| John Ussery and The Full -Tilt Blues Band, Cryin� and Screamin� Full-Tilt Records **** 54 years old Guitarist and singer John Ussery�s home is in Killeen, Texas, just North of Austin. He was born in Ft. Worth in 1944. John grew up in a musical family , his step-father played the piano and clarinet and was a fan of Jazz music. His brother, Ron, played the tenor-sax. John began playing guitar at the age of 11 in the mid-50�s and liked early rockabilly and blues. He heard Freddie King back then on the radio for the first time, and was hooked. At age 14, John started playing juke joints under Arizona�s Right to Work Law. He also worked as a saw-mill laborer and as an iron worker at various times in his early life. At 18, John played with a Phoenix based Rhythm and Blues band �Duke Draper and the Fabulous Four� (or how ever many were on stage on any given night). They played supper clubs doing standards �til ten P.M. and then would cut loose with the meatier stuff later, as the night wore on. Draper opened John�s eyes to blues stylists like Bobby �Blue� Bland and B.B. King. After that, Pop didn�t hold much interest for John Ussery. Then John moved to the American Northwest and played in a Hammond B-3 Trio led by Dave Lewis. During this time, John also jammed with one of his heroes, B.B King at the Fillmore West, and hooked up with John Lee Hooker, whom he recalls as being a very nice and gracious sort of guy. Then it was on to Seattle, where he met Delaney Bramlett who changed his life forever. Half a decade before Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, Bramlett was a member of The Shindigs, the house-band for the T.V. show of the same name. The Shin-digs were touring and found themselves in some locale in need of a P.A. Delaney asked John if he could borrow some speakers, and the rest is now a part of history. After John�s first solo outing �locomotive�, John played guitar on Bramlett�s 1973 solo Blues Rock album �Mobius Strip�. Bramlett then produced John�s second solo album �Ussery� on Mercury Records. John is ambivalent about his first two albums. Although well-received, he sees them now having been a too-commercial attempt at a �Rock-thing�. Too much non-blues, with only a few very blues oriented cuts actually being the best songs on the two albums. Then John quit the music business never intending to come back. He said �screw it� because he didn�t like the direction his music was taking. He didn�t own or touch a guitar for 15 years. �I guess me and Peter Green both got to the end of our ropes� he says about this period in his life, referring to the reclusive, former member of the early Fleetwood Mac, who has recently returned to the music scene after a long absence. So John turned his back on his guitar and the music business and turned toward the other love of his life: horses. He returned to Texas in 1979 and got a job breaking Colts. He had ridden and broken horses since his teenage years, but now he would be making money at it. John perfected the art of training �cutting horses�, horses that corral cattle in an arena. He became a top competitor in the sport, even placing horses among the top ten in the world. This was a high dollar sport and John did well. Then one day in 1990 a friend coaxed John into picking up the guitar again. It felt good and the old magic was still there. John decided to return to the music game, but on his own terms. He built his own recording studio with the money he made from breaking horses. He liked the fact that There was no pressure from the outside. He started writing songs in the early 90�s hoping other blues artists would cover them, then unhappy with the results, decided to do them �the right way�, himself. He stopped dealing with the corporations and founded his own label �Full-Tilt Records�. �Record labels only care about themselves. One reason I quit playing was because the business end of the music was so mind-blowing. The way I do things today, I can put out my music exactly the way I want to. My vision is my vision.� Something of a businessman, John produces his own discs, releases them himself, and markets them through his own web site. He hads plans to start recording other artists. His purpose is not monetary, it�s musical. �It�s all about good music, quality is very important to me.� John recorded �Gettin� Lucky� in 1998 with a crack band. He Produced and Engineered all 11 tracks himself. Even with two major blues labels showing interest, John went the independent route. �Gettin� Lucky� consisted of cookin� Texas guitar, mid-tempo shuffles, blues ballads and roadhouse blues-rock. His new album, 2000�s �Cryin� and Screamin�� is more of the same, but this time features a top-notch horn section consisting of John Mills on Tenor Sax and Keith Winkling, (who has played with Albert Collins, James Brown, and Bo Diddley) on Trumpet. The all-new �Full-Tilt Blues Band� consists of Mark Goodwin on Keyboards, Kelly Donnelly on Bass, Stan Ruffe on Harp and Arther �bam, bam� Latin (who Harry Connick Jr. called a phenomenon when Latin played in his band) on drums. The Full-Tilt Band forms the perfect back-drop for John�s guitar and singing with their right on time rhythm and first-rate sound. John wrote all of the new songs except one, but all feature his inimitable attention to detail, ace attack and phrasing and pleasing tonality. John�s guitar playing doesn�t exhibit a lot of Stevie Ray Vaughn influences as does many Texas based blues guitar players, but sounds more like old Lightnin� Hopkins or Albert Collins recordings. His playing remains understated, knowing what to put in and what to leave out. Many influences shine through on the album including Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker, Albert Collins, The Three Kings (B.B., Albert, and Freddie), but none overpower John, who sounds really like none other than himself. John�s singing has it�s own authoritative whiskey and smoke growl that is convincing in it�s return to form. Standout cuts are hard to choose from amongst Screamin� and Cryin�s consistent quality. There really are no weak cuts. This album is a meal, in and of itself. John and his band are in top form and show a lot of experience. They�ve been around and it translates into great Blues. John has other gameplans lined up for the future including playing on Delaney Bramlett�s upcoming Delta Blues with a twist project, and touring, if he can find venues that will pay his band appropriately. John Ussery now looks back on the 15 year sabbatical that he took from the music business as a period that was necessary for his own personal growth. He feels he learned a lot about the business after being out of it. �I�m glad I left because now I have more to say. Those old records were just kid songs to me. I didn�t have the experience then that I have now. Now my music has more depth, now I have more to say.� And we, good people, thanks to John Ussery, have more to hear. |