Blues International "Smooth And Slippery At Atlantis"

 

 

Blues International is a Blues group that hails out of Australia and consists of Les Oldman (Drums/Vocals), Chris Dawes (Guitar/Vocals), John Dynon (Bass), and Tommy Blank (Guitar/Vocals). "Smooth And Slippery At Atlantis" was recorded at Atlantis Sound and is Blues International's Debut Release.

 

"Smooth And Slippery At Atlantis" consists of 13 Tracks of which 7 are Originals, with Les Oldman and Chris Dawes solely writing 3 Tracks each and Oldman co-writing 1 Track . 3 of the tracks pay homage to Peter Green with the Covers "Albatross", "Oh Well', and "Watch-Out". The remaining Covers are "Need Your Love So Bad" (Mertis John Jr.), "Cold Cold World", (Mac Grainger) and "Soon As I Get Paid" (Kevin Moore & John Lewis Parker). Kevin Moore, for those of you whom don't know, is American blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter whom goes by the name Keb' Mo'. 

 

According to WikiPedia, "Need Your Love So Bad" sometimes known as "I Need Your Love So Bad", is a blues song first published in 1955 and written by Mertis John Jr. The first recording of the song was by Mertis John's younger brother Little Willie John and was released by King Records. Willie John's single achieved #5 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1956 and the B-side "Home at Last" reached #6 in the same chart."

 

One of the things I noticed right away with "Smooth And Slippery At Atlantis", was the Live feel I got from this Album, even though it was not recorded Live. It really felt like I was in the room with them and it is probably pretty close to how they sound Live.

 

"Smooth And Slippery At Atlantis" start off with the Cover of Peter Green's (Albatross), which is the first of 2 instrumentals on this Album. Starting off with such a well known instrumental is a bit of a gutsy move, but Blues International, manage to do a pretty fine job, as they do with his other Covers. Peter Green music is, of course, great to listen to anytime, and it is a testament to how talented a group is when they can interpret is in a way that would make Peter proud. 

 

Blues International's sound is a bit reminiscent of older blues groups from the late 60's, early 70's, an era of music that I really love. They just seem to have that nice raw feel to them, not often found in more modern bands.

 

"I Need Your Love So Bad",  is the first really slow song on "Smooth And Slippery At Atlantis" and the thing with slow songs is you had better be good musicians and good vocalists to pull it off right. Blues International does just that and more, doing justice to this really fine Mertis John Jr. song, while at the same time, showing their great diversity as a group.

 

Track 8, the second instrumental on "Smooth And Slippery At Atlantis", shows off the band at their musical best, with all the players getting in on the act to not only show what they can do individually, but also as a group. Very well done, I especially loved the solo drum work at the beginning.

 

"Smooth And Slippery At Atlantis" closes out with Track, "Soon As I Get Paid", which is another very well done Cover and a great tune to end the Album. The singing and playing on this track sort of reminds me a bit of our great Canadian blues artists, Colin James.

 

I found "Smooth And Slippery At Atlantis", to be a really fine Debut Release, one in which I hope Blues International, is proud of, for they certainly have done a great job introducing themselves to the world. Great choice for the Covers and very well written and performed Originals.

 

I am really looking forward to hearing more from this Band, down the road, but till then, I still have this mighty fine Album to play.

 

"Smooth And Slippery At Atlantis", is an Album I have no problem Highly Recommending.

 

Review by John Vermilyea (Blues Underground Network)

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