Time: 51:35
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Blues Rock
Art: Front
01. America Needs A Queen (4:18)
02. Salt Sugar And Fat (4:39)
03. Post Op Transgender (5:11)
04. Hungry And Horny (3:12)
05. Westboro Baptist Blues (5:17)
06. 90 Proof Truth (4:05)
07. C.I.A (3:36)
08. Lawyer Riding Shotgun (3:25)
09. Going Down (5:02)
10. Boom Boom (Out Goes The Lights) (3:09)
11. Raise Your Hand (4:59)
12. My Ding-A-Ling (4:37)
Chris Barnes plays his blues by planting tongue firmly in cheek, and then biting that tongue with heaping sarcasm and wit. Add in a dash of topical social commentary alongside the funky grooves and thunderous rhythmic assault and you’ve got the foundations of one of the most entertaining, if not pertinent, blues/roots releases in recent memory.
The Scranton native, who has done NEPA proud for the last 30-plus years as a successful comedian, writer, actor, club owner (he and partner Jacqui are proprietors of the successful gay bars Flaming Saddles in New York and L.A.), and all-around master performer, has just released a blues album under the moniker Bad News Barnes & The Brethren of Blues Band. The album, titled “90 Proof Truth,” is a titanic statement, both lyrically and musically – but that’s nothing new for this outspoken personality.
The new album sees some serious talent backing him, including Tom “Bones” Malone and “Blue” Lou Marini of Blues Brothers fame on horns, as well as guitarist Felicia Collins of David Letterman’s CBS Orchestra. There’s also contributions from Bette Sussman, who’s spent time as pianist in Cyndi Lauper and Bette Midler’s bands, and drummer Chris Parker of Bob Dylan and Joe Cocker fame.
Barnes specializes in a variety of blues called hokum, defined as “a humorous song which uses extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make sexual innuendos.” He’s not limited in this definition, though, as he tackles everything from the ideal of having a woman in the White House (“America Needs a Queen”), the corporate “fattening” of the populace (“Salt, Sugar, and Fat”), and the sheer folly of the religious right (“Westboro Baptist Blues”).
The Scranton native, who has done NEPA proud for the last 30-plus years as a successful comedian, writer, actor, club owner (he and partner Jacqui are proprietors of the successful gay bars Flaming Saddles in New York and L.A.), and all-around master performer, has just released a blues album under the moniker Bad News Barnes & The Brethren of Blues Band. The album, titled “90 Proof Truth,” is a titanic statement, both lyrically and musically – but that’s nothing new for this outspoken personality.
The new album sees some serious talent backing him, including Tom “Bones” Malone and “Blue” Lou Marini of Blues Brothers fame on horns, as well as guitarist Felicia Collins of David Letterman’s CBS Orchestra. There’s also contributions from Bette Sussman, who’s spent time as pianist in Cyndi Lauper and Bette Midler’s bands, and drummer Chris Parker of Bob Dylan and Joe Cocker fame.
Barnes specializes in a variety of blues called hokum, defined as “a humorous song which uses extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make sexual innuendos.” He’s not limited in this definition, though, as he tackles everything from the ideal of having a woman in the White House (“America Needs a Queen”), the corporate “fattening” of the populace (“Salt, Sugar, and Fat”), and the sheer folly of the religious right (“Westboro Baptist Blues”).
90 Proof Truth