From the first note, you know you’re in for a fun ride with this album. Black To Blues Volume 2 (released 18 October), the follow up to Black Stone Cherry’s highly praised Black To Blues is a second tribute to their biggest blues influences.
The Kentucky quartet’s take on Freddie King’s Big Legged Woman combines proper old-school twang with deep, down ‘n’ dirty bass slaps, lovingly mixed with the (now classic as far as many fans are concerned) BSC soulful vocal style.
Being a blues album, and Robert Johnson is inextricably linked to the solar plexus of the Mississippi Delta, the BSC boys wouldn’t have missed him out and Me and the Devil Blues has a distinct air of modern day swagger - heavy guitars, relentless drums and vocal screeches - while absolutely paying tribute to the man that started it all.
The there’s Otis Rush's All Your Love (I Miss Loving) slowing things down a bit. Ever the emotive lot, there’s sure to be stories behind why the band chose these tracks, but what we know for sure is that so far this is a perfect compilation as a tribute to the genre.
Howlin’ Wolf’s Down In The Bottom, brings the party and the Elmore James classic Early One Morning means a sigh of relief, that listeners can be safe in the knowledge that this isn’t just another rock-band-playing-the-blues cop out. These are prime examples of where the roots of their musical passion has come from and their renditions exude respect.
Death Letter Blues by Son House completed the album and proves that howlin’ Chris and the boys have done it again. They have an ability to add unique groove that gives the tracks naughtiness, while at the same time doing them complete justice. That’s how to put your own stamp on something.
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