Bands Music

This is a pretty pared down d'Elf outing, mostly a quartet, but the front line of Tronzo's sometimes "prepared" guitar and Maneri's versatile electric viola makes for a wide-ranging, very engaging sound palette in which keyboards, or anything else for that matter, are not missed at all. Fabulous stuff and a steal at 10 bucks on iTunes, though $20 for a double CD sure isn't bad either.

I got my copy of this album in 1975, just after I started playing harmonica at the age of 16. In retrospect, I got lucky, because it remains one of the most-played albums in my extensive vinyl collection. The masterpiece here is "Creeper Creeps Again." It surely belongs on the Top-Ten all-time list for harmonica instrumentals, along with Little Walter's "Back Track" (and "Juke," of course), the live "Whammer Jammer" by Magic Dick (w/the J. Geils Band), Big Walter Horton's "Easy," and Kim Wilson's "Down at Antone's" (w/The Fabulous Thunderbirds). I don't know any other harp player who combines Cotton's huge unamplified growl-ized tone, amazing rhythmic vitality, endless inventiveness within a fairly repetitive arrangement, and flawless execution. At this moment in the early 1970's, he had no peer.

I have been looking for another copy of this album for years. James Cotton is everything that you ever want to hear in the blues. He's raw, he's soulful, he sweet, he's in pain, he's sexy, he screams, wails, moans, croons, and he plays a mean harp. Wherever you need to go, James can take you there with buckets of sweat and soul. Listen to Fatuation, I Don't Know, One More Mile, and the best version of Fever ever made and you'll be hooked.

James Cotton is another of those blues artists that deserves much wider recognition. Has recorded and played live close to 60 years. I was fortunate enough to meet him in the mid 1970's when he was touring. I was an immature, drunk idiot yet he treated me graciously like the true gentleman that he is. The music on 100% Cotton is modern blues that is always grounded in the delta (where he was born - in Tunica, Mississippi, in 1935). He learned harp listening to Sonny Boy Williamson, backed Muddy Waters in the late 1950's following Little Walter Jacobs. James Cotton has recorded some remarkable albums. It's a shame that his 1971 album 'Taking Care of Business' has never been released on CD. It was produced by Todd Rundgren (who contributes some excellent guitar work) with guest appearances by Johnny Winter and Mike Bloomfield. It if further example of the high caliber of work that James Cotton has always put forth...from his first Sun recordings in the late 1940's, and thankfully up to now.

I first heard this album shortly after it was released in the early 70's. It was a hot item on a local FM radio station out of New York City at the time. The music was recorded live in a club in Connecticut. I only wish I could have been in the club to experience the dynamics James and his band played with for this recording.
This is a "MUST HAVE" recording for any James Cotton fan as well as blues harp players.

I went to see a band named ZZtop in 1975. They introduced the opening act, The James Cotton Blues Band and I've never been the same. Where this guy gets his wind from will never be known. This album rocks your sorry [butt]!!! You better find it somewhere and discover the blues....Tim

I first heard this album shortly after it was released in the early 70's. It was a hot item on a local FM radio station out of New York City at the time. The music was recorded live in a club in Connecticut. I only wish I could have been in the club to experience the dynamics James and his band played with for this recording.
This is a "MUST HAVE" recording for any James Cotton fan as well as blues harp players.

I went to see a band named ZZtop in 1975. They introduced the opening act, The James Cotton Blues Band and I've never been the same. Where this guy gets his wind from will never be known. This album rocks your sorry [butt]!!! You better find it somewhere and discover the blues....Tim

I first heard this album shortly after it was released in the early 70's. It was a hot item on a local FM radio station out of New York City at the time. The music was recorded live in a club in Connecticut. I only wish I could have been in the club to experience the dynamics James and his band played with for this recording.
This is a "MUST HAVE" recording for any James Cotton fan as well as blues harp players.

I went to see a band named ZZtop in 1975. They introduced the opening act, The James Cotton Blues Band and I've never been the same. Where this guy gets his wind from will never be known. This album rocks your sorry [butt]!!! You better find it somewhere and discover the blues....Tim