Delta Groove Music artists: The Mannish Boys - Wrapped Up and Ready - New Release Review

I just received the newest release (June 17, 2014), Wrapped Up And Ready, from the Mannish Boys and it's a blast. Not only is this release a recording of the Mannish Boys, one of the most talented group of musicians in the business but also features a ton of featured players. Opening with I Ain't Sayin' Monster Mike Welsh gets the hard groove on with great riffs and Sugarray Rayford takes the lead on vocals. This is a terrific opener featuring Fred Kaplan on piano and Welsh really blows the top off. Roy Brown's Everything's Alright maintains a lot of the original vintage sound. Kid Ramos takes the lead on guitar on this track with his own fluid riffs and Ron Dziubla adds just the right amount of sax to the mix. Background vocals by Clifton Curtis and Larry Dobson add authenticity. Funky Blues Struggle In My Hometown features Paris Slim on vocal and lead guitar. This track has a really nice feel as well as a few change ups. Try not to bop along to this one! Title track, Wrapped and Ready features Rayford back on vocal and Kirk Fletcher on stinging lead guitar. Willie J Campbell has the bass and Jimi Bott the drums. Fred Kaplan adds a really nice piano and Kim Wilson shines on harmonica. It Was Fun has a really nice slower Texas style lope and Steve Freund plays some really nice stylized guitar solos behind the super vocals of Rayford. A really smooth track it really shows the versatility of the band. I Can Always Dream has Paris Slim back on lead guitar with a straight up 12 bar blues, Chicago style. This is a really cool track with plenty of smoke. Candy Kane really does a nice job on lead vocals on Ike Turner track I Idolize You. Laura Chavez plays lead guitar on this track and certainly has her own signature style. Cynthia Manley and Jessica Williams and well blended backing vocals to the fire and Randy Chortkoff has a super feel on harmonica. Really nice track. You Better Watch Yourself is pushed along by Fletcher doing a James Brown guitar riff giving it a really super groove. Jacob "Walters" Huffman is featured on harp on this track and really gets a nice sound. Something For Nothing has a super big horn sound and clean guitar riffs by Welsh really stand tall. Rayford's vocals on this track are particularly cool and Kim Wilson is on top on harmonica. This is a great track and Welsh just blows me off my seat. On Can't Make a Living, a blues rocker, Randy Chortkoff takes on lead vocals with Trenda Fox and Fletcher steps up with a really nice guitar solo. The Blues Has Made Me Whole is a deep groove swinger featuring Freund on lead vocal and hot lead guitar. Kaplan is back on piano and Bott does a particularly nice job of setting the track off with drums. Very cool! I Have Love has a really interesting sound and again Rayford back on lead vocals. Bob Corritore adds a really nice harp solo to this track and Welsh rips a really nice guitar solo as well. Excellent! Troubles is an easy going blues track that is nicely crafted around Rayfords voice. Kim Wilson's harp work on this track are the best of his outings on this release with the harp almost wrapping itself around the track. Very nice. Magic Sam track She Belongs To Me has a really hot sound with Kid Ramos getting just the "right" sound on guitar. Rayford again sets the track off nicely with excellent vocals but Ramos sets the thing to flames. Very very nice! Don't Say You're Sorry features Slim on lead vocal and smokin slide guitar. Wrapping the release is an excellent, Blues For Michael Bloomfield. Fletcher absolutely nails Bloomfield's phrasing on this absolutely must be heard instrumental track. Rich Wenzel adds really nice B3 on this track and of course Campbell on bass and Bott on drums are huge creating this sound but let's face it. It's a guitar track about a legendary blues player and it's about the guitar. Fletcher, Slim and Welsh literally blow the doors off of this 8 plus minute guitar extravaganza. Excellent... Mike would have loved it! This will be one of the releases that you must hear this year.

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Mannish Boys - Wrapped Up & Ready

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The Mannish Boys - Wrapped Up & Ready From the beginnings of the band six CDs ago, Randy Chortkoff has worked like the ringmaster of a three-ring circus, keeping one of the tighest all-around blues bands in the world today busy in the center ring, while performing amazing feats of coordination around them by spotlighting countless guest stars on each and every release. As a result the Mannish Boys have featured some of the best and brightest names in blues today, from the most seasoned veterans to the most exciting young talent, all carefully mixed and matched to field teams of artists perfectly in synch with one another on each song they take on. It wasn't at all unusual for past releases to feature three or four different guitarists, and a full cast of all-star guest soloists. But this time out, the plan was different: scale things down, simplify, strip everything down to just the fundamentals. However... as you now know, they've never been known to do anything halfway, so that plan went out the window on day one. The result is the latest Mannish Boys extravaganza, complete with an all-star guest lineup worthy of most full-blown blues festivals. And much like a perfect wedding, there's something old, something new, something borrowed, and plenty of blues(s). The core band is led by a powerhouse vocalist and front man Sugaray Rayford, and features the double-barreled guitar firepower of Kirk "Eli" Fletcher and Franck Goldwasser, anchored by the skin-tight rhythm section of bassist Willie J. Campbell and drummer Jimi Bott. Chortkoff himself contributes harp and vocals as needed, and right there you've already got one of the best lineups in the business. But of course, that's only half the story. Among those making guest appearances are the sultry singer Candye Kane (helped out by her amazing guitarist Laura Chavez), Bay Area great - by way of New York and Chicago - Steve Freund, blazing young guitarist Monster Mike Welch, and piano master Fred Kaplan. Blues harmonica fans will also find plenty to enjoy as three guests are also on hand to help hold down harp duties: Delta Groove recording artist Bob Corritore, teenage phenomenon Jacob "Walters" Huffman, and the great Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Also notable on this release is the return of guitarist Kid Ramos, one of the leading blues guitarists of his generation, who has been off the scene for the last couple of years dealing with serious health issues. And that's not all, folks... also on hand are bass player Bill Stuve and drummer Dave Kida, both veterans of Rod Piazza's Mighty Flyers, French import Nico Duportal on guitar, a full array of background singers including promising newcomer Trenda Fox, and much more. So - no halfway measures here. But just what you'd expect from the Mannish Boys: an exciting tour through the very best that blues has to offer in the 21st century. The Mannish Boys - Wrapped Up & Ready Click Here Pre-Order From The Delta Groove Store Click Here Pre-Order From Amazon Available On Itunes - June 17th 2014 Delta Groove Music, all rights reserved 2014 ©