Album:
Collection: The Blues Bureau Years
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:23
Size: 165.7 MB
Styles: Blues rock
Year: 2006
Art: Front
[ 5:05] 1. Trouble In Paradise
[ 5:15] 2. Blue Suede Blues
[ 8:09] 3. Blues All Night Long
[ 4:05] 4. Mean Town Blues
[ 5:51] 5. Electra Blues
[ 8:00] 6. If It's The Blues
[ 3:54] 7. Blue Boogie
[10:06] 8. All I Want To Do Is Cry
[ 4:04] 9. Let The Good Times Roll
[ 4:53] 10. Funky Music
[ 3:30] 11. Still Alive And Well
[ 9:26] 12. Something Inside Of Me
A 40-year veteran of the rock wars (he was 16-years-old and a member of the McCoys when their "Hang on Sloopy" knocked the Beatles' "Yesterday" out of the number one spot on the pop charts in the summer of 1965), Rick Derringer forged his own hard rock sound during stints with both Johnny and Edgar Winter in the late '60s and early '70s, and has stuck to it ever since (although recently he has made forays into both smooth jazz and Christian rock). During the '90s he recorded four solo albums for Mark Varney's Shrapnel Records, three of which, 1993's Back to the Blues, 1994's Electra Blues, and 1998's Blues Deluxe, are represented on Collection: The Blues Bureau Years by four songs apiece. So consistent is Derringer's version of hard, blues-inflected rock that everything here feels like it belongs together, and even though Derringer had different players with him for each of the three albums, it all sounds like it was cut at the same session. Think "Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo" deja vu and you'll have the basic template. Highlights include the opener, "Trouble in Paradise," a cover of Johnny Winter's "Meantown Blues," and the blistering "Blues Boogie" instrumental. Nothing here is the blues in the strictest sense, but Derringer knows all the riffs on guitar, and when he amps up and cuts loose, it feels like vintage '70s hard rock, which, come to think of it, Derringer had a big part in creating. ~Steve Leggett
Collection: The Blues Bureau Years mc
Collection: The Blues Bureau Years zippy
Album:
The Three Kings Of The Blues
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:56
Size: 116.6 MB
Styles: Blues rock
Year: 2010
Art: Front
[3:05] 1. Just A Little Bit
[3:35] 2. Key To The Highway
[3:45] 3. Killing Floor
[4:04] 4. Let The Good Times Roll
[5:02] 5. Crying Won't Help You Now
[4:01] 6. Hideaway 1962
[5:29] 7. You've Got To Love Her With A Feeling
[3:13] 8. Blues Power
[3:48] 9. Born Under A Bad Sign
[5:22] 10. Wrapped Up In Love Again
[9:27] 11. Something Inside Of Me
One thing that Rick Derringer could never be accused of is failing to be eclectic. Having recorded everything from MOR adult contemporary to bubblegum pop/rock to ballsy blues-rock over the years, the singer/guitarist has demonstrated that eclectic is his middle name. And Derringer's blues-rock/hard rock output is the focus of The Three Kings of the Blues, a best-of collection that Blues Bureau International assembled in 2010. Why Three Kings? Because Derringer is heard performing material associated with B.B. King, Albert King, or Freddie King. This 51-minute CD draws on three Blues Bureau releases: Derringer's Blues Deluxe from 1998, his Jackhammer Blues from 2000, and the L.A. Blues Authority's Fit for a King from 1993 (the L.A. Blues Authority is an all-star project that has included Derringer). Blues Bureau's picks are good ones, and those who enjoy hearing Derringer's edgier, gutsier side can't go wrong with performances of Freddie King's "You've Got to Love Her with a Feeling," B.B. King's "Crying Won't Help You," and the Albert King-associated "Born Under a Bad Sign." Derringer also shines on Charlie Segar and Big Bill Broonzy's "Key to the Highway"; Segar and Broonzy both came out of the blues' acoustic pre-World War II era, but Derringer has no problem making "Key to the Highway" relevant to amplified blues-rock. The Three Kings of the Blues is not the last word on Derringer's Blues Bureau recordings, but it isn't a bad place to start if one is interested in exploring his blues-rock/hard rock output for that label. ~Alex Henderson
The Three Kings Of The Blues mc
The Three Kings Of The Blues zippy