Customer Reviews

Rush Hour Blues

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I had never heard of Sam Lay until driving home late one night and there he was at the far left end of the dial. It was an instrumental number called "midnight Drag". That song prompted me to take a chance on this album and I was surprised at how good this album is. The style is Chicago blues, with an emphasis on the shuffle. Sam is one of the few singing blues drummers around, and he has been playing since the 50's. He really works the shuffle well, and is backed by very tight band. The lead guitar work of Larry Burton is outstanding, and the keyboards played by Celia Ann Price are equally good. There is a good variety of tunes, from the classic chicago style opening number to the raucous "Rush Hour Blues", and ending with the jazzier instrumental "midnight drag". If you enjoy the blues this is one quality album worth getting.

Back in the `60s, Sam Lay was the drummer in the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. These days, he has his own aggregation, for which he drums and sings. Judging from this recording, however, these guys seem to be just going through the motions. The music sounds formulaic (this can often happen with the blues genre, but this is a fairly glaring example), Lay's voice does not seem very expressive, and even his drumming does not seem particularly noteworthy. Maybe these guys put on a good live show, but blues fans will probably want to pass on this recording. Even the sound quality is a letdown--OK but nothing special. Overall, then, this recording is quite a disappointment.