Joe Louis Walker continues to amaze with his abilities and feel for the blues. I have been listening to this cd for three years and I never tire of it. First billed as Walker's return to his blues roots, it his version of an acoustic work which so many artists seem to be doing. When we talk about Walker's roots, it is important to remember that Walker, a native the San Francisco Bay area who was born on Christmas Day in 1949, grew up listening to his parents' blues with artists as BB King and Howlin' Wolf featured. With a firm background in the blues he matured in the Haight-Ashbury era. One of his room mates at the time was blues guitar great Mike Bloomfield. During this period Walker had the opportunity to play with such people as Steve Miller, Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Lightning Hopkins, and Earl Hooker among others. Tired from the excesses of the period Walker spent a decade from 1975 to 1985 as a member of a Gospel Music Choir. He returned to the blues in 1985. As one would expect from his roots and influences a roots acoustic album does not have the feel of the Mississippi Delta, but a more sophisticated sound that is reflective of blues, rock and gospel influences.
In addition to the musical influences of Walkers life being showcased on this cd, his skill and ability as a songwriter are also central. Only two songs, Robert Nighthawk's Crying Won't Help You and Sunnyland Slim's It's You Baby are not Walker originals. Walker has the innate ability to simplify and make poignant life, love and the blues through his songwriting. In Change My Ways he vows to "Quit my cussing and scandalizing, too." In Talk to Me, Walker sings "I feel so good like a man in ecstasy... when you talk to me."
Joe Louis Walker didn't spend ten years in a gospel choir without learning a trick or two about singing and we are fortunate indeed for that. His edgy voice has a wide range and he seems to have a sense of when to hit the high notes for the most emotional impact. Truly reflective of the roots of blues music is Joe Louis Walker's ability to use his voice as a powerful purveyor of the depth of emotion. To me he is one of the best of this time and age at doing this.
An added treat to this cd are the guest appearances by Alvin Youngblood Hart, guitar and vocals James Cotton, harmonica and Kenny Blue Boss Wayne, piano. These guest add to the cd in a way that is not always typical of guest appearances. Hart brings a complimentary and diverse guitar style on songs Run from the Devil, Born in Mississippi and Crying Won't Help You. It can easily be heard on Change My Ways and Letting Go why James Cotton is such a well respected harmonica player. Kenny Blue Boss Wayne guests on Kenny's Barrelhouse, Do the Walkin', Trouble on Wheels and Silvertone Blues and without his presence this would be a significantly different cd.
It is hard to single out songs which are important or interesting on this cd because all of them are so well done and great to listen to. I love Walker's original Do the Walkin' . Stripped down with Walker on Slide guitar and vocals and Wayne on piano, it is an especially poignant love song (although not typical of pop tripe put out these days). Walker sings:
Every time I kiss you baby
You ask me will it last
Somebody must have hurt you baby
Sometime in the past
But I never will
Do you hear me talkin'
If anybody's gonna leave here
You gonna have to do the walkin'
It is not at all surprising that a cd which Joe Louis Walker chose to dedicate to the memory blues greats Johnny Adams, Charles Brown, Lowell Fulson and Mighty Joe Young be a quality blues cd. If you are a fan of the blues or like acoustic music this is a cd worth a listen.
Golden Sound of Silvertone
Slick and Stripped Down
Don't Waste Your Time With This Pretender