Search - J.B. Hutto :: Rock With Me Tonight

4 1/2 stars worth of "Slippin' And Slidin'"

Docendo Discimus | Vita scholae | 09/27/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you're looking for a CD reissue of Joseph Benjamin Hutto's last record, 1983's "Slippin' And Slidin'", you've found it.The first ten tracks on this CD was originally released as Varrick 006, "Slippin' And Slidin'", by J.B. Hutto & The New Hawks, but this remastered edition features richer sound and two bonus tracks, the agressive instrumental "Floatin' Fruit Boogie" and the funky "Radar" (which features two simple but fiery solos from Hutto's second guitarist Brian Bisesi).J.B. Hutto and the New Hawks are accompanied by excellent pianist Ron Levy and the Roomful of Blues reed section, saxists Greg Piccoli, Doug James and Rich Lataille, and they turn out a soulful cover of Roy Hawkins' B.B. King-composition "Why Do Things Happen To Me", and a fiery take on Fenton Robinson's "Somebody Loan Me A Dime".The sound is excellent, and Hutto's loud, smouldering slide playing and big, booming voice shows no signs of the illness that took his life just a few months later. Brian Bisesi plays some raw, groovy rhythm guitar behind Hutto's leads, and Ron Levy adds sublime boogie piano to the funky "Eighteen Year Old Girl", and slow, soulful, jazzy fills to "Jealous Hearted Woman".The three saxophones adds nice texture as well, particularly on "Black's Ball" and "Little Girl Dressed In Blue", but the biggest highlight on this consistently fine album has to be Hutto's screaming cover of Howlin' Wolf's ferocious "I'm Leaving You". An up-tempo blues with some tough, sinewy rhythm guitar playing and great, swinging blues piano licks, the song powers along like the proverbial freight train, making it impossible to sit still.
If you manage to do so anyway, you should check your pulse.
Really."

Fun, intelligent blues

Johan Maurer | Portland, OR United States | 05/09/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Somebody wrote on some liner notes about J.B. Hutto's "declamatory" style of singing. "Declamatory" is the least of it. I don't know any blues singer who had as much humor and wit, both in his lyrics and in his delivery. In this wonderful recording, listen to the delightfully saucy invitation of "Pretty Baby," the wry humor and vivid images of "Jealous Hearted Woman," the sly wit of "Little Girl Dressed in Blue" and broad humor of "Radar." It is interesting to compare this set of tracks with the much earlier "Masters of Modern Blues" disk, which is also good."