Walker, Joe Louis: Blues Comin’ On

There is something about the blues that is hard to pin down, difficult to explain my love of the genre. My gateway to blues music was Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn and from there it was onto B.B. King, Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters and many others. One name that has escaped me is Joe Louis Walker. Walker was born in San Francisco in 1949 and early on in his career he played with some great players including John Lee Hooker, Buddy Miles, Thelonious Monk, Willie Dixon, Steve Miller, Muddy Waters and Jimi Hendrix, just to name a few. Walker left music in 1975 and returned eleven years later with his debut titled Cold Is The Night in 1986 and many albums later in 2013 he was elected into the Blues Hall of Fame. His latest album Blues Comin’ On was released in 2020 and features a number of great players.

To put it succinctly, this is an excellent album. There are so many great tracks and the album gets out of the gate with the powerful and impactful “Feed The Poor�. The lyrics are as hard hitting as the biting lead guitar of Jorma Kaukonen, a truly wonderful player. Bruce Katz also makes his presence felt adding organ in all the right places. The excellence continues with the title track and guest guitarist Eric Gales’s scorching leads. With the next track “Someday, Someway� the pace slows down, a nice romantic ballad brought to life by sliding rhythms and the soulful vocals of both Walker and guest artist Carla Cooke. The funky “The Thang� features the fiery lead guitar of Jesse Johnson and vibrant horns from Vanessa Collier. The down-home blues of “Old Time Used To Be�, love the harmonica here, and the catchy organ, horn and guitar riffs in the mellower “Come Back Home� are more tasty tracks.

Joe Louis Walker is a true bluesman, and you can hear it in these twelve, soul bearing tracks. Anyone remotely interested in the blues needs to get this pronto. Highly recommended.

Track Listing:
1. Feed The Poor
2. Blues Comin’ On
3. Someday, Someway
4. The Thang
5. Old Time Used To Be
6. Come Back Home
7. Bowlegged Woman, Knock-kneed Man
8. Awake Me, Shake Me
9. Lonely Weekends
10. Seven More Steps
11. Uptown To Harlem
12. 7 & 7 Is

Added: February 25th 2021
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Artist's Official Site
Hits: 1185
Language: english

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