Rory Block Blues Walkin' Like A Man A Tribute To Son House (2008)

The continuing musical saga of bluesman Ronnie Earl ventures further into jazz territory with this, his first release on the Verve imprint. As always, Earl is ably and tightly backed by the Broadcasters, featuring solid and empathetic playing from drummer Per Hanson, bassist Rod Carey, and keyboardist and co-collaborator Bruce Katz. It's Katz's "Hippology" that opens the album with a swinging bang, sporting guest appearances on alto sax from Hank Crawford and Allman Brothers alumni Jaimoe on drums. Crawford also shows up again on "Anne's Dream," while Jaimoe joins Marc Quinones for a two-drummer rhythm section guest turn on "Bonnie's Theme" and "Mother Angel." Gregg Allman plays Hammond B-3 organ and contributes the album's only vocal on "Everyday Kinda Man"…

All the tribute albums in the Magna Carta catalog tread dangerous ground. How can they give the artists room to stretch and still maintain enough of the original spirit to capture the art-rock audience that knows these songs by heart? "Supper's Ready" manages to walk that fine line for the most part, with strong contributions by Annie Haslam, Kevin Gilbert (a trombone solo on "Back in NYC" works impossibly well) and Magna Carta label workhorses Robert Berry, Trent Gardner and Magellan, and Shadow Gallery. On the down side, John Goodsall, guitarist of Phil Collins' jazz offshoot, Brand X, is wasted on "Carpet Crawlers." Matching him with vocalist Michael Zentner is a disservice.

Lowell George was the guitar virtuoso, vocalist and songwriter for Little Feat. In this collection of 25 songs, artists as Elvis Costello, Ben Harper and Dave Alvin interpret and perform his diverse catalog.George, born in Hollywood, California was a member of Frank Zappas Mothers of Inventions before leaving that band and forming Little Feat with Bill Payne. Lowells tenure in the band was for 7 years until his death and in that time, they released eight albums. While George died in 1979, his legacy lives on through this album.

George Smith - Blues With A Feeling (1969) {Remastered & Expanded 2012, Beat Goes On Records BGOCD1035}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 276 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 106 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 12 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1969, 2012 Capitol / Beat Goes On Records | BGOCD1035
Blues / Electric Blues / Harmonica Blues / Juke Joint Blues / West Coast Blues

Reissue of the first full length album recorded by this great West Coast harmonica player for the World Pacific label in 1968 with three bonus cuts. Most of the disc consists of George singing or playing some of the best sides recorded by the great Little Walter who had died shortly before these recordings. On this session he is accompanied by members of the Muddy Waters band who were touring the West Coast at the time with Muddy & Luther Johnson on guitars, Little Sonny Wimberly on bass and S.P. Leary on drums.