Modern Guitar Method Jammin' The Blues

Sometimes the bloodlines show up and at other times they explode with a fanfare that shows itself to the world. Lil' Ed Williams traces his heritage back to his uncle, one of the Chicago blues legends, slide guitar master J.B. Hutto. He was tutored by his uncle, and the West Side Chicago blues scene that nurtured him, and readily gives J.B. much of the credit for his prowess. He captures some of that same raw street energy that was his uncle's trademark on many of the tracks on this, his fifth Alligator release. Listen to "The Creeper" to get an idea of the savage fury that he can channel through his slide guitar work. This disc manifests that feel for the blues that can't be taught, but must be both lived and seen from the inside…

Slide guitarist Lil' Ed Williams & the Blues Imperials bring the energy of live performance to their seventh Alligator release, Full Tilt. The highlights on this disc tend to reflect that of the album's title, especially the spirited cover versions of the Contours' "First I Look at the Purse" and Hound Dog Taylor's "Take Five," along with the originals "Hold That Train," "Candy Sweet," and "My Baby Moves Me." Lil' Ed's raucous guitar chops are at center stage on those tracks and the additional backing from horn players Eddie McKinley and David Basinger and pianist/organist Johnny Iguana add some extra kick. There are a few lukewarm tracks that are a bit too rote and, unfortunately, bring down the overall good-time party appeal of this disc. Still, fans of Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials, or electric modern blues in general, will want to add this to their collections.

This 2CD set contains the A and B side of every 78 and 45 released in the period 1952 to 1962. It features original releases from Trumpet, Meteor, Flair, Checker, Modern, Chief, Vee Jay, Fire and Enjoy. The recordings were produced mainly in Chicago and New York with others made in Mississippi, New Orleans and Los Angeles and constitutes as formidable a body of work as could be found anywhere in blues history.

The band's wildly energetic and seriously soulful CD Jump Start is jam-packed with Lil' Ed's incendiary slide playing and rough, passionate singing, as the ragged-but-right Blues Imperials cook like mad alongside him. It is a tour-de-force of untamed slide guitar, rock solid rhythms, heartrending ballads and authentic deep blues vocals. Williams wrote or co-wrote 13 of the album's 14 songs, ranging from the non-stop boogie blast of "If You Were Mine" to the heart-on-his-sleeve honesty of "Life Is A Journey" to the bouncing and jazzy "Jump Right In" to the swaggering, autobiographical "Musical Mechanical Electrical Man." The album overflows with the band s full throttle drive and is fueled by Lil' Ed's love of both serious blues and good time fun.

The sixth release from the veteran foursome is another rollicking, electrified romp through old-school Chicago boogie blues. Lil' Ed Williams is the nephew of, and was schooled by, slide guitar legend J.B. Hutto, so it's no surprise that the Blues Imperials' sound is driven by the high-octane, raw, bottleneck attack popularized by Hutto and the great Elmore James. Both are covered here, and even though Williams's originals adhere to the standard blues format, the energy generated by this live-in-the-studio recording could power a small city. You can practically see the sweat dripping down Ed's fez-covered head as he charges through the humorous yet driving "Icicles in My Meatloaf" and the fast shuffle of "Broken Promises"…