Jimmy Zee - 2 albums: Devil Take Me Down / Ride

Zee’s vocals approximate a cross between Joe Cocker after a carton of Lucky Strikes and Robbie Robertson’s latter spoken style. He has garnered airplay on key stations across North America and Europe, and has been nominated for Blues Recording of the Year for “Devil Take Me Down” (2010). His stripped-down, oh-so-bluesy remake of Sweeney Todd’s Roxy Roller on that disc was declared one of the Top 10 remakes of all time by the Toronto Star.

“Gritty blues-rock with a funky bottom, nobody would be blamed for not guessing the band is based in Vancouver and rather thought it had southern roots. The greasiness and dirt comes from Zee’s gravelly vocals that recall Howlin’ Wolf/Captain Beefheart.

Album: Devil Take Me Down
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:06
Size: 123.9 MB
Styles: Electric blues
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[4:01] 1. Working Hard
[4:09] 2. Devil Take Me Down
[5:00] 3. Diamonds
[4:42] 4. Bad End Boys
[4:20] 5. Drinking All Night Long
[4:00] 6. All My Love
[4:07] 7. Boston City
[4:55] 8. Only A Fool
[2:50] 9. Roxy Roller
[4:35] 10. Santa Fe
[3:57] 11. For Your Love
[4:13] 12. Show Me
[3:11] 13. Parade Day

Devil Take Me Down mc
Devil Take Me Down zippy

---

Album: The Jimmy Zee Band - Ride
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:48
Size: 98.0 MB
Styles: Electric blues
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[4:40] 1. Ride
[4:12] 2. Devil Woman
[4:48] 3. Feels Alright To Me
[3:33] 4. Working Man
[4:06] 5. Get More
[4:03] 6. Friend Of Mine
[4:31] 7. I Want To Live
[4:35] 8. Fallen Angel
[4:11] 9. Shot Of Whiskey
[4:04] 10. Hearts

Ride mc
Ride zippy

---

The Jimmy Zee Band - What You See Is What You Get

Size: 101,1 MB
Time: 40:35
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. What You See Is What You Get (3:37)
02. Backroads (Feat. Rick Threat) (3:50)
03. I Ride Alone (3:50)
04. Time Will Heal Everything (4:03)
05. Money (3:40)
06. My Old Lady Is A Freak Show (4:16)
07. Blind (3:29)
08. She's A Mystery To Me (5:31)
09. You're The Best It Can Get (4:33)
10. I'm No Good Without You (3:41)

What You See is What You Get, the sixth album from Vancouver, BC’s Jimmy Zee is a smoking hot album of blues-rock. Zee’s stand-out vocals are packed with character and a whole lot of rasp. He sounds great alongside the guitar stylings of Rob MacDonald and Tim Porter. The Jimmy Zee Band also consists of singer Nadine States, bassist Miles Hill, drummer Joel Fountain, Harpdog Brown on harmonica, Darryl Havers on keys, and saxophonist Steve Hilliam.

A cool bluesy riff hooks me fast in title track, “What You See is What You Get” and sets the stage for a little swampy fun. I love the harmonica Harpdog doles out in the twangy country-fried “Backroads”. The backwoods energy changes in a most interesting way when Rick Threat drops by to inject his high-voltage free-flowing rap verses for the finale. Goosebumps shoot up and down my spine when I hear the opening notes of “I Ride Alone”. With guitars blazing, drums crashing, and harmonica blasting, the album plunges into fourth gear with Zee delivering the goods with ferocity and true grit. This rocking anthem, topped off with Cree-Aboriginal chants from States, is absolutely brilliant.

The sweet funky groove of “Money” slides swiftly in as Hilliam steps in on baritone sax. Porter tears it up on guitar to put the icing on this stellar tightly wound jam. The song segues seamlessly right into another one of my favorites, “My Old Lady is a Freakshow”. Revving from the get-go, the hook is groovy and unavoidably contagious. Like the great Joe Cocker, Zee’s performance is exuberant and hard-hitting.

The Jimmy Zee Band’s polished and unique spin on blues-rock is what makes What You See is What You Get such a fabulous listen. ~by Phillip Smith

What You See Is What You Get

---