#604 : Bob Corritore & Friends - Women in Blues Showcase (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

 

2023 – Vizztone

By Phillip Smith; April 6, 2023

Release Date : March. 31, 2023

Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

I’m always looking forward to the next Bob Corritore & Friends album.  His reach is quite long when it comes to his blues connections.  Featuring a dozen recordings with Bob playing harmonica with artists Francine Reed, Carol Fran, Shy Perry, Diunna Greanleaf, Aliya Primer, Barbara Lynn, Koko Taylor, and Valerie June, this Women in Blues Showcase is a huge delight. 

One of my favorite artists today is Valerie June, and I am filled with joy to hear a collaboration with her on the timeless classic “Crawdad Hole”.  Valerie’s angelic vocals paired with Corritore’s perfectly paired harmonica accompaniment is country-blues at its best.  With Bob Margolin on guitar, the growling vocals of the late great Koko Taylor ring loud and fearless on “What Kind of Man is This”.  It’s served on an unescapable groove.  Shy Perry and her father Bill “Howlin’ Madd” Perry pitch a juke-joint “Wang Dang Doodle” that lasts all night long.  I absolutely love this one. Another daughter-father duo Aliya Primer and John Primer busts out some funky blues with “Te Ni Nee Ni Nu”.  John doles out a smokin’ guitar performance and it sounds great.  I really enjoy listening to Diunna Greenleaf, and her horn-infused take on the Willie Dixon-penned “Don’t Mess with the Messer” is a fantastic production with Fred Kaplin on piano, and Jimi “Primetime” Smith on guitar.  The album closes out with Francine Reed soulfully singing the Staples’ hit “Why Am I Treated So Bad”.  Corritore adds a smokey aura to the song on harp while Kid Ramos and Johnny Main add more fuel to the fire on guitar.   

Bob Corritore & Friends Women in Blues Showcase is yet another highly-recommended album from the desk of Phillycheeze.  It hits all the necessary marks.                     

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TRACKLIST

 

1		“You're Gonna Be Sorry” feat. Barbara Lynn	2:46
2		“I Just Need A Friend” feat. Carol Fran	2:34
3		“Crawdad Hole” feat. Valerie June	2:45
4		“What Kind Of Man Is This” feat. Koko Taylor	4:15
5		“Wang Dang Doodle” feat. Shy Perry	3:14
6		“Be For Me” feat. Diunna Greenleaf	4:04
7		“Te Ni Nee Ni Nu” feat. Aliya Primer	3:58
8		“I Needs To Be Be'd With” feat. Carol Fran	3:13
9		“Don't Mess With The Messer” feat. Diunna Greenleaf	2:51
10		“You Don't Have To Go” feat. Barbara Lynn	3:00
11		“Walkin' Slippin' And Slidin'” feat. Carol Fran	3:09
12		“Why Am I Treated So Bad” feat. Francine Reed	5:20

 

 

For more information about Bob Corritore, visit his website at : https://bobcorritore.com

 

Check out other PhillyCheeze reviews for Bob Corritore at : https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/search?q=bob+corritore

 

 

 

#499 : Bob Corritore & Friends - Spider in My Stew

 

2021 – Vizztone

Release Date : May 14, 2021

By Phillip Smith; May 08, 2021

 

Taking into consideration all his own records in addition to all the others he’s played on, Bob Corritore has appeared on over a hundred albums in his career.  In that time, he’s acquired a hell of a lot of friends.  Thirty-eight of them appear on his new fourteen-track disc Spider in My Stew, making for one of the hottest straight-up blues albums this year.

The fabulous voice of Oscar Wilson (Cash Box Kings) takes command as he joins Tony Tomlinson (guitar), Patrick Skog (bass), and Alan West (drums) of the Fremonts to kick the album off with a swanky cover of Fenton Robinson’s 1957 single “Tennessee Woman”.   Shea Marshall’s contributions on piano and sax gives it the perfect finishing touch.  Sugarray Rayford, one of my favorite singers these past few years, belts out one of his own songs “Big Mama’s Soul Food, joined by Kid Ramos and Johnny Main on guitar.  This one has me jonesing for a meal at Miss Polly’s on Beale Street in Memphis.  The great Johnny Rawls lends himself and a song as well.  “Sleeping With the Blues” is smothered in his trademark style of soulful blues.  Bob Welsh on piano and John Primer on guitar and vocals rip it up on a splendid cover of the J.B. Lenoir song, “Mama Talk to Your Daughter”.  With Alabama Mike taking the mic, and Junior Watson (the Mighty Flyers, Canned Heat) on guitar, “Look Out” absolutely cooks.  I dig the groove.  The rhythm really takes a hold on this one.

I love the Willie Dixon tribute which packs three of his songs right in a row.  “Don’t Mess With the Messer” gets this batch started with Diunna Greenleaf on vocals and Jimi ‘Primetime’ Smith on guitar.  That is followed by title-track “Spider in My Stew” which hosts a dynamic duo of Lurrie Bell and Bob Margolin.  Corritore pours his soul into the song, as Bell and Margolin duke it out on guitar.  Bell takes the mic on this one, and it sounds great.  The Willie Dixon three-fer concludes with a rollicking standout recording of “Wang Dang Doodle” with Bill ‘Howl-N-MAdd’ Perry and his daughter Shy Perry.    

Blues fans will surely want to pick up this all-star blues record.  It’s fantastic!       

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For more information about the artist, visit this website : bobcorritore.com

 

Take a listen to the album on Apple Music.