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Keb Mo - Keep it Simple BLUES | FLAC | CUE | LOG | 300DPI | 312MB Epic 2004 Keb' Mo' is less a blues singer than a performer who works from that conceptual base, not in the way Taj Mahal does, knowingly carrying a tradition forward, half teacher and wise elder, but more as a populist, the James Taylor of blues, say, or a less recalcitrant J.J. Cale. To criticize him for not being Skip James or Robert Johnson sort of misses the point of what Keb' Mo' is shooting for, and like Bonnie Raitt discovered, bringing a modern pop-blues to a wide audience sure beats playing authentic for purists. Either path is as fake or as real as the other in a post-postmodern age where the blues creaks along as a single DNA strand in a world of rap, metal, and neo-soul. All of which makes the blues a strange career path to use to get straight out of Compton, yet that's exactly what Keb' Mo' has done, rising out of one of toughest urban landscapes in the world by covering Robert Johnson songs on his National steel guitar. So enough about whether he's a real bluesman or not, because in the end he has to put supper on the table, and he does it by crafting a warm, wry, blues-informed version of pop Americana that wrestles with contemporary problems like how to pay the mortgage, the high price of coffee, or how to afford a vacation in France. "France," the lead track on Keep It Simple, pretty much states the case with the lines "Wake up Mama/Don't you fret/I found two cheap tickets/On the Internet," which Keb' Mo' sings in a honey-tinged voice over a patented and tasteful blues shuffle. Later, in "House in California," he sings, "Better have good money/If you're looking for a house/In California," and again, he uses a shuffle to hang the news on, looking no further into the past than necessary to put the song across. Keb' Mo' is a solid guitar player, and is a master of the easy, nuanced vocal, and he makes like Denzel Washington on this album, commenting on the little problems and travails of contemporary life with a winning grin and an assured stance that you can't help but like. Is this a great album? No, just a good one, all of a piece with his earlier work, and his debut release, simply called Keb' Mo', is still probably your best bet for a first purchase. That's the album the critics like best because it stays closest to the Delta definition of the blues, and it is a good album, but Keb' Mo' didn't trade Compton for the Delta just to stay there. He's looking for a house in California and a plane ticket to France. Aren't we all? That's the blues, folks. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide ~ TRACKLISTING ~ 01. France 02. Let Your Light Shine 03. One Friend 04. Shave Yo' Legs 05. Prosperity Blues 06. Closer 07. Keep It Simple 08. Riley B. King 09. House in California 10. Walk Back In 11. I'm Amazing 12. Proving You Wrong Part 1 | Part 2 pw=lisalisa =========================================================== Johnny "Guitar" Watson - Space Guitar BLUES | FLAC | CUE | SCANS | 250MB Proper 2006 (Remastered) "The Proper Introduction to Johnny "Guitar" Watson and His Space Guitar" is indeed an introduction to Watson's early years, long before he became a funk master. The 18 cuts on this set are mainly from the 1950s, when Watson was a blues and R&B kingpin burning up the soul circuit and the jukeboxes in the South and up into Chicago. He came out of the Joe Turner tradition on the one hand, and the great T-Bone Walker Texas blues heritage on the other. This set is close in proximity to the Varese Sarabande collection that was issued with a similar name in 2004, but the Proper set has better notes and some better selections, such as "Motor Head Baby." The music, from "Highway 60" through to "Half Pint-A-Whiskey" and the title cut, and all the way down to his badass strolling rocker "Those Lonely Nights," offer a glimpse of the direction he would go in, but he's still far from the Gangster of Love image he would project during the funk years. ~ TRACKLISTING ~ 01. No I Can't 02. Motor Head Baby 03. Highway 60 04. Sad Fool 05. I Got Eyes 06. What's Going On 07. Walkin' to My Baby 08. Thinking 09. Space Guitar 10. Half Pint-A-Whiskey 11. Gettin' Drunk 12. You Can't Take It With You 13. Hot Little Mama 14. I Love to Love You 15. Too Tired 16. Don't Touch Me 17. Those Lonely, Lonely Nights 18. Someone Cares for Me Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 pw=lisalisa |