REVIEW - Live - Hubert SUMLIN, Billy Boy Arnold @ HoB
VT
House of the Blues, Cambridge, MA, Sat.95.06.24 -
HUBERT SUMLIN - guitar & vocals, BILLY BOY ARNOLD - Vocals, harp & gtr,
CALVIN JONES - bass & vocals, WILLIE "Big Eyes" SMITH - drums & vocals,
and DAVE MAXWELL - piano.
HUBERT was *SO* **ON** it was FRIGHTENING.
Having had the honor of hanging out with my all time favorite blues
guitarist all day - I knew what kind of mood he was in - he was just
just so happy and "wired" to go -just like a big kid at Christmas.
Friday night was good - BUT TONIGHT - man, you just will not believe it
- the HoB, Cambridge was packed- and I don't think the audience believed
their luck either......
The announcement from Teo - the manager of HoB - told us that this
line-up was exclusive for the Cambridge HoB - but here's the GOOD news -
this show was being recorded for CBS radio for future broadcast. So set
your dials and recorders. Teo did not have a date for the broadcast -
he said that the radio never gives him a broadcast date.
Marie - Same opening number as last night tribute to Otis Spann - but
Hubert's up there grinning from ear to ear, and what a difference!
EVERY note was incisive, just so....so HUBERT! The whole band swung
right in - like they've been playing for years
- I think that was a tautology.
Hubert was still playing his new FERNANDES TE-3 guitar - this had kind
of like a Rickenbacker tone, and he obviously likes it a lot, because he
was being extremely mercurial tonight.
Sail On - Calvin gets his vocal spot - yep, not a match for Muddy, of
course, but sung with love and authority. "Fuzz" just lays down such a
steady bottom. There's that man slinking in and out. You have NO idea
what this kind of guitar playing is like (it's like I'm saying "Hot
D*mn!" all the way through - and all HE does is grin.....)
Blues & Trouble(?) - "Big Eyes" on vocals - last night when he shuts his
eyes they were "hooded" like his former boss ..... tonight he's singing
while chewing gum, and yes - he reminded me of JIMI! This sure sounds
like a Muddy thing. Again HE gets his spot - and he is being SO
mischievous - but he's "talking" to us on his guitar - so much so that
Willie says "I hear you man!"
Hootchie Koochie Man - even hotter than last night - obviously instantly
recognizable from the opening riff. Willie gets the "e-verybody knows I
am..." bit just right - so he should, he's the f*cking slamming drummer -
so if anyone gets that syncopation.......MAN! Hubert's solo was so
right for the moment - I think the whole room was holding their breath
listening - this is the correct usage for AWESOME. Guess who was
grinning? yeah me, him and the whole f*cking audience!
Can you get higher?
Feed Me - :-) I've run clear out of superlatives. You'll just have to
imagine how good this was - come to think of it I don't think even in
your WILDEST dreams can you imagine this .... no disrepect even if you
have been playing guitar for years and years....... A quality rhythm
section sure helps, BUT phew.........!!!!
"This is it, Ladies and Gentlemen....... This is the way I feel here...."
- told ya!
Living the Blues - I think Hubert's making up the lyrics to this one - I
think he's recalling his fond memories which he had narrated earlier
today for a recorded radio interview with Mai Cramer of WGBH 89.7FM -
who's the host of the long running "Blues After Hours" show on Fridays
and Saturdays (BTW - GBH in Britain means - Grievious Bodily
Harm....just thought you'd like to know). Hubert seems to end this one
quickly, but Willie either "read" it wrong, or knew he wanted to carry
on.... after Hubert played what sounded very much like a closing phrase,
they carried out for a few more bars before actually ending.
Red Rooster - Hubert does it. Understated, but it's building ever so
subtley - he takes a solo it's opening up now, and the audience are
howlin' back at Hubert when he sings "hounds begin to howl......"
Laughter from Hubert: "....I'm tellin' you, hey, this is good.....
I can't help this ladies and gentlemen, you know.... this is my
night tonight...."
Don't say I never tell you nothin'.
Billy Boy Arnold comes on stage.
Repeat of the first number from last night - this is, I realize, actually
a medley of a number songs which includes: "I'm Sweet on You Baby"(?) -
"Stormy Monday", "Everyday I Have the Blues", "Memphis Bound"(? somewhat
like Jimmy Rogers's "Chicago Bound), "She Left Me a Mule to Ride",
"Broke and Hungry"(?), "Let me Be your Little Dog, 'till your Big Dog Comes"
..... Hubert seems to defer to Billy Boy, and being the tasteful guitarist
that he is, stays in the back doing rhythm work. Willie, however must
have had plenty of Courvoisier - he is really drivin'.
Baby Please Don't Go - definitely the Muddy version - the whole band
sounds like the Muddy Band - they have the touch...... (I cannot vouch
for any other diseases...:-)
The overall sound is very much like the Muddy Waters Band - Billy Boy's
harp playing was deceptively simple, but eminently suitable. His vocals
were good again without drama. I liked the way he did medleys -
stringing lyrics together like they were one song - that first medley
was so "integrated" that I thought it was just a very different version
of Stromy Monday with added lyrics last night. But even tonight I
thought "She Left Me a Mule..." was part of Memphis/Chicago Bound.....
BUT the set/night belonged to Hubert, he knew it, the band knew it, the
audience knew it - if you were there I wouldn't need to tell you all
this..... you would know it.
This is just set 1 - like the trailer says, read about it in part 2 -when
Hubert switches guitar and goes breaking things. Hear how Willie goes
driving, and Calvin gets the shakes - and Billy Boy wishes his life away
- and we'll also examine their big pianist (no...I SAID "PIANIST"! you
bunch of deaf people....:-) All in the next episode of real blues at HoB.
Designate YOURSELF to find out from CBS radio when this gig is being
broadcasted and tell the Blues-L how and when to set their dials and
recorders....
See you sometime, in part 2.
Vincent
p00...@psilink.com
VT
>
>HUBERT SUMLIN - guitar & vocals, BILLY BOY ARNOLD - Vocals, harp & gtr,
>CALVIN JONES - bass & vocals, WILLIE "Big Eyes" SMITH - drums & vocals,
>and DAVE MAXWELL - piano.
>
>HUBERT was *SO* **ON** it was FRIGHTENING.
>
>Hubert switches guitar and goes breaking things. Hear how Willie goes
>driving, and Calvin gets the shakes - and Billy Boy wishes his life away
>- and we'll also examine their big pianist (no...I SAID "PIANIST"! you
>bunch of deaf people....:-) All in the next episode of real blues at HoB.
>
Set 2 starts with Dave Maxwell playing some pretty fantastic boogie
woogie piano accompanied only by Willie. Pretty showy - he certainly
knows his stuff, but all the "technique" goes into swinging the sh*t out
of this tune. Quite rightly he gets a rousing round of applaudes.
Calvin gets his vocal spot - Hubert supports him on guitar - he's
changed from his Fernandes to a white Strat, but this is not just ANY
number -
SHAKE for Me - Calvin's singing is kind of mellow, but his sense of
timing nails this one - and you just knew I'm about to say this - BUT
it's that man - HUBERT SUMLIN - that absolutely transcends this song.
Hubert plays in the song with THE riff - but at half time. Willie and
Calvin then doubles the time and they all swing in - and yep all those
NAUGHTY slinky lines are in there weaving in and out of Calvin's vocals.
If Calvin wasn't so experienced I guess he would have just stopped to
listen to Hubert - man! this is incredible! - none of this playing
slightly slower riffs, or every other note, or a modified solo with
fewer notes - he's giving us full measure of that guitar. Second break
- Calvin calls on Dave, but Hubert slides in the side door and gives us
something that must have been in double, no, probably triple time (is
there such a thing?) 63 years old and still smokin' - I have never heard
him this good live.... of course Hubert breaks the first string, but I
don't see, or more to the point, hear him play any different. So I HAVE
to tell you that was the notorious VT cheap Squier Strat... which has
proudly Hubert's autograph twice!
I'm a Man - Willie's turn on vocals - he comes in out of key (flat) but
gets himself back in. The whole band is going da da DA duh-dum.
Boring? what planet were you born on?
Key to the Highway - hmm.... maybe Willie likes to sing slightly flat.
Hubert's playing is so tasty on this - he plays the expected riffs, but
there is no mistaking him - try to explain this to a "notes are notes"
person...
"Work Hard for You" - at least those are the chorus lines - fantastic
riff just right in the groove, that fragile but confident voice carries,
but what a note, he hits that one - this is - hmmm.... sorry I can't
find the superlatives......Dave's doing quotes from "Forty Four", this
is just so ON.
"I have the Blues"(?) - still right in the pocket, Hubert stretches out
even further he's doing different key changes and brings them back in.
Outstanding.
Billy Boy comes on stage -
Got My Mojo Working - continuing the earlier feel - this is definitely
Muddy Band feel - we're not talking note for note nonsense, but the
touch/feel is all there - of course it shouldn't surprise the more
knowledgeable of you Fuzz and Big Eyes were the Muddy rhythm section for
years - Hubert was the guitarist on the recording of Mud's Mojo .......
(did you know that?). Billy Boy's harp playing fits right in this
sounds like the Muddy Band of the late 70's /early 80's. His vocals are
defintely a notch up from the rhythm section's.
Whiskey, Beer & Reefer - off Billy's latest CD, good song.
You know this is TOO good - I really should tell you in more detail
about the rest of the gig...... so you're going to get a part 3 - where:
Billy goes to the 30's, Hubert breaks out of his shell, Willie
accelerates during the teaser that I still haven't told you
about....where Billy Boy's wishing away. Of course Fuzz is down in the
bottom and their pianist (please read that carefully) is having a
tinkle.... :-)
>Designate YOURSELF to find out from CBS radio when this gig is being
>broadcasted and tell the Blues-L how and when to set their dials and
>recorders....
Vincent
p00...@psilink.com