Eric Lindell: "Tried and True" (2009)

Eric Lindell was born in San Mateo, California, working as a baker by day and playing guitar and bass at night.

After producing his own first album in 1996, he won the prestigious John Lennon Songwriting Competition with a song called "Kelly Ann."  He would briefly live in New York before landing in New Orleans where he found a funkier sound and was signed by Alligator records.

His music is defined many different ways including Creole funk fusion, swamp pop, blues funk and blue-eyed soul. His 1996 debut on Alligator was "Change in the Weather" and that album saw the song "Give it Time" get considerable radio airplay and was featured on Boston Legal. 

Eric Lindell has a reputation for his live performances that seems to eclipse his studio work much in the fashion of the J. Geils Band and The Nighthawks.

He has at least eight albums to his credit and his latest release is the outstanding "Sunday Morning" which teams him with legendary Texas blues guitarist Anson Funderburgh and covers a selection of old R & B and country songs that are favorites of theirs.

Lindell is playing an average of 100 gigs a year and his current tour frequently features Funderburgh.

But our favorite song by him is "Tried and True" which, is from 2009's "Low on Cash, Rich in Love". The song doesn't bother with a long intro that builds to the hook (a technique used WAY too much these days). It grabs you from the first guitar note and moves right into a funky blues groove we can all get  behind.

Tell me what more can I say
What more can I do
Baby where, where did I go wrong?
What more could I do to prove myself?
What more can I say?
What more can I do
To prove my love? 
Baby it's tried, tried and true.


So give this song a listen and you will likely want to track down all of his recordings. You can catch him in Jacksonville on August 8th at the Mojo Kitchen (Beaches).

Fenton Robinson: "I Hear Some Blues Downstairs" (1977)

Yes, Fenton Robinson grew up on a cotton and corn plantation in Mississippi,and yes, he made his first guitar out of a cigar box and wire at 11. Guess a lot of blusemen did the same thing. How do you tune wires?

By the time I was turned on to his music, he had passed away. Credit goes to Mike Areford, a radio show host friend from Arrow 100.7 ('96-'05) in Jacksonville, who had a great blues show. He played "I Heard Some Blues Downstairs" fairly frequently. It was one of his favorites (and mine).

Fenton eventually wound up in Chicago via Memphis and made a recording of what many believe to be his best song "Somebody Loan Me a Dime" (1966). It was about to be distributed as a single but a snowstorm hit and the tune never got to where it belonged. Boz Skaggs would cover it on his debut album but not credit Fenton which led to a messy lawsuit.

Hard luck continued when Fenton was charged and convicted of involuntary vehicular manslaughter in 1974 and did prison time, hurting his career. This occured just after his Alligator Records release which had finally gotten some acclaim for "Somebody Loan Me a Dime".

In 1977 He released "I Hear Some Blues Downstairs". This title track reminds me of the late Son Seals. His voice is never overpowered by his hard picking on his hollow body guitar :

Now, I gonna get my hat and my coat
Because I begin to feel to groove
Baby, pass me my guitar
Then I'm going down
And play myself some blues

I hear some blues downstairs
Hey I hear some blues downstairs
And I see my old friends out in that alley
And they're singing all in the alley
I hear some blues downstairs

He continued to tour and do festivals, but died at 62 of complications from brain cancer.
He left some great music behind...