2015 – American Showplace
Music
By Phillip Smith; April 4, 2015
Step inside, Slam Allen’s latest album, Feel These Blues, and allow yourself
to soak up all the soulful house-rockin’ goodness you can. Don’t worry about being greedy, there’s
plenty for everyone. Listening to the
blues being performed at the level Allen
plays is such a joy. Having worked his
way up through the ranks by being lead guitarist and lead singer for James Cotton for nine years, Allen’s years of experience is felt in
every song. With a band composed of bassist
Jeff Anderson, drummer Dan Fadel, and organist/pianist extraordinaire
John Ginty, Allen delivers eleven delightful
original tracks, and a surprising cover of Prince’s
“Purple Rain”.
Allen
jump-starts things with title track “Feel These Blues”, a high-energy boogie
with fantastic, bluesy guitar licks. It’s
a perfect song to set the album in motion with.
Keeping the blues bus a rolling is “All Because of You”. This stand-out track, topped with Ginty’s B3 is slathered with Allen’s soulful guitar and vocals. There’s an undeniable Memphis Stax influence on “Can’t Break Away
From That Girl”. Allen seeming channels Otis
Redding, while throwing in little Steve
Cropper-ish licks on guitar. I love
the funky, feel-good groove built around Anderson’s
bassline. All this, along with a little
church added via Ginty on organ,
makes the track a bona fide favorite. For
a feel-good song which exudes positive energy, nothing beats “That’s Where You
Are”. From the opening bassline to the
closing organ outro, this luscious track puts a smile on my face every time.
Slam Allen keeps
the writing real and the performances fresh. Feel the Blues is “Top-Shelf” blues at its best.
