|  By
Cornbread
 RX
BLUES – HANGDOGLOOK
{2000 | Kode Blue Records}
Rx
Blues gives us plenty to gnaw on with 13 original
tracks.
“Doc
Diaz” and group offer up 48 minutes of
some of the best St. Louis blues on both sides
of the big muddy. Hangdoglook is another fine,
fine blues CD – it’s just what the
doctor ordered.
“Doc
Cornbread” prescribes buying this CD,
listening to it over and over again, tell a
couple of friends about it, take 2 aspirin and
email me in the morning.
The Band:
Jose
Diaz
Jr.
– lead/rhythm guitar, slide guitar, dobro
Jeff Davis
– lead/background vocals, bass, acoustic
guitar
Gwyddon Kelly
- lead/background vocals
Ray Thompkins
– ‘aka’ “Bongoman”
– lead/background vocals, conga drums
Kory Schaefer
'aka' "Crunchy" – keyboards,
guitar
Jeff Niggli
– drums, vocals
The
Songs:
1. Hang Dog Look
– guitar from the beginning, Davis &
Kelly both on vocals
2. I Like It Rough
– bass galore, a funky song with a Tower
of Power sound
3. Monday Trash
– Kelly gets down at times with her singing,
dominant bass, an organ solo, and of course
great guitar blues
4. Light In My
Eyes – a jazzy slower
song featuring Jeff Davis
5. Get Along With
You Baby – a swingin’,
toe tappin’ tune. I really dig the piano
solo
6. Dark Side Of
A Man – lots of distorted
guitar work, backing vocals, a really good song
7. Life Without
Love – mega instrumental
lead and bluesy vocals, this is an awesome song!
I’d bet your doctor can’t play a
guitar like Dr. Diaz can.
8. Can’t
Buy A Rumor – vocals are
a bit grittier than others songs, check out
Parker on this song. Parker? Yes, Parker, Diaz
plays a Parker Fly.
9. I Don’t
Love You – adds Stu Williams,
Jim Rosse & Jody Coffman on horns again
to this eclectic jazz, blues, rock song
10. Steppin’
To The Front – dominate
drumming, horns, James Brown style vocals, this
song is fair
11. Up ‘Til
Now - Imagine Diaz, steppin’
to the front, dark sunglasses on and a great
solo, his guitar probably still smokin’,
vocals were OK, the song repeated itself too
often
12. Enough Enough
– Al “Mr. Big” Winkeler adds
harmonica to this tune, I liked it. A great
combination with the steady beat, vocals, and
guitar playing. I’d like more harmonica
on some of the other songs.
13. Missing Link
– an acoustic song, made me smile, man
this is this a great song – more please!
The
Website:
www.rxblues.com
The
Rating:
We get 13 tracks, I liked all the songs except
for three – all-in-all a good CD, give
me more acoustic, more harmonica, think about
ditching the horns (OK, maybe leave them on
one song if you must). With fresh batteries
in the ever so reliable bluesometer this CD
gets a 4.015 out of 5.
Ciao’
for now, peace.
Peter ‘Cornbread’ Cohen, CBP
|
