
How many times have you heard a guitar solo that somehow seems to reach right inside you and physically twist your innards? How many times have you just wanted to listen for entertainment’s sake, only to be drawn in to the intensity of the music. The blues’ll do that do you.
As Iglauer said in his interview, “I think a lot of us blues fans think we’ve found the Holy Grail of music and nothing else compares.”
Walter Trout is the elder statesman of blues rock, with a solo career going back some 28 years. Sixty-six years old and just three years on from a liver transplant that saved his life, he says that he feels like he’s “in the best years of my life right now.” He says he “has a whole different appreciation of being alive, of the world, of my family, of my career, and that he wants “life to be exciting and celebratory.”
And that’s why his new album, We’re All In This Together, sounds so joyful. It’s fourteen songs, with a guest on each song, trading licks and runs with Walter. All but one are original songs – the odd one out is the outstanding The Sky Is Crying, with Warren Haynes. The songs are upbeat, melodic, feature blistering, smouldering guitar work and are hugely enjoyable, each tailored by Trout to the style of each guest. His guests – all friends – are all musical stars in their own right, and include John Mayall, Joe Bonamassa, Sonny Landreth, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Joe Louis Walker, Robben Ford, Mike Zito, Eric Winter, Charlie Landreth, Eric Gale, John Nemeth and Randy Bachman. Walter’s son Jon Trout, himself an exceptional guitarist, also features on one song.
Walter Trout has been hard at work, on tour with the new album, but Down at the Crossroads caught up with him before he takes his show to Europe in October.
DatC: Hello Walter. Thanks very much for taking the time to talk to us. First of all, I take it that you’re well and healthy? Hale & hearty, as they say!
WT: Hearty as I can be! Yeah, I’m feelin’ great.
DatC: Congratulations on the new album, Walter, which is only just out, but which has already got great reviews from both critics and fans. I loved one of the Amazon reviews, which described it as “a face meltingly amazing blues rock album.” You’re pleased with how it’s been received?
WT: Oh I’m very pleased. I think it’s getting the best reviews I ever got. I’ve done 26 albums, and this was my first album that in the United States was at number 1 on the Billboard Blues Chart. And it was also number 1 on Amazon and on iTunes Blues. So that was the first time I hit number 1 on the triumvirate on the market over here. And it felt great!
DatC: Tell us what you were hoping to achieve with the album – because it’s very different from your previous one,Battle Scars.
WT: Well, how do you follow up Battle Scars? That was my dilemma. That album was so personal and so intense and so…dark. How do you follow that up? I put a lot of thought into what do I do now. Do I just write 15 more songs and play ‘em with the band? And what do I write about? So it was a bit of a dilemma.
Then I did a gig at Carnegie Hall with Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Edgar Winter. And I was hanging out with both of them and I said, “Why don’t we record something together,” and they were both like, “Yeah, OK, let’s do it.” And then I got this idea that that was what I needed to do – something completely different, where I just jam with my friends and we have fun. And it’s about the guitar playing and the music, it’s not all these deep depressing lyrics. So, I wanted to do something that was the exact opposite of Battle Scars.
DatC: And that comes across. You’ve got a stellar cast of musicians on this album– was it difficult to organize such a diverse set of people?
Warren Haynes (Photo: Jeremy Williams)
WT: You know, it wasn’t difficult to get in touch with them and talk to them. Two weeks after Carnegie Hall I played in Toronto with Sonny Landreth and Randy Bachman and I talked to them and they said, “Yeah, that’d be great.” And then a week after that I had a dinner in LA with Warren Hayes and Robben Ford we sat around for about four hours and had a great evening, and I talked to them [about it].
So it was easy to get in touch, but the difficult part of this album was the logistics. My wife handled that. ‘Cause all these guys are touring, they’re hard working players, so she had to schedule with each guy. A lot of ‘em were on tour – so she had to talk to them, get their schedules, “when do you have a day off? Do you think you could get in the studio?” And one guy would say, “In two weeks I have a day off in Cleveland.” So my wife would have to find a studio in Cleveland, set it up, find an engineer, go through all that stuff and then get in touch with Eric the producer, and have him get through to the engineer and send him the track. It had to be done with so many – what I don’t understand – so many bits and megabytes – all this stuff that I don’t get! And she really had the rough part of it. I just talked to my buddies and I had to write some songs and then go in and play! But the logistics of this were kind of a nightmare. She really put it together. I couldn’t have done what she did.
DatC: Did you write each song with the particular artist in mind?
WT: Yes, of course. I had to sit down and think – what do you write for Kenny Wayne Shepherd? OK, I got Kenny Wayne. I listened to a lot of his current stuff and it’s very blues-rock, like what I do. But then I think to myself – you know what, his roots are the blues. And my roots are the blues. So instead of writing some rocking thing, let’s play an up-tempo blues. Let’s play a shuffle, that’s where we come from.
So then I had to come up with some lyrics. And I thought about when I was a drug addict, what it felt like when you run out of drugs. I’ve been sober for 30 years, but I thought about when I was young and when I was addicted to drugs, and what was it like when they ran out. It felt good for a little while but then it hurt like hell. So, OK, I got a song here.
But yeah, the songs were written with the person in mind. For instance, Eric Gales. To me Eric is more of a kind of a funk fusion guy. He doesn’t really come out of the blues, he’s from a different genre. So I need to write something for him that he can jam over, but it’s got a bit of a funk feel to it. So I just approached each artist like that.
Photo: Michael Weintrob
DatC: Walter, as you say, the album is great fun, it’s good time music, But there are some serious bits here and there, aren’t there? Crash and Burn with Joe Louis Walker is a quite hard-hitting song. “Are we ever gonna learn, I’m getting mighty worried…” Is that a commentary on what’s going on in the United States at the moment?
WT: Well, of course, that’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? If I get going on this…That song is directly about what’s going on.
DatC: And then We’re All in this Together with Joe Bonamassa. “It’s up to you and me – black and white, left and right” speaks to the divisions in the country?
WT: That‘s exactly it. And you know what’s really funny, is three days ago my wife became an American citizen, and I went to the swearing in ceremony. And there were 5,000 new citizens being sworn in, and a lady got up and gave a speech, and she said, “All of you, you come from different countries, but now you are all American citizens, and I want you to remember something: we’re all in this together!”
DatC: Cue guitar solo!
DatC: It’s such a pleasure to hear you and Joe Bonamassa playing together. That interplay between both guitars at the end of the song is really something.
WT: Well, I’ll tell you, that was a lot of fun. What you’re hearing on there is the rehearsal! The only time we played the song! We were rehearsing it and I said to the band, “Here’s how the song goes,” and I said to Joe, “Here’s the lyrics I want you to sing.” Let’s see what happens. And at the end of it, I looked at Eric in the control room, because we were rehearsing, and I said, “Did you record that?” And he said, “Yeah.” And we all looked at each other and laughed and said, “There’s no reason to do that again!” So that was one take, spontaneous, no fixes, no overdubs, no nothing. And that’s the first and last time we played that song! And I think it gives it a real urgency.
DatC: So looking back, Walter, you’ve been immersed in the blues for a lifetime; you’ve played with John Lee Hooker’s band, Canned Heat, John Mayall, and artists like Big Mama Thornton, Lowell Fulson, Bo Diddley and the list goes on – what, for you, is the blues – is it the form of the music, is it the lyrics, is it the feeling? And what is it about this music that has such enduring appeal?
WT: To me it’s the feeling. You know Count Basie said, “Blues can be approached in many, many different ways , but it still remains the blues.” So, when I run into purists that say the blues has to be played a certain way, I just start laughing – you need to broaden your vision. I think the reason it’s enduring – and the reason it’s in a very healthy state – there’s a lot of young, great blues players coming up through the ranks – is that it’s the basis of modern music. It is about human emotion and human feelings and I this era we’re in of corporately produced computer stuff that has absolutely no soul to it, the blues is all about human feelings. It’s a person with an instrument playing and singing from their heart, and there’s always gotta be an audience for that, for music that makes people feel something. That’s what it’s about. It’s about making people feel it.
DatC: Let me ask you this, Walter: There’s a spiritual dimension to some of your music, Walter – whether it’s Gonna Live Again, or Fly Away or Bottom of the River, Turn Your Eyes to Heaven. How important is that dimension of life to the blues or to you as a person?
WT: How important it is to the blues – that I can’t answer. But I know that to me it’s very important. Something that I feel very deeply. I don’t want to call it religious; I want to call it spiritual, that’s a great word. I believe we all have a soul, there is more to life than what you perceive with your five senses. There are things we don’t understand, and we are all connected. We are all in this together.
I want to produce music that reaches out to all of our common humanity, and the common problems that we share, and our common joys, our common concerns. And to me blues has the potential to go very, very deep. And I strive for that and I aspire to that.
DatC: And let me ask you about one of my favourite songs in your catalogue, Brother’s Keeper, on Blues for the Modern Daze – where you’re quoting Genesis, you’re quoting the Gospel of Matthew. It seems to me that you’ve got right to something very important here about Christian faith in this song – that is a quite remarkably spiritual song, would you agree?
WT: The teachings of Jesus have been very prostituted and perverted over the years. And especially right-wing evangelicals over here forget what it’s about completely. There was a video put up recently of me doing that song. And somebody went on there and said, “You’re a heathen, you’re putting down Christianity.” I’m actually a Christian and I’m calling out the hypocrites.
The right wing in American who go around talking about God and Jesus – are so far away from Jesus’s teaching. Health care for the poor? – no, no way. Feed the hungry? – no way. You’re on your own. Well, that’s not what Jesus had in mind. And then they go to church on Sunday. It grosses me out, really.
DatC: Over quite a number of years, you’ve written songs bemoaning the way the world is going (e.g. Can’t Have It All, Welcome to the Human Race), culminating, I suppose in your 2012 album, Blues for the Modern Daze – songs like Money Rules the World; Turn Off Your TV; Lifestyle of the Rich & Famous and so on – you get a lot of the modern world in your sights there, Walter. Whether it’s getting trapped by technology, or global warming or corruption in politics or the corporate world – that’s the way of the world – how do we escape it? How do we live in such a world?
WT: I don’t have any answers for that. But I do know the sooner we realize that we are all in this together, the better. I hate to keep quoting that phrase – but the sooner we figure that out and we get past our divisions and past our tribal mindsets, the better it’s going to be. I don’t want to be pessimistic but I’m not sure there’s really much hope for mankind – because we don’t seem to learn from our mistakes. I’m hoping the younger negation is going to do a much better job handling the world than my generation has done.
I’m from the sixties hippy generation and we had all these high ideal, but it all turned to s**t. And we have done more to screw up the world than any other generation. It’s sad to me, it’s embarrassing. Because the hippies had a wonderful idea – they were really talking about the teachings of Jesus. Let’s love each other, let’s help each other. And then they grew up and went out in the world and it turned into the quest for the almighty dollar. And my generation has really screwed up the world royally, and I’m just hoping the younger generation is going to do a better job.
DatC: And the thing I always think about when I listen to the blues, is that often the song starts off when things are very bad – you know, Trouble in mind, I’m blue – but at the end of the song there’s that little note of hope – Sun’s gonna shine in my backyard someday. And you gotta hold on to that, I guess.
WT: Yeah, well, I believe that too. You have to hold on to hope.And my hope is in the younger generation. I see a lot of great kids out there.
Walter Trout, in his recent hard hitting song Brother’s Keeper, highlights the compassion of Jesus for the poor and downtrodden: “Jesus said to feed the hungry, Jesus said to help the poor.” The problem, says Trout, “Some of those so-called Christians, they don’t believe in that no more.” Fair enough, Walter, we get the point – some sort of heavenly-minded, individualistic, Jesus-makes-me-feel-better sort of faith cuts no ice in today’s world, where the difference between the haves and the have-nots is getting greater all the time.
But, to be fair, there are an awful lot of Christians who are rolling up their sleeves and getting involved with their communities and the wider world – sometime to their great cost.
Take Joan Cheever, for example. Joan is a former legal journalist, an attorney and founder of the Chow Train, a non-profit mobile food service which provides restaurant-quality meals for food insecure and homeless people in San Antonio. Since 2005, Cheever has been serving three-course hot meals for up to 125 needy people in various locations in the city several times a week.
The problem for Joan, however, is that she’s just been cited by San Antonio police officers for feeding the homeless in Maverick Park and faces a potential fine of £2,000. She argues with the officers that she should be allowed to continue sharing her food because it is a valid expression of her faith under the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. One of the police officers replied, “Ma’am, if you want to pray, go to church.” Joan’s retort was jam-packed with good theology: “This is how I pray,” she said, “when I cook this food and deliver it to the people who are less fortunate.”
As the author of 1 John says, “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?” Joan Cheever knows the answer to that.
How come the police have suddenly become aggression to Cheever after all these years? It seems this is merely the latest incident in a series of homeless crackdowns by police. It seems the city wants its homeless population out of sight, out of mind, and acts of compassion are being viewed as encouraging the “problem.” The authorities would prefer their Christians to have a quietest faith, which doesn’t interfere with business and politics, which sticks to church buildings and prayer meetings and doesn’t cause any fuss.
The problem is, if Christian faith is domesticated and becomes confined to church buildings and starts to revolve around the faithful themselves, it loses touch with Jesus and the New Testament. Jesus expected his followers to be feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, and spending time with the sick, those in prison and poor immigrants (check it out – Matthew 25). Joan Cheever’s got it exactly right – this is the essence of prayer.
Let’s hope common sense and compassion prevail when Joan gets her day in court.
2014 was another excellent year for the blues, as you can see from the list below. Blues music is so diverse that it’s very difficult to make a list that contains both acoustic and electric blues and everything else in between. But…notwithstanding that, here is Down at the Crossroads Best 25 Blues Albums of 2014. Feel free to disagree…
First of all, our top 10 –
Kenny Wayne Shepherd: Goin’ Home
Still only in his mid 30s, Shepherd has a 20 year career behind him. This is a wonderful, mature album, where he gives us 12 of the songs which first got him excited about the blues. We get guest appearances from Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, Warren Haynes, Keb’ Mo’, Robert Randolph, Kim Wilson and the Rebirth Brass Band in a hugely enjoyable journey through the some of the absolute classics of the genre.
Keb Mo: Bluesamericana
Slick return to his blues roots, this is a very fine album from Keb Mo. A highly enjoyable set of songs, all but one are originals and there is some excellent guitar work. And nice to see a couple of songs dealing with topical issues in The Worst is Yet to Come and More For Your Money.
Luke Winslow-King: Everlasting Arms
Luke Winslow-King, ably assisted by his talented wife, Esther Rose, have given us a stunning album of rootsy, bluesy Americana in Everlasting Arms. It’s old-time, yet always manages to be fresh, and it’ll bring a smile to your face every time you listen to it. With 13 songs that weave seamlessly through the blues, country and folk with hints of jazz, the whole album is a delight from start to finish.
Walter Trout: The Blues Came Callin’
Willie Dixononce famously said, “The blues is the truth.” Walter Trout has given us a blues album that tells the truth, is all its starkness and rawness. Recorded prior to his liver transplant when he was quite ill, the music on the album attests to his remarkable strength of spirit. Here and there, Walter’s voice isn’t as strong as we’ve heard it and despite the subject matter of some of the songs, the album is life-affirming.
John Mayall: A Special Life
The Godfather of British blues, after more than 50 album releases, presents us with a very well crafted and excellently produced classic blues album. Four of the songs are originals and all eleven are beautifully performed by a talented band. Most enjoyable.
Kaz Hawkins: Get Ready
Kaz Hawkins’ new album, Get Ready, is inspirational, honest, warm, full of energy and infectious passion. Blues and gospel with a dollop of soul and R&B served up by an excellent band and a truly remarkable singer. Kaz’s voice is powerful, emotional, rasping, passionate, bluesy. And her music comes from a deep well of personal experience, trial and hope for the future. One not to be missed.
JP Soars: Full Moon Night in Memphis
JP Soars’ third studio release, Full Moon Night in Memphis, is one of the most enjoyable albums I’ve listened to this year. Every track of the 14 is simply a joy, with divergent blues styles which show off Soars’ fabulous guitar chops and excellent, gritty vocals. Entertaining, engaging and enjoyable.
Eric Bibb: Blues People
Top notch acoustic blues from blues troubadour Eric Bibb, with his characteristic upbeat songs and delicious guitar picking. In part a tribute to the memory of the Dr. Martin Luther King, the album is a fine mixture of country blues, folk, gospel and soul. Taj Mahal, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Ruthie Foster and Popa Chubby all guest in what is one of Bibb’s consistent offerings.
Luther Dickinson: Rock n Roll Blues
Luther Dickinson’s take on the blues is, I guess, not for everyone, but his quirky vocals, handy guitar chops and a terrific set of songs makes this a stand-out album of acoustic folk, blues, and country. This is raw and honest music, a welcome relief from much of the slick, over-produced stuff that is all too common.
Janiva Magness: Original
This is LA-based artist Magness’s best work to date, to be sure, 11 original songs, 7 of which she co-wrote. Wonderful vocal variation and control throughout these excellent bluesy, soul-laden songs. A treat.
And – here are our next 10 Best Blues Albums of 2014…
Gary Clark Jr.: Live
Often hailed as the future of the blues, Gary Clark’s Live is a very fine album of the best live versions of his song. Intense and passionate, it showcases his considerable guitar playing and grabs your attention from the get-go. Classic and traditional blues are fused here into a compelling fresh sound, which holds great promise of things to come from Clark.
Joanne Shaw Taylor: The Dirty Truth
Classy fourth studio release from Taylor who gives us ten strong songs of hugely enjoyable blues rock. The guitar work is outstanding as we would expect, but Taylor’s vocals are delivered with considerable aplomb. Much to enjoy here.
Ian Siegal: Man and Guitar
Ian Siegal – prolific songwriter, gifted guitarist, commanding performer – it’s all on display on this album recorded at the Royal Albert Hall by the BBC. With outstanding sound quality, this is a wonderful concoction of blues, folk, rock and roots music that is punctuated here and there with Siegal’s witty banter with the audience.
Rory Block: Hard Luck Child
Following her excellent tributes to Robert Johnson, John Hurt, Fred McDowell and Gary Davis, Block has given us a fine album of acoustic songs by Skip James. As usual, Block’s guitar work is terrific and she doe full justice to one of the most important early country blues artists, whose music was often haunting and unusual. The album has one original song, Nehemiah James, which serves as an introduction to James’s life story.
John Hiatt: Terms of My Surrender
Prolific Americana artist Hiatt offers us a compelling set of blues-infused songs with echoes of J.J. Cale, recent Bob Dylan and Guy Davis. Hiatt’s voice is as world-weary as ever, the songs heavy with a life-time of experience. Hugely enjoyable stuff.
Royal Southern Brotherhood: Heartsoulblood
HeartSoulBlood is remarkably upbeat and inspirational. Outstanding guitar work and lovely harmonies characterize the whole album which is funky and full of good tunes. There’s a lot of hope here, exemplified by the song “Love and Peace Will Heal the World.”
Nick Moss: Time Ain’t Free
This is a band in exceptional form here, with a heady blend of blues. soul, funk and rock-and-roll. No nonsense blues rock of the highest calibre.
Jo Harman: Live at the Royal Albert Hall
Recorded and produced by the BBC, this is a 2013 performance at Blues Fest at the Royal Albert Hall. There are 8 songs, all showcasing Jo’s excellent band and most of all her wonderful, emotional vocal performance. There is much to enjoy here – some very tasteful guitar work, versitile keyboards, terrific interaction between the two, and overall the band is a tight unit which seems to be enjoying itself.
Bad Brad & the Fat Cats: Take A Walk With Me
Bad Brad and the Fat Cats reach out and grab you by the lapels from the opening guitar riff of Take a Walk With Me and pull you right inside their rockin’ bad ass blues whether you like it or not, until finally they spit you out at the end of the Les Paul-laced Uma, thirteen tracks later. 13 original tracks of classic blues rock that always manage to stay fresh.
Joe Bonamassa: Different Shades of Blue
Guitar virtuoso’s first album of all-new material in two years. Blues rock, but at the same time should appeal to a wide audience. With help from a couple of Nashville songwriters, Bonamassa has given us a fine, varied album, well produced and featuring, of course, his trademark guitar chops.
And, Down at the Crossroads’ final 5 Best Blues Albums of 2014
Satisfaction, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in 1965, was, according to Richards, “the song that launched us into global fame.” It was the Rolling Stones’ first number one in the US and became their 4th number one in the UK, despite initially being played only on pirate radio stations because its lyrics were considered too sexually suggestive. The song is considered by many as one of the best rock songs ever recorded. It placed 2nd in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, and in 2006 was added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.
Richards suggests he conceived the song in his sleep and his three-note guitar riff begins and drives the song along. As well as the obvious to sexual connotations of the lyrics, there also seems to be a frustration with the increasing commercialism of the modern world expressed. The radio blasts out “useless information” and the ads on TV tell us “how white my shirts can be” and that you can’t be a man unless you smoke a certain brand of cigarettes. Jagger’s lyrics go on to bemoan the pressures of touring, of “ridin’ round the world.”
Fast forward seven years to the Stone’s sojourn in France to a period of excessive drug abuse and the album Exile on Main Street. The Stones have been a hugely successful rock’n roll band all over the world for some years, so wealthy they are tax-exiles, living outside the UK. The song Rocks Off goes:
And I only get my rocks off while I’m dreaming, (only get them off)
I only get my rocks off while I’m sleeping.
Feel so hypnotized, can’t describe the scene.
Its all mesmerized, all that inside me.
The sunshine bores the daylights out of me.
Chasing shadows moonlight mystery.
Headed for the overload,
Splattered on the dirty road,
The song sounds jaunty and upbeat, but the lyrics are thoroughly dispiriting. Even the sunshine “bores the daylights out of me.” The singer is thoroughly jaded – neither making love nor getting kicked causes any interest any more. The only escape is into the world of dreams, of unreality. Mick, Keef and the boys still can’t get no satisfaction.
Success, fame, adoring fans, an excess of whatever it is you can have, smoke, or inject just doesn’t seem to do it. An interesting article in the New York Times by Arthur C. Brooks (Love People, Not Pleasure) recently made this very point. He quotes a research project from the University of Rochester which found that some people had “intrinsic” goals, such as deep, enduring relationships, whereas others had “extrinsic” goals, such as achieving reputation or fame. Guess which group turned out to be happier – yep, the “intrinsic” group.
Our society is addicted to fame, to celebrity, but it’s precisely those who want desperately to be noticed, loved, wanted who end up the unhappiest. And let’s not forget about social media, where we all crave the “likes” and the admiration of others for our clever or funny posts or photos of us doing great things. Brooks quotes the results of many psychological studies: “People who rate materialistic goals like wealth as top personal priorities are significantly likelier to be more anxious, more depressed and more frequent drug users, and even to have more physical ailments than those who set their sights on more intrinsic values.”
Brooks comes to the conclusion that, “If it feels good, do it” is nothing but a popular piece of life-ruining advice. Money, fame, sexual hedonism, accumulation of things all have their lure – but the evidence leads to the conclusion that a cycle of grasping and craving can’t give us no satisfaction.
The true wisdom of happiness lies in relationships with others.Walter Trout realises this in his song Blues for the Modern Daze, from the eponymous album. “You get yours, I’ll get mine…Ain’t nothing left to give, It’s dog eat dog, In the Modern Daze.” And in Take A Little Time, from The Blues Came Callin’, he bemoans the “telephone…buzzin’,” the “people at the door,” and the fact that “the days are flyin’ by, goin’ too damn fast.”
The answer? “You gotta take a little time, baby, Take a little time for love.”
The simple truth is we can’t get no satisfaction in things or in fame. We get satisfaction in loving others. And as Arthur Brooks says,
“It requires the courage to repudiate pride and the strength to love others — family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, God and even strangers and enemies. Only deny love to things that actually are objects. The practice that achieves this is charity. Few things are as liberating as giving away to others that which we hold dear.”
