Reverend Raven & The Chain Smokin' Altar Boys - Live At The Red Rocket

Size: 100,2 MB
Time: 43:23
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Electric blues, harmonica blues
Art: Front, tray

1. Hawaiin Boogie #2 (3:45)
2. Who's Muddy Shoes (4:32)
3. Diving Duck (5:05)
4. Stomping And Shouting (5:21)
5. Bad Boy (6:30)
6. Looking For Love (6:34)
7. Bricks In My Pillow (6:18)
8. Another Mule (5:14)

Bringing crowds to their feet at the hardest to please and sophisticated night clubs in the Midwest, Reverend Raven and the Chain Smoking Altar Boys play traditional blues, straight up with a big dose of passion. With smoking grooves, served up with hot harmonica and smooth stinging guitar they play original songs peppered with nods to Slim Harpo, Little Walter, Jimmy Rogers, Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells and the three Kings.

Born and raised on south side of Chicago, the Rev has been playing the blues since 1971 when he first saw Freddy King play at the Kinetic Theatre in Chicago. After a 15 year hitch in the Navy, Chief Raven moved to Milwaukee where he began a long friendship and collaboration with Madison Slim, long time harmonica player for Jimmy Rogers.

(For personnel details, see artwork included.)

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Reverend Raven Feat. Madison Slim - Live At Blues On Grand

Year: 2002
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:06
Size: 173,2 MB
Styles: Chicago blues, harmonica blues
Scans: Full

1. I'm Your Honeyboy (4:37)
2. Loving You (6:05)
3. Got Love If You Want It (5:28)
4. I've Got To Be With You Tonight (5:36)
5. Bee Hive Baby (5:49)
6. Bye Bye Baby (4:54)
7. In The Open (5:04)
8. Louise (6:03)
9. Who's Been Talkin (5:26)
10. Sweet Man (7:16)
11. Please Let Me Explain (5:31)
12. The Back Scratcher (6:30)
13. I Can't Get You Off My Mind (6:44)

Reverend Raven is Chicago born and has that Windy City feel embedded in his DNA, Madison Slim sounds as though he couldn’t play a false note with a cocked pistol at his head and the rhythm section of bassist Andre Maritato and skin pounder Kid Panosh shake the foundation, rattle the rafters and roll it easy when called for. These four pieces make a heckuva racket and it’s a divine madness that they deliver. The song selection is fine and features solid Raven originals going toe to toe with covers of some of the best that the Electric Blues’ heyday had to offer from Muddy to the Wolf with some Freddie King and Slim Harpo thrown in for good measure. Things get started with the original “I’m Your Honeyboy,” sung by composer Raven with swagger and conviction. The opener sets a swinging pace before the band settles into a more traditional sounding Chi-Town groove that carries the proceedings from there on out.

Madison Slim joins the fray with Harpo’s “Got Love If You Want It”. His husky voice and overblown harp give the proceedings a feeling of authenticity, the inescapable knowledge that this is someone who’s been there and done that. The interplay between Raven’s guitar and Slim’s harp is what makes this CD work. Freddie King’s “In The Open,” comes about half way through the set and the duo wails full out making a joyous noise and claiming this night all their own. Wolf’s “Louise,” is next with a mesmerizing rhythm that sucks the listener in for good. Everything that follows is gravy and worth the time to track down and make your own. Great stuff if you’re a fan of no holds barred barroom blues and, a good place to start if you wanna try some on for size. /Bill Halaszynski

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Reverend Raven & The Chain Smokin' Altar Boys - 2 albums: Shake Your Boogie / My Life (20th Anniversary)

Album: Shake Your Boogie
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:44
Size: 145.9 MB
Styles: Electric blues
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[4:24] 1. Looking For Love
[5:59] 2. Stomping And Shouting
[4:40] 3. Your Didn't Even Say Goodbye
[6:13] 4. Just Count The Days That I'm Gone
[3:16] 5. She's Murder
[4:48] 6. Bricks In My Pillow
[3:31] 7. Like Wolf
[6:17] 8. The Woman I Love
[5:53] 9. I Can Do You Right
[4:23] 10. Pt's Home Cooking
[4:26] 11. Mail Box Blues
[5:08] 12. Walking To Chicago
[4:40] 13. Shake Your Boogie

The Reverend spent 15 years serving in the Navy where one of his duties was to counsel sailors who found themselves in hot water. His charges gave him the nickname Reverend and it stuck. The Chain Smokin’ Altar Boys sounds like it was a natural addition, especially once you hear the hot blues these guys serve up!

The band began in 1996 and this is their fourth CD. The music on this CD is excellent, well played and recorded, with variety but most importantly a fair degree of excitement. The core of the band is Reverend Raven on guitar and vocals, PT Pedersen on bass, Bobby Lee Sellers on drums (and vocals on two cuts) and Big Al Groth on sax. Madison Slim provides harp and vocals on four tracks, where an alternative rhythm section of Andre Maritato on bass and Spencer Panosh on drums sit in and the sax is absent. Piano and organ are provided by either Mickey Larson or Danny Moore on most tracks. Reverend Raven wrote three of the songs, with the sole instrumental being from the pen of the bass player. Gerry Hundt, former member of Nick Moss’ Fliptops is the author of two tracks and covers come from Hound Dog Taylor, Slim Harpo, Little Milton, St Louis Jimmy Oden, Robert Nighthawk and Sonny Boy Williamson. The album was recorded live on stage in Milwaukee, but from the absence of any crowd noise I assume that it was ‘live’ without an audience. ~John Mitchell

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Album: My Life (20th Anniversary)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:35
Size: 150.2 MB
Styles: Electric blues
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[4:13] 1. Handyman
[3:40] 2. Beehive Baby
[2:56] 3. Creature Of Habit
[3:40] 4. Bad Little Girls
[4:17] 5. I Want To Love You
[3:16] 6. Once The Women Start Talking
[4:18] 7. My Life
[4:14] 8. Here Comes My Baby
[4:02] 9. Praying For A Princess
[3:14] 10. Big Bee
[5:12] 11. Lookin' For Love
[4:43] 12. Slow Burn
[3:46] 13. Someday When I'm Dead And Gone
[4:58] 14. I Can Do You Right
[4:42] 15. She's Movin' On
[4:15] 16. I'm Your Honey Boy

"Every aspect of the album is everything you could ever wish for from a Blues album so my recommendation is that this is the album you have to have in your collection and there is no better way to kick off 2018. Blues can be interpreted in many ways but then again we want it to remain Blues not some shallow imitation. Trust me this truly is the skinny." ~Peter Merrett

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Reverend Raven & The Chain Smokin' Altar Boys - Live At The Big Bull

Size: 148,6 MB
Time: 64:11
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Chicago Blues
Label: Nevermore Records
Art: Front

01. Hot And Heavy (Live) (Feat. Westside Andy) (6:04)
02. Walking To Chicago (Live) (Feat. Westside Andy) (5:59)
03. You Didn't Even Say Goodbye (Live) (Feat. Westside Andy) (6:40)
04. Hawaiian Boogie #3 (Live) (Feat. Benny Rickun) (4:39)
05. Diving Duck Blues (Live) (Feat. Benny Rickun) (5:07)
06. Stomping And Shouting (Live) (Feat. Benny Rickun) (5:23)
07. She's Nineteen Years Old (Live) (Feat. Westside Andy) (8:11)
08. Chicken Heads (Live) (Feat. Benny Rickun) (9:00)
09. My Life (Live) (Feat. Westside Andy) (6:25)
10. Looking For Love (Live) (Feat. Benny Rickun) (6:39)

Born and raised on the south side of Chicago Richard Raven first heard the blues of Louis Jordan, T-Bone Walker and Pee Wee Crayton coming from his mother's stereo. His older cousin later brought home the records of Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Magic Sam, Slim Harpo, Buddy Guy and Otis Rush.

After seeing Freddy King at the Kinetic Playground, he started going to Maxwell Street on Sunday afternoons to see Johnny Dollar, Lefty Dizz and Jimmie Lee Robinson play in the alleys and on the street corners.

The 1970s were spent going to the clubs and taverns on the south side of Chicago and Chicago Heights to see and hear raw urban blues.

After playing in bands for 5 years and doing a 15 year stint in U.S. Navy, where he acquired the Reverend tag, Chief Raven hung up his anchors to give music another go.

That was fifteen years ago and he hasn't looked back. Since then he has become a regular on the Mid-West blues circuit, headlining Buddy Guy's Legends, The Slippery Noodle, Memphis Smoke, Fat Fish Blue, Blues on Grand, The Zoo Bar, Whiskey Junction, 21st Saloon, and most of the Midwest blues festivals. Rev has won the Wisconsin Area Music Industry Award (WAMI) for best blues artist in 1999,2000, 2003,2004, 2006, 2010 and again in 2015. Voted Milwaukee’s Best Blues Band in 2012 and 2014 by the Shepherd Express Newspaper’s Readers Poll and nominated for a Grammy for a CD Compilation in 2007.

"Best in the Midwest" Johnny Rawls

“A formidable guitarist” Chicago Blues Guide

“Andy Linderman’s harmonica sounds like Little Walter sitting in with Slim Harpo." Blues Access Magazine

“They are very, very good” Buddy Guy

“You guys are the real deal” Tad Robinson

"Andy Linderman is one of my very favorite harp players. His tone and phrasing are tops in my book." Gary Primich

“Andy blows harmonica on the virtuoso level, with great tone and an apparently endless stock of ideas, .” Blues Revue.

Live At The Big Bull

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Reverend Raven - 2 albums: Big Bee / Slow Burn

You know I hate these cookie cutter bios. I know they are necessary but you are only as good as last night's gig. I really haven't done anything special except open and meet B.B. King and have the honor of backing up Madison Slim for 10yrs, playing with great guys like R.J. Mischo, Cadillac Pete Rahn, Benny Rickun, PT Pedersen SC, Bobby Lee Sellers Jr, Big Al Groth, Bryan Lee, Billy Flynn, Pat Hayes and all the guys in my band present and past. Guys like Rick Holmes, Chico Johnson, Devil Roberts, Diesel, Evil Evans, Craig Panosh, Kern, Barefoot Jimmy, Frankie Panosh, Captain Chuck Might, Mickey Larson, Benny Rickund many more. I get to go to festivals and see my heros, friends like Perry Weber, Jim Liban, Billy Flynn and get paid for it. That is cool. I've been blessed with great love, good friends and family and the ability to earn a living playing guitar and standing on chairs and tables. If I can put a smile on your face and get you to shake your rear end I've done a good job.

Album: Big Bee
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 60:19
Size: 138.1 MB
Styles: Electric blues
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[3:42] 1. My Life
[6:49] 2. Big Bee
[3:41] 3. Once The Women Start Talkin'
[5:00] 4. Someday When I'm Dead And Gone
[5:27] 5. You Ain't No Friend Of Mine
[4:13] 6. Two Times Fine
[4:51] 7. I Don't Want To Know
[6:15] 8. Here Comes My Baby
[2:49] 9. Benny's Bounce
[4:07] 10. Don't Get On The Wrong Side Of My Baby
[4:29] 11. Bad Little Girls
[4:03] 12. I Wanna Love You
[4:46] 13. She's Movin' On

Big Bee

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Album: Reverend Raven & The Chain Smokin' Altar Boys - Slow Burn
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 52:47
Size: 120.9 MB
Styles: Electric blues
Year: 1998
Art: Front

[3:12] 1. Ceasar's Salad
[3:59] 2. Brothers Advice
[6:16] 3. Creature Of Habit
[3:03] 4. Slow Burn
[4:47] 5. Louise
[4:11] 6. Handyman
[3:50] 7. Steppin Out
[5:44] 8. Bee Hive Baby
[5:33] 9. A Hard And Thankless Job
[3:31] 10. If I Was Only Half As Old
[2:34] 11. Praying For A Princess
[6:00] 12. They Call Me The Reverend

Slow Burn

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