Genre: Blues
Rate: 320 kbps CBR / 44100
Time: 00:54:41
Size: 125,11 MB
It has been 2Ü years since he recorded It Ain't Easy, the Warner Brothers album which introduced him to North American audiences (and for which Rod Stewart produced one side, and Elton John the other). Since then, Long John Baldry has acquired new strengths, and this collection of songs builds on his considerable talents.
For Starters, there are his ears for Spotting good talent, and his well-known willingness to share the stage and the Spotlight with fine musicians; the cast of players on this album is amazing.
Guest guitarists on this record, for instance, include Arnos Garrett, Colin James, Lucky Peterson, Gaye Delorme, David Raven, and "Papa" John King, who's been playing with Baldry for years — a six-string who's-who if ever there was one. On piano is Teddy Borowiecki, who's played with everyone from k.d. lang to the Shumka Dancers and Jane Siberry. Background singers include Bobby King and Terry Evans (best known for their work with Ry Cooder and their two superb solo albums) and the astonishing Kathi McDonald, who has graced the best of Baldry's Canadian-made albums in the past. Tony Coleman and Russell Jackson (the Silent Partners) from B.B. King's Band are here, so are members of Vancouver bands like Skywalk and Powder Blues. Read the rest of the small print; many of the other names will probably be familiar to you.
Baldry has always known how to choose producers, too, and this record indicates that Tom Lavin — founder of the Powder Blues Band and owner of Vancouver's Blue Wave Studios, where this record was made — is every bit the equal of those well-known English artists who produced It Ain't Easy so many years ago. Not only did he handle all the production chores, but he contributed guitar parts, backup vocals, plays the tambourine. and co-wrote (with David Raven) the title song and another reminiscence of Baldry's past, The Busker.
The fourteen songs on this album are primarily blues-based — far more so than on any of his recent records — but there is a wide variety of material; rockers and ballads, folk material like Can't Keep From Crying, basic blues from the likes of old friend Willie Dixon, and a host of original tunes written specifically with John in mind.
But best of all, this record indicates a new maturity in Baldry's work; a gritty reality that's tempered by his sense of humour.
Tracklist:
01 - It Still Ain't Easy 04:18
02 - Midnight In New Orleans 03:33
03 - One Step Ahead 04:24
04 - I Never Loved Nobody 04:35
05 - Get It While The Gettin's Good 04:25
06 - What've I Been Drinking 03:03
07 - Insane Asylum 05:34
08 - You Wanna Dance 04:09
09 - Shake That Thang 03:59
10 - Like You Promised 04:38
11 - Busker 03:22
12 - Can't Keep From Crying 02:15
13 - No More 03:23
14 - Soft And Furry 03:03
Long John Baldry here:
Get it!
Part1 Part2
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