Time: 44:50
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2019
Styles: Slide Guitar Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front
01. Resonator Blues (3:56)
02. Sweet Cream Cadillac (4:11)
03. Mississippi Mud (4:30)
04. Penitentiary Bound (3:18)
05. Jesus Set Me Free (3:55)
06. Red Hot Lover (3:41)
07. Death Letter (4:12)
08. Whiskey And Water (4:03)
09. Unconditional Love (2:48)
10. It Hurts Me Too (3:28)
11. Back In My Arms (3:09)
12. Prison Train (3:32)
I’ve always been a fan of Derek Davis’ songwriting back to the early days of Babylon A.D. and those first two albums which were studded with gems, but it wasn’t until his first solo album ‘Re-Volt’ in 2012 that I first got in contact. I’ve interviewed him a number of times over the years and there’s always been this feeling that we share a love for a lot of the same music. I always thought that Derek had so much soul in his voice he could turn his hand to any gene.
We spoke in 2015 about how cool a Soul album would be and in 2017 he blew me away with ‘Revolutionary Soul’ and when he told me that next up for him was a Blues album I knew he’d do it justice. What I didn’t quite expect though was how much ground Derek would be covering. ‘Resonator Blues’ is an album that not only delves into the music most currently associate with the resonator guitar – Delta Blues with a lot of slide, but it also touches upon Americana, Folk, Southern Rock and even the Jump Blues that you hear on his latest singe ‘Sweet Cream Cadillac.’
Of course it’s Bottleneck-slide that comes across most in this collection, a record on which Davis has played all guitars and bass, and it’s therefore the Delta Blues that carries most flavour. Interestingly, in the 12 tracks there are just two covers – one from the King of the Delta Blues – Son House – ‘Death Letter’ and the other from the more eclectic Elmore James whose own music encompassed many styles just like this album and who was a great inspiration for both Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan amongst countless others. From James’ catalogue he chooses 1957’s ‘It Hurts Me Too’ which interestingly dates back even further to 1931, being based on Tampa Red’s “Things ‘Bout Comin’ My Way.” Red was of course another guitarist known for his bottleneck.
If you start with the two covers they tell you a lot about Davis’ love of the Blues and you feel that it’s on these two standards that he pours most of himself into. There’s a huge amount of love and pain in Davis’ voice when he reaches that wonderful chorus in ‘It Hurts Me Too’ but it’s also striking how timeless the song itself is, and you can feel everyone fro the Blues greats to The Stones and even Zeppelin in there. Son House’s ‘Death Letter’ is more elemental and stripped back, as of course the Delta Blues is, and both songs really set off the grit and melody in Davis voice. I picture this album in my heard starting with these two tracks and Davis taking them and throwing them into his pot before starting the journey for further ingredients that this album takes you on.
This is a real Blues album. This is a record full of heart and Soul and yearning and emotion: an ideal antidote to the endless streams of soulless product that wash over us all these days. Real music for real people: Davis has done it again, producing a record that is a real joy to hear,and which makes you remember that life isn’t all digital and 24-7. ~Mark Rockpit
We spoke in 2015 about how cool a Soul album would be and in 2017 he blew me away with ‘Revolutionary Soul’ and when he told me that next up for him was a Blues album I knew he’d do it justice. What I didn’t quite expect though was how much ground Derek would be covering. ‘Resonator Blues’ is an album that not only delves into the music most currently associate with the resonator guitar – Delta Blues with a lot of slide, but it also touches upon Americana, Folk, Southern Rock and even the Jump Blues that you hear on his latest singe ‘Sweet Cream Cadillac.’
Of course it’s Bottleneck-slide that comes across most in this collection, a record on which Davis has played all guitars and bass, and it’s therefore the Delta Blues that carries most flavour. Interestingly, in the 12 tracks there are just two covers – one from the King of the Delta Blues – Son House – ‘Death Letter’ and the other from the more eclectic Elmore James whose own music encompassed many styles just like this album and who was a great inspiration for both Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan amongst countless others. From James’ catalogue he chooses 1957’s ‘It Hurts Me Too’ which interestingly dates back even further to 1931, being based on Tampa Red’s “Things ‘Bout Comin’ My Way.” Red was of course another guitarist known for his bottleneck.
If you start with the two covers they tell you a lot about Davis’ love of the Blues and you feel that it’s on these two standards that he pours most of himself into. There’s a huge amount of love and pain in Davis’ voice when he reaches that wonderful chorus in ‘It Hurts Me Too’ but it’s also striking how timeless the song itself is, and you can feel everyone fro the Blues greats to The Stones and even Zeppelin in there. Son House’s ‘Death Letter’ is more elemental and stripped back, as of course the Delta Blues is, and both songs really set off the grit and melody in Davis voice. I picture this album in my heard starting with these two tracks and Davis taking them and throwing them into his pot before starting the journey for further ingredients that this album takes you on.
This is a real Blues album. This is a record full of heart and Soul and yearning and emotion: an ideal antidote to the endless streams of soulless product that wash over us all these days. Real music for real people: Davis has done it again, producing a record that is a real joy to hear,and which makes you remember that life isn’t all digital and 24-7. ~Mark Rockpit
Resonator Blues