|  By
Cornbread
 Mitch
Woods – Keeper Of The Flame
{1996 | Viceroots}
To
be honest I never heard of Mitch Woods. I was
searching Johnnie Johnson on eBay and this CD
came up. I was the high bidder at $1.97. What
I found was a diamond in the ruff.
Jump
blues, rock-a-boogie, boogie-woogie - call it
what you like, blues fans, to be specific, St.
Louis Blues fans and piano lovers will really
dig this release by Mitch Woods. But it gets
better. Woods is joined by legendary bluesmen:
John Lee Hooker – vocal and guitar on
the second track; James Cotton – harp
on songs 1, 3, 6 & 12; Johnnie Johnson –
piano on 4, 7 & 8; Earl King – vocal
and guitar on 5 and 10; and Lee Allen –
playing saxophone on tracks 9 & 11. Wow,
every song has a superstar guest. Personally,
I really liked the songs with Johnnie Johnson
as these duets have not two hands shuffling
on the piano but four hands playing piano –
that’s 20 fingers if you aren’t
keeping track. To the songs…
Chicago
Express
is a fast paced song with harmonica (thanks
to James Cotton) adding train sounds.
Never
Get Out Of These Blues
is classic older John Lee Hooker, the music
accompaniment (piano and guitar) is minimal,
the vocals are fairly mumbled.
Rocket
88
(this has to be the third time I’ve reviewed
this song on different recordings) – I
like it. It’s a fast, swingin’,
head boppin’ song.
Blues
Ya ‘Fore I lose Ya
is the mellower of the Woods JJ songs. Johnnie
was up high the piano, Mitch down low holding
the beat. No drums or pianos.
Big
Chief
reminded me of a Disney song with the piano
and whistling intro (remember Jiminy Cricket).
The vocals of Earl King were fairly deep and
raspy – which in my opinion is how blues
should be.
Blues
Hangover
is great, I dig the song, the harmonica, the
vocals – I like it!
Blue
Boogie
is a really good, slow piano blues with vocal
song. It’s JJ all the way.
Full
Tilt Boogie
a fast paced instrumental and the third song
featuring Johnnie Johnson.
Moanin’
n’ Ticklin’
is a blues ‘n’ boogie instrumental
duet of piano and sax.
Lonely,
Lonely Nights
is a flashback to the good old days with the
vocals, the guitar solo is slow electric with
piano throughout. One of the best songs on the
CD.
Jump
For Joy
is another shweengin instrumental, like #11
it’s all piano and sax.
Blues
For Michael
– always end on a high note, it leaves
the listeners wanting more. This song does that.
Piano and harmonica abound, some singing would
have been a welcomed addition.
Rating
3.625 out of 5.
Ciao’
for now, peace.
Peter ‘Cornbread’ Cohen, CBP
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