Luther Allison - Luther's Blues
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CD Details
Artist: Luther AllisonBrand: Allison
Edition: Music CD
Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2001-02-27
Music Label: Motown
Soundtracks:
- Luther's Blues
- Someday Pretty Baby
- Easy Baby
- Part Time Love
- Now You Got It
- K.T.
- Let's Have a Little Talk
- Driving Wheel
- Into My Life
- San-Ho-Zay
- Bloomington Closing (Early Version)
- Medley: I'm Gonna Miss My Baby/Bad News Is Coming/The Thrill Is Gone (Live At Ann Arbor)
Music reviews of Luther's Blues
Music Review: "I Don't Know Why She Treats Me So Bad...I've Been So Sweet And Kind..."
Rating: 4 Stars
This 2001 Universal CD was issued on Motown 440 013 409-2 in the USA and is part of their "Blues Classics - Remastered & Revisited" Series.
Here's a detailed breakdown (70:32 minutes):
1. Luther' Blues
2. Someday Pretty Baby
[co-write between Berry Gordy and James Woodley, a Singin' Sam Ward cover]
3. Easy Baby [written by Willie Dixon, a Magic Sam cover]
4. Part Time Love [co-write between Janie Bradford and Richard Wylie, a Singin' Sam Ward cover]
5. Now You Got It
[co-write between Luther Allison, Gene Block, Gary Beam and Kenneth Miles]
6. K.T. [co-write between Luther Allison, Joseph Peraino and Benny Emerson]
7. Let's Have A Little Talk
8. Driving Wheel [Roosevelt Sykes cover]
9. Into My Life
10. San-Ho-Zay [Previously Unreleased Freddie King cover]
11. Bloomington Closing - Early Version [Previously Unreleased]
12. Medley: I'm Gonna Miss My Baby/Bad News/The Thrill Is Gone (Live)
Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "Luther's Blues" issued in February 1974 in the USA on Gordy G 967; tracks 10 to 13 are previously unreleased. All songs are written by Luther Allison, except where noted and the album was produced by JOE PERAINO.
The Band for the Sessions were:
LUTHER ALLISON - Lead Vocals, Harmonica, Stratocaster & Slide Guitars
BOB GOODMAN and GENE BLOCK - Rhythm Guitars
PAUL WHITE - Piano and Organ [TOM CURRY on "Easy Baby" only]
BOB BABETTE and GARY BEAM - Bass Guitars
K.J. KNIGHT and ANDREW SMITH - Drums
The first generation master tapes were remastered by SUHA GUR at Universal Studios and are typically muscular transfers - great punch out of every track. Musically, the album is like a meatier version of a Seventies B.B. King album with the guitar recorded more roughly. While most of it is straightforward blues, there are funkier moments on it like the wah-wah guitars and brass of "K.T." and the almost slinky soulful feel to "Into My Life".
The previously unreleased instrumental "San-Ho-Zay" sounds like a Stevie Ray Vaughan rehearsal from the "Couldn't Stand The Weather" period - it's a really fast & lively blues romp and features Allison letting loose on the fret boards with the band kicking away behind him. "Bloomington Closing" is another guitar blasting instrumental - an almost Johnny Guitar Watson funk blues workout with lovely brass fills - and again - really excellent.
The final Live Medley is over 19 minutes long and sounds like Taj Mahal's "Leaving Trunk" meets 1968 Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac - yum! It was recorded at the Ann Arbor Blues Festival in September 1973 - and while it overstays its welcome a bit, and the recording is a bit rough and ready, it has blistering slide guitar work on it - with the crowd responding enthusiastically to his every flourish.
Probably because it was on the Motown label, it seems that this blues album got ignored at the time - hopefully this excellent reissue should rectify that.
Recommended.
PS: This CD is also part of the "Blues Classics - Remastered And Revisited" Series. For a list of 10 titles in the Series - see my posting in Listmania.
Description of Luther's Blues
The second of three Allison albums issued on Motown's Gordy subsidiary in the 1970s, Luther's Blues captures the guitarist's uncovered-wire sound in its full glory. The crescendo ending of "Let's Have a Little Talk," one of five Allison originals here, is more than another standard variation on crowd-pleasing clich?s. It's an apocalyptic, blues-wailing roar, with Allison's pleading vocal at its core. Berry Gordy turns up in the composer credits for one tune, "Someday Pretty Baby," which, along with "Part Time Love," trawls the company's early raw-edged back catalog. Even the funk-flavored "K.T."--an attempted hit single?--fits the mood. The three bonus tracks on this exemplary remaster nearly double the original LP's length, with a raw version of Freddy King's "San-Ho-Zay" glowing alongside an alternate version of Allison's "Bloomington Closing" and a lengthy medley from the 1973 Ann Arbor Blues Festival. --Rickey WrightGeneral CDs
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