CD Review Thumb A Ride - Hooked On Music

You won't believe it, but Mr. Wilson neither discovered his blues in the Mississippi delta nor in Chicago but in good ol' Germany! There's been enough blues musicians around Europe, but this is the first time in history, when a black musician born in North Carolina strikes the blues not back home but here abroad - what a specialty! Even though, you might be able to get the "blues" in Germany time to time,…but that's another story... Big Daddy Wilson, along with his trio, prefers the acoustic style and clearly demonstrated, by releasing the "Love Is the Key" album, that it's possible to give music a softer touch. And that with a corresponding depth!

That’s why I decided to travel that road along a bit and joined Big Daddy for a short trip. It was fun right from the start. Although the title song has a small ragtime touch it sounds strongly like Ry Cooder and has a good drive. It is followed by a more rhythmical "Baby Don't Like " with a light swampy touch and accompanied by the touching sound of a slide-guitar. It's truly possible to imagine you're traveling on a country road. "This Is How I Live" gives you an insight into Big Daddy Wilson's life. The title creates a beautiful atmosphere and is less instrumental. His voice however does not need much company because it's this kind of a voice you just simply want to listen to. It's the kind of a voice that mesmerizes and you'd just like to follow it without missing anything. This voice could recite books and you'd still be fascinated. Surely you wouldn't notice other things like this title's great guitar solo which reminds a bit of Flamenco. It’s an absolute must to wet appetite by listening to Anna Mae! A beautiful, slow-paced groovy title, again, carried by this deep-sounding voice, the voice so complete reminding me of Solomon Burke. It's actually difficult to imagine how these three with a little bit of support from the bass and percussions can move people to dance; nonetheless, all you need to do to find out is to turn on the "It Don't Get No Better" and you'll know. It can't get any better. It's just great how it swings and grooves. But they can also do it a bit heavier, more threatening, with a swampy mood as in "Who's Dat Knockin". No matter if relaxed like in "Drop Down Here", or more traditional like in the "Way Back Yonder", or almost hypnotic as in the vibrating "Brother Blood"; it's just simply fun to lean back and rock along or even to perform a little dance along with these songs. The record sounds fantastic and the band is absolutely worth its money. It presents a superb guitar-playing and above all...a voice whose awesome quality can only be heard very seldom. To be convinced, just listen to scintillating Wilson in the concluding "If You Were Mine", backed only by the plucking bass sound. Just great!