Customer Reviews

Blues Stop Knockin

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

 

 

I am not familiar with Lazy Lester's previous recordings but I think this CD is great. The harmonica playing is great and, though there aren't a lot of guitar solos, Jimmy sounds great too. If you love the harmonica or you are a big Jimmy Vaughan fan I think this album is a must have.

This is a great swamp blues album, with an infectious groove. Lazy Lester has an incredible style all his own, and you will find this CD ends up in heavy rotation when you are looking for funky blues.

my take on this album is that it was a valiant attempt at stretching the soup but excellent nonetheless. mr. vaughan and mr. buck-- one-half of the original fabulous thunderbirds line-up play on the first seven cuts, then cuts 9 & 11. mike buck lays down a huge pocket on the shuffles, the rollicking swamp cuts, and the slow stuff for jimmie to prance around in and do his perfect blues stylings. jimmie's a bad ass. what a player! so please stop with the criticism's about his "tone" and "uninspired" playing. he's the ultimate team player in addition to being a bad ass.

frankly the album is worth every penny and then some for cuts 1-7, 9, and 11 alone. in other words, 9 cuts, or an lp's worth of terrific authentic blues courtesy of a national treasure, lazy lester.

mr. lester plays on three cuts as a solo artist (for the most part), accompanying himself much like lightnin' hopkins and john lee hooker would. more american authenticity.

the remaining seven cuts are only teeny bit of a dropoff because mr. vaughan isn't present. the main thing is that both lazy lester and mike buck are playing on most of these cuts and derek o'brien is playing guitar.

make no mistake-- derek o'brien is a superb american blues guitar player and producer. i am grateful but he would be the first to admit that jimmie vaughan is a special musician.

again-- this album is worth every penny!

The promotion for this CD screams "Jimmie Vaughan on ALL tracks". I suppose that should tip one off that the marketers are not pushing Lazy Lester, as much as they are banking on the impeccable Vaughan to carry sales. In actuality, Vaughan plays on all tracks except, "No Special Rider", "They Call Me Lazy" and "Sad City Blues" with Sue Foley guest starring on "Sad City Blues".

The Vaughan connection goes back to the 80's when, Vaughan and the Fabulous Thunderbirds discovered and loosely covered Lester's "Sugar Coated Love" and "I Hear You Knocking", tracked Lester down and coaxed him out of retirement. 4 post-retirement CD's later and after listening to this rather lackluster performance, it may have been better to let Lester go fishing.

This is a bit of a lazy production from Lazy Lester. The playing is uninspired all around, including, incredibly, from Jimmie Vaughan. I'm a huge fan of the blues and Jimmie Vaughan, and bought this album primarily to hear his playing, but was disappointed. What was he doing here? It sounds as if he were being extra deferential to Mr. Lester, keeping the solos and rhythm subdued so as not to upstage him the way some other white guitar slingers do to the masters (hello, Gary Moore). Ok, but what about that tone? Jimmie's signature sound is hardly recognizable here, like he's playing through a kid's beginner amp. Worth a listen as a novelty, I guess, but not a great recording.