More funk than blues
Peter Chordas | Portland, OR USA | 10/03/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The review by Timmerman here is understandable. But he's missing the point. Jr. recorded this as a Funk disc, NOT as a Blues CD. Because he's identified as a Blues harmonica player (and a pretty damn great one at that), all his music falls under the heading of Blues so this becomes misplaced in that category. Although I agree he has other great recordings that most Blues lovers would rank far above this one, as Funk, he pulled it off well. Just listen to "Use Me" or "Sweet 16." His harmonica playing is top notch and his vocals fit the lyrics. Guest performers such as Bonnie Raitt only raised the bar and Jr. stepped up to the challenge. It's hard to play music outside of your usual genre.
I've seen him perform numerous times and he was always fantastic playing traditional Chicago style Blues. But I always enjoyed when he'd throw in some Funk now and then just to mix it up and refresh his play list with an occasional surprise. This was a venture outside of his usual realm and overall I think he did a pretty good job of it. I like this disc for it's uniqueness. Everybody's gettin' some Jr!"