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| POWER BLUES - J.B. RITCHIE (Teardrop Records) |
| Guitarist-keyboardist-vocalist J.B. Ritchie may be a well-known bluesman in the Chicago area, but unfortunately he has yet to gain a recognizable profile in Canadian blues circles. Mr. Ritchie and his Power Blues heavyweights - �Right Hand Frank� Bandy on bass and Marty Binder on drums - have put out an exciting set of mostly rockin�-slide blues that will appeal to fans of Johnny Winter, George Thorogood, Nick Vigarino, Tim �Too Slim� Langford, Paul Fenton and Gus Papas, all formidable masters of this genre. Frank Bandy, in fact, has a Canadian connection from a few years back, when he had the pleasure of performing with Hamilton�s late, great blues-harpist, King Biscuit Boy, and his keyboardist Kelly Jay, of whom he retains fond memories and has expressed an interest in collaborating with again. As well as having great taste regarding his selection of legendary blues heroes to interpret, i.e. Jackie Brenston (�Rocket 88�), Mel London (�Messin� with the Kid�), Muddy Waters, Howlin� Wolf, Willie Dixon and Elmore James, he�s bound to carve his own niche in blues history with his original contributions here - �You Don�t Gotta� and �Nervous Breakdown�, which is rhythmically similar to Muddy Waters� delicious, politically-minded �Champagne and Reefer�, also recorded here. I discovered Mr. Ritchie�s music on a great compilation CD called Blues for Kids� Sake, the proceeds of which were donated to a chapter of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization in Joliet, Illinois. �Nervous Breakdown� was the track that caught my attention on that CD. �You Don�t Gotta�, a laid-back electric blues guitar shuffle, perhaps only half-jokingly offers a vengeful bit of medical advice to a misbehaving lover. Feminists probably won�t appreciate the angry sentiment expressed, but the music itself is irresistibly alluring. I�ve lost count of the number of different versions I�ve heard of Dixon�s �Little Red Rooster� and James�s �Shake Your Money Maker�, but here are two more variations, no better and no worse, to add to the illustrious list. �Howlin� for My Darlin��, credited here to Howlin� Wolf, would seem to be the same song attributed to Willie Dixon, going by the lyrics. Likewise, �Trouble No More� (also recorded by the Allman Brothers) is credited to Muddy Waters but sounds more like a John Lee Hooker song here. J.B.�s vocals are somewhat one-dimensional, as there is little variance in the modulation, but the slight gruffness sounds completely natural and sensually comforting to me. His emotions are better displayed through his different playing techniques on that big, juicy guitar tone reproduced from his �57 Fender Telecaster. Spicing things up even more, he adds a teasing layer of keyboards, referred to in the liner notes as �buried� (hardly). This is one tight trio, with a prestigious music portfolio, but the fact is: they are perfectly capable of flying on their own talents. |