Customer Reviews

Double Take

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

 

 

...as they say in Salsa music. These guys work very well together. Just the two of them with judicious use of overdubs as best as I can tell. This is my first album with Billy Branch on it. My goodness, the man knows his way around a harp. Lets you know why they call it a Mississippi Saxophone. Thanks Alligator, for licensing this from it's original European label.

Originally issued on Isabel Records as "Easy Meeting", 2004's "Double Take" is the second incarnation of this acoustic 1998 session.
It is a lean affair, just Kenny Neal (guitar and vocals) and Billy Branch (harmonica and vocals), but the sound is never flimsy, and the two second-generation bluesmen turn out fine renditions of classic numbers like "Mannish Boy" and Willie Dixon's "My Babe", and an interesting, up-tempo version of James Burke Oden's "Going Down Slow" which features instrumental backing in double tempo and a slightly revised melody line.

"Double Take" also includes two excellent takes on Kenny Neal's poignant slow number "The Son I Never Knew", and Neal's presence is generally stronger than Billy Branch's...he also contributes "Baby Bee" and "Early One Morning" compared to only one original by Billy Branch, the slow "Northern Man Blues".

A couple of songs are pretty lightweight, like the clich?d "I Just Keep Loving Her", and this "Don't Start Me To Talkin'" doesn't measure up to Sonny Boy Williamson's original. But most of what is here is very good, and "Double Take" is certainly worth a listen, even if it isn't one of the major items in either man's catalogue.

This is a solid CD of acoustic Blues. The harmonica playing is outstanding and the voices of Kenny and Billy blend together very well. This is laid back music, great background music.

This is a fantastic piece of work, I am a blues musician and I know good blues. If you buy this disc you will not be sorry. These two go together like butter and toast.