Customer Reviews

My Blues

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

 

 

I bought this CD at his show in Maynard, MA on 3/18/2000 at the Sit'n Bull Pub. I saw the man perform that night...what a show! I listened to this CD the next morning and it was as good as the show...maybe that is why it is titled "My Blues". His "Live-to-tape" recording method does this band justice! There is no mixing magic here, what they played is what you bought! You hear the band, in their element. I can recommend this CD to anyone who truly enjoys Blues without being afraid they might not like it. If I were Merrill-Lynch, I'd rate this one a "BUY"!

kim has outdone himself on this one. listened to it on the way home the other night and was floored, not only by the tune selection but by the recording method of hifi mono. sounds great and even recommend it to the savvy a##holes at living blues, who said this cd wasn't worth anything.

Kim Wilson stays very busy on the road theses days, alternating tours as frontman for The Fabulous Thunderbirds and occasionally hitting the clubs with his Blues Review. If you've been to any of his solo shows, then you know what to expect on this fine album - many well-crafted covers of older blues material, sprinkled with a few Wilson originals. Most of the tunes here don't begin to approach the raucousness of many crowd pleasing T-bird favorites, but they are just as satisfying. Eschewing the latest digital technology, this CD is recorded live & retro-style, in Hi-Fi mono, to give you that "latenight, juke joint" feel. Nearly every tune is a stand-out, in it's own way, w/ "West Helena Woman", "Date Bait" and "Your Funeral & My Trial" leading the way. Definitely a "Buy" for Blues fans.

Kim Wilson's stunningly fresh, old-style hi-fi mono recording jumps out of the speakers at you, like you're part of the session, in the room with the musicians. As usual, Kim's ability to select songs with soul, style, guts and emotion, is unsurpassed. I've seen him and met him several times around the country and spanning his career..and he has never sounded better. There are few in the world alive today who can play harp with this much tone, technique and feel--James Harman and Rick Estrin to name a few. But to also play harp and emote songs that grab you by the seat of the pants, hit you at the core, as Kim does AND capture it so superbly on tape like you WERE THERE....ahhh..that is a nugget of mastery! MY BLUES ranks on my short list of "Desert Island, Must-Have" albums...the ones you'd have to have to keep you alive if stranded forever on a remote island. Notable on this Blue Collar Records project are Fred Kaplan tinkling ivories with sublime taste and sense of style, and I believe his Hollywood Fats Band rhythm cohort of bassist Larry Taylor and drummer Richard Innes. I'm pretty sure that in the blues world, it doesn't get any better than this ensemble. Buy MY BLUES if you can find it, put your feet up, and enjoy. My own personalized, autographed copies are priceless treasures in my essential blues collection.

In some peoples' minds, Kim Wilson will always be the guy who belted out "Tuff Enuff" with the Fabulous Thunderbirds; however, that is selling him wa-a-a-ay too short.

People who know him only for that one song don't know that he is possibly the greatest blues harp player in history (that's harmonica to all you non-blues cats).

That attitude ignores the legendary years of woodshedding and paying their dues as the house band of Antone's Blues Bar in Austin, Texas, backing up everyone from Muddy Waters to Buddy Guy to Albert Collins to Albert King... and many, many more.

It also pushes aside the (excellent) early Fabulous Thunderbirds albums "Girls Go Wild" (1979), "What's The Word" (1980), "Butt Rockin'" (1981) and "T-Bird Rhythm" (1982).

Those people are also forgetting the commercially successful eighties blues-rock-pop of "Tuff Enuff" (1986), "Hot Number" (1987), and "Powerful Stuff" (1989).

Founding member Jimmie Vaughan left the fold in 1990 (which would have been a death sentence for less hardy bands). Instead, it led to the reformation album "Walk That Walk" (1991) with two former members of Roomful of Blues.

Later, leaner, meaner and "tuff-er" than ever, the group put out one of the best blues-rock discs of the 1990's with "Roll of the Dice" (1995) with Kid Ramos laying down the guitar tracks. It was followed by "High Water" (1997), which paired him with Danny Kortchner and Steve Jordan...and most recently in 2005, the expanded and funkier T-Birds released "Painted On".

Meanwhile, in the early 90's Wilson had formed another band, the Kim Wilson Blues Review. Originally a touring band consisting of various sidemen he had performed with over the years, this group allowed him the freedom of playing the West-Coast jump blues and Little Walter-inspired forays into harp heaven as well as the Texas Blues for which he is so well known. He teamed up with old friends Clifford Antone and Derek O'Brien to record his first and second solo outings "Tigerman" (1993) and "That's Life" (1994).

This 1997 disc, "My Blues", was the first disc on his own Blue Collar Music label, and was recorded in the retro-cool method of Hi-Fi Mono directly to an Ampex two-track recorder. If it sounds like a cool old Chess recording from the 50's, that's because it was laid down that way.
From 40's West Coast jump blues to funky forays down New Orleans way, early 60's Soul to 50's Chicago grooves, Kansas City swing to West Helena guts, and throw in some Golden Triangle (Texas/Lousiana Coastline) Juke Joint nastiness, this disc as it all.

Overall, this is a great example of Kim Wilson's heart and soul, blues and funk, rock and roll...but most of all, it showcases the unknown genius he possesses.

Good Vibes To Y'all

I can't understand how other reviewers have awarded Kim Wilson"s My Blues a five star rating. They must have lax musical standards and /or they don't carefully listen to My Blues. At least in my mind, only an outstanding cd deserves a five star rating. My Blues is certainly not an outstanding cd. I too had high hopes for My Blues when I ordered it; the other reviews sounded so encouraging. But it is not one's hopes or others' reviews that determine one's enjoyment of the music; it is the quality of the music itself. My Blues is filled with satisfactory plus quality BLUES music and thus deserves a satisfactory plus rating. The thing that I much dislike about My Blues is its use of a stripped down "live to tape" recording strategy. My Blues would have sounded much better if Kim Wilson had only employed all of the contemporary recording technology that was available to him. As it was actually recorded, live to tape, the music on My Blues sounds flat and Kim Wilson's usually excellent singing voice often sounds like he is only speaking the words! (It's also possible that Kim's voice had lost some of its melodic quality by the time this cd was recorded. Kim remains the best harmonica player in contemporary BLUES music.) The songs on My Blues are good BLUES songs. I enjoy the songs; it is only the flattened sound quality of the cd that disturbs me. My Blues is a satisfactory plus cd, so I will keep it and sometimes play it. My recommendation is that you buy Tigerman/ That's Life instead of My Blues. Tiger Man/ That's Life is the best showcase of both Kim's great voice and his outstanding harmonica playing. If you do purchase My Blues, do so with the caution that you may be quite disappointed with the flattened sound quality of this cd.

John