Seeing
Joe Louis Walker play live means having a good time. Simple as that. Hotshot blues rock guitarists abound, but few
of them bring the sense of playfulness to electric blues that Walker
displays. Schooled in church music, he
still includes a big chunk of gospel in his live set, and makes it such a pleasure that I could almost be persuaded to get religion myself. Almost.
And
so it is from the off at this busy 100 Club gig as part of London Blues Week. Opening with ‘I’m Not Messin’ Around’, he and
his band lock into a big groove, founded on vibrant drumming from Byron Cage,
that slams the FUN into funky.
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| Joe Louis Walker - ain't messin' around |
‘Don’t
Let Go’ is the first of the gospel outings, featuring vocal harmonies that he
reveals were originally delivered by the Jordanaires when he recorded it on Hornet’s Nest. But ‘Wade In The Water’ swings on another
level entirely. Lenny Bradford – a man
of a thousand facial expressions, most of them variations on a big grin –
contributes nimbly subterranean bass runs as he, Walker and Cage gear up for
some blindingly funky interplay underneath another Watts solo. The way they chop up the rhythm and turn it
inside out, in total synch, is something to behold.
‘While
My Guitar Gently Weeps’, recorded for the 2002 Beatles tribute The Blues White Album, is delivered with
absolute conviction, before ‘In The Morning’ transports gospel into the realms
of sunrise soul. Conjuring up a season
of warmth and mellow fruitfulness, it shifts with ease into a hi tempo ending.
After
some squealing slide on ‘Soldier For Jesus’ the delicate opening of ‘Black And
Blue’ ushers in quiet little flurries of notes from Walker, building towards a
big finish. Giles Robson pops up to
guest on harp and lend extra wailing to the chugging boogie of ‘Young Girl Blues’,
and then it’s time for the riotous set closer that is ‘Too Drunk To Drive
Drunk’. Chuck Berry-like in feel to the
point that at one point Bradford sets off on a duck walk, and with Stevie Watts
giving it some rock’n’roll piano into the bargain, it features an interlude
that breezily flings in riffs from ‘You Really Got Me’, ‘All Day And All Of The
Night’ and ‘Daytripper’, and probably more besides, to bring the house down.
With
the crowd baying for an encore as the band mosey offstage, Walker stays put and
straps his mother-of-pearl decorated guitar back on to deliver ‘Where Jesus Leads
Me I Will Follow’ on his own, before welcoming his compadres back for a final
outing. Introduced with a funny story
about working with Peter Green, it’s Mac’s ‘One Sunny Day’, covered on latest
album Everybody Wants A Piece. With Bradford giving it large on the song’s big
bass figure, Walker wrenches plenty of torque from the descending guitar riff,
and delivers a jaw-dropping solo for good measure.
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| Lenny Bradford - "Whaddya mean, man of a thousand faces?" |
Joe
Louis Walker is an electric blues delight, and here’s hoping he gets back to
these shores soon. When he does, get
your ass along to see him, and have yourself a damn good time.
The
cheerfully unassuming King Size Slim is deserving of a mention for his solo
support slot, consisting entirely of unamplified tri-cone resonator guitar and
vocals – and some thunderous foot stomping when required. With a frequent twinkle in his eye he manages
to weave some Sarf coast rapping into acoustic Delta blues, and engages the
audience to assist him in re-tuning his guitar through “the collective
consciousness of thought” – the best line I’ve heard on the subject since Jimbo
Mathus declared “Fuck it – tuning is a decadent Western concept anyway”.
But
amid the laughs Slim also produces stirring guitar and nice dynamics on the
catch ‘Love Divine’, and constructs a tuneful singalong on ‘May We Find A Way
Out Of The Storm’. He may not actually
be King Size, but Slim still manages to make an entertaining mark.
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