 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!
Reviewed by: East Side Slim aka Lee Howland
Lee 'East Side Slim' Howland
|
|
