Search - Albert Cummings & Swamp Yankee :: The Long Way

The Drummer-KP

Kenneth M. Pallman | Bennington,VT | 12/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am the drummer for this project,and was the drummer for this group for

3 years. This album was not meant to be released,infact it was not meant to be an album at all,just a recording of a set of music we did at Bluestock in Memphis on Beale St. We had just flown back from Memphis,had

gotten virtually no sleep and went into the studio to record the material

for "our own heads". We set up,did Mojo Workin' to get the sounds(so it wasn't even meant as a keeper) and proceded to do the whole set in one take, with all "the clams" included,did a quick mix,and got out of there in just under two and a half hours. We were so tired when we did this recording,that we as the group frankly thought it was a very poor representation of what we truly were(in fact we thought it sucked!).

We played it for some true blues fans and they thought it was great!!

So, Albert decided to print and release it,and away it went and so did

Albert's career. The rest is history. I'm truly blessed to have been part of this project and his career on "his way up" I thank Albert for the fun,

tribulations,and all the emotions and experiences we had.-Check out the cd!!---Ken Pallman ps.thanks Don Chilson,you're a great friend and wonderful player.....I hope Albert decides to rerelease this cd!"

Excellent Debut Release!

deepbluereview | SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA USA | 04/09/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Albert Cummings debut release shows a truckload of promise. His guitar playing sizzles but is restrained and not over the top and his vocals are pleasant and easy listening. Cummings release is mostly original with two covers, Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie", Robert Johnson's "Crossroads" and the blues standard, "Mojo Working" all performed very well. To me, the original material works much better for Cummings than tunes like "Crossroads" which have been done time and again by blues musicians everywhere. That is a small knock for this otherwise fine disc. Best tracks, "The Long Way" and "Lonely Bed", both original, slow to medium tempo, excellent guitar and strong vocals."