Customer Reviews

Silvertone Blues

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This is the first disc by Joe Louis Walker since his days in the eighties on Hightone Records which captures the feel and raw grit of one man and his guitar singin' and playin' the blues as if his very life depended on it. Great help provided by James Cotton on Harp, but this CD shruggs off the 'over-produced' sound and feel on some of JLW's latest recordings. This disc should give Walker a legit shot at Blues Record of the Year!

Joe Louis Walker continues to amaze with his abilities and feel for the blues. I have been listening to this cd for three years and I never tire of it. First billed as Walker's return to his blues roots, it his version of an acoustic work which so many artists seem to be doing.

When we talk about Walker's roots, it is important to remember that Walker, a native the San Francisco Bay area who was born on Christmas Day in 1949, grew up listening to his parents' blues with artists as BB King and Howlin' Wolf featured. With a firm background in the blues he matured in the Haight-Ashbury era. One of his room mates at the time was blues guitar great Mike Bloomfield. During this period Walker had the opportunity to play with such people as Steve Miller, Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Lightning Hopkins, and Earl Hooker among others. Tired from the excesses of the period Walker spent a decade from 1975 to 1985 as a member of a Gospel Music Choir. He returned to the blues in 1985. As one would expect from his roots and influences a roots acoustic album does not have the feel of the Mississippi Delta, but a more sophisticated sound that is reflective of blues, rock and gospel influences.

In addition to the musical influences of Walkers life being showcased on this cd, his skill and ability as a songwriter are also central. Only two songs, Robert Nighthawk's Crying Won't Help You and Sunnyland Slim's It's You Baby are not Walker originals. Walker has the innate ability to simplify and make poignant life, love and the blues through his songwriting. In Change My Ways he vows to "Quit my cussing and scandalizing, too." In Talk to Me, Walker sings "I feel so good like a man in ecstasy... when you talk to me."

Joe Louis Walker didn't spend ten years in a gospel choir without learning a trick or two about singing and we are fortunate indeed for that. His edgy voice has a wide range and he seems to have a sense of when to hit the high notes for the most emotional impact. Truly reflective of the roots of blues music is Joe Louis Walker's ability to use his voice as a powerful purveyor of the depth of emotion. To me he is one of the best of this time and age at doing this.

An added treat to this cd are the guest appearances by Alvin Youngblood Hart, guitar and vocals James Cotton, harmonica and Kenny Blue Boss Wayne, piano. These guest add to the cd in a way that is not always typical of guest appearances. Hart brings a complimentary and diverse guitar style on songs Run from the Devil, Born in Mississippi and Crying Won't Help You. It can easily be heard on Change My Ways and Letting Go why James Cotton is such a well respected harmonica player. Kenny Blue Boss Wayne guests on Kenny's Barrelhouse, Do the Walkin', Trouble on Wheels and Silvertone Blues and without his presence this would be a significantly different cd.

It is hard to single out songs which are important or interesting on this cd because all of them are so well done and great to listen to. I love Walker's original Do the Walkin' . Stripped down with Walker on Slide guitar and vocals and Wayne on piano, it is an especially poignant love song (although not typical of pop tripe put out these days). Walker sings:

Every time I kiss you baby
You ask me will it last
Somebody must have hurt you baby
Sometime in the past
But I never will
Do you hear me talkin'
If anybody's gonna leave here
You gonna have to do the walkin'

It is not at all surprising that a cd which Joe Louis Walker chose to dedicate to the memory blues greats Johnny Adams, Charles Brown, Lowell Fulson and Mighty Joe Young be a quality blues cd. If you are a fan of the blues or like acoustic music this is a cd worth a listen.

I heard Joe Louis Walker's music for the first time this morning on the CBS Morning Show. I knew after the first two bars (of music) that I would buy this hot blues artist's work. His excellent play on bottleneck electric guitar, and acoustical guitar talent on "Runnin With The Devil" were inspirational and a joy for me to hear. I confess, I'm buying "Silvertone Blues" based on the two songs I heard this morning, but I'll easily take that chance. After what I heard- I am really looking forward to hearing the rest!

Joe Louis Walker's set "Silvertone Blues" is a delight. He's not a purist, combining elements of both rural and urban blues. This set is consistently strong. The opener "Runnin' from the Devil" uses religious imagery with Walker's whooping holler floating to the upper registers. Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne's barrelhouse piano gives a delightful funky feel to the instrumental toe tapper "Kenny's Barrelhouse." My favorite track that fills a slot on my favorite blues tracks compilation is the trad "Do the Walkin'" with Joe's slide guitar weeping on this classic blues, "Sit right down beside me, look me in the eye, how can I convince you woman?, I swear to God I wouldn't lie." "Trouble On Wheels" bounces to a great beat with an electrified Chicago blues sound. Joe Louis plays stutter-style dobro on the trad blues "Talk to Me." The title track is a joyful instrumental. Walker seems to pluck notes that are off the register with his slide guitar on Robert Nighthawk's "Crying Won't Help You." "It's You Baby" is another fine trad blues track. "Silvertone Blues" is a consistently excellent mix of different blues styles with Joe Louis' expressive vocals and guitar pyrotechnics. Enjoy!

Don't let Mr. Atlanta Georgia sway you from listening to this gem. Unlike SRV, this is the real stuff: great guitar, slide guitar, piano and harp, with spare production. I saw Joe Louis Walker years ago at the San Francisco Blues Festival, and he just kicked. I hadn't heard him in a while, but just picked up this CD and, like good wine, he seems to have gotten better with age. A great blues CD.

I've seen Joe in concert 2 times now and it is a show you will never forget. He plays with such passion in his music' everybody starts dancing at his shows. If you want just good blues and nothing but the blues then Joe is your man.

I remember reading an interview article with Joe Louis Walker in Guitar magazine in the late '80s. Among other things, he made a point of disparaging Stevie Ray Vaughan as someone who didn't know how to play blues or even know what blues music really was. Of course, Mr. Louis pointed out that HE knew what blues music was all about. This high-brow, arrogant attitude really turned me off to him as a person and a musician. If Mr. Louis spent less time copying Robert Cray's chops and spent a little more time working on his humility, maybe he could be more than a second-rate guitarist jealous of those who have gone before him to greater mass appeal.