|  By
East Side Slim
Without
a Warning by Sue Foley
– Antone’s Records, 1993
Sue Foley is a Canadian blues artist who connected
with Clifford Antone in the early 1990s and became
a fixture in Austin for years. She has since moved
back to Ottawa, Canada. Sue completely embraced
the Texas guitar sound, and possesses about the
sexiest singing voice that you’re ever going
to hear!
She’s recording currently for Ruf Records
and is doing a lot of work promoting the recognition
of female blues artists past and present. Sue wrote
8 of the 13 tracks on this album, throwing in 2
covers of Magic Sam tunes. It’s just Sue on
lead and rhythm guitar, along with bass and guitar
on most of the tracks. Piano is added to a few tracks.
The songs:
1. Come Into My Arms – Sue
gives the Texas shuffle treatment to a Magic Sam
song. Listen to Sue’s tasty, economical solo
work. When she tells you to come into her arms,
how can you resist?
2. Ruby Duby Du – This is
a silly little fun track that Sue pulls off with
the combination of her sexy voice and gritty guitar
work. It’s kind of like the blues equivalent
of sugar and spice – everything’s nice!
3. Open Up Your Eyes – Things
slow down a bit after the 1st two up tempo tracks.
But don’t let that fool you, as she digs into
the 1st instrumental break and tears it up! This
track was written by Sue.
4. Give Me Time – The 2nd
Magic Sam cover on this CD. This is a nice pop-blues-soul-
track. It just make you feel good when listening
to it, kind of like the best early 60s soul music
does. Great solo guitar work, again! Sue’s
a 1st rate guitar player folks.
5. Hooker Thing – A tribute
to the great Earl Hooker. It’s a hoedown,
yee ha! I don’t know how Sue plays this fast
but it sure sounds fine.
6. Sad Sad City – Sue’s
take on a song originally performed by Lazy Lester.
She took this old Excello swamp blues tune and made
it less swamp, more Texas grit – which works
out very well. She took the song and remade it in
her own style with more fantastic guitar work.
7. Truckin’ Little Woman
– Sue wrote this one. You feel like you’re
drivin’ down the road with her. The guitar
has an extremely gritty, dirty sound, with a dark
and dangerous feel to the tune. I like it!
8. Sue’s Boogaloo –
Yes it is! This is an instrumental track that gives
Sue a chance to cut loose. Jump on board and hang
on tight; it’s wild ride!
9. Cry For Me – Sue’s
take on a Chicago style blues, mixing it with her
Austin sensibilities. Definitely makes your toes
tap and your head bob along.
10. Live Together – This
track sounds like something Hound Dog Taylor could
have been found playing. It’s a dirty, gritty,
raw boogie baby – straight from the groin!
Can I say that? Ah, I just did.
11. Without a Warning – This
is a very short (1:45) instrumental track. It’s
a rockin’ blues tune, very much in the Stevie
Ray Vaughan school of influence. Stevie had only
been “gone” about 2 years when Sue laid
this track down. It sounds like a tribute to me!
12. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
– Another track Sue wrote that falls into
the vein of Hound Dog Taylor, or maybe Jimmy Reed
on steroids. That wouldn’t have been the only
thing Jimmy was on…but I digress. This tune
is a very nice shuffle-boogie, again with that fantastic
gritty guitar sound she used throughout this album.
Sue really belted this one out vocally as well.
13. Annie’s Driftin’ Heart
– The set closer, and a complete departure
from the rest of the CD. It’s just Sue and
an acoustic guitar – shades of Memphis Minnie,
who happens to be one of Sue’s musical heroes.
It’s a sexy little track in the style of the
blues women sang during the 1930s. This tune ended
the CD in great style!
The Verdict:
I hate to do this, but I have to give this CD a
perfect 5.0 on the blues-o-meter. It really is that
good. If you like the Austin-Dallas school of blues
guitar, this CD is for you. When you combine her
sexy-sweet singing voice and gritty Texas blues
guitar style you end up with a tough package to
beat. It’s all sugar and spice, baby!
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