Customer Reviews

Straight from the Heart

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Only in San Francisco would you ever find a musician that calls himself Carlos Guitarlos. Guitarlos has been called a fallin' angel, a drunken doofus and one hell of a blues player by one San Francisco newspaper. Guitarlos' chosen venue has been the streets, playing on the corner of 16th and Mission for enough tips to by him some beverages and something to eat. The toothless one has now emerged as somewhat of a San Francisco icon of the blues. On this release Guitarlos joins with a band of other San Francisco regulars for 17 original tunes averaging a little better than two minutes a piece. It is an eclectic mix of tunes some with an R&B flavor, some sounding a bit Bo Diddleyish but all are truly straight from the heart. I was skeptical at first, but after one listen, I was hooked. Give Guitarlos a listen, he deserves a break.

This CD has 17 songs on it. While certain songs remind one of other artists and their material, there is something about the way Carlos Guitarlos has taken these familiar forms, distilled them and made them his own that is difficult to describe. "You Don't Know What Love Is" reminds me of a Jimmy Witherspoon song. "Women and Whiskey" reminds me of Jimmy Reed. But these songs are not merely derivative-- all you have to do is listen to his original guitar work, his words, his voice, and you can tell this isn't anybody's Jimmy Anything--it's Carlos, and I hope there's a lot more of that where this came from.

Straight from the Heart pumps out most of the pain associated in living the blues with every beat. From forlorn love to finding shelter in his music from a sea of madness, Carlos shares his umbrella long enough to bring a smile to your face. "When The Pain Stops Killing Me" reveals the psychosis necessary in resolving everyday matters like the B part. After all whats right is right, right? "Everybodys Got the Blues" another good track yes, but not everybody can sing em convicingly. Carlos voice is somewhere between San Antonio's Sonny Ozuna of the Sunliners,Luis Prima and the brown leather strap attached to my barbers chair that she loves to stroke back and forth with her blade preparing to cut my whiskers off, tough! I love, it hurt so good! STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART music updates Robbie Robertsons Bands Juke Joint album. Take Creedance it's all really good fun. You don't learn to sing from the heart in a band as any good blues person will learn you, he did time on mean streets and main streets. Traffic and noise the competition, volume mattered! So did material. His songs are well tempered SFO UFO nuggets. Grammy Award material if I ever heard it! "Co Co Club", Cotton Club whats the difference? Get this recording and your in the club, find a seat sit down, shut up and listen to inspiration STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART.

I used to laugh whenever a young admirer of the blues prefaced his messages with "Eric Clapton is God!" Well I thought EC came pretty close but Carlos just might be! This is music that I WANT the blues to be, but all too often gets bled dry by producers who think they know more than the audience does. CG has been around long enough to be very, very good at what he does, and to know absolutely who he is. This, apart from choice of instrument and degree of musical training, is what makes Mozart and Beethovan and Eric Clapton and Carlos Guitarlos guys we want to listen to over and over again. They always have more to say to us, because they never waste it asking if it is true or not. They know it is. Carlos Guitarlos is love, and no sweeter sound ever fell from the sky. Thank you Carlos and friends!