Issue
MAY, JUNE, JULY
2009
21st BURNLEY NATIONAL BLUES FESTIVAL
Text by Bob Groom (with Brian Smith & Neil Thompson)
Photocopyright by Brian Smith
Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials never fail to deliver a full-length, high octane set. Amplification problems and odd programming meant that Ed didn't move to the front mike until the 4th number but from then on he was singing, sliding and smiling all the way to the top of the evening.
Everything Ed does is pure West Side Chicago, mostly-all out but he also slows it down from time-to-time for intense numbers like "Sittin' Here Alone, Waitin' ".
His music is very much in the tough tradition of Hound Dog Taylor and Ed's uncle, J.B. Hutto, who started him off in the blues; a superb reading of the Hutto classic "Pet Cream Man" providing one of the band's encores. Honest music played with tremendous energy, verve and feeling continues to be the band's trademark, an exciting 'live' experience not to be missed if you get a chance to see them.
Saturday was class all the way, with Doug McLeod's acoustic and National slide wizardry, followed by Earl Thomas - back to his best, his punchy soul-blues reflecting his year long collaboration with Paddy Milner's Band and again the hit of the Festival. Closing was the superb Rod Piazza, with his familiar and welcome West Coast harmonica swing in the George Smith mould.
Sunday effectively had a double headliner with Kenny Neal , followed by Magic Slim. Neal has survived serious illness and family bereavement to come back better than ever with his blues if anything enhanced by his searing experiences. Supported (mostly) by family members he put on a great show.
Although his performances were contem-porary sounding, his Louisiana roots still show,as on the intense "Blues Falling Down Like Rain" with tasty guitar passages. Guitar Slim's "The Things That I Used To Do" connected us to the 1950s then Kenny moved seamlessly into Ivory Joe Hunter's classic "Since I Met You Baby". A Jimmy Reed medley and then Kenny switched to harp for a sensitive reading of Little Walter's "Last Night". Back to guitar for "Blues, Leave Me Alone"and the title track from Kenny and the band's current CD, "Let Life Flow".
Kenny gave one encore, "Born Under A Bad Sign" to his guitarist nephew but saved the second for himself, the repetitive crowd-pleaser "Georgia Women Don't Wear No Shoes".
The Teardrops took the stage and Joe McDonald, no great shakes as a singer, was left to do several vocals until the man himself appeared. It was soon clear that Magic Slim wasn't comfortable. After an instrumental he resorted to a stool for the rest of his act. Working through Buddy Guy's "Let Me Love You Baby", standards like "Yonder's Wall" and Muddy's "I'm Ready" and his own crunching "Crazy Woman", Slim played great guitar but his vocals and talking to the audience were marred by dental problems and he certainly wasn't at the top of his game. Kenny Neal came up to help out, playing excellent harmonica on "Crying Won't Make Me Stay" and Muddy's "Diamonds At Your Feet". Little Milton's "The Blues Is Alright" had the audience clapping along and then it was encores, Detroit Junior's "Call My Job" and the hoary standard "Sweet Home Chicago". Sadly at 71 Slim seems to be losing some of his magic. Let's hope he can still get it together for a few more years yet.
>>>>> Bob Groom (with Brian Smith & Neil Thompson)
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