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I started a quest to find terrific blues music and incredible musicianship when I was just a little kid. I also have a tremendous appreciation of fine musical instruments and equipment. One of my greatest joys all of my life was sharing my finds with my friends. I'm now publishing my journey. I hope that you come along!
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Showing posts with label Big head Todd Mohr. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Big head Todd Mohr. Show all posts
I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Times Have Changed, by Ronnie Baker Brooks and it's terrific! Opening with Joe Tex number, Show Me, Ronnie Baker Brooks (on vocal and guitar) is kicking ass and taking names right out of the chute featuring Steve Cropper on guitar, Steve Jordan on drums, Willie Weeks on bass, Felix Cavaliere on Hammond, Ben Cauley on trumpet, Lonniie McMillan on tenor sax and Jack Hale Sr on trombone. Big Head Todd sits in on Doing Too Much, a cool blue rocker with Leroy Hodges on bass, Charles Hodges on Hammond and Turner on piano. Recently passed and sorely missed, Lonine Brooks, sits in on Twine Time, a cool, sixties style surf rocker. Rapper, Al Kapone sits in on traditional blues style track, Times Have Changed, with Weeks setting a great bass line and Brooks' solid vocals and guitar riffs. The addition of Jessie Munson and Wen-Yih Yu on violin, Beth Luscome and Jennifer Puckett on viola, and Mark Wallace and Jonathan Kirkscey on cello add a refined note to the short Kapone rap. Curtis Mayfield's Give me Your Love, a cool jazz infused soul track featuring Angie Stone on vocal has a true Mayfield smoothness. Robert Cray track, Old Love has great style and featuring Bobby Blue Bland on vocal and his own stylistic guitar work makes this a true favorite. On high stepper, Wham Bam Thank You Sam, Brooks really struts with cool vocals, great guitar accents, a solid bass line from Hodges and super R&B style horns. Very cool. Closing the release is When I Was We, featuring Hubby Turner on piano supporting Brooks' warm vocals.
Very nice conclusion to an exceptional release.
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RONNIE BAKER BROOKS ANNOUNCES
CONFIRMED APPEARANCES
PLANNED TO SUPPORT RELEASE OF
TIMES HAVE CHANGED,
HIS FIRST ALBUM IN TEN YEARS
Produced By Steve Jordan,
Featuring Lonnie Brooks, “Big Head” Todd Mohr, Bobby “Blue”
Bland, Steve Cropper, Angie
Stone, Eddie Willis, Al Kapone, Felix Cavaliere, Lee Roy Parnell
Out On Provogue / Mascot
Label Group January 20, 2017
Chicago,
IL --- Ronnie Baker Brooks has announced planned initial appearances for
2017. Following the Legendary R&B Cruise – At Sea in late-January, he
will begin the run at SPACE in Evanston, IL on February 3. Additional
shows are confirmed in St. Paul, Des Moines, Milwaukee and Dubuque (detail
below). Today, the second instant gratification track has been provided
to purchasers in front of the January 20th release.
Brooks,
49, was born in Chicago, and started playing guitar around age six. At 19, he
joined his father, Lonnie Brooks who by then had influenced some of the most
well-known bluesman of our history: Jimmy Reed, the Fabulous Thunderbirds,
Johnny Winter, and Junior Wells. For 12 years, the two would tour together,
putting Ronnie out front with Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and Koko
Taylor.
Times
Have Changed,
Brooks’ first album in ten years, carries with it the weight of grown
perspective and time spent perfecting old material. Brooks worked it with Steve
Jordan, whose work runs from Keith Richards to Stevie Wonder, John Mayer and
Eric Clapton. With that comes a lesson in rhythm and blues history. Brooks
refers to the director as “a walking encyclopedia of music detail and
equipment”, a professor through which Brooks could take that next developmental
step. “Once we got the ball rolling, my confidence went higher and higher”, he
says. “I’m a better musician for this experience.”
The
experience Brooks is talking about is that which came together over the course
of a few weeks at Royal Studios in Memphis, the home of Al Green, Syl Johnson
and Bobby “Blue” Bland. Jordan and Brooks brought in a mint press of Memphis
music royalty: Stax Records staple Steve Cropper (Booker T. & the M.G.'s,
Otis Redding, Sam & Dave), Archie Turner (Al Green, Syl Johnson, O.V.
Wright), jazz saxophonist Lannie McMillan, and R&B icon Angie Stone. For
several tracks, Brooks also enlisted brothers Teenie (guitar), Charles (organ)
and Leroy Hodges (bass) of the legendary Hi Rhythm Section, which served as the
house band for hit soul albums by artists like Al Green and Ann Peebles. “We
used the same mics that Al Green used on his record”, says Brooks. “Matter of
fact, we were using much of the same band! It kind of took that vibe.” The
first track recorded was a cover of Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly hit Give Me Your
Love. The second, Twine Time, the instrumental jam from Alvin Cash.
Several
tracks on Times Have Changed were recorded at the legendary Blackbird Studio in
Nashville. “It had great hospitality, a great vibe, great tone, great
equipment,” Brooks said. “And of course I got to get closer to some of the
musicians who live there, Felix Cavaliere, Steve Cropper - they all live there,
and it just created a great atmosphere. One of the key things for me was that
we got Todd Mohr there, and he was willing to play rhythm guitar along with Lee
Roy Parnell, so we got a nice little chemistry going with the three guitar
parts together.”
‘Times’
also comes laden with original hits. Five of the eleven tracks were penned by
Brooks. Raised on others’ music, he’s always considered the songwriting process
to be as sacred. “It’s like having a baby”, he says. “You see it come to life.
Once you play it live, it grows even more. That was the most fun part of it,
for me: the creative side. Coming up with a song people can relate to, and you
relate to, it just snowballs. It’s almost like therapy for me. Like the song
Times Have Changed: I wrote that song years ago. I sent Steve my songs and he
picked that one. It’s kind of timeless. Every day something’s changing. Now,
when I play it live, you can see the effect of it. Initially, it was just an
idea: just a riff. Now, this song has influence on people. We were just in
Europe this year, after the bombing in Brussels. And we’re playing Brussels. I
played that song; people were in tears. It helped them heal.”
The
complete track listing features: “Show Me” (feat. Steve Cropper), “Doing Too
Much” (feat. “Big Head” Todd Mohr, “Twine Time” (feat. Lonnie Brooks), “Times
Have Changed” (feat. Al Kapone), “Long Story Short,” “Give Me Your Love (Love
Song) (feat. Angie Stone), “Give The Baby Anything The Baby Wants” (feat. “Big
Head” Todd Mohr & Eddie Willis), “Old Love” (feat. Bobby “Blue” Bland),
“Come On Up” (feat. Felix Cavaliere & Lee Roy Parnell), “Wham Bam Thank You
Sam,” “When I Was We.”
Brooks
will stage the following appearances. Additonal dates will be announced
as they are confirmed:
