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Barstool Blues
Artist: Bob Levis
Label: Big Paw Records (indie)
Time: 13 tracks / 73:33
OK, so the thing about the blues is that they’ve gotta’ sound authentic. You can’t have any hot-shot ‘hey I went to college and got a BA in music with a minor in blues’ stuff – it’ll be as obvious as that white guy in Kirk Franklin’s group. No – if the blues is gonna’ be the blues it’s got to get a little dirty, which is why I sometimes worry about what I’m about to hear when I put a CD in the player by someone I’ve never heard of before, named Bob Levis. Bob Levis? Not, Bob ‘Catpaw’ Levis, or Bob ‘Gatemouth’ Levis, or Bob ‘Bleeding Gums’ Levis….? Well, folks, now I’m a believer, because Bob Levis’ Barstool Blues CD is thirteen tracks of very authentic, string-bending, blues-harp blowing, gut-shouting boogie and blues that sounds like something you’d hear while walking past a club late at night in one of New York City’s funkier neighborhoods.
Levis has been around for a good thirty years, playing mostly rhythm guitar in clubs and on scores of blues recordings. _Barstool Blues_ brings his talents as a lead guitarist into the spotlight this time as he burns through track after track backed by some fine blues artists in their own right: Brother Dave Kaye (bass), Marty Binder and Dennis “Link” Leary (drums), Dave Wood (guitar), Ted Lawrence and Westside Andy Linderman (harmonica), with Jimmy Voegeli, Steve Ditzell, Big Jim Johnson and Larry Pendleton all adding vocals along with various additional guitars, keyboards and harmonica parts. Blues legend Lonnnie Brooks makes a guest appearance on “Can’t Hold Out Much Longer,” singing and playing guitar.
Since this is very much blues in the classic sense, the lyrics are pretty much what you’d expect – nobody’s having much of a good day, unless they just walked out on that woman that had been taking their hard-earned pay and spending it on their best friend, that is. A really good blues band has that amazing ability to transform the most dismal subject matter into songs that alternately groove, boogie and cook while rocking you down to your shoes, and somehow get you to shake your head (‘cause you feel that feeling) and, yes, laugh a little at the same time. The vocals are fairly well buried in the mix on the first track, “It Takes Time,” which had me worried that the vocals would be the weak point on the project - but the first track is the anomaly – there are powerful, soul-ripping vocals throughout the rest of the album: no one will mistake these guys for American Idol contestants – these are voices full of experience, humor and the edgier side of life.
Anyone who really loves a good blues recording should find their way to CD Baby.com to pick up this album and prepare to get funky for over seventy minutes - great driving music if you’ve got a long trip to make (watch the speedometer). These are thirteen tracks of the basics: full of soul-searing guitar work, thick, funky blues-harp, head-bopping boogie, down & dirty slow-working blues, raw, emotional vocals (not without an ironic, humorous edge at times), and a bucket or two of Chicago-based blues-sweat. Essentially recorded live in the studio, Barstool Blues has all of the authenticity of anything released on Alligator records, even though it’s on Big Paw Records, an indie label. Hey, wait… Big Paw, Big Paw…. That’s it! Bob “Big Paw” Levis! You can thank me in the credits of your next CD, Big Paw….
Bert Saraco
http://www.myspace.com/expressimage
http://expressimagephoto.tripod.com
big old, bluesy TOCKS.
Artist: Bob Levis
Label: Big Paw Records (indie)
Time: 13 tracks / 73:33
OK, so the thing about the blues is that they’ve gotta’ sound authentic. You can’t have any hot-shot ‘hey I went to college and got a BA in music with a minor in blues’ stuff – it’ll be as obvious as that white guy in Kirk Franklin’s group. No – if the blues is gonna’ be the blues it’s got to get a little dirty, which is why I sometimes worry about what I’m about to hear when I put a CD in the player by someone I’ve never heard of before, named Bob Levis. Bob Levis? Not, Bob ‘Catpaw’ Levis, or Bob ‘Gatemouth’ Levis, or Bob ‘Bleeding Gums’ Levis….? Well, folks, now I’m a believer, because Bob Levis’ Barstool Blues CD is thirteen tracks of very authentic, string-bending, blues-harp blowing, gut-shouting boogie and blues that sounds like something you’d hear while walking past a club late at night in one of New York City’s funkier neighborhoods.
Levis has been around for a good thirty years, playing mostly rhythm guitar in clubs and on scores of blues recordings. _Barstool Blues_ brings his talents as a lead guitarist into the spotlight this time as he burns through track after track backed by some fine blues artists in their own right: Brother Dave Kaye (bass), Marty Binder and Dennis “Link” Leary (drums), Dave Wood (guitar), Ted Lawrence and Westside Andy Linderman (harmonica), with Jimmy Voegeli, Steve Ditzell, Big Jim Johnson and Larry Pendleton all adding vocals along with various additional guitars, keyboards and harmonica parts. Blues legend Lonnnie Brooks makes a guest appearance on “Can’t Hold Out Much Longer,” singing and playing guitar.
Since this is very much blues in the classic sense, the lyrics are pretty much what you’d expect – nobody’s having much of a good day, unless they just walked out on that woman that had been taking their hard-earned pay and spending it on their best friend, that is. A really good blues band has that amazing ability to transform the most dismal subject matter into songs that alternately groove, boogie and cook while rocking you down to your shoes, and somehow get you to shake your head (‘cause you feel that feeling) and, yes, laugh a little at the same time. The vocals are fairly well buried in the mix on the first track, “It Takes Time,” which had me worried that the vocals would be the weak point on the project - but the first track is the anomaly – there are powerful, soul-ripping vocals throughout the rest of the album: no one will mistake these guys for American Idol contestants – these are voices full of experience, humor and the edgier side of life.
Anyone who really loves a good blues recording should find their way to CD Baby.com to pick up this album and prepare to get funky for over seventy minutes - great driving music if you’ve got a long trip to make (watch the speedometer). These are thirteen tracks of the basics: full of soul-searing guitar work, thick, funky blues-harp, head-bopping boogie, down & dirty slow-working blues, raw, emotional vocals (not without an ironic, humorous edge at times), and a bucket or two of Chicago-based blues-sweat. Essentially recorded live in the studio, Barstool Blues has all of the authenticity of anything released on Alligator records, even though it’s on Big Paw Records, an indie label. Hey, wait… Big Paw, Big Paw…. That’s it! Bob “Big Paw” Levis! You can thank me in the credits of your next CD, Big Paw….
Bert Saraco
http://www.myspace.com/expressimage
http://expressimagephoto.tripod.com
big old, bluesy TOCKS.