|
|
Blues Underground Network |
|
|
Douglas Watson R&B Revue "Broken
Hearted
Man"
Imagine, if you will, that you are a
young kid who also happens to be a runner for beer, pop, and cigarettes
for Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf and Coco Taylor, while they were doing their
rehearsals. Now imagine that you are downstairs during those rehearsals
quietly playing your Bass along to the music going on upstairs. Well if
you were Douglas Watson, you would not have to imagine all that, because
that was a real part of your early
life.
Douglas Watson, whose father was Eddie
“Lovie Lee” Watson (Piano player from 1979 until 1983 for the Muddy Waters
Band)and whoms stepbrother was the late great Carey Bell, was
destined to become a Blues force in his own right. "Douglas has played
with many well known artists such as Koko Taylor, Albert Collins, B.B.
King, John Lee Hooker, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Lonnie Brooks, Bonnie Raitt, and
has toured with A.C. Reed and the Sparkplugs for nine years
."
Originally from Chicago, Douglas
Watson has lived in Canada since 1990, first in London, Ontario and then
recently Kitchener, Ontario. Striking out on his own after leaving A.C.
Reed and the Sparkplugs, Douglas has continued to garner "tremendous
acclaim and recognition for their high energy, crowd pleasing
performances", and now with his newest release "Broken Hearted Man",
we all get a chance to listen to whom "Bruce Hall of the ’Grand River
Blues Society’ has dubbed, ‘The man with the Million Dollar
voice'!"
"Broken Hearted Man" consists of 6
Tracks, which at just over 25 minutes is kind of short when compared to a
lot of albums out there, but none the less, Douglas Watson does not waste
a second of it as he packs in some of the best Chicago Blues,
Gospel, Soul, and R&B, that I have heard in a
while.
Two of the Tracks on "Broken Hearted
Man" are originals by Douglas Watson, the title track "Broken Hearted Man"
and "The Best Way I
Can".
For the covers on "Broken Hearted
Man", Douglas Watson chose an interesting mix of songs, some of which were
also linked to interesting characters whom wrote them, such as, Deadric
Malone whom was the co-writer of "When You Got A Heartache". Born "Don
Robey (November 1, 1903 – June 16, 1975) was an American record label
executive, songwriter and record producer, who used criminal means as part
of his business model. As the founder of Peacock Records and the eventual
owner of Duke Records, he was responsible for developing the careers of
many rhythm and blues artists in the 1950s and 1960s.
He has been credited with writing or co-writing many of the songs recorded by Duke/Peacock artists, either under his real name, or under the pseudonym of Deadric Malone. "
Track 4, "Lets Straighten It Out" was
a song written by Benjamin Latimore and was his biggest hit charting at #1
on the R&B Charts and reaching #31 "on the U.S Billboard Hot
100 charts
".
The last 2 covers on "Broken Hearted
Man", are Tracks 5 and 6, "Down Home Blues" written by George Jackson and
"Please Don't Let Our Good Thing End" written by Frank Lee Johnson. George
Jackson has of course wrote and co-wrote many great songs of which one was
Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll". All the covers are a bit slower in
nature but none the less still were great to listen to and beautifully
showed off Douglas Watson's great vocals, especially Track 6 "Please Don't
Let Our Good Thing
End".
Besides Douglas Watson, are his
amazing band consisting of 'Mississippi' Pete Temple (Harmonica's), Chris
Latta (Guitar), and Maciej Lukasiewicz (Drums). Special Guests on various
Tracks included John MacMurchy (Sax), Junior Reggan (Organ), John Lee
(Organ), Michelle Rumball (Background Vocals), and Pat Temple (Background
Vocals).
Not being a great fan of R&B, I
did not know what to expect from "Broken Hearted Man", especially with the
name R&B Revue on the cover of the CD, but I must admit that started
to enjoy this album, pretty well from the get go, especially the 2 Tracks
that were written by Douglas Watson, of which, Track 3 "The Best Way I
Can" was my
favorite.
For lovers of really well performed
and extremely well sung Chicago Blues, Gospel, Soul, and R&B, "Broken
Hearted Man" is certainly what the doctor
ordered.
Review by John Vermilyea (Blues
Underground
Network)
Additional Info
The album represents elements of upbeat rockin
Chicago Blues, as well as gospel tinged R&B Soul that was an offshoot
of the Chicago Blues scene. The variety here will never leave the listener
bored, as every cut offers a different perspective as to how wide the
genre really is. This CD does it all!
Tracklist
1. Broken Hearted Man 2:37
2. When You Got A Heartache 4:06 3. The Best Way I Can 3:19 4. Lets Straighten It Out 4:51 5. Down Home Blues 6:23 6. Please Don't Let Our Good Thing End 4:36
Listen To Samples Here...
Websites:
|