Showing posts with label Geraint Watkins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Geraint Watkins. Show all posts

Sunday, March 16, 2025

Geraint Watkins & The Mosquitoes - Here And There

Album: Here And There
Size: 61,2 MB
Time: 26:30
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2025
Styles: Blues/R&B
Art: Front

1. Deep In The Heart Of Texas (3:49)
2. House On The Prairie (3:08)
3. Go West (3:45)
4. Rollin' Man (3:23)
5. Midnight Rambler (6:16)
6. Johnny B. Goode (6:07)

Watkins was a member of noted British bands Juice on the Loose and Red Beans & Rice, and following a move to London with the latter, he soon found himself on the “Be Stiff Route 78” tour as part of Micky Jupp’s band. Shortly afterwards in 1979, Andy Fairweather Low produced Watkins’ first album for the Vertigo label. Session work for producer Stuart Colman followed which led to him joining Shakin’ Stevens’ band before going on to record and play live with Dave Edmunds and many others including Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Mark Knopfler, Dr. Feelgood, Rory Gallagher, The Blues Band, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stray Cats, Carl Perkins, John Wesley Harding, Tom Jones, Roger Daltrey and John Martyn, to name a few.

As a soulful sideman of choice since his tenure with Red Beans and Rice and Shakin’ Stevens, Geraint Watkins had always been in demand to play in the top division. And yet, in addition to his touring and recording with Nick Lowe, Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings and Van Morrison, he somehow managed to keep The Balham Alligators stomping for fifteen years too. In the midst of all of these commitments and with Watkins’ eye-popping vocals and accordion at the front, The Balham Alligators somehow held together for fifteen wild years, keeping the music of Louisiana alive in London's pubs and setting the bar impossibly high for those in their wake.

Watkins is also a revered creator of his own sublime music, much of which has already been perfectly captured in a handful of solo albums, and – subject to availability - he occasionally performs this material with his band, The Mosquitoes. The recordings on this album were performed live to sold-out shows in 2023 in Cardiff and London where Watkins is joined by the Mosquitoes du jour featuring Martin Winning (sax and clarinet), Oliver Darling (guitar/vocals), Paul Riley (bass), Malcolm Mills (drums) and with guest Bob Loveday (fiddle).

Here And There mc
Here And There gofile

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Lazy Lester Feat. Benoit Blue Boy & Geraint Watkins - Yes Indeed!

Album: Yes Indeed!
Size: 123,4 MB
Time: 53:24
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2020
Styles: Blues, harmonica blues
Art: Full

1. I Made Up My Mind (4:23)
2. A String To Your Heart (4:35)
3. Ya Ya (4:06)
4. What You Want Me To Do (4:48)
5. Tell Me (2:59)
6. Your Cheatin' Heart (4:38)
7. You Don't Have To Go (2:56)
8. Irene (3:56)
9. Back A La Maison (6:15)
10. Patrol Wagon Blues (7:56)
11. I'm A Man (6:49)

Lazy Lester (June 20, 1933 - August 22, 2018) was born Leslie Carswell Johnson Lester Johnson. At the time of recording his first album "True Blues" (1967), producer JD Miller thought that a different name would be more appropriate, because “Lazy Lester had more of a ring to it than Lester Johnson”. Miller thought the name Lazy Lester suited Lester's slow, lazy way of talking. Lester himself commented "I was never in a hurry to do nothing". During the first part of his musical career he accompanied musicians such as Lightnin' Slim, Buddy Guy and Slim Harpo.

On his own albums it appears that Lester has mastered the blues idiom like no other. He is not a world singer, but a perfect bluesman, with vocals that drag just as much as the rest of the music does. His tone is not always flawless, but never false. He often sings around it or tends to talk. Lester has been called one of the founders of the swamp blues, a mix of blues, swamp and country, mixed with influences from pop, rock n roll, and R&B and Jimmy Reed's influence always resonates loudly in his music.

In 1975 he quit as a musician and had all kinds of jobs for years. In 1987 he returned to work as a musician and made a number of albums, including "Harp & Soul" (1988) on Alligator Records. In 2001 "Blues Stop Knockin" was released, with Jimmie Vaughan and Sue Foley on guitar. Vaughan's guitar playing turned out to be a perfect match for Lester's emphatic, casual way of singing. At the end of his career, Lazy Lester played at Le Festival Musique de la Nouvelle in Perigueux, France in 2003.

Organizer/musician Benoit Blue Boy thought it would be a good idea to let his band Les Tortilleurs play with Lazy Lester at the local Parc Gamenson. For the occasion, Welsh keyboardist Geraint Watkins was added to the band. The recordings of the very successful performance have now been released under the name "Yes Indeed!", and Les Tortilleurs are doing great as a backing band, especially when you know that Lazy Lester left the harmonica partly to Benoit Blue Boy. (Translated from Dutch)

Personnel: Lazy Lester (vocals, guitar); Benoit Blue Boy (harmonica); Stan Noubard Pacha (guitar); Thibaut Chopin (bass); Fabrice Millerioux (drums); Geraint Watkins (Hammond B3 organ).

Yes Indeed! mc
Yes Indeed! gofile