"Paid my dues," repeats Guitar Shorty on "Old School," the opening track to his 2004 release, and that's no exaggeration. Although only his sixth album in a career that stretches back to the mid-'50s, Shorty, born David William Kearney, has been electrifying audiences with his guitar pyrotechnics (think Buddy Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughan) and on-stage gymnastics (think Nils Lofgren) since before Hendrix was sneaking into clubs to catch his act. But as he says in "Story of My Life," it's been a series of "tough breaks and bad decisions" before he has finally landed a high-profile shot at more visibility on Alligator, the foremost blues indie imprint. He meets the challenge with his most fiery and gutsy album yet, a tough and uncompromising slab of steely playing, no-nonsense singing, and solid songs. He's always been a gruff, fat-toned guitarist, but with no-frills production by pianist Jesse Harms (who also wrote and co-wrote five tunes), Shorty rips into these ten tracks sounding like he's young, hungry, and ready to explode. He machine guns into Elvis' "A Little Less Conversation" and Van Morrison's "I've Been Working" with an energy and intensity that nearly beat the originals, steamrolling through the solos like a major-league slugger swinging for the fences. The charging Bo Diddley beat of "Let My Guitar Do the Talking" places Shorty's style in that perfect combination of blues and rock, making it one of the album's most successful cuts. Between Shorty's sinewy guitar and a batch of blazing songs perfectly tailored to his rowdy approach, there isn't a weak track here. That makes Watch Your Back a welcome return for old fans and a perfect introduction for those new to Shorty's long career.
Genre - Blues
Styles - West Coast Blues, Regional Blues
Time - 42:21
Format - mp3@320 Kbps
Size - 96 mb
Tracks
01. Old School
02. Story of My Life
03. I'm Gonna Leave You
04. What She Don't Know
05. I've Been Working
06. Get Busy
07. Let My Guitar Do the Talking
08. It Ain't the Fall That KillsYou
09. A Little Less Conversation
10. Right Tool for the Job
Credits
Guitar Shorty (vocals, guitar)
Electric Vic Johnson (guitar)
Jesse Harms (electric piano, percussion)
Sweet William Bouchard (bass)
Alvino Bennett (drums)
Label
Alligator Records, 2004
3 comentarios:
muy buen disco!! es interesante como el blues tambien invade a los latinos a su modo!
Hace unos años cayó en mis manos este CD y no se si es la fuerza que tiene o qué...pero de vez en cuando le doy unas vueltas. Revitalizante.
Efectivamente ambos lleváis razón. No se la de veces que habré escuchado este disco!
Un saludo