⬇️ GUITAR SLIM GREEN ⬇️
(Norman G. Green)
(2 CD)
(2 CD)
That's entirely due to who supports him on the album, produced by Johnny
Otis, who also played drums on the record and brought in his son Shuggie
to play bass and the occasional guitar, forming something of a power trio
with Guitar Slim. Certainly, father and son help push Green away from his
comfortable wheelhouse -- a wheelhouse that's firmly indebted to T-Bone
Walker, whose influence can be heard on Guitar Slim's fluid single-line
leads -- and into slightly funkier territory.
The Otis rhythm section is loose and gritty, something that's readily
apparent on the jumping opener "Shake 'Em Up" and that swing pops up
elsewhere, including the John Lee Hooker homage "Old Folks Blues." One of
the attractive things about Stone Down Blues is how the Otises continue to
goose Green along in sly ways, urging him to sing Johnny's protest tune
"This War Ain't Right" and mixing up shuffles ("Make Love All Night") with
slow 12-bar blues ("My Little Angel Child"), piano blues ("You Make Me
Feel So Good"), and urbanized country blues ("Big Fine Thing").
Green's gravelly voice and mellow presence help tie this all together and
the whole album feels something like a casual triumph: Johnny Otis is
paying his old friend a favor and, in doing so, finds an unwitting
intersection between the old and modern blues at the turn of the
'60s.
NEW!
2014-Complete Recordings @320