PhillyCheeze's Rock & Blues Reviews: Myles Goodwyn

Saturday, March 17, 2018

#324 : Myles Goodwyn And Friends of the Blues

2017 – Linus Entertainment

By Phillip Smith; March 17, 2018

April Wine front-man Myles Goodwyn has had a passion for the blues since the Sixties, when the greats like Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, and BB King were in their heyday. Over the years, Goodwyn set his blues songs aside for future use and never put them to wax for an April Wine album. The future is finally here, and a dozen of those delectable songs have been recorded for this spectacular record, Myles Goodwyn and Friends of the Blues. Goodwyn takes the lead on vocals, guitars, and keyboards, while Mike Carrol and Blair Mackay appear on drums. Bass players consist of Richard Fallus, Alex Fraser, Russal Jackson, and Bruce Dixon. The list of friends which join Goodwyn in the studio are Jack de Keyzer, Garret Mason, David Wilcox, Amos Garret, Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne, Joe Murphy, Frank Marino, Shaun Verreault, Bill Stevenson, and Rick Derringer.

I love the way the album rolls in with the high energy electric blues on “I Hate to See you Go (But I Love to Watch You Walk Away)”. This captivating opener is nicely topped off with a sweet sax and horn arrangement from Eric Khayat. Goodwyn takes an amazingly deep dive into the cold well of bitterness in “I’ll Hate You (Til Death Do Us Part)”. This stellar performance features the great Frank Marino on guitar and piano great Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne. I could listen to Rick Derringer play guitar all day. His searing guitar in blues-rocker “Last Time I’ll Ever Sing the Blues” is downright tantalizing.

Myles Goodwyn and Friends of the Blues brilliantly shows another side of Goodwyn as he masters the Blues. I certainly hope to hear more recordings like this in the future him.

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Also reviewed on Phillycheeze’s Rock & Blues Reviews

Blue Öyster Cult & April Wine - Live @ Riverside Casino, May 14, 2016

https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2016/05/blue-oyster-cult-april-wine-live.html

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Blue Öyster Cult & April Wine - Live @ Riverside Casino, May 14, 2016

May 14, 2016 – Riverside, Iowa

By Phillip Smith; May 15, 2016

It was a great night for rock and roll as iconic rock legends Blue Oyster Cult and April Wine descended upon Riverside, Iowa to play a sold-out house at Riverside Casino. Canadian rockers April Wine took the stage first, rolling the show out with “Anything You Want” off their 1982 Power Play album. The band is guitarist/vocalist Myles Goodwyn (the only remaining original member left), guitarist Brian Greenway (who has been with the band since 1977), bassist Richard Lanthier, and drummer Roy “Nip” Nichol. After tearing through a very tight “Sign of the Gypsy Queen” and crowd favorite “Just Between You and Me”, they laid down the law with “21^st Century Schizoid Man”. It was heavy and delicious. Lanthier’s monster bass sounded so good alongside Myles Goodwyn’s mind-melting guitar. Lanthier later delivered a killer bass solo on “Crash and Burn”. Excitement filled the air as the opening riffs of “I Like to Rock” spill out. Playing hard and heavy, the band was totally in sync and sounded very nice indeed. Nichol peeled off a tremendous drum solo, part of which was barehanded. It was quite impressive. Winding things down, the guys played “Before the Dawn” and ended the show with “Roller”. I loved the sound of the dual guitar on this one. It was terrific.

Blue Öyster Cult hit the ground running with a fabulous convergence of guitars on “The Red and the Black”. Their two original members, front man/lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Eric Bloom, and guitarist Buck Dharma are joined by guitarist Richie Castellano, drummer Jules Radino, and bassist Kassim Sulton. BOC delivered deeper cuts such as the medieval themed “Golden Age of Leather”, and the poppy “True Confessions” prior to cutting their way through a ripping and fantastically tight “Burning For You”. From their self-titled 1972 album, we heard the hypnotically heady “Then Came the Last Days of May”. The performance was mesmerizing and Dharma’s guitar was smoking. Of course, no BOC concert would be complete without the rock and roll anthem “Godzilla”. Dharma played this iconic song with precision while Bloom’s vocals fell right into the pocket. This was such a treat to hear. Without missing a beat, the set ended with a beautifully played “Don’t Fear the Reaper”, conjuring up memories of days gone by. Just when the show was thought to be over, BOC returned for an encore, blessing the audience with one more song, “Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll”. Sulton’s colossal bassline was played with true grit as this magnificent song and the evening ended with a barrage of guitar goodness.

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