Bernie Marsden - Working Man

When Bernie Marsden died back in August, at the age of 72, it felt to me that it was untimely, that he’d gone too soon.  The fact that he’d just completed this album of new material earlier in the summer underlines that feeling.  He was still, in the words of the album title, a working man – still making music.  So it’s sad to be thinking of him in the past tense when getting to grips with this collection.
His name has always been associated with blues and blues-rock, but don’t come to Working Man those styles to dominate.  In fact just two of the 12 tracks on the album walk in the shadow of the blues, as it were.  The mid-paced opener ‘Being Famous’ strides in with a crunching riff  

Bernie Marsden - a working man with tool of his trade

Pic by Adam Kennedy

and some wiry lead lines, announcing a strong tune about the high life lived by rock stars back in the day,
Bernie’s punchy vocal backed up nicely by female voices.  Is it startlingly original?  No, it’s not – but it is very satisfying.  And so, later on, is the strutting, edgy ‘Bad Reputation’, with its piercing solo.  It’s a song to make you wish David Coverdale, with his stronger vocal muscle (in his better days at least), had still had Marsden’s skills at his disposal all these years.
These may be the only out-and-out blues-rockers on the album proper, but if you want more in the same vein, then grab the limited first pressing which comes with a bonus album of ten tracks.  Here you’ll find a couple more rockers in the shape of ‘Look At Me Now’ and ‘Who’s Fooling Who’, which both come with tough, gutsy riffs, especially the latter.  Bernie knocks out an effortlessly classy solo on ‘Look At Me Know’, and on ‘Who’s Fooling Who’ leaves room for a powerful, surging organ solo, which I’m guessing is delivered by Bob Fridzema.
Back on the main album, Marsden goes down a more melodic, AOR-ish road on several tracks, such as ‘Midtown’, ‘Invisible’ and ‘Valentine’s Day’.  The first of these starts out acoustic-led, and when it changes gear suggests Toto as much as anything bluesy, with lots of backing vocals (male this time) giving it an extra sheen.  ‘Invisible’ has a thumping beat, a swaggering riff, and some squealing lead guitar notes, and with guest vocalist Jaime Kyle at the mic comes over like something by Pat Benatar.  Meanwhile ‘Valentine’s Day’ is romantic but upbeat as Bernie urges “Stay with me darling, hold onto my hand”, and gives the song a little twist with a harmonised guitar break.  And on top of these, the title track has its own lush, melodic rock vibe to go with to with some sympathetic story-telling about a character experiencing “hard times for a working man”.
There are also a couple of brief instrumentals exploring different vibes, with ‘Steelhouse Mountain’ going down a folkie/bluesy road leaning on shimmering acoustic guitar and some pinging lead, while ‘The Pearl’ is a more fluid, mellow affair, like a soundtrack of waves rippling on a beach.
Back on the bonus album meanwhile, the most interesting departures are on the closing three tracks, comprising fresh readings of the Whitesnake tracks ‘Til The Day I Die’ and ‘Time Is Right For Love’, and the Robert Johnson classic ‘Come On In My Kitchen’.  On all of these Tom Leary contributes violin to a largely stripped back sound.  So ‘Til The Day I Die’ acquires an occasional Celtic air, dreamy rather than brooding, while ‘Time Is Right For Love’ lopes along gently, and on ‘Come On In My Kitchen’ the scraping violin and reverb-tinged vocal create an eerie feel over the top of the subtle rhythmic groove.
Over the course of the two discs there’s nearly 90 minutes of music to get your ears around, and yes, the quality dips a little in places.  But there’s still plenty to demonstrate the quality of  Bernie Marsden’s songwriting, guitar playing, and ability to interpret songs in fresh ways.  The man may be gone, but he’s left lots of music that lives on.
 
Working Man is released by Conquest Music on 8 December.

Various Artists - Heavenly Cream: An Acoustic Tribute To Cream

So here we have an array of big names, including the likes of Bernie Marsden, Ginger Baker, Joe Bonamassa, Paul Rodgers and Maggie Bell, getting together in various combinations to deliver an acoustic tribute to Cream.  This raises a coupla questions, I’d say.  Like, why acoustic?  And really, when you get right down to it, just - why?
The answer to the second question seems to be simply that it was cooked up as a result of a discussion between a Quarto Valley Records honcho and sometime Cream lyricist Pete Brown, the latter then kicking off the trawl for some personnel.  As for the first question, your guess is as good as mine.

It's Ginger Baker - stand well back!

And since we’re talking about Pete Brown, the guy crops up to sing on three tracks here: ‘White Room’, ‘Theme For An Imaginary Western’ and ‘Politician’.  And his vocals are, to be blunt, consistently duff.  It’s a significant handicap to all three songs, though ‘White Room’ is at least graced by an interesting string arrangement.  But towards the end of a rather plodding take on ‘Politician’ Brown reaches a real low with a spoken interlude that is simply embarrassing.
To be honest, the omens aren’t that good right from the intro to the opening ‘I Feel Free’, where the “bomp-bomp-ba-bomp-bomp” vocal motif is accompanied by some ill-advised plonking piano notes from Malcolm Bruce, the multi-instrumentalist son of Jack Bruce who is a mainstay of the album’s cast list.  Thankfully he makes more positive contributions elsewhere, such as his wistful, controlled vocal on the airy ‘We’re Going Wrong’ (also featuring some tasteful strings), and his excellent elasticated bass on ‘Deserted Cities Of The Heart’.
‘Deserted Cities . . .’ is one of two tracks featuring Joe Bonamassa, who brings the lyrics to life with a punchy vocal, over some steely strumming in tandem with Bernie Marsden, and also contributes a highly enjoyable spangly acoustic solo.  Bonamassa and Marsden also join forces on a satisfying version of ‘Sunshine Of Your Love’, deploying a buzzing guitar effect to add some

The late lamented Bernie Marsden does his stuff

extra zip over the suitably pummelling drums and percussion of Ginger Baker – yes indeed – and Abass Dodoo respectively.
There are some other good moments too, notably on the celebrated Cream covers ‘Crossroads’, ‘Spoonful’ and ‘Sitting On The Top Of The World’.  Bernie Marsden digs out a growl to provide some necessary earthiness on the first, and adds a sterling acoustic solo - naturally.  And while I’m not keen on Bobby Rush’s normal schtick, he certainly brings authentic blues groaning and squawking harp to ‘Spoonful’ and ‘Sitting On Top Of The World’, on the latter duetting with Maggie Bell, whose pipes are also still in full working order.
But here’s the thing: these renditions have much more to do with the likes of Howlin’ Wolf and Willie Dixon than Cream.  And that’s fine by me, but seems to miss the point.
Elsewhere, Deborah Bonham delivers a fine vocal on a slinky reading of ‘Badge’.  But when Paul Rodgers pops up on the closing ‘Born Under A Bad Sign’ my first thought is that it’s not a patch on the version on his own Royal Sessions album, and would have benefitted from the warmth and depth of that album’s horns. But guess what?  Elsewhere on this set we have the legendary Pee Wee Ellis contributing sax to ‘Tales Of Brave Ulysses” and the nondescript ‘Sweet Wine’, along with trumpet from Henry Lowther.  Go figure.
So Heavenly Cream is a strange brew of good stuff and misfires, and in fact an odd project altogether.  I come back to that question – why acoustic?  Cream’s studio stuff may sound a bit undercooked nowadays, but they really made their name by cranking everything up live: the virtuosity, the jamming, and yes, the volume.  They were the original power trio.  So why dream up a tribute that travels resolutely in the opposite direction?  Beats me squire.
 
Heavenly Cream: An Acoustic Tribute To Cream is out now on Quarto Valley Records.

Bernie Marsden - Trios

And so we come to the third album in Bernie Marsden’s Inspirations series.  Following the Kings and Chess albums, Trios is something of a leap in style, as Bernie pays tribute to a bundle of “power trios” who might reasonably be filed under the heading of blues-rock.  The outfits in question are all big names, and though several of the titles are familiar, the selection isn’t stuffed with signature songs.
For my money Bernie feels more at home on this collection of (largely) down’n’dirty material than on the previous two albums, right from the fuzzed-up entry of the heavy rockin’ ‘Black Cat Moan’.  

What have you got in the case, Bernie?

Pic by Alan Bambrough

With the late Jimmy Copley crunching away on drums, this is a genuine power trio sound given to a song which, like the similarly weighty ‘Going Down’, came from the pen of Memphis maven Don Nix.
There’s similar heft to the Mountain track ‘Never In My Life’, which hoves into view with a spiral staircase of a riff, some wailing, quivering guitar breaks, and an unusually gutsy Marsden vocal.  A new one on me, it registers because of the qualities mentioned above, but the melody and lyrics are pretty humdrum.  Rick Derringer’s ‘Rock And Roll Hoochie Koo’ is a more familiar tune, and a stronger one, which Bernie and co lay into like a punch bag, Bernie slipping in some harmonised guitar here and there on the riff for variety, and unleashing a blizzard of notes during his solo.  But this is still one of the moments that leaves me wondering, what’s the point?  Edgar Winter reprised the song on his recent Brother Johnny tribute album, and I ask myself how much value there really is in Bernie putting his take out there.
The following ‘Same Old Story’ is even more of a rock’n’roller.  A deep-ish Rory Gallagher cut, it still kicks like a mule, a driving affair with David Levy’s bass pumping away in fine style.   And Marsden demonstrates a real affinity with the Gallagher sound, cracking out three very Rory-like solos in the course of four minutes, right down to the piercing tone, and even having a bash at a signature Rory “sing-along-a-Strat” passage for good measure.  One might ask if this degree of imitation has any real value beyond paying tribute, but curiously I’d suggest that here it draws attention to Rory’s singular musical nature.
In more subdued mode, Peter Green’s slowish ‘Driftin’ Blues’ is a subtler affair, with a halting riff over simple drums and bass, and Marsden delivering an exquisite solo with plenty of dynamics, and a gritty vocal that also comes over with feeling.  Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Driftin’’ is less successful though.  Bernie’s guitar work is plenty interesting, and if he doesn’t attempt to replicate Jimi’s sound he still manages to suggest his hazy tone.  But unfortunately Bernie can’t match Jimi’s peculiarly dreamy vocal.
Contrastingly, his singing stands up very well in comparison with Jimmy Dewar on Robin Trower’s ‘Too Rolling Stoned', which comes over with lots of drive and guts, right from the thrumming bass and wah-wah guitar of its intro to its edgy, wiry, slowed down coda.  And ‘Outside Woman Blues’ is another success, capturing the spirit of Cream without feeling slavish, with bouts of guitar tone suggestive of Randy Bachman on ‘American Woman’.
They get kinda funky once, on the James Gang’s aptly titled ‘Funk #49’, a familiar enough tune but one that still arrives like an old friend one doesn’t see enough of, with Jimmy Copley chucking in some powerfully funky, kit-rolling drum sallies, while Bernie’s occasionally double-tracked vocals are a tad cleaner than Joe Walsh’s distinctive voice.
I could live without ‘Spanish Castle Magic’, never one of my go-to Hendrix songs, and to close there’s a fun but corny take on Cozy Powell’s ‘Na Na Na’.  But on the whole Trios hangs together pretty well, considering its origins in the work of diverse hands.  I’m still not sure it adds much to the sum of rockin’ knowledge, but it’s enjoyable all the same.  And now for some originals please, Mr Marsden!
 
Trios is out now on Conquest Music, and can be ordered here.

Bernie Marsden - Chess

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a whole spate of covers albums and tribute albums pouring forth right now, a lot of them by big name artists.  Bernie Marsden has already contributed to it this summer with his album Kings, a tribute to BB, Albert and Freddie.  And before you can say “sweet home Chicago” he’s back with the second volume in his Inspirations series, Chess, reflecting the influence of classic blues label Chess Records.
This, I would suggest, is a different kind of proposition from its predecessor.  Whereas the focus with Albert and Freddie King, if less so BB, often lay on their guitar playing, the Chess material

"Where do I plug this in then?"

Pic by Fabio Gianardi

Marsden has selected here tends to be of a simpler, more singer and song-led nature.  And on some tracks, it seems to me, that presents our Bernie with a bit of a challenge in the vocal department.
Marsden is a good singer, but I doubt if even he'd claim that he’s a great one.  But the issue isn’t so much quality, as personality.  On ‘I’m Ready’ he lacks Muddy Waters’ resonance, so that if he sounds laid back about being ready, it’s possibly out of necessity as much as choice – though he opts to chuck in some double-tracked/harmonised vocal lines that add a different flavour.  On ‘You Can’t Judge A Book By The Cover’, which rattles along nicely on a skiffle-esque drum rhythm, and features a zinging guitar break, he can’t really match the oomph brought to the tune by Bo Diddley.  And while Chuck Berry wasn’t the most powerful of singers, the twinkle in his eye always came across, whereas on ‘Back In The USA’ Bernie sounds – well, too English really.
These examples aside though, Marsden shows the kind of feel for the material that you’d expect, right from the opening ‘Just Your Fool’, on which Alan Glen’s harmonica is much to the fore, reflecting the song’s origins with the harp legend Little Walter, while jangling piano and some bursts of organ from Bob Hadrell decorate the simple R’n’B riff, and Marsden contents himself with a brief, patient, but piercing solo to close.  Little Milton’s ‘Grits Ain’t Groceries’ is a given nice working over, with a modern sound and a punchy arrangement.  Jim Russell’s shuffling drums and John Gordon’s bass bring hints of funk, complemented by peals of organ from Hadrell, while Marsden gets himself into a vocal zone that’s satisfyingly strong and soulful.  On ‘I Can’t Hold On’ he finds similar vocal attack to go with some big, ringing slide guitar to do justice to Elmore James – all and sundry sounding as if they’re having fun as they suggest a singalong vibe with the “Talk to me baby” segment.
They do some slow stuff nicely too, firstly on ‘Won’t Be Hanging Around’, where a touch of reverb on the vocals helps him to produce extra feeling to go with some tasteful, on the money guitar interjections.  Meanwhile on ‘Who’s Been Talking’ Bernie wisely opts for a regretful vocal tone rather than competing with the weighty bitterness of Howlin’ Wolf, while successfully ‘British-bluesifying’ the song in a spooky and melancholy Peter Green fashion, courtesy of bags of sustain in his guitar tone and some haunting organ from Hadrell.
There are a couple of brief, self-penned instrumentals.  ‘Lester’ features some discordant guitar work counterpointed by the organ, over a snappy backbeat, while ‘Johnny’ is a strutting affair akin to the Fabulous Thunderbirds ‘Wait On Time’.  But nifty as they may be,  both tracks are fairly perfunctory.
Chess doesn’t perform any kind of alchemical transformation of its base material, but it’s a pleasing and respectful nod to some of Bernie Marsden’s inspirations.  But as I’ve suggested before, I’d prefer to hear him plough some fresh blues-rocking ground.
 
Chess is released by Conquest Music in association with Little House Music on 26 November, and can be ordered here.

Bernie Marsden has released a YouTube video about the making of Chess, with snippets from the songs, which you can watch here.

The Blues Enthused Christmas Stocking 2016 - Part 1

'Twas the night before Christmas, and time to concoct a winter warmer of blues, as a thank you to everyone who’s found their way here to Blues Enthused, and to all the bands and artists who made it possible.

Stevie Nimmo gets gallus in Glasgow

So let’s start by giving it up for Stevie Nimmo, who delivered my favourite studio album of the year with Sky Won’t Fall.  It’s got variety, it’s beautifully produced by Wayne Proctor and his House O’Tone chums, but above all it’s emotionally real.  The Stevie Nimmo Trio also delivered the goods on the road, and it was a delight to catch them in Glasgow and later Edinburgh, where they were joined at the end of the night by Stevie’s brother Alan.  Check out this performance of the mesmerising 'Running Back To You' from his run of Spring UK dates.

Another top drawer album this year was Dust And Bones, from Gary Hoey.  To be honest I’m not sure I gave Dust And Bones enough credit when it was released, because in retrospect it stands up damn well alongside the cream of 2016 albums.  Hoey sure as well knows his way around a fretboard, and his album does due diligence on a range of blues styles.  And as luck would have it, he also likes a festive ditty, so here he is a few years back giving big licks to ‘The Twelve Days Of Christmas’.  (We’ll forgive him the haircut.)

There was lots of good stuff going on in the middle of the year, not least the visit of Joe Louis Walker to these shores.  I was lucky enough to be able to do a short interview with JLW, before seeing him deliver a belter of a show at Dingwall’s in London – it was a privilege to see such a premier performer of electric blues, accompanied by his crack band.  From the same set of UK dates, here they are playing ‘Young Girl Blues’ during a soundcheck for their gig at The Convent.

The summer also gave us the first Edinburgh Blues’N’Rock Festival, one of the highlights of

Joe Louis Walker delivers day-glo blues!

which was the set by the Bernie Marsden Band, who rocked the joint good and proper – check out this version of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Oh Well’, complete with Bernie’s typically humorous introduction.  Not content with that, Bernie formed an alliance with fellow Festival performers Safehouse, and returned to Edinburgh for a unique night of Southern rock meets blues-rock under the banner of 'SnakeHouse' that was a blast for all concerned.  Here they are doing ‘Trouble’, with Safehouse vocalist Chris Peebles demonstrating that he could give a certain Mr C a run for his money.

Let’s hear it for the ladies too, with a nod to American vocalist Sari Schorr.  Having paid her dues over the years, Schorr got together with producer Mike Vernon and guitarist Innes SIbun to deliver her impressive debut album A Force Of Nature.  They’ve followed up with a lengthy stretch of well-received gigs by Sari Schorr & The Engine Room, which will hopefully reach venues near more of us in 2017.  Meantime, here’s a snippet of the album, and some chat from the winning Ms Schorr.

Let’s close for now by taking a look forward to the New Year.  I didn’t get round to reviewing Chicago blues man Toronzo Cannon’s album The Chicago Way, but it’s an up to the minute take on the classic Chicago seam of the genre, ranging from social commentary in ‘The Pain Around Me’ to relationship humour in the likes of ‘Bad Contract’.  Cannon is coming to Britain for the first time in the humour for a short run of dates – catch him if you can.

That’s all for now folks, except just for a festive laugh here's David Coverdale reading 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas' - honest!  Part 2 of the Blues Enthused Christmas Stocking will be with you soon.  Meantime - Merry Christmas!

Toronto Cannon's UK dates are:
19 January - Edinburgh Blues Club
20 January - Goin' Up The Country, Overton, Wrexham
21 January - The Great British Rock & Blues Festival, Skegness

Stevie Nimmo is touring France in February and the UK in March 2017.

Sari Schorr is touring Europe and the UK in early 2017.

'Snakehouse', with Bernie Marsden and Safehouse - Stramash, Edinburgh, 24 November 2016

And now for something unique, folks.  It’s Snakehouse – a notion born of a chance conversation at the Edinburgh Blues’N’Rock Festival back in July, when Bernie Marsden agreed that yeah, he quite fancied the idea of doing a show with local band Safehouse, playing a heap of classics by the Allman Brothers, Whitesnake and others.  And why not?

And so here we are in Stramash, with Safehouse opening proceedings with Moby Grape’s ‘Hey Grandma’.  Now, who the hell remembers Moby Grape?  I certainly don’t, though the name seems vaguely familiar.  But I gotta say, you’ll remember this full throated stomper the way that Safehouse deliver it, especially for Chris Peebles’ raunchy vocal.  Peebles comes across as a throwback to somewhere in 70s America, all flailing hair as he gets his rocks

Liz Jones gives an extra dimension to Snakehouse

off to the music, underlining the vibe of Southern rock that’s the Safehouse speciality.

They keep up the good work via a great guitar solo by John Bruce on Big George Watt’s ‘Take A Walk In The Wilderness’, and driving boogie with swirling keys on ‘Can’t You See’, until eventually it’s time for Bernie Marsden to enter the fray.  He demonstrates his subtlety right away with the responsiveness to the vocals of his little fills on ‘Double Trouble’, underlined by the lovely Peter Green feel of his interplay with Bruce after his solo.

There are highlights aplenty as Gary Davidson joins them to provide a twin attack with Sean Scott on drums for the Allman Brothers stuff.  This is serious guitar territory of course, and Bruce and Marsden duet to great effect on an instrumental, before Marsden produces a rollicking solo on ‘Black Hearted Woman’.  Not to be outdone, as they all get tied tight to the ‘Whipping Post’, Bruce lets go with a rip-roaring solo that demonstrates the sheer physicality of his playing.  They close this

Bernie gets down to business

portion of the show with ‘One Way Out’, on which they’re joined by Edinburgh harp supremo Gary Martin, and which frankly achieves an insane intensity from Marsden’s solo onwards.

They come back onstage with a smokin’ version of ‘Hush’, on which Bruce shows his mettle once again on his closing solo, before getting funky with Little Feat’s ‘Spanish Moon’.  Tackling ‘Trouble’ with Chris Peebles on vocals prompts the thought, “David Coverdale, oo’s ‘e then?” before Marsden takes centre stage for a rendition of Robert Johnson’s ‘Ramblin’ On My Mind’, which features some nice interplay with Ali Petrie on keyboards, before Bernie gets down to some serious business in the guitar stakes.  And just to underline his Premier League status, he then demonstrates some exquisite tone on Skynyrd’s ‘Simple Man’.

There’s then another shift in tone as guest vocalist Liz Jones joins the band to deliver top drawer lead vocals on The Animals’ ‘Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood’ and Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland’s ‘Ain’t No Love (In The Heart Of The City)’, reinstating some verses that Whitesnake forgot (ie, Bernie forgot when he taught it to them).

They wind up proceedings with ‘La Grange’, with two drummers on the go again alongside bassist Andy Stirling, and serving up as meaty a delivery of the riff as Billy Gibbons could hope for.  Encoring with Whitesnake’s ‘Here I Go Again’ naturally leads to some mass choir practice for the crowd – though personally I’ll always prefer ‘Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues’.

It’s the end of a wild night of music, a celebration of its simple pleasures, and a night to remember for the Safehouse guys and their compadres.  Call it blues, call it rock, call it what you like – this is what it’s all about.

Bernie Marsden Band - Edinburgh Blues'N'Rock Festival, 30 July 2016

Early Saturday afternoon, and the Corn Exchange is already busy.  During the following hours around 800 fans will fill the place up for the inaugural Edinburgh Blues’N’Rock Festival – a successful first outing, which will hopefully be built on in years to come.

So to begin at – well, the middle, at around 6pm as the Bernie Marsden Band take the stage.  Right away Bernie and co set about delivering the goods to an audience whose appetite has been whetted by the four acts that shaped the afternoon.  Kicking off with ‘Linin’ Track’ from his 2014 album Shine, with its opening gospel feel slipping into something more heavy, and sidekick Jim Kirkpatrick weighing in with spot on slide guitar, Bernie swiftly has a crowd gathering at the front of the stage.

Bernie Marsden - gertcha!

They limber up a bit more with the Santana-ish instrumental ‘Strictly Latino’, with locked in guitar harmonies between Marsden and Kirkpatrick, before getting down to business with a selection of Marsden solo efforts, blues classics, and the big hits from his heyday with the pre-1987 (and best) formulations of Whitesnake.

Albert King’s oft-covered ‘Born Under A Bad Sign’ is a decent showcase for Marsden’s vocals.  He may not have the resonance or the range to be a top-drawer blues bawler, but then neither did Albert King.  He’s earthy enough, with strong phrasing, and has developed a bit of a blues growl into the bargain.  On this, Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Oh Well’, and ‘Sitting On Top Of The World’ – popularised by Howlin’ Wolf, but going way back to the Mississippi Sheiks and probably beyond – it’s evident that Marsden is as familiar with such blues mainstays as he is with his own backyard.

Shine also supplies ‘Kinda Wish You Would’, a short and sweet slice of boogie that works as a neat curtain-raiser to the hits Marsden contributed to Whitesnake.

Marsden can’t quite emulate David Coverdale’s vocal on ‘Fool For Your Loving’, but it really doesn’t matter.  It’s a classic riff from a musician who really is in the major league.  ‘Ain’t No Love (In The Heart Of The City)’ is a truncated version of the Bobby Bland original because, as Marsden has famously admitted, he overlooked a verse when he taught it to his Whitesnake bandmates.  But it’s still a crowd-pleaser, and he supplements it with a chunk of ‘Thrill Is Gone’ for good measure.

‘Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues’ is one of my all-time favourite blues-rock tracks, and after a teasing intro it lives up to that billing here.  If I have one regret, it’s that it isn’t given its own moment of acclaim, but slides into ‘Here I Go Again’.  Marsden knows how to work the crowd with it, as they bawl out the chorus, and he adds an upbeat, high revving coda to round it out.

‘Walkin’ By Myself’, in the manner of Marsden’s old pal Gary Moore, rounds out proceedings.  With old Whitesnake compadre Neil Murray on bass (a chant of “One Neil Murray" starts up at one point) and Micky Butler on drums Marsden has a suitably substantial rhythm section, and Jim Kirkpatrick’s guitar and backing vocal contributions suggest that Bernie has also found a foil to rival Micky Moody.  The only thing that’s missing is the gutsy sound of a Hammond B3 organ – but who could step into those shoes?

More reviews from the Edinburgh Blues’N’Rock Festival to follow . . . !