Album:
Keys To The Blues
Size: 132,1 MB
Time: 56:56
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1999
Styles: Soul-Blues, Modern Electric Blues
Art: Full
01. You Talk Too Much (3:36)
02. Rock Me , Baby (3:13)
03. Thank You, Pretty Baby (4:43)
04. I'm Tore Down (3:10)
05. Since I Met You, Baby (3:42)
06. Honey Hush (2:16)
07. Early In The Morning (3:03)
08. Summertime (4:32)
09. Every Day I Have The Blues (2:47)
10. Stagger Lee (3:12)
11. Every Beat Of My Heart (3:48)
12. Walkin' The Dog (4:19)
13. I Hear You Knockin' (3:29)
14. Reconsider Baby (3:00)
15. Good Rockin' Tonight (3:30)
16. Three O 'Clock Blues (4:28)
"Keys to the Blues" is Curley Bridges' first release as a frontman since he all but gave up recording in 1961 after receiving his one and only royalty check for just $62.20. Thankfully, Bridges, who played piano and sang with the Motley Crew from 1953 to 1966, was recently persuaded to reconsider. "Keys to the Blues" will make you glad that he did. From the moment the band comes crashing in on "You Talk Too Much," right through to the closing bars of "Three O’clock Blues," this is a CD that will keep you interested and entertained throughout.
All the tracks are covers, but Bridges adds new life into some of the finest Blues, R&B and Jump Blues songs from the 1950's and '60's. He adapts his vocals to match the mood, whether it be as a Blues shouter on "Stagger Lee," or getting mellow and soulful on Johnny Otis' "Every Beat of My Heart." And if a song needs a lazy drawl, that's no problem to Bridges either. He's also more than a match for most of today's Blues pianists, as evidenced by songs like Ivory Joe Hunter's "Since I Met You, Baby." Add in a sympathetic band, complete with horns and you've got the recipe for success.
Bridges has been living in Canada since 1966, most recently in Ontario, where he frequently performs solo. He received rave reviews when he played at the 1997 Toronto Harbourfront Soul'n'Blues festival, and on the basis of "The Keys to the Blues" it's easy to see why -- the man comes across as a natural born entertainer, even in the studio.
"Keys to the Blues" is recommended fare for all those who know and love real R&B. It succeeds on two levels. First it's a good introduction to Curley Bridges, and second it provides useful pointers to some very fine R&B songs and musicians. Buy it and help to give Curley Bridges the payday he so richly deserves. Buy it anyway, just to check out his shirts on the cover. ~Review by Gordon Baxter
Keys To The Blues
Album:
Live At The Silver Dollar Room
Size: 140,8 MB
Time: 60:36
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2009
Styles: Soul Blues
Art: Front
01. Where Did My Baby Go? (Live) (3:40)
02. Honey Hush (Live) (4:51)
03. Since I Met You Baby (Live) (6:07)
04. Walk On (Live) (4:53)
05. 3 O'Clock Blues (Live) (6:13)
06. Give Me One Reason (Live) (5:00)
07. Happy Birthday Curley Boogie - Julian Fauth (Bonus Track) (2:43)
08. Mr. Rock 'N' Soul (3:17)
09. Caledonia (6:20)
10. Sloop John B (5:52)
11. You're The One (5:21)
12. Mojo Re:worked (6:13)
Personnel:
Curley Bridges - Vocals, Keyboards and lip Trumpet
Chris Whiteley - Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica & Trumpet
Omar Tunnoch - Bass
Bucky Berger - Drums
Julian Fauth - Vocals & Piano on Track 7
Curley Bridges is not a long lost and forgotten Bluesman playing obscure songs, instead he harkens back to an era when men never left home without their hat, women go-go danced in cages, everyone enjoyed 3 martini lunches and perhaps most surprising of all, Blues music was part of the Popular Culture, particularly in Canada where Curley Bridges played a major role beginning in 1955, in introducing live R&B and Rock ‘n’ Roll, as the vocalist and keyboard player for Frank Motley and his Motley Crew, the first African American unit to tour Canada playing this music, to both eager audiences and a whole generation of younger Canadian musicians.
Born February 7th, 1934 in Fuquay Varina, North Carolina, Curley snuck out as a child to hear Big Joe Turner and Louis Jordan when they passed through nearby Raleigh, but it was not until after he attended a U.S.O. performance by piano titans, Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson, after being drafted into the U.S. Army and stationed in Washington, D.C., that he himself considered making music. Soon drawn into the Red Hot Jazz and Blues scene in D.C. then thriving around the Howard Theatre. He was soon gigging and recording regularly with Dual Trumpeter extraordinaire Frank Motley. Their Pre-Elvis Atomic powered version of Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog” perked up a lot of ears, including those of Colonel Harold Kuddlets of Hamilton, who offered them a week of work in Toronto, which was soon extended to alternating six week stands between Toronto and the Esquire Show Bar in the then wide open City of Montreal. The success of the Motley Crew in Canada emboldened the Colonel to look even further south the next year and to next import Rompin’ Ronnie Hawkins from Arkansas, whose locally recruited group The Hawks would soon evolve into The Band.
After touring the U.S. extensively through the late 50’s, Curley and Motley returned to the more racially tolerant Toronto permanently in the early 60’s, just in time to play a major role in the Golden Age of the Toronto Music Scene. The Coffee House’s in Yorkville featured Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and believe it or not transplanted U.S. bluesman Lonnie Johnson. Gordon Lightfoot worked the Taverns on Yonge Street. The Sparrow evolved into Steppenwolf. Oscar Peterson had a residency at the King Cole Room and Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, now featuring Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko and Garth Hudson, ruled the roost, with competition from David Clayton Thomas and The Shays. Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf were frequent visitors at the Colonial Tavern, and a steady wave of Jamaican immigrants sparked up a vital local Reggae and Ska scene presided over by Byron Lee and the Dragonaires. In the midst of this musical melting pot thrived Curley Bridges, still working with the Motley Crew, as well as fronting his own band the Bridge Crossings, and guesting on a great sonic snapshop of the era 1968’s “Jackie Shane Live” LP.
Tipped off by Toronto Music aficionado Bill Munson in 1997 that Curley Bridges was living about an hour north of the city in semi-retirement, and having long admired his seminal R&B recordings from the 50’s and 60’s. I made the trek up to see him play a solo gig at an upscale supper club where the median age of the audience was about 80. After introducing myself to him at the break I enquired if he ever still sang the Blues, shaking his head Curley replied nobody had asked him to do that in over 20 years, but he advised me to come back for the last set when the club would have emptied out of it’s elderly patrons, and he’d see what he could do. True to his word he launched into a set of Big Joe Turner, Lowell Fulson, Freddie King and Ivory Joe Hunter classics that made my head spin. That evening led to 1998’s “Keys To The Blues” and 2001’s “Mr. Rock and Soul” on Electro-Fi, his first new recordings in over 25 years. “Live At The Silver Dollar Room” was both a chance to celebrate the 75th Birthday of a dear friend and R&B icon and to share with you an evening of a consummate professional at work. ~Andrew Galloway
Live At The Silver Dollar Room