Chris Thomas King: Dirty South Hip-Hop Blues CD

[Ralph Parker]

I gotta tell ya, when this came in the mail----at first glance--I was
turned off by the "Dirty South Hip-Hop Blues" title of Chris Thomas King's
new CD. Especially with the tagged Parental Advisory (Explicit Lyrics) on
the cover. Being popular as it may be--I'm not a follower of Hip-Hop. Not
my game, plain and simple.

But lo and behold, after wading through some uninteresting (imho)
tracks------I locked on to the tune "Revelations" with elements of Son House
doing John The Revelator mixed with Chris Thomas King on vocals and
instrumentation. Damn tasty, indeed! Following that is another winner
titled "Ghetto Life" with others including "Dirty South Chicken Heads" and
"Southern Chicks Blues" as well.

Don't let the title fool ya----This is a good CD! Chris Thomas King can do
whatever he likes------he's talented as hell. He's a real bluesman when he
wants to be-----the CD proves it! Keep the hip-hop under the
table--------and bring the biscuits and blues, baby! Of the 20
Tracks------6 are solid Blues (done up his way by Chris Thomas King). The
Cat can definitely play!

Chris Thomas King "Dirty South Hip-Hop Blues" 21st Century Blues CD2106

Rockin' Ralph
Oldies Unlimited
Blues Rocket KHDC 90.9 FM
rocki...@earthlink.net

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[Chefo...@aol.com]

In a message dated 10/3/02 9:36:44 PM Central Daylight Time,
rocki...@earthlink.net writes:

> But lo and behold, after wading through some uninteresting (imho)
> tracks------I locked on to the tune "Revelations" with elements of Son
> House
> doing John The Revelator mixed with Chris Thomas King on vocals and
> instrumentation. Damn tasty, indeed! Following that is another winner
> titled "Ghetto Life" with others including "Dirty South Chicken Heads" and
> "Southern Chicks Blues" as well.
>
>

I met and saw Chris do a solo acoustic set in Ft. Smith blues festival a
couple three years back...he did mostly blues and was well received after the
show. I went over and introduced myself. He was a very cordial mild
mannered young fellow who invited me to email him, which i did later and he
even answered. As i recall Chris' roots are steeped in Blues tradition and
if i have my facts straight (it's been a few years now) he said his dad had a
club in Louisiana and there were always blues guys around the house, i
believe he mentioned Gatemouth Brown as a close family friend.

Personally too i kinda wish Chris would stay with the blues, (but then i'm an
old fogey) and leave the hip-hop to the side. He is aware that his "2001"
blues music is controversial and not well received in the blues community but
i figure it's and artistic thing and the nature of popular music and the
tradition of the blues is that it changes and adapts to the times. So go on
Chris and use that "artistic license" to take us places no one has dared to
go before, but remember us "old fogeys" and do a couple tunes for us now and
again. And remember you're welcome to "come on home" (to the blues) any time
you're ready.

chefo

[hoodoojimmy]

Chris Thomas King is from Baton Rouge. His father is Tabby Thomas, who is
presently in the hospital from a car accident. Chris added the "King" to his
name, not much to his dad's liking, but that "King" name is certainly
steeped in tradition. When Chris is home, he always sits in at his dad's
club "Tabby's Blues Box" in BR. Very nice unassuming guy, almost shy, and
can play any style of music. His "21st Century" was long in the disliking,
and now seems to be hitting more since O Brother and Tommy Johnson.
hoodoojimmy (playing tonight with Lil' Ray Neal, and writing a review of Keb
Mo at HOB tomorrow night.)

[Pat Boyack]

It is my understanding that Clifford Antone gave Chris that last name when
he was trying to manage King years ago.

Pat B

[Art Schuna]

My first thought when I saw this was I didn't think I'd like it either, but even
blues purist that I am (and damn proud of it), I found this to be a very
interesting blend of blues and hip-hop styles. I'm a guy for whom the Fat
Possum blues electronica experiments with RL Burnside didn't move me and I also
didn't care much for Rick Holmstrom's latest for the same reason. There's
something about this new King CD that I find very interesting and like Ralph,
I'm not a fan of Hip-Hop in general. In addition to the tunes listed below, a
song called "Da Thrill is Gone" which has him doing the hip-hop stuff blended
with his father, Tabby Thomas, doing a more traditional reading of the tune was
very interesting. I thought Ghetto life was especially interesting, but due to
those damned explicit lyrics, I'm not going to be able to play that on the air
unless I go to the trouble of transferring it to my computer and editing it. Or
maybe I could find the "clean" version at Walmart! Yeah, what are the odds of
that?

Art

[PJ Santiago]

I would like to throw in my 2 cents...... Ralph I have to admit that I had
the same reaction that you did to the CD. I had seen the preview video last
winter/spring on the website. I too really like the tunes "Revelations"
"Ghetto Life" "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" "Da Thrill Is Gone From Here",
"Dirty South Chicken Heads" and "Southern Chicks Blues".
Thought I'd share this experience with y'all though.... last Sunday I did
the Cafe Blues Show and closed the show with "Da Thrill Is Gone From Here".
The young man who comes in to do a latin program till 11pm then a hip hop
show till 2am heard me playing it and said "who's this". So I told him it
was Chris Thomas King
"Ralph Parker" <rocki...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
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