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Blues Underground Network |
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Elvin Bishop "Raisin' Hell
Revue"
Elvin Bishop has been Raisin' Hell
for well over 40 years and although his career has had it's share of slow
times in the past, Elvin has been coming on strong again, especially with
his stint with Alligator Records, a smart move that garnered him many
accolades from his peers and has put him at the top of the heap when
talking about exceptionally gifted electric blues guitarists. In 2008,
Delta Groove Music had the opportunity to sign Elvin, and they didn't
think twice about it. His first release for them was the Grammy Nominated
Album “The Blues Rolls On, a project supported by an all-star cast of
blues royalty featuring B.B. King, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, George
Thorogood, James Cotton, Kim Wilson, Tommy Castro, John Németh, Angela
Strehli, plus many more." "Raisin' Hell Revue" marks, "this
founding member of the original Paul Butterfield Blues Band's", third
release for Delta Groove
Music.
"Raisin' Hell Revue" is a Live
production which took place on the 2010 Legendary Rhythm & Blues
Cruise and featured Special Guest Finis Tasby (Vocals), John Nemeth
(Vocals/Harmonica), Terry Hanck, a longtime band mate with
Elvin (Tenor Sax/Vocals), and Chris (Kid) Andersen (Guitar). Other
members of the supporting cast on "Raisin' Hell Revue" included Ed Earley
(Trombone/Vocals/Percussion), Steve Willis (Piano/Accordion/Vocals), Bob
Welsh (Guitar), Bobby Cochran (Drums/Vocals), Ruth Davies (Bass), and Lisa
Leu Andersen (Vocals). With such a wide and diverse amount of Talent and
Instruments, one would think that the listener would be in for quite a
musical treat and they would be absolutely
right.
"Raisin' Hell Revue" consists of 13
Tracks with a really good mix of Originals, Covers, and Standards. From
"Callin' All Cows", "a Blues Rockers song based on the famous Bo'
Diddley Beat", to "The Night Time is the Right Time", "a
blues standard that has been interpreted and recorded by a variety of
music artists, the first being by Roosevelt Sykes, a.k.a. "The
Honeydripper," in 1937", to you guessed it, "Fooled Around and Fell
in Love", Elvin Bishop's Top Ten Hit from the 70's. "It appeared on
his 1975 album Struttin' My Stuff and was released as a single the
following year. Bishop did not sing lead vocals on the track; feeling
that his gravelly voice didn't do the song justice, he invited vocalist
Mickey Thomas who was a background singer in his band at the time, to sing
it. Based on his work with Bishop, Thomas was invited to become the lead
singer for Jefferson Starship. The song peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot
100 singles chart in May 1976." Keeping with that tradition, Elvin
Bishop also does not sing the song on this release either, leaving that
job to the more than capable John Nemeth. John Nemeth has also been
Vocalist and Harmonica Player for Elvin on his two previous Delta Groove
Music, as
well.
Beyond the great selection of music
is the fact that "Raisin' Hell Revue" was done in Revue Style, meaning
everyone got in on the act, without any one Artist dominating. Vocal
duties were spread between no less then 7 Artists on this release, with
some Tracks being Solo Vocal's to as many as 5 Vocalists
(Lead/Background) on Track 7 "Rock My Soul" and although Elvin Bishop did
not sing on a fair number of the Tracks, he still managed to play his
heart out on his
guitars.
For me, "Raisin' Hell Revue" came
across as yet another really strong release for Elvin Bishop, punctuated,
as always with a steller group of Guest Performers. A fun Album to listen
to, for sure, with a little something here for
everyone.
Review by John Vermilyea (Blues
Underground
Network)
Additional Info
Tracklist
1) Callin' All Cows (5:27)
2) Whole Lotta Lovin' (4:32) 3) Fooled Around and Fell in Love (4:48) 4) What the Hell is Goin' On (3:33) 5) The Night Time is the Right Time (3:28) 6) Down in Virginia (3:27) 7) Rock my Soul (5:50) 8) Cryin' Fool (5:04) 9) River's Invitation (4:33) 10) Dyin' Flu (6:23) 11) Tore up over you (2:49) 12) It Hurts me Too (3:07) 13) Bye Bye baby (5:17)
Listen To Samples Here...
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