|
Mother
Blues
Sleeping While The River Runs
Sleeping Dog Records |
In 2005, the Chicago
blues band Mother Blues released Sleeping While The
River Runs. The band was led by guitarist/songwriter Steve
Bramer, a music vet who had moved from Michigan to Chicago some
years earlier to play the blues.
Among the musicians involved with
the album were Gordon Patriarcha (bass), Gikas Marks and Jim
Marklay (drums), Jerry Soto (keys), Hurtin' Burt (actually
Bramer – harmonica), Baabe Irving (horns), and background
vocalists Carole Baskin, Lara Jenkins, and LaShann McNicholas.
For lead vocals, Bramer brought in Gerald McClendon.
Bramer, who had previously worked
for a number of years with Sharon Lewis as guitarist and
songwriter, wanted to write some songs from a male perspective,
figuring that McClendon's vocals were the perfect fit.
The re-release of Sleeping While
The River Runs, on Sleeping Dog Records, features 14 numbers
sung by McClendon and mostly penned by Bramer, with a pair of
instrumentals and a choral finale. The songs are impressive in
their versatility, mixing various soul, R&B, gospel, and country
with the blues.
The opening track, “Pass You By,” is
a magnificent soul burner with a powerful vocal from McClendon,
setting the bar pretty high for the rest of the album.
“Smokescreen” is an easy going R&B-flavored blues with a smooth
vocal from the “Soul Keeper,” and “Keep You From Harm” is a
gorgeous ballad Bramer wrote while waiting for the birth of his
first child.
"Leaves Tremble on the Tree” brings
things down south with a swampy gospel-flavored groove, and
“Going Down For The Last Time” is a soulful ballad about a
romance on the rocks.
“Common Ground” is a little bit
blues, a little bit R&B, with crisp fretwork from Bramer backing
McClendon's tough vocal. “Bed Down” is a splendid slow blues,
with McClendon singing the lyrics like he's lived them.
The title track finds McClendon
despairing and at the end of his rope, but continuing to be
hopeful despite it all, the contrast between the somber lyrics.
The upbeat, almost gospel musical backdrop helps to convey those
feelings as well.
“Come To Me” is a cool blues shuffle
with great vocals and guitar work, and “Thin Line” is a strong
slow blues with a smooth, understated vocal from McClendon. The
first instrumental, “Me & Ian,” is a jazzy piece showcasing
Bramer's guitar skills, and “Glory Train,” though not originally
imagined as such by Bramer, is pure gospel, with McClendon
pondering his final destination and deliverance.
“Habit of the Heart” is a rock-edged
blues, with gritty vocals and muscular fret work. The ominous
“Chalk Line,” written by McClendon, was inspired by Little
Milton's “You're Gonna Have A Murder On Your Hands,” with the
singer delivering a gripping vocal and backed by Bramer's
dynamite guitar.
The blues shuffle, “Walk With Me,”
is a lively number fueled by slide guitar and a driving rhythm.
The album wraps with the second instrumental, the raucous
“Where's the Fire,” and finally a lovely choral version of the
title track by the Halsted Street National Uptown Choir.
Bramer and McClendon make a super
team, the songwriting as powerful as the vocals. Of course,
McClendon has burst onto the blues scene is recent years with
his excellent recordings for Delta Roots Records, earning him
the Bobby “Blue” Bland Award for Outstanding Blues Vocal Stylist
at this year's Jus' Blues Awards.
I, for one, would love to see the
pair reunite, but for now we have Sleeping While The River
Runs, and that will do just fine.
--- Graham Clarke
