Ronnie Baker Brooks - Blues In My DNA

Albums from Chicago bluesman Ronnie Baker Brooks don’t come along every year – his last release was 2017’s Times Have Changed, and a hell of lot of water has flowed under the world’s bridges since then.  This seems like a pity, because his personal mix of blues, funk and soul has strong roots, but isn’t stuck in the past.
Our Ronnie is, in case you didn’t know, the son of the late Chicago blues icon Lonnie Brooks, hence the title of Blues In My DNA. And Dad pops up in the brief snippet ‘Lonnie’s Blessing’, with the exhortation “Keep these blues alive!” ahead of the title track. ‘Blues In My DNA’ combines a cool, fuzzy riff with a dragging rhythm and reflective sprechgesang vocals from Brooks, as he lays out his inheritance.  It’s not just about his blues legacy from Lonnie, but the
broader story of a troubled neighbourhood, the struggles of his upbringing, and the way blues “the bad into a positive”.  And his gritty soloing captures the mood too, leaning into a few discordant notes along the way.

Ronnie Baker Brooks - the Chicago mojo still works

Pic by Jim Summeria

The most accessible track here is ‘Instant Gratification’, which opens with punchy chorus and a chunky riff that carries more than a hint of ‘Satisfaction’ and is ramped up later on. There’s stop-time riffing on the verses and plenty of guitar sizzle on a couple of solos.
But Baker also does a couple of soulful turns on ‘My Love Will Make You Do Right’ and ‘All True Man’.  His voice may not quite have a caramel sweetness on these, but it’s suitably light for the smooth Robert Cray-like stylings of the former, which may be a tad overlong but comes with a neat, melody-chasing solo.  ‘All True Man’ also has some seductive Cray leanings, but is a tougher funk strut with stinging guitar punctuation.  It’s brightened by piano embroidery around the margins from Rick Steff (as most of the tracks are), and features a piercing, clear-toned solo with distinct changes of pace.
Baker’s command of funkiness is also evident on the opener ‘I’m Feeling You’, with it’s brightly bouncing riff, pleasing melody and scattergun, zesty guitar licks.  There’s a slinky drop into a bass-led bridge, then with a grunted “Unhh” Baker sets off on a sharp guitar break. Then as the end approaches they punch up the backing to drive home an upbeat second solo.
Baker turns his hand to classic blues stylings too.  The slow and soulful ‘Accept My Love’ may not be anything exceptional, even if it’s nicely put together with its subtle backing that weaves in restrained moaning horns and strokes of Hammond organ.  But the slow blues of ‘Stuck On Stupid’ - an old cut he's chosen to reprise - is much stronger, opening with evocative lead guitar narration over ambling bass from Dave Smith and simple piano chords.  It’s about a guy trailing around after a woman who treats him like dirt, natch, and Baker captures the sense of resignation with a yearning vocal and a convincing, plaintive guitar soloing.
‘Robbing Peter To Pay Paul’ is a classic blues tale of being on your uppers, but it bumps along pleasingly, and Baker keeps the hoary old images fresh with a well delivered vocal interspersed with nippy guitar licks.  His nifty solo has a deft, light touch, and there’s a nice shift into a harmony-led conclusion.  And the closing ‘My Boo’ is a cheerful canter that takes a Wolf-ish, ‘Howlin’ For My Darlin’ type riff and lifts it into a sunnier, zippier mode, giving a fresh twist to a classic Chicago vibe.
Blues In My DNA isn’t a ground-breaking album.  But with a crystal clear production from Jim Gaines, it demonstrates that Ronnie Baker Brooks, with his effortless vocals and ability to make sparks fly from his fingertips, can continue to get the mojo working with traditional Chicago blues sounds.
 
Blues In My DNA is released on 11 October by Alligator Records.

Tommy Castro & The Painkillers/Ronnie Baker Brooks - BB Kings, New York, 10 October 2017.

In New York on holiday last week, and what better way to spend an evening than catching Tommy Castro & The Painkillers, and Ronnie Baker Brooks, playing at BB Kings?  And an interesting way too, with two bands taking different approaches to the blues.

Tommy Castro is nominally the headliner, but with the two outfits essentially co-headlining he’s opted to come on first tonight, and opens his set with ‘Rock Bottom’, from new album Stomping Ground, which he tells us has bounded to #2 on the Billboard blues chart.

Tommy Castro - "it ain't rocket surgery"

Recorded with Mike Zito guesting, it’s a breezy shuffle decorated with some rinky-dink piano from Michael Emerson.  They follow up with the title track from 2014 album The Devil You Know, with Emerson switching to organ to back up the strutting riff.  Right away it’s clear that Randy McDonald’s booming, funky bass locks everything together to underpin Castro’s guitar and vocals.

‘Lose Lose’ is the first offering from 2015’s excellent Method To My Madness, with more great bass from McDonald and expressive vocals from Castro, but that’s just a warm-up for ‘Ride’, from the same album.  A tale of steamy nights and wild characters in North Beach, California, during Castro’s younger days, it oozes atmosphere as it drifts along on McDonald’s loping bass line. Emerson contributes rippling, spiky piano, then they wind it down and segue perfectly into Tom Petty’s ‘Breakdown’, on which Castro turns out a beautifully controlled guitar solo.  As with the later ‘Nonchalant’, from the new album, Castro’s soloing serves the song, not his ego.

Dipping way into his back catalogue, ‘Can’t Keep A Good Man Down’, from Castro’s long ago second album has some sock it to ‘em shuffling from Bowen Brown on drums.  Down the stretch highlights from the new album are to the fore with ‘Old Neighbourhood’ and ‘Blues All Around Me’.  The former is a song of nostalgia for simpler times, with a Hispanic feel and a great sense of place – and some interweaving of licks from ‘Jessica’ too, methinks.  The latter, meanwhile, is a co-write with New Yorker Johnny Ace, who looks every inch the Big Apple bohemian as he gets up to join in on vocals.

As Castro says, his material is a soup of blues, soul and rock’n’roll, a product of the San Jose environment he grew up in – the stomping ground of the album title.  As he also says, in his Cheshire Cat grinning fashion, “it ain’t rocket surgery”.  But it’s good stuff, sometimes damn good, and the commitment of guys like him to performing new material is essential to keep the blues alive.

To be honest, Ronnie Baker Brooks was just a name to me before this gig.  I had seen a few mentions of his new album Times Have Changed, but didn’t realise he was the son of veteran Chicago bluesman Lonnie Brooks, who died earlier this year.  Coming on with the volume cranked up and going to work on his guitar right from the first bar, his set is a rather different proposition from Castro’s.

Brooks is a big guy, with a big personality that comes over through in-yer-face, wing-ding

Ronnie Baker Brooks - let's get this party started!

guitar playing that’s backed up by his tight band, with Maurice Jones in particular giving it plenty on drums.

Willie Dixon’s ‘My Love Will Never Die’ shows off a more soulful and subtle side though, with a pulsing rhythm and pinging guitar, and is a good showcase for the easy warmth of Brooks’ voice.  He follows that with a medley of blues classics that kicks off with the heavy R’n’B of ‘Born In Chicago’, on which he really starts to demonstrate that he’s a genuine guitar honcho, before easing through ‘Catfish Blues’ and into ‘I Just Want To Make Love To You’.  At this point he exercises top notch showmanship as he brings it down, before turning out a hilarious, spot on impression of what a John Lee Hooker take on the vocal would sound like. He doesn’t quite hit the bulls-eye with the following impersonation of Howlin’ Wolf, but makes up for it by bringing things to a wild conclusion.

After that he does turn to material from the new album, kicking off with the funky ‘Twine Time’, incorporating some great call and response stuff with keyboard player Daryl Coutts.  ‘Times Have Changed’ itself follows, with a very Buddy Guy feel and some nice counterpoint from waves of keys from Coutts, who also partners Brooks in a novel rap section (performed by Al Kapone on the album).  ‘Doing Too Much’ is a platform for some great riffing, as well as some smart contemporary lyrics.  A slow blues then provides a contrast, Brooks taking the volume right down low with some downright tasteful guitar before building it back up with witty soloing.

He gets Tommy Castro back to jam on ‘Let Me Love You Baby’, belts straight into ‘Honey Hush’ and then goes into a guitar impersonation of Albert Collins on which he makes his guitar talk in such a fashion that the crowd starts going nuts.  By the time they shut up shop for the night with Hooker’s ‘Boogie Chillin’’ people are really on their feet, egging him on to create instrumental mayhem.

Brooks may include new material his set, but he’s readier than Tommy Castro to lean on blues classics as a catalyst for traditional guitar fireworks.  He does it brilliantly too, as the crowd reaction attests.  But at the same time it perhaps draws attention away from the new songs, leaving the audience sated, but not overly challenged to explore new horizons.  Whatever – Ronnie Baker Brooks still knows how to rock the joint.  Big time.

Tommy Castro & The Painkillers tour Europe and the UK in November and December, details here.