Jimmy D. Lane is a true bluesman of the 90's and 00's. He's not an old fart but a "young" bluesmusician with the right knowledge and feeling for the blues. Maybe because he's father was the very well known bluesman Jimmy Rogers (1924-1997). The thythmsection of bass and drums consists of Stevie Ray Vaughan's (1954-1990) band and that can be heard on the album. They really play solid and with great feeling and knows haw to support a player like Lane. The production is clear and goodsounding and it's wonderful to hear every note in Lane's guitarpicking. The mix of different musicstyles is also a good thing with the album and I really like the deep vocals from Lane. It can sometimes be a little too mellow and soft and I loose intresest here and there but the good bluessongs are really good, it's Chicagoblues at good quality!

Tommy Shannon played with Johnny Winter in the late 60's and with S.R Vaughan 1980-1990. Later he played with Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy, Little Richard but to name a few. Shannon and bassist Chris Layton has played together with many of these artists.

Mike Finnegan has played with many many wellknown artists like Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Etta James, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Cher and Rod Stewart.

1)What makes people (8,0) This song makes me wanna hear moore! Wonderful guitarplaying and singing in this Chicago-heavy blues.

2)Til I loved you (8,0) Featuring congas and a very nice slow rhythm with feeling.

3)Half love (8,5) Just a great song with a nice steady rhythm and great guitarsoloing.

4)Ain't it a pity (6,5) A slow blues and kind of a ballad. Nice organ.

5)It's time (7,0) Good but maybe too much guuitarsoloing. The song drowns in it.

6)Stuck in the middle (7,0) Slow and low with steel guitar.

7)Hand on the door (7,5) On this one one can really hear the fantastic rhythm section of Shannon and Layton together with Finnegans Hammond B 3-playing.

8)Bad luck (8,5) Great Chicago-blues!

9)My nature (6,5) A nice acoustic song.

10)24-7 (7,0) Typical powerful Chicaco-blues but the song is too short.

11)Bleeding heart (8,0) 10 minutes of real blues! Slow and mellow.

12)Salina (6,5) A rocker.

Score: 7,42

Jimmy D. Lane-vocals, guitar (b.1965)

Tommy Shannon-bass (b.1946)

Chris Layton-drums

Mike Finnegan-keyboards (b.1945)

Celia Price-keyboards

Charlie is a well-known bluesman and harmonica player ever since he released his first album in 1966. He has mostly played his own music but also guested on other artists albums, such as Bonnie Raitt, INXS and Tom Waits. He has released over 20 albums and has recieved 14 W.C Handy-awards. This album shows Charlies harmonicaskills and low dark voice full of feeling and...the blues! It's not a heavy or rocking album, it's just the blues the way Charlie lives it. The drummer Stephen Hodges has been playing with Tom Waits, John Hammond, James Harman and more.

1)Ramblin' blues (7,5) Wonderful driving rambler's blues with a steady pace and a great old-style guitarcomp mixed with harmonica.

2)Dig the pain (7,0) A lowkey jumpblues.

3)The well (7,0) Un uptempo stomper with simple lyrics and the old man's kind of talking the blues and wonderful jazzy guitarcomp.

4)Where hwy 61 runs (7,5) Wonderful heavy blues wher the drums works the rhythm.

5)Sad and beautiful world (7,5) Co-vocals by Mavis Staples and their voices makes a perfect match even though they are so different.

6)Sonny Payne special (7,0) A jazzy uptempo number containing duelling harmonica and guitar.

7)Good times (7,5) Wonderful dark vocals by Charlie and also nice guitarplaying by him.

8)Just you, just blues (7,0)

9)Cadillac women (7,0)

10)Hoodoo queen (6.5) A John Lee Hooker-style funky monoton talking boogieblues.

11)Clarksdale getaway (6,0) An instrumental with a lot of harmonica.

12)Cook county blues (7,0) Uptempo but lowkey anyway...

13)Sorcerer's dream (7,5) A slow blues with lots of feeling. Nice ending to the album.

Score: 7,08

Charlie Musselwhite-vocals, harmonica, guitar (b.1944)

Dave Gonzales-guitar

John Bazz-bass

Stephen Hodges-drums (b.1952)

www.charliemusselwhite.com

Mick Taylor is mostly known for his stint with The Rolling Stones but he became famous replacing Peter Green in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in 1967. In 1969 he replaced Brian Jones in The Rolling Stones and played in the band until 1974. In 1979 he released his first solo album and in the beginning of the 80's he toured with Alvin Lee and recorded and played with Bob Dylan.

This album is basicly an bluesalbum but could as well be filed under "rock". It's not a flirt at wild rock'n'roll, it's more of a mellower bluesrockalbum that focuses on melody, melodic guitarplaying and feeling. It's an good album to listen to in the car or on a quiet sunday evening.

1)Secret affair (7,5) A slow and heavy blues that reminds me of The Allman Brothers Band. Mick doesn't have the best of voices but here it suits fine.

2)Twisted sister (7,0) Very nice guitarplaying in this medtempo bluesrocker but not much else happens.

3)Never fall in love again (5,5) Almost a ballad, very melodic and laidback.

4)Losing my faith (7,5) The singing here reminds me a lot of The Band and actually the whole song does. It switches between slow and mellow, and heavy blues, very good indeed! A song with feeling.

5)Morning comes (8,0) A slow slow jazzy blues with a great pianointro wich should have been longer than 3.30

6)Lost in the desert (6,0) Midtempo, nothing special. Some Allman-like calypso rhythms thrown in.

7)Blues in the morning (7,5) Soulful blues and again, almost a copy of the mighty Allmans, but it's good and I like it. What could go wrong when it sounds like them? The guitarplaying makes me play airguitar!

8)Late at night (6,5) An okey blues but like some other songs on the album it gets a little boring with the same slow pace althrough the song.

9)Here comes the rain (6,0) Just another song.

10)Blind Willie McTell (Bob Dylan) (7,0) 8.30 long version of the Bob Dylan-song. It's okey and sounds similar to The Band's version of the song.

Score: 6,85

Mick Taylor-vocals, guitar (b.1949)

Robert Ahwai-guitar
Michael Bailey-bass

Kuma Harada-bass

Jeff Allen-drums
Richard Bailey-drums
Hillary Briggs-synthesizer, hammond organ
John "Rabbit" Bundrick-hammond organ
Lisa Daniel-background vocals
Martin Ditcham-percussion
Andy Macintosh-saxophone
Max Middleton-piano, clavinet

www.micktaylor.net

I first discovered the Irish guitarist Gary Moore in the 80's when he released the hardrockalbums he firstly became known for. These albums were very good  and suited well the taste me and my friends had at that time. Suddenly in 1991 Gary released a bluesalbum and it was this one together with  the Stevie Ray Vaughan-albums from the  80's that made me start listen to blues and I havent stopped since! Sadly Gary died of a heartattack in Spain in february 2011, only 58 years old.

This is among the best bluesalbums I have ever heard and it's a real pleasure to listen to Garys incredibly sensitive guitarplaying and songs that can't leave anybody unaffeced. If you do, then you maybe should keep to listening to pop and hip hop that's in the charts... After Gary first broke ground the year before with his stunning Still Got The Blues-album, he even made a better one with After Hours.

The bassist Will Lee is best known for playing with the studioband in The David Letterman Show and has recorded with a long string of known musicians.

Bob Daisley, born in Australia, played in Garys band in the hardrockyears in the 80's and recorded with Chicken Shack, Mungo Jerry, Widowmaker, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osburne, Uriah Heep and many other bands.

Johnny B. Gaydon is a true bluesman, he played with Son Seals, Albert Collins and has played on about 100 albums in he's career.

Anton Fig, born in South Africa, is also known for playing with the David Letterman band, named the CBS Orchestra, and recorded with numerous bands.

Graham Walker has played with Albert King, Albert Collins, George Harrison, B.B King, Hubert Sumlin, Mick Jagger etc.

Tommy Eyre recorded with among others Alex Harvey, Greg Lake, Wham, Michael Schenker, B.B King and John Mayall. He died of cancer in 2001.

1)Cold day in hell (9,0) Superb albumopener! A midtempo bluesrocker with blistering guitarplaying, strong vocals and a hornsection and female backgroundsinging wich fill out and lifts the song.

2)Don't you lie to me (I get evil) (8,0) A short bluesshuffle that is just great!

3)Story of the blues (10,0) One of the best bluessongs that's ever been recorded. Slow and sad and you can really hear the pain, the blues in this song.

4)Since I met you baby (8,5) A jumpblues with Gary and the king himself, B.B King on vocals and guitar. A great song!

5)Separate ways (9,5) An incredible song about broken love. Don't know if I've heard a sader song than this and Gary's singing is so full of feeling it sends chills down somewhere...

6)Only fool in town (9,0) Rockin' the blues! Full of energy and another great song.

7)Key to love (John Mayall) (8,5) An uptempo stomper that's getting the feet moving!

8)Jumpin' at shadows (Duster Bennett) (10,0) So much feeling in this song that it could make anyone cry. Awesome.

9)The blues is alright (9,5) Includes Albert Collins on guitar. An incredible jumpblues that rocks and rolls and twists and shakes and and...

10)The hurt inside (9,5) A mellow midtempo rocksong with a distinctive bluesfeeling. Again with the most sensitive guitarplaying you can imagine.

11)Nothings the same (7,0) A ballad that would have suited better on Gary's hardrockalbums from the 80's.

Score: 8,95

Gary Moore-vocals and guitars (b.1952-d.2011)

Will Lee-bass (b.1952)

Bob Daisley-bass (b.1950)

Johnny B. Gaydon-bass (b.1953)

Graham Walker-drums

Anton Fig-drums (b.1952)

Tommy Eyre-keyboards (b.1949-d.2001)

 www.gary-moore.com

I remember my uncle had an album with Hound Dog Taylor in the 80's and I was fascinated by the old thin bluesmans look on the cover. I don't remember that I listened to the album but now I found this one at the musiclibrary here in Gävle and decided to give it a go. This was Hound Dog's 1st albumrelease and also the later worldfamous blues recordcompany Alligator Records 1st release. He was born in 1915 with 6 fingers on each hand but he cut off the extrafinger on the right hand with a razorblade on a drunken night. In may -75 he shot his bandmate Brewer Phillips with 2 shots from a rifle but Phillips survived. In december the same year Hound Dog, a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer only 60 years old.

This album shows Hound Dog's heavy, hardhitting and loud boogie-blues. He played bottleneck with hard, loud notes and he's voice was somewhat weak but loud and clear. The recording is very rough and defenetely live and with no overdubs. The rawness of the recording makes the scores lower and the songs are not the best that's been recorded. The starter She's gone, Held my baby last night, Wild about you baby and It's alright are the best.

1)She's gone

2)Walking the ceiling

3)Held my baby last night

4)Taylor's rock

5)It's alright

6)Phillips theme

7)Wild about you baby

8)I just can't make it

9)It hurts me too

10)44 blues

11)Give me back my wig

12)55th street boogie

Score: 5,13

Hound Dog Taylor-vocals, guitar (1915-1975)

Brewer Phillips-guitar (1924-1999)

Ted Harvey-drums

http://www.keno.org/hound_dog_taylor/hdhomepage.htm