Customer Reviews

Blues Fallin Down Like Rain

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first heard Kenny Neal on a blues channel over my DSS sattelite dish. Was making coffee when "Blues Fallin' Down Like Rain" came on. His wonderful deep growly voice has a unique bluesy passion to it. Can't say it's like anyone elses. Anyway, I was admittedly surprised and frustrated that I'd never heard of Kenny Neal before, because, anyone with a blues voice and a sound this good, has got to be a big-time blues performer. Maybe he is, but I didn't know it.

Since then, I've purchased this CD, and like it so much, I bought every other CD this guy has ever made. In my opinion, Kenny Neal is one of the brightest young blues talents out there. He's got the voice, the harp, the guitar, and a family history. Plus, the guy has played with several past blues giants, most notably Buddy Guy and Junior Wells.

Admittedly, this CD is much more tame than his past work (now that I've reviewed all of his work), but it is great stuff nonetheless.

The bottom line with Kenny Neal is, he is one of the rare blues artists that one can truly listen to for hours without tiring of his voice and sound. His mix of swamp blues with swing and deep passionate ballads is a breath of fresh blues air. Hope the guy makes it big. He has the talent!

After a lenghty stay with Bruce Iglauer's Alligator Records, Kenny Neal signed with Telarc in 1997, releasing this album the next year.
He still plays his trademark Louisiana-style blues, but the horn sections that backed Neal on his Alligator albums are gone, and the sound is perhaps a little bit more polished, with a stronger soul influence. And there are more covers than usual.

Kenny Neal still has one of the best, most soulful and nuanced voices in modern electric blues, but overall "Blues Fallin' Down Like Rain" is not as strong as his best Alligator dates.
The production is slicker, and Neal's renditions of songs like Willie Dixon's "My Babe" and Guitar Slim's "The Things I Used To Do" just don't measure up to the classic recordings by Bo Diddley, Little Walter and Slim himself. "I'm Ready" is pretty good, though, and Neal performs an energetic "Big Boss Man" with the drums playing in double time.

Also, Ted Taylor's swinging mid-tempo soul-blues "Someday" and the equally soulful title track are both very good, as is the funky "Just A Matter Of Time" and Neal's own "Shadow On The Moon". The originals "Full-Time Fool" and "Strike While The Iron Is Hot" are pretty good as well; I just can't help feeling that I've heard these songs before. In fact, "Strike" is not much more than a slightly slicker version of the terrific number "Don't Fix Our Love" from Neal's best album, "Hoodoo Moon", and that's a bit disappointing. Nice harp playing, though.

If you're new to Kenny Neal you probably won't notice one way or the other, and unless you're familiar with the original version of songs like "My Babe" and "The Things I Used To Do" you may not find anything wanting from Neal's readings of these songs at all. Still, this is a lesser record compared to earlier works like "Walking On Fire", "Bayou Blood", and the magnificent "Hoodoo Moon", and Neal's next Telarc album, "What You Got", is better and more original as well.
This one is not bad at all. It's just not among his best.

Kenny as we see him when he is in concert! No fancy horns or subtle mixing just Kenny, his brothers and down-in-the-alley blues for you. From the opening cut "Big Boss Man" where Kenny plays the lap steel to the soulful "The Things I Used to Do" the eleven cuts on this CD represent some of his finest work to date.

I was born in the south and had never been interested in blues music until I saw Kenny Neal perform at a private party. His voice and harmonica playing was awesome.I then purchased his tape Walk On Fire and got several of my friends and co-workers hooked.Since then I have made it a point to alway's go to the New Orleans Blue's Festival where he and his family perform to record crowds along with many other great performers every year. Blue's Fallin' Like Rain is a great CD along with the rest of his music so support the great blue's musicians of Louisiana. I heard that Kenny was nominated for an academy award congradulations! A group of us would like to know about live performances scheduled for Kenny Neal and band? If u enjoy blue's you should see Kenny Neal perform his great songs.

There is no question of Kenny Neal's skills, he is a fine guitar player, a distinctive harp player and his vocals are strong and confident. But his latest release, "Blues Fallin' Down Like Rain," while showcasing all his talents(and even debuting a new facet of lap steel work), lacks that essential element to all great music; depth of emotion.

I'm afraid that his choice of cover material was a harbinger of the performances on the disc. He opted for overdone material; "Big Boss Man", "My Babe", "The Things I used To Do", & "I'm Ready". Although his use of lap steel on "Big Boss Man" did lend a freshness to this one. The two bright spots on the disc lie in the new tunes, the title track and "Can't Say I Didn't Try". What sets these cuts apart from the rest is their emotional delivery, they both contain expressive vocals & tasteful, crisp guitar work, as well as, sensative backing from the other musicians on the set. On these tracks Kenny seems to be doing more than merely going through the motions, he is playing and singing with urgency and passion.

Unfortunately, on most of the disc Kenny seems to be holding back. There is a decided lack of fire in his playing and his vocals are unconvincing. This is especially disappointing to the level of his aforementioned skills. He is very capable of incendiary guitar work and passionate vocals. His past efforts for Alligator Records and his live shows attest to this. On this outing he is like a vintage muscle car that is only running on 4 or 6 cylinders, he is sputtering along when he should be tearing down the road.

Review by: Richard A. Baker

After attentively listening to this record several times I'm still a little disappointed as it doesn't stand comparison with what 'Kenny Neal' is capable of carrying out and has carried out before, as for instance his extensive discography in Alligátor label. I think that the change of label has brought out a decrease in his recording quality and this can be felt in covers like "Big Boss Man", "My Babe", "The Things I Used To do" or "I' m Ready". In addition, instrumentally this record is not in a par with his previous recordings. More criticisms could be raised against this record, but it is fair to say that in general it is not bad at all even if it is one or two levels lower than Neal's usual standard. I give it 2.5 stars