Friday Blues Picks (9/4/26)

 

Friday Blues Fix returns with a couple of brand new releases, plus one you might have missed the first time around.  

As always, these albums will be reviewed in much more detail at the site where I usually contribute reviews, Blues Bytes.  I have been contributing reviews there for over 25 years and Bill Mitchell has done an outstanding job on the site for nearly 30 years.  Bill also does a weekly blues show on various stations, a mix of new and classic blues, that is a great listen for any blues fan, so check it out.  Stations are listed at Blues Bytes' website.

The Austin blues club Antone's has been celebrating its 50th anniversary for a bit now, releasing a massive box set last year (Antone's:  50 Years Of The Blues), which included The Last Real Texas Blues Album (also sold seperately and reviewed by FBF here).  They recently released Antone's 50th Presents:  Chicago Bound:  Honoring Muddy, Cliff & Blue (Blues Till 2 Recording Co./Select-O-Hits), which collects ten more songs from the Antone's 50th Allstars that continue the commemoration of the big 50th anniversary, plus an audio clip from Clifford Antone, who says "The blues is so big that no one person could ever learn it in a lifetime."

There are some really cool tracks here, several associated with Muddy Waters and Bobby "Blue" Bland), from an all-star cast....John Primer, Lil' Ed Williams, Doyle Bramhall II, Kim Wilson and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Anson Funderburgh, Lurrie Bell, and 95-year-old Miss Lavelle White.  Also contributing are drummer Kenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith, vocalist Kam Franklin and drummer Rodd Bland (Bobby's son).

Everything here is a winner, but two tracks are very interesting.  Billy Gibbons and the BFG's perform the Gibbons original "Hangin' on a Cliff," a gritty blues rocker dedicated to Antone, that was released as the first single.  There's also a cool Clifton Chenier track called "One Step at a Time" that features quite a band.... Ivan Neville, C.C. Adcock sharing vocals, with Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood on guitars, Steve Riley on accordion and, get this, JIMMIE VAUGHAN on harmonica.  There are a lot of wonderful moments on this release.  Trust me, you need this in your collection!

Anyone who's visited this site over the past 16 years probably knows what a big Eddie Cotton fan I've been since I heard his amazing Live at the Alamo Theatre release in the early 2000's.  He is really the total package....an outstanding vocalist, a masterful guitarist, and a great songwriter.  His roots are in the church, where his dad was a preacher, and that's where he developed his style.  He won the 2015 I.B.C. and was the recipient of the 2025 Mississippi Governor's Arts Award for Excellence in Music.  

His brand new release (out today) is Bubble Gum Lover on Malaco Records and it's as good as any album he's cut.  I've always been amazed at the quality of his work.....there's never been a downswing at all on any of his releases.  They're as good or better than their predecessors.  Bubble Gum Lover is no exception.  Cotton cut this album with his band and he continues to explore and expand upon blues subjects that are familiar, but he always adds his own personal touch to his songs.

He's a great guitarist and songwriter, as mentioned, but his vocals have always been the real deal as far as blues or soul music goes.  He really applies those gospel roots to his voice and he sells every song to the utmost.  You really can't go wrong with any of Eddie Cotton's releases...any of them are a great starting point....and Bubble Gum Lover is as good a place to start as any of them, but trust me when I say you will want to dig deeper once you've heard this talented blues man.  There aren't any song videos available yet for this release (just a couple of clips shown below) and no purchasing info (although you could reach out to Malaco for a CD or download at their site or play the videos below), plus you can also enjoy a recent Eddie Cotton track from the Jacktown USA album that ties in with the book of the same title (all reviewed by FBF here), which includes a chapter on Cotton.

Our Blast from the Past selection dates back to my earliest days listening to the blues.  One of the earliest blues albums that I loved was Talk to Your Daughter (Warner Brothers Records) by guitarist Robben Ford.  When I picked it up at the record store, one of the workers told me that I needed to buy it, so I did.  I didn't know anything about Ford, but he'd been playing the blues since the age of 18, backing Charlie Musselwhite and recording two albums with his brothers (The Charles Ford Band).  He also recorded with Jimmy Witherspoon, and recorded for jazz fusion bands L.A. Express and the Yellowjackets.  He also worked with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Bonnie Raitt, Kiss, and many, many others.

Talk to Your Daughter was his second solo album and it was released in 1988.  It was a return to his blues roots with nine songs, including several blues classics that he reshapes with his crisp, concise fretwork.  His guitar playing is a wonder throughout the disc and he also provides fine vocals.  This album was one that came at an opportune time for me.  I had listened to a lot of jazz guitar over the previous five or six years and started listening to the blues for real around 1986.  Ford managed to straddle blues, rock, and jazz with his sound and it really hit me hard..... I still love to hear this album on a regular basis.  I think anyone who wants to learn to play guitar would do well listening to a Robben Ford album, and Talk to Your Daughter is a great place to start.

Being a late 80's release, a few songs have synthesizers on them, but they aren't the really cheesy type that were prevalent back in those days, and the album really doesn't have a dated sound to it.  His brother Mark plays harmonica on a couple of tracks and Little Feat keyboardist Bill Payne and Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro guests on a track apiece.  My favorite track is a cover of Charlie Singleton's "Help the Poor," that's irresistibly funky and should put a hop in any listener's step.  Ford's guitar solo is just superb and there's plenty more great guitar to be heard on Talk to Your Daughter.