Customer Reviews

Fanning the Flames

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

 

 

LIKE MEMPHIS & NEW ORLEANS STYLE BLUES? THEN THIS IS THE CD FOR YOU! FROM THE OPENING SONG "HOME OF THE BLUES" THRU 12 GREAT CUTS, MARIA SHOWCASES A BLUES VOICE THAT WILL MAKE YOU WONDER WHO SANG "MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS". MAVIS STAPLES & JOHNNY ACE PROVIDE HARMONY & BACKUP VOCALS THAT ARE FIRST RATE. GREAT HORNS ON EVERY SONG. BUY IT!!!!

Sounds nothing like "Midnight at the Oasis," but there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, it sounds like she's been taking voice lessons from Bonnie Raitt. Bonnie does guest vocals on one song, Huey Lewis plays *great* blues harmonica on another. Great blues guitar from Cranston Clements all the way through. Best songs are Home of the Blues, Somebody Was Watching Over Me, Can't Pin Yo' Spin On Me. Well, Well, Well and Strange and Foreign Land (both with Mavis Staples) are also standouts. If you like slow and mid-tempo swamp blues, this one won't disappoint.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but this album just isn't as good or as entertaining as other Muldaur albums. For a top Muldaur blues album, I recommend "Meet Me Where They Play the Blues" or "Richland Woman Blues". Muldaur has explored several different styles of music, including doing some pretty good children's albums. She rarely disappoints and this is my 8th Muldaur album. It is the least enjoyable of all of the ones I have. I guess every good artist has an "off" album. I guess this one is Maria's. In all fairness, perhaps I just don't like this type of blues as much as some of the other styles that she has explored. For example, Richland Woman Blues is early blues (20's/30's); Meet Me Where They Play the Blues is a tribute to Charles Brown and his style. Each period or style that Muldaur covers has a somewhat different sound and I guess it depends on your own personal tastes. In any case, I wouldn't recommend this as a first album to explore Muldaur's talent, as it would be a disappointment to anyone not familiar with her work as a whole. Not a bad album; just nothing very memorable or that interesting.

This is a great CD. If your looking for a remake of "Midnight at the Oasis", this isn't it. I loved that CD, but I love this one also. They are very different. Both are good. After listening to this CD many times, I even like the songs I didn't care for the first few times I heard them. "Home of the Blues" may be my favorite. This is not a sad blues CD. I loved it.

I love the sweet voice and easy falsetto of the early Muldaur. After one listening, I gave this album away.