January 1999
January 1999
  
 
Buy these Top 10 CDs today: Dave
Myers
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To commemorate a year of exciting new blues releases, this month we've selected our Top Ten List of new CDs, as well as including a few submitted by Blues Bytes readers. Thanks for your support of Blues Bytes over the past 12 months! - Bill Mitchell Bill Mitchell (main reviewer of Blues Bytes)
4. Another of my all-time favorite blues guys, Guitar Shorty, came out with his third CD for Black Top Records, Roll Over, Baby. The album was highlighted by several compositions from the eclectic bluesman Swamp Dogg. (original review)
6. Texas blues/soul cat Darrell Nulisch just keeps getting better. His last two CDs have been on small independent labels, with this year's The Whole Truth (Severn Records), easily making my top ten list. (original review) 7. Blues veteran Otis Rush has recorded infrequently over the years, but everything he does is always top notch. Any Place I'm Going (House of Blues) shows what his early recordings might have sounded like if they had been cut in Memphis instead of in Chicago. (original review)
9. It was a very good year for the re-discovery of some classic Nashville soul singers, and Black Top Records dug up one of the best in Roscoe Shelton. Let It Shine, shows that he hasn't lost a thing since his hit-making years with Excello Records. (original review) 10. Satan and Adam invariably make it on my year-end top ten list any year they release a new CD, and 1998 was no exception. Their Living On The River (Flying Fish) is worthy if for no other reason than hearing Satan's gravelly vocals on "I'm A Girl Watcher." (original review)
Steve Hoffman (host of "Blues Experience" on broadcast.com)
Beef Stew (host of "Sunday Night Blues" on WCCC, Hartford, CT)
Graham Clarke (Decatur, MS)
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1.
I just knew that Dave Myer's CD, You Can't Do That (Black Top),
would be the best of the year after hearing just the first few songs. This is a beautiful
set of music --- classic Chicago blues played by one of its pioneers. Throw in a top notch
backing band led by harmonica player Kim Wilson, who sounds more like Little Walter than
any other harp man alive today, and you'll quickly agree that the blues just doesn't get
much better! (
2.
Another CD which instantly knocked me for a loop was Bluesman For Life (JSP),
from California-based guitarist Roy Gaines. I was familiar with Mr.
Gaines from his work with his more famous sax-playing brother Grady Gaines. But Bluesman
For Life is one absolutely incredible CD. I'd also like to add that the original
review of this CD received more positive e-mail from readers than any other disc this
year. (
3. If
you dig crazy horn players, then don't miss out on Sax Gordon's swingin' disc Have
Horn Will Travel (Bullseye Blues). If you're into vintage Louis Jordan music, then
you'll really enjoy this one. It's ultra cool. (
5. I've made no secret of my love for Zydeco music, and
one of the hottest new bands on the Louisiana dancehall circuit is Chris Ardoin
and Double Clutchin'. Their second disc for Rounder Records, Turn The Page,
is a great mix of traditional and contemporary sounds. (
8. Severn Records contributes another fine CD to my '98 list of faves
with the jump blues sounds of Maryland-based Big Joe and the Dynaflows.
After listening to I'm Still Swingin', you'll swear you accidentally cued up an
old Smiley Lewis record. (