Brewer Phillips - Homebrew

Size: 141,2 MB
Time: 61:02
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1996
Styles: Electric blues
Art: Full

1. You Don't Have To Go (3:51)
2. For You My Love (3:18)
3. Your So Cold (3:31)
4. Hen House Boogie (2:40)
5. Lunch Bucket Blues (4:41)
6. Don't You Want To Go Home With Me (3:42)
7. Blue Shadows (3:47)
8. My Baby Don't Love Me No More (4:06)
9. Laundromat Blues (3:14)
10. Looking For A Woman (3:56)
11. Cross Examination (4:55)
12. Homebrew (4:03)
13. Right Now (2:28)
14. Tore Down (4:09)
15. Let The Good Times Roll (3:09)
16. Do What You Will Or May (5:24)

It's amazing to think that Brewer Phillips would be 70-plus years old before releasing his U.S. debut album, but after a couple of years in virtual seclusion, Delmark coaxed him back into the studio for this fine set. Phillips's regular working band is aboard with pianist Aaron Moore handling the bulk of the vocals, Magic Sam's drummer, Robert "Huckleberry Hound" Wright, and Willie Black on bass providing simple but effective support. Phillips sings on the Jimmy Reed classic "You Don't Have to Go," "Looking for a Woman" and "Lunch Bucket Blues" and his single string work is highlighted on the instrumental title track. A simple, laidback album with some surprising fireworks in all the unexpected places. /Cub Koda, AllMusic

Homebrew mc
Homebrew zippy

---

Brewer Phillips - Well Alright

Size: 149,4 MB
Time: 63:34
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1999
Styles: Chicago Blues
Art: Full

01. You Don't Have To Go (4:23)
02. Kansas City (5:15)
03. You Can't Sit Down (3:20)
04. Dust My Broom (Version 1) (4:33)
05. Mama Talk To Your Daughter (4:42)
06. Lunchbucket Blues (1:34)
07. Blues Before Sunrise (4:41)
08. Wild About You Baby (4:35)
09. Magic Rocker (5:15)
10. Folgers/Canadian Club Promo (0:58)
11. I'm Looking For A Woman (2:18)
12. Dust My Broom (Version 2) (3:09)
13. Jumping With Symphony Sid (4:03)
14. Mean Black Spider (6:14)
15. Sweet Home Chicago (4:30)
16. Raoul's Squaw Joke (0:40)
17. Dirty Mother (3:18)

While blues in Chicago may be healthier than it is elsewhere, there is a distinct variety that has all but passed away into the ghostland of musical history in the 21st century. That strain is the in-your-face good-time raw, rough and ready blues of the city's South Side. Guitarist Brewer Phillips, who passed away in 1999, was best known for the time he spent as a member of Hound Dog Taylor's Houserockers, a band that had two guitarists and no bass player. That's because Phillips' amazing style, one that encompassed rock-solid rhythmic basslines and wild lead guitar runs (with and without a slide), was his trademark. Phillips was an unbridled showman whose love of the music and a good time was infectious. Despite the fact that he only released one solo album, called Homebrew on Chicago's venerable Delmark label, he was a well-established solo attraction at home and on the international festival circuit. Well Alright is a dynamite set of 17 performances containing nine previously unissued performances from his solo career as well as four released during his tenure with Taylor. The rest feature Phillips in the company of notable bluesmen like J.B. Hutto, Louis Myers, the great shuffling blues drummer Ted Harvey, and the mighty rocker and bluesman Cub Koda (full disclosure: Cub was a steady All Music Guide contributor until his death in 2000). Two of these tracks (with Hutto and Harvey) come from a set called Good Houserockin', released as an import. The rest are new, made up of live and studio outtakes. The performance quality is uniformly high even if the audio is a bit flawed on some tracks -- but not so much as to detract from the listening experience. Especially notable are the numerous instrumentals here, such as the unhinged "You Can't Sit Down" and "Magic Rocker," with Koda and the smokin' Boston drummer Leroy Pina. This is a burning set of house-rockin' blues that is familiar and predictable, yes, but not in terms of energy and sheer verve. Phillips took a ton of chances with his own playing, and while he made plenty of mistakes (thank God), his rhythmic sensibility was always spot-on. This is the sound of the original Maxwell Street rolled into the South and West Side clubs and studios, and documents the orgiastic vibe that was part of Chicago's blues tradition. We have precious little of it left. ~Thom Jurek

Well Alright MP3
Well Alright FLAC

---

Brewer Phillips & Ted Harvey - Good Houserockin' (Feat. J.B. Hutto)

Size: 141,0 MB
Time: 59:52
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1995
Styles: Chicago Blues, Rockin' Blues
Art: Full

01. In The Evening (3:15)
02. Kitchen Sink Boogie (Take 1) (3:22)
03. Fanny's Blues (4:16)
04. I'm Gonna Find My Baby (4:44)
05. Crazy 'Bout You Baby (2:42)
06. South Side Blues (2:19)
07. No Luck Blues (5:11)
08. Highway Blues (2:40)
09. Hello Pretty Baby (2:21)
10. Ingleside Boogie (2:46)
11. Cotton Sack (2:34)
12. Mama Talk To Your Daughter (2:23)
13. You Don't Have To Go (2:26)
14. Boogie Chillen (1:48)
15. Sweet Home Chicago (5:07)
16. That's All Right (4:05)
17. Kansas City (3:35)
18. Kitchen Sink Boogie (Take 2) (2:39)
19. Lunch Bucket Blues (1:33)

Personnel: Brewer Philips (guitar, vocal) , Steve Plair (guitar, slide guitar on 1-11) , J.B. Hutto (guitar on 12-17) , Cub Coda (guitar on 18,19) , Right Hand Frank (bass on 1-11) , Mark Harris (bass on 17) , Mike Allen (piano on 17) , Ted Harvey (drums).

This combines various late-'70s and early-'80s recordings into one package. The first 11 tracks are from Phillips's 1982 solo album for the label, Ingleside Blues. The next six tracks were recorded live in 1977 in Vienna and Boston, featuring Brewer fronting J.B. Hutto and the Houserockers. The last two sides are unissued leftovers from the 1980 Cub Koda and the Houserockers' It's the Blues! album. Phillips's longtime playing partner, drummer Ted Harvey, is present on all 19 tracks and shares billing with him on this disc. Some of the recording quality (especially on the live Hutto tracks) is unbelievably crude and harsh sounding, making the overall sound of this disc very spotty and uneven. This collection is probably the most complete -- though not necessarily the best -- collection of Phillips's solo work. ~All Music Guide

Good Houserockin'

---

Brewer Phillips & The Houserockers - Whole Lotta Blues

Size: 107,3 MB
Time: 46:05
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1982/2000
Styles: Chicago Blues, Juke Joint Blues
Art: Full

01. Whisky Headed Woman (5:19)
02. Poison Ivy (4:39)
03. Watermelon Man (3:37)
04. Poor Boy Blues (6:11)
05. Pretty Baby (4:10)
06. Whole Lotta Love (3:12)
07. Okee Dokee Stomp (3:18)
08. Woke Up This Morning (3:41)
09. Cleo (4:55)
10. Every Day I Have The Blues (2:51)
11. Just Pickin' (4:09)

Brewer Phillips is best remembered as a driving force behind Hound Dog Taylor’s Houserockers. Alongside his loud long-time drumming partner Ted Harvey, Brewer would keep a bass-line pounding on his guitar using a thumb-pick, while using his fingers to strum the heavy juke-joint boogies of his native Mississippi hill country. This potent rhythm section allowed Hound Dog to wail his slide guitar over this insanely insistent beat, and Brewer would sometimes contribute his shimmering single-string lead guitar lines to the mix too. After Hound Dog’s demise, Brewer continued to back other Chicago artists and issued a rare solo album when he was almost 60 years old.

Born in Coila MS in 1924, Brewer was a childhood friend of Eddie ‘Playboy’ Taylor whose guitar work was to become the rock on which Jimmy Reed‘s career rested. Both kids recognised the value of the heavy boogie beats coming out of the juke-joints all around the area. When Brewer moved to Memphis in the mid-50s, he did some session work with Memphis Minnie and Roosevelt Sykes before joining Bill Harvey’s band. Brewer lived the life of a working musician throughout the 60s and joined up with Hound Dog Taylor in Chicago towards the end of the decade. When Delmark producer Bruce Iglauer could not persuade owner Bob Koester to sign The Houserockers, he formed Alligator Records to get the music out there. The success of their first album got the band and the label off to a great start, and Brewer’s ‘sheet-metal tone’ had a lot to do with it. The Houserockers always put on a fantastic performance, as their many live albums show, but sadly Hound Dog passed away from cancer in 1976.

Whole Lotta Blues

---