Blues Caravan: Guitars & Feathers
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CD Details
Edition: Music CDAudio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2008-07-08
Music Label: RUF RECORDS
Soundtracks:
- Won't Leave
- Bring Your Loving Home
- Heal My Blues
- Come Undone
- I Love You More Than I Hate Myself
- You Need A Great Big Woman
- My Country Man
- I'm Lucky
- Crazy Little Thing
- Toughest Girl Alive
- Bad Boy
- I Got To Know
- Fight
- Jesus Just Left Chicago
- Somethings Got A Hold On Me
- Whole Lotta Love
- Rocking On The Blues Caravan
Music reviews of Blues Caravan: Guitars & Feathers
Music Review: Bland Blues
Rating: 2 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Blues Caravan, Guitars and Feathers, is a pleasant CD. There in lies the problem, blues, by definition is not supposed to be pleasant. The blues I know and love is rough around the edges, smoky, and hard driving; this CD is Wonder White bread in a whole grain world.
Carefully recorded live performances can capture that live sound in pure two channel stereo (the system used to review this CD is perfectly capable of reproducing that effect in two channel stereo). Ruf records has missed on that account. The recording has a flat soundstage. Recorded live in Bonn Germany, in pure two channel stereo the sense of a club or live performance is lost. I am not a fan of digital processing, but this CD just begs for enhancement. Setting the Yamaha RV-2600 to Hall in Munich, adding rear channels and some reverb, the CD sounded much better. Dynamic range is well recorded; notes are clear and not clipped anywhere.
The band is just outstanding. Lead guitar is outstanding; Laura Chavez is clearly an accomplished guitarist. The drummer sits a bit back in the mix, not as hard driving as is more common with the blues. The organ comes and goes, adding light hints here and there. The bass line is just about perfect. This is good solid popular club blues, in a polished over produced mode. Not down home, southern, smoky blues like John Lee Hooker or Muddy Waters; but not as refined as BB King or Eric Clapton.
The first five tracks, Dani Wilde sings. Her voice sounds pushed beyond where it really belongs. It's a pleasant enough style, it just sounds forced. She has a good middle range, but strains when moving up or down from her sweet middle spot.
Candye Kane, has a much larger voice, You Need A Great Big Woman demonstrates that well. It's a fun song; she encourages the skinny people in the audience to eat up on those great fattening German foods. Candye is a more comfortable sticking to a narrow range that works better than Dani Wilde. I really prefer my blues in a deeper range, Both Candye and Dani sing up a bit too high. Crazy Little Thing brings in the 50's rock / blues sound - the Johnny B. Goode style. The band drives this song forward, Candye seems to drag behind a bit - it should be exactly the opposite.
For Deborah Coleman, I switched the receiver into straight two channel. Deborah is a much better more traditional blues singer. She has a smokier, deeper voice, with a bit more passion. But she just misses the mark. Overall the singers all seem to lag behind the band; they are just not powerful voices I expect from blues singing.
Jesus Just Left Chicago - channels Steppenwolf doing Hoyt Axton's "The Pusher," from the movie Easy Rider. Deborah Coleman does a decent job on the vocals. The band really comes into its own here. Altogether, probably one of the better tracks on the CD.
Somethings Got A Hold On Me tries to be a bit gospel blues, but tosses in a bit of Billy Haley and the Comets, Rock Around the Clock; not altogether pleasant. In the genre, it's just OK.
A strong 16th track, Whole Lotta Love. The band again, is rock solid here. Candye Kane finally warmed up; her voice is good and strong on this track. It's as if the first 10 tracks should have never been recorded, or record the second set that night. All three singers chime in on this track, and they finally sound good. It's the CD that could have been.
From the Ruf Records website, Blues Caravan is group that Ruf assembles each year to tour Europe (Google Blues Caravan, the first link is their website - the description of this CD, the 2008 tour is in the lower left corner). In that capacity, they were a fantastic ambassador of that truly American music, Blues. Back home, they are good. These are outstanding musicians with middling singers. I prefer much grittier blues with hard driving singers. The real live feeling of a small club is missing; it's been produced and rehearsed out of this CD.
Overall, this is simply a pleasant CD of pleasant blues. If that is your taste, then you will love this CD. If your tastes run more along the lines of John Lee Hooker, or Muddy Waters, this is not a CD for you.
Footnote:
Deborah Coleman has a pretty decent discography. Probably well worth exploring.
Description of Blues Caravan: Guitars & Feathers
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