Don’t Look Back: The Muscle Shoals
Sessions
Produced by Tom
Hambridge and Blessed by FAME founder Rick Hall
Cyril Neville’s Royal
Southern Brotherhood Eyes May 26th
For 3rd
Studio Album
“They
are not a band – they are an extravaganza” – John
Hiatt
Atlanta, GA – Ruf Records
recording group, Royal Southern Brotherhood (RSB) preps for their much
anticipated third studio album, Don’t Look Back: The Muscle Shoals
Sessions for release on May 26th.
This album was recorded at the legendary FAME Studios (est.
1960 - Aretha Franklin, Little Richard, Wilson Pickett, Etta James, Otis
Redding) in Muscle Shoals, AL with Grammy award-winning producer Tom Hambridge
and the band’s new guitar line up as Cyril Neville leads the charge forward.
Don’t Look Back is a spiritual journey that
only Cyril Neville can lead. The elite percussionist’s experiences combined with
these talented, energetic players create a new sound that remains reverent to
the blues traditions. This highlights the magic that happens when great songs
are performed by great bands.
The magic of FAME was not lost on
band leader, Cyril Neville. The longtime musical icon almost sounded like a star
struck upstart when speaking of the experience, stating, “I stood in the same
place (vocal booth) as Wilson Pickett!”
The energy and excitement was not lost on the rest of
the band. The process began when the band gathered at a rented house along the
Tennessee River. The river is famous for the singing-like sounds it makes as the
waves lap against the shores. According to the legend of The Singing River, which
is associated with the Yuchie tribe, it
is believed the flowing waters sounded like a woman singing. The time in
the rented house not only inspired much of the material, it allowed the band to
develop the chemistry that separates a band from a group of musicians.
For their third effort, RSB
brought in two new fiery guitar slingers, Bart Walker and Tyrone Vaughan, to
breathe new energy into the band's sound. The new blood is there to help the
venerable Cyril Neville on percussion and vocals with the thunderous rhythm
section of Yonrico Scott and Charlie Wooton to up the funk while maintaining the
blues and rock that has brought Royal Southern Brotherhood a growing, worldwide
audience.
The constant touring and
recording has paid off: in 2014, the band won a Blues Music Award for BEST DVD
for Songs From The Road – Live In Germany. This year they are
nominated for BEST ROCK BLUES CD for their sophomore effort,
heartsoulblood and that will be decided in Memphis at the Blues
Music Awards held in May.
Songs like “Big Greasy” recalls old school funk and
Go-Go music, a sparse “Anchor Me” is a tender love ballad while the Neville
autobiographical “Hell or High Water” is filled with the showman’s life and its
struggles. The banjo-tinged title track, “Don’t Look Back” which is sung by
Bart, brings in a country texture to give it a traveling feel.
All these great songs came from various places as the
band toured. Whether it was a sound check in the mid-west or a cheap hotel lobby
or some studio in Europe, the band fleshed out their ideas (often recorded on
their cell phones), so they had structure and hooks worked out before reaching
FAME. This allowed the band and Hambridge to concentrate on performance instead
of spending time developing ideas.
Hambridge was so mesmerized by the quintet’s cohesiveness he
didn’t want to touch a thing but the record button. The other cats on tape are
Dumpstaphunk’s Ivan Neville on keyboards/organ and legendary Jimmy Hall on harp
scattered about adding flare to the tunes.
Bart Walker, with his tinted
glasses and curly hair, has a powerhouse voice that cuts through the music.
Classically trained as a formal opera singer, Walker hails from the Nashville
area and he spent time in both Mike Farris from The Screamin’ Cheetah Willies
and Reese Wynans (and old SRV bandmate) musical outfits. His 2013 release,
Waiting On Daylight, garnered both national and international
acclaim. This attention gave Bart the cache to see a lot of the world via Ruf
Records President’s, Blues Caravan Tour, which spotlights new talent to sizable
audiences. Now a seasoned player, Walker was ready and able to join the
Brotherhood. “Joining RSB was the best idea anyone had for me,” said the affable
Walker.
This was Tyrone Vaughan’s second time collectively playing
with the others and he fell into place as if he were a longtime bandmate. Being the son of Jimmie Vaughan and
the nephew of the iconic SRV can be a heavy burden to bear. Fortunately,
Tyrone is unaffected by the adulation for his family, and developed his own
gifted style and signature tone. Tyrone cut his own path by working his way up
through the Austin (a town drenched in guitar heroes for the uninitiated) club
scene in his teens, eventually packing clubs around Texas. Through hard work,
studying the masters and a tip or two from the family, Tyrone has developed a
soulful voice along with a guitar tone that mixes blues, rock and country.
As for the 65-year-old Neville, a world-renowned
percussionist has long been considered New Orleans royalty for his stints in the
Grammy Award winning Neville Brothers, Galactic and The Meters. Neville’s
career has spawned 45 some odd years and has included performances with music
icons such as Bono, Joan Baez, Dr. John and Tab Benoit. His philosophical
beliefs and activist voice blend effortlessly when Cyril sits down to write. His
intuition to the world and people are reflected within his soulful singing voice
which creates a magnetic force between the listener and him.
In 1989, Cyril penned “Sister Rosa,” about the Civil Rights
icon, Rosa Parks. USA Today honored Neville by choosing the song as one of the
most inspirational song about Martin Luther King’s, “I Have A Dream,” speech on
the 50th anniversary of the historical oration given during the march
on Washington (Parks was in attendance). “Sister Rosa” may not have had a change
on the movement at the time, but Neville’s composition reminded a country of the
thousands of souls that risked their lives to bring an end to a shameful
tradition in the U.S.
This past year, Cyril found
himself being interviewed by another drummer, Dave Grohl, of the Foo Fighters,
for the “Sonic Highways” documentary on HBO. This eight-part series that
followed the Foo Fighters around to various US cities, capturing the music scene
and history that is unique to that city. Grohl, who directed the series,
interviewed other Nawlins luminaries Dr. John, Allen Toussaint and Troy
“Trombone Shorty” Andrews to gain an understanding of the Crescent City’s unique
musical sound.
Cyril will lead the charge into
the next Royal Southern Brotherhood crusade with this new album, Don’t
Look Back with eyes narrowed. And just like John Hiatt says, “They are
not a band, they are an extravaganza!” A sound and sight event of pure talent
mixed in with love for their art, the music and their fans, the Loyal Royals.
The band will be in full touring
mode throughout the year with radio and media campaign behind them.
I just received the newest release, Hayride Riot, from Skinny Molly and it's a kick ass rocker. The release opens with If You Don't Care which has the explosiveness of one of my favorite southern rockers, I Ain't The One. Parallels may be drawn from Skynyrd but this band has a sound of it's own. The similarities are a solid cocky singer and blazing guitar riffs laid down on a strong rock beat. Devil In The Bottle is more of a liad back ballad along the lines of earlier Charlie Daniels. The band is filled out by Jay Johnson on lead guitar, Kurt Pietro on drums and Luke Bradshaw on bass. Two Good Wheels is a bit of a country rocker and has a great hook. This is a track that is likely to hit the airwaves hard. Too Bad To Be True is a hard driving rocker with back to back ripping guitar solos. Judge Parker has a real southern rock swagger and Bitin' The Dog kicks dirt in your face. Lie To Me is a ballad more along the lines of John Bon Jovi (if he had any grit). Dodgin' Bullets is a great closing track for this set summing the intensity and grit shown throughout the release. This is a band not straying far from the origin of that southern rock vein but carving it's own path with some great tunes. You want butt kicking rock with a blues edge and a southern drawl...this is it!
Joe Burton, affectionately known as "Lil" Joe from Chicago, is the quintessential Blues instrumentalist in a class of his own. "Lil" Joe's career began in 1964 with the late, great Junior Wells. Joe's relationship with Junior continued for years but he also toured with other great acts such as, B.B. King, Bobby Womack, Joe Tex, Otis Clay and many others. He has appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, Midnight Special, Soul Train and a host of others. Joe is well known throughout Europe and the United States for his heart-wrenching solos and tasteful high-energy performances. His uniquely versatile approach to traditional and contemporary Blues is legendary. He effortlessly blends fat round tones of his trombone with various styles and formats of Roots Music. His recordings include (BB King's) Lucille Talks Back, Guess Who, Mississippi Seeds, L.A. Midnight, BB King & Bobby Bland for the First Time, (Junior Wells) Junior Wells Live at Buddy Guys Legends (which was nominated for a Grammy in 1997) and Junior Wells Live around the World. The Mess is On & Get Your House in Order with Mudcat.
I just got a copy of the newest Tinsley Ellis release, Get It! and it's really strong! Ellis has put together a 10 track all instrumental recording and he demonstrates that you can say a lot without uttering a word. Opening with Front Street Freeze, Ellis cranks up the funk accompanied by Kevin McKendree on keys, Lynn Williams on drums and Ted Pecchio on bass. Ellis plays smokin guitar that he is known for and adds a little Albert Collins sting. Sassy Strat is another track with a funky bottom. Speaking with his own guitar voice and a bit of wah, Ellis takes a Beck, lay back and let it come to me approach on his melodic lead. McKendree keeps the flame hot with Billy Preston like richness. The Milky Way is a very solitude track with quiet drums and organ on the bottom and single line leads not unlike those seen from Dutch guitar great Jan Akkerman. This is a really nice track with a strong melody and smart use of the fretboard. Detour is a twistin' Texas infused surf track with great guitar riffs, double stops, reverb and effects. Is there beach in Texas... damn straight! This track should see a lot of airplay due to it's refreshing sound and cool beat. Anthem For A Fallen Hero is a classic guitar ballad... the kind of stuff that has made Bonamassa and Moore rich and famous. It is nicely constructed and crisply played. Get It! is a hot Texas style loping blues track with great guitar sounds. McKendree adds just the right amount of keys to Williams drumming to give Ellis a great platform to lay down the goods. This is one of the hottest tracks on the release! Fuzzbuster is a blues rock reminding me quite a bit of ZZ Top in attack but with some real great fuzzy guitar riffs. McKendree has the piano rolling and Ellis doesn't hold back on this track at all. This is definitely one not to miss with Williams keeping you on the path with simple solid beat structure. Freddy's Midnight Dream is another guitar ballad but this time with a country twist really calling to mind Roy Buchanan, Danny Gatton or young Arlen Roth in composition. This is a great track with layers of key work paving the way for Ellis to show his mastery of soul, blues and country all at once. Berry Tossin' has a bit of Chuck Berry flavor mixed into a basic 12 bar structure as thought by Freddie King and then well digested in technicolor by Ellis. McKendree plays some particularly cool piano riffs on this track as well so take note. Catalunya crosses another bridge altogether... David Gilmore's brother born in Atlanta, and jammed with Santana? Ellis takes from what he hears and does an excellent job of creating his own sound from bits of life. On this track with it's Latin rhythm and searing guitar riffs, Ellis creates a sound unique to him. It is an excellent conclusion to a very strong blues guitar release.
You like guitar? You like Blues?
This is a real good release!
Harold "Chuck" Willis (January 31, 1928 – April 10, 1958) was an American blues, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll singer and songwriter. His biggest hits, "C. C. Rider" (1957) and "What Am I Living For" (1958), both reached No.1 on the Billboard R&B chart. He was known as The King of the Stroll for his performance of the 1950s dance The Stroll.
Willis was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Willis was spotted at a talent contest by Atlanta radio disc jockey Zenas Sears, who became his manager and helped him to sign with Columbia Records in 1951. After one single, Willis began recording on a Columbia subsidiary, Okeh. During his stay at Okeh, he established himself as a popular R&B singer and songwriter. In 1956, he moved to Atlantic Records where he had immediate success with "It's Too Late (She's Gone)", "Juanita" and "Love Me Cherry". His most successful recording was "C.C. Rider", which topped the US Billboard R&B chart in 1957 and also crossed over and sold well in the pop market. "C.C. Rider" was a remake of a twelve-bar blues, performed by Ma Rainey in Atlanta before Willis was born. Its relaxed beat, combined with a mellow vibraphone backing and chorus, inspired the emergence of the popular dance, The Stroll. Willis's follow-up was "Betty and Dupree", another "stroll" song, which also did well. Willis' single "Going to the River", a song by Fats Domino, was a prototype for his "stroll" sound, reaching No.4 on the R&B chart.
Willis, who had suffered from stomach ulcers for many years, died during surgery in Chicago of peritonitis while at the peak of his career, just after the release of his last single, "What Am I Living For?", backed by "Hang Up My Rock & Roll Shoes". "What Am I Living For?" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. It was also the top R&B disc of 1958.
His hit, the blues ballad "It's Too Late (She's Gone)" was covered by other artists, including Otis Redding, Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Eric Clapton's Derek and the Dominos and the Jerry Garcia Band. In 2005, it was heavily sampled by Kanye West on Late Registration's "Gone". Elvis Presley covered "I Feel So Bad" and "C. C. Rider" and Ruth Brown and Conway Twitty had hits with "Oh What a Dream".
Willis's cousin is Chick Willis.
Edwin Leon Chamblee (24 February 1920 – 1 May 1999), known as Eddie "Long Gone" Chamblee, was an American tenor and alto saxophonist, and occasional vocalist, who played jazz and R&B.
He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and grew up in Chicago where he began learning the saxophone at the age of 12. After leaving Wendell Phillips High School, he studied law at Chicago State University, playing in clubs in the evenings and at weekends. He played in US Army bands between 1941 and 1946. After leaving the army, he joined Miracle Records. He played on Sonny Thompson's hit record "Long Gone" in 1948, and on its follow-up, "Late Freight", credited to the Sonny Thompson Quintet featuring Eddie Chamblee. Both records reached no. 1 on the national Billboard R&B chart. Two follow-up records, "Blue Dreams" and "Back Street", also made the R&B chart in 1949.
From 1947, he led his own band in Chicago clubs, as well as continuing to record with Thompson and on other sessions in Chicago, including The Four Blazes' no. 1 R&B hit "Mary Jo" in 1952. In 1954 he joined Lionel Hampton's band for two years, touring in Europe, before returning to lead his own group in Chicago. He accompanied both Amos Milburn and Lowell Fulson on some of their recordings, and then worked as accompanist to Dinah Washington on many of her successful recordings in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The two performed vocal duets in a style similar to that later adopted by Washington with Brook Benton, and were briefly married; he was her fifth husband. Chamblee also recorded for the Mercury and EmArcy labels, and with his own group in the early 1960s for the Roulette and Prestige labels.
In the 1970s he rejoined Hampton for tours of Europe, where he also played with Milt Buckner, and he recorded for the French Black & Blue label. He also performed with the Count Basie Orchestra in 1982, and from the 1980s until his death with the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band, as well as in clubs in New York City.
He died in New York in 1999 at the age of 79.
Perry Bradford (14 February 1893, Montgomery, Alabama – 20 April 1970, New York City) was an African-American composer, songwriter, and vaudeville performer.
Perry Bradford grew up in Atlanta, where his family moved when he was six, and in 1906 started working with minstrel shows. He played in Chicago as a solo pianist as early as 1909 and visited New York City the following year.
Through extensive experience with traveling minstrel shows and theatre companies, Bradford obtained huge exposure and experience to African American folksongs. A huge feat of Bradford’s was severing the walls of racial prejudice that kept African-American singers from recording. He is, too often, unrecognized for this accomplishment. Prior to Bradford’s influence, African-American artists recorded in a style that was closely similar to those of white dance orchestras. There was little to no trace of African-American musical characteristics present in their recordings. Bradford persevered in getting the recording industry to value recordings of African-American artists recording in the style of their own subculture.
As a pianist, singer, dancer and composer, Bradford worked in theatre circuits throughout the South and into the North for the next decade (1908–1919) in a song and dance act billed as "Bradford and Jeanette"., While in New York City, Bradford convinced Fred Hager, of Okeh Records, to record Mamie Smith and became her musical director. Smith starred in Bradford's show Made in Harlem (1918). Bradford was also responsible for Smith being the first African-American blues singer to appear on record (singing his "Crazy Blues") in 1920. Bradford claimed that his revue, Made in Harlem, was the first stage production that offered blues matter to the large, northern audience in Harlem. Bradford was able to organize the first recording session, “That Thing Called Love,” that highlighted an African-American artist, accompanied by a white studio band, performing material specific to the African-American culture.
He had offices in the Gaiety Theatre office building in Times Square. Bradford toured and recorded with Smith, worked with Alberta Hunter and also headed seven recording sessions of his own during 1923–1927. Among Bradford's sidemen were Johnny Dunn, Bubber Miley, Garvin Bushell, Louis Armstrong (on two numbers in 1925), Buster Bailey, and James P. Johnson.
Bradford continued to promote blues and jazz recordings by publishing and managing. Bradford’s influence in the recording industry was negatively affected by the crash of the stock market, as well as by changes in the character of jazz and African-American songs. He was an irregular participant after the 1940s. With the rise of the Great Depression, Bradford slipped away into obscurity. In later years, he appeared to exaggerate his role in early blues, possibly a reaction to his being nearly forgotten. In 1957, Little Richard had a hit with Bradford's "Keep A-Knockin'". In 1965, Bradford's autobiography Born With the Blues was published (New York: Oak Publications) with a foreword by Noble Sissle. Bradford's best-known songs were "Crazy Blues", "That Thing Called Love", and "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down".
