Johnny Tucker Feat. Kid Ramos & The Allstars - 75 And Alive

Size: 121.1 MB
Time: 51:23
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2021
Styles: Electric Blues
Art: Full

01. All Night Long, All Night Wrong (4:07)
02. There's A Time For Love (5:57)
03. If You Ever Love Me (4:50)
04. Can't You See (4:41)
05. What's The Matter (4:31)
06. Treat Me Good (3:57)
07. Snowplow (3:42)
08. What's On My Mind (3:32)
09. Hookline (4:25)
10. Dance Like I Should (3:24)
11. Have A Good Time Tonight - Play Your Soul, Johnny (3:25)
12. Gotta Do It One Time (4:47)

For the return of blues legend Johnny Tucker, HighJohn Records’ owner and Tucker’s manager, Bob Auerbach, wanted a much bigger production to match the power of his mighty voice and exuberant personality. Tucker’s acclaimed 2018 release, Seven Day Blues, was a back-to-basics spartan affair that once again brought notice to this iconic singer, songwriter, and blues originator. For this 2021 album, 75 And Alive, Auerbach recruited Los-Angeles’ guitar man Kid Ramos to build an all-star band with pianist Carl Sunny Leyland. The team brought in the rhythm section of John Bazz on electric and standup bass, drummer Jason Lozano, and saxophonist Ron Dziubla and harp player Bob Corritore. The dozen new tracks recorded live off the floor are an authentic set of West Coast jump, low down blues and funky soul, recorded on Johnny's 75th birthday - October 17, 2020.

Bazz walks the doghouse bass while Ramos dishes out T-Bone lead guitar and Tucker plays the role of The Honey Dripper on the swinging party anthem opener “All Night Long, All Night Wrong.” Tucker gently whispers in his lover’s ear on the pleading slow blues “There’s A Time For Love,” with the horn lines adding emphasis to the schmaltz. Corritore plays the foil to Tucker’s vocals on the piano driven “If You Ever Love Me,” adding spice to the Fats Domino New Orleans styled R&B number. Lozano lays down the double shuffle for the Chicago Blues “Can’t You See,” with Corritore and Ramos trading licks while Tucker howls. As producer Ramos selected the array of classic groove for Tucker to vocally improvise over, so, it is no surprise he included the ballroom rhumba “What’s The Matter,” where he waxes poetic about his quest to trip the light fantastic with his lady love, and then begs her forgiveness on the slinky “Treat Me Good.”

Kid Ramos steps into the spotlight to pay tribute to Albert Collins on the flat tire shuffle “Snowplow,” and to Earl Hooker on “Hookline,” delivering iconic guitar leads in the style of his heroes. Separating the two tunes, lively barrelhouse piano from Leyland drives the call and response boogie “What’s On My Mind.” Ramos unleashes some greasy slide guitar and spars with Corritore on the Texas Blues “Dance Like I Should,” while Tucker dusts his broom. Ramos and Tucker pay homage to Buddy Guy on the playful “Have A Good Time Tonight,” delivering the blues like the Chicago’s elder statesmen would. The set ends with the horn driven Memphis Soul number “Gotta Do It One Time,” a sweet finale on which everyone in the all-star lineup shines, and you can feel the joy in every word of Tucker’s vocals.

Johnny Tucker dedicated the album, 75 And Alive, to his late wife, Georgia, as a lasting monument from a man who's been singing his heart out professionally for over 65 years. ~Rick J Bowen

75 And Alive MP3
75 And Alive FLAC

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Johnny Tucker - Why You Lookin' At Me?

Size: 109,9 MB
Time: 46:46
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2002
Styles: Chicago Blues
Art: Front

01. Do The Rufus (3:50)
02. I Wish It Would Rain (4:10)
03. A Women Gotta Have It (3:59)
04. Everywhere I Go (4:22)
05. Living A Hard Life (3:25)
06. Five Minute Love (5:24)
07. Why You Lookin' At Me (2:52)
08. Big Butt Women (3:58)
09. Show Me The Love (3:53)
10. Tired Of Boogying By Myself (3:08)
11. Back Street Love (3:51)
12. Gotta Find My Baby (3:04)
13. Happy Birthday (0:43)

Johnny Tucker is the tenth child born of nineteen siblings to a seasonal sharecropper and his wife. His interest in music began when he would sit on the porch and hear his father play the guitar for his mother. Johnny started playing drums and was first influenced by Lowell Fulson’s record Black Knight. He learned the music by listening and playing along with the songs. He listened to James Brown records and learned to play his tunes as well.

Johnny first came to Los Angeles in 1964 where he hooked up with Phillip Walker as a featured singer doing a James Brown act singing top ten hits of the times. Later, he became a drummer with Phillip’s band and began traveling the world for the next 34 years.

Along the way, he played with other great artists such as Floyd Dixon, Robert Cray, Johnny Otis, The Five Royals, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and the late Lowell Folson and Johnny Copeland. Johnny has traveled and performed extensively in the U.S., Canada, Japan and Europe.

In 1967 Johnny met James “Broadway” Thomas while they were with playing with the Johnny Otis band. In 1997 these two teamed up and put out an album titled Stranded, by Tucker and Thomas. Some of the original tunes on that disc were written and produced by Johnny.

Now, Johnny Tucker is back, on a new album, Why You Lookin' At Me? On this recording Johnny sings blues you can relate to. Not the “my dog died blues” or the “my baby done left me blues,” but blues to energize you and make you feel happy. It's a flavor of blues that makes you want to get up and dance.

This album is Johnny’s best work yet. Tucker's vocals are eclectic for a blues singer; adding a bit of funk, soul, and R&B to the overall mix. This CD contains a classic blend of R&B and Chicago style blues, at times so soulful you won’t know how to categorize it

Yes, Johnny is back. Remember his name, down the road you will most likely be hearing many more good things about Johnny Tucker.

Thanks to Marc.
Why You Lookin' At Me?

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Johnny Tucker - Seven Day Blues

Size: 133,3 MB
Time: 57:11
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2018
Styles: West Coast Blues
Art: Front

01. Talkin Bout You Baby (2:16)
02. Tired Of Doing Nothing (4:04)
03. Why Do You Let Me Down So Hard (4:14)
04. Love And Appreciation (To Georgia) (2:36)
05. Seven Day Blues (3:56)
06. Come On Home With Me (3:01)
07. Tell You All (3:31)
08. Something I Want To Tell You (3:53)
09. Gonna Give You One More Chance (4:19)
10. I Want To Do It (3:38)
11. Do Right Man (3:40)
12. One Of These Days (5:19)
13. I Can't Wait (3:21)
14. Listen Everybody (3:35)
15. You Can Leave My House (5:38)

It is something of a mystery why Johnny Tucker isn’t better known. He has been making music professionally since he first moved to Los Angeles back in 1964, singing in a James Brown tribute act before joining Philip Walker’s band as the drummer before moving on to play with the likes of Johnny Otis, Floyd Dixon and Robert Cray. His first album for HighJohn Records, Why You Lookin’ At Me?, was released in 2006, the same year as the wonderful Floyd Dixon Celebration, Time Brings About A Change. Tucker turns in engaging performances on both the CD and the DVD recordings of the two-night gig held to honour the legendary pianist and singer. He is a talented singer, with a warm, rough-hewn voice that straddles the border of blues and soul, as well as being a sharp-witted songwriter – all 15 tracks on Seven Day Blues were composed by him.

For his long-overdue second album on HighJohn, label chief Bob Auerbach put the singer together with Big Jon Atkinson and a hand-selected band of musicians. The tactic of pairing a veteran singer with younger acolytes doesn’t always work, especially when the backing musicians overwhelm the singer they are meant to support (viz, The Howlin’ Wolf Album). But when it does work, on albums like Nappy Brown’s 2007 Long Time Coming (with superb support from Sean Costello) or on Muddy’s 1977 Hard Again, the results are magical, with the authority and maturity of the older singer given a shot of the energy and excitement of youth. Seven Day Blues is very much in this latter category.

The core band comprises Atkinson and Scott Smart (who play both guitars and bass on different tracks), Troy Sandow on harmonica and bass, and Malachi Johnson and Marty Dodson and drums. Bob Welch contributes organ to the Sam Cooke-styled soul of “Love And Appreciation (To Georgia)” and the jump blues of “Tell You All”, which also features the guitar talents of Kid Ramos. Bob Corritore also contributes harp to five tracks. From the opening Howlin’ Wolf-esque, “Talkin’ About You Baby”, it’s obvious that the musicians understand how to bring the best out of Tucker’s voice. They know when to step forwards for their solo spots, but they never get in the way of the song.

Each song on the album was recorded live at Atkinson’s BigTone Studio in Hayward, CA, with all the players in one room, playing vintage gear and recorded on vintage equipment, and this commitment to authenticity comes through on every track. From the uptown Chicago shuffle of “Tired Of Doing Nothing” to the aching slow blues of the closing “You Can Leave My House”, via the primeval funk of the title track and the echo-drenched slide of “Do-Right Man”, each song reeks of deep emotion and well as a true understanding and appreciation of the way music used to be made.

Packing 15 songs into 57 minutes, there is no room for filler or fat on Seven Day Blues. Indeed, whilst it is dangerously presumptive to make predictions in January, it is not foolhardy to suggest that Seven Day Blues is an early contender for one of the albums of the year. ~by Rhys Williams

Seven Day Blues

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Johnny Tucker & James Thomas - Stranded

Year : 1997
Bitrate : Flac
Total Time : 37:18
Total Size : 249.05 MB
Styles: Modern Electric Blues
Scans: Full Covers

1. [03:24] Someday You'll Have The Blues
2. [03:08] Help Now
3. [04:44] Long Gone
4. [02:45] Lawdy Miss Clawdy
5. [04:49] Mustang Sally
6. [04:02] Stranded
7. [03:56] Wild Streak
8. [03:18] Can't Stand it
9. [03:15] Hey Baby
10. [03:52] No More Doggin'

After many years of working as sidemen for other performers, Tucker and Thomas have finally stepped up to the front of the stage. And they're proud to say that most of the tunes on their newly released first CD, "Stranded," are simple three-chord affairs.
The album contains punchy versions of Albert King's "Hey Baby," and Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy." But the song that really stands out is a very funkified rendition of "Mustang Sally."
Joining Tucker and Thomas on "Stranded" are guitarist James Armstrong, pianist Leon Haywood and other West Coast blues pros. Tucker even gives way on the drums on several tunes to his brother, Aaron Tucker, who regularly works with Smokey Wilson.

Stranded

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