Bee Bump Music BEBCD008 (39:28/ 44:07)
CD 1 (Old School Blues - Acoustic): Blues In The Bottle/ Goin' Down Slow/ I Be's Troubled/ I'll Fly Away/ Shake 'Em Down/ God Moves On The Water/ Berlin Rag/ Country Sugar Mama/ Pawnshop Blues/ Rock Me Mama
CD 2 (Old School Blues - Electric): Automobile Blues/ Cherry Ball/ Crosscut Saw/ Driving Wheel/ The Ballad Of Freddie/ If You Lose Your Money/ Rocks & Gravel Boogie/ Baby, You Don't Have To Go/ You Know I Love You
This double CD release marks Bernie's fifty years in the blues business and it is a fine recollection and distillation of the songs and performance tips that this Los Angeles singer and guitarist picked up from the likes of Mance Lipscomb, Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Harmonica Fats, and many others as he drove them around the city, accompanied them to and at his brother's renowned club, The Ash Grove, or even took them fishing.
That Bernie learned his lessons well is readily apparent right from the off as he turns in an excellent rendition of a song he learned from Texas songster Mance. As Bernie states in his notes to this album, some numbers are close to the originals, others veer away markedly, but all are given a personal treatment – as he was told to do by numerous artists. This is indeed very much the case; at times the first CD can sound at times a little like one of Mance's wonderful Arhoolie albums reincarnated – Bernie's vocals are a key element and unlike many of those close to Bernie's age and background, he never goes for the quality of the guitar accompaniment over the song itself. This is a 'warts and all' recording that presents the session virtually as it was laid down in the studio, with just a very few overdubs. Besides Mance, Bernie accurately evokes the likes of Lightnin' Hopkins, Fred McDowell, and Brownie McGhee, whilst 'I'll Fly Away' hints at Joseph Spence. Great stuff…
The electric set is really more of the same – but even better. There are a lot of acoustic players around these days, so that, good though that first CD is, it is the electric set that really sets out Bernie's stall and defines 'old school' – no extended solos, no cranked-up amps to cover up a lack of feeling, just a bunch of excellent songs, some in unfamiliar surroundings; some sounding like Lightnin', one or two others recalling late fifties Chicago, and even 'Crosscut Saw' is more akin to pre Stax period Albert King. The rhythm section of Michael Barry on electric and upright bass, Albert Trepagnier Jr. on drums, and pianist Dwayne Smith – who have all been with Bernie for a couple of decades - is discreet, to the point, and only used when and where appropriate. Even when Bernie turns to the BB King songbook – 'You Know I Love You' is not one of my favourite BB tracks – things are rearranged and on the nail, with a fine vocal and the kind of guitar playing all too rarely heard over the last three to four decades or so. Just to prove that Bernie can be bang-up-to-date, he performs Mance's 'Rocks & Gravel Boogie' with that currently fashionable North Mississippi drone (though I suspect Bernie was well aware of it long before the current crop of blues-rockers).
If you want an antidote to the latest teenage hotshot screaming Strat star, this is it. Somewhere, those mentors from the first paragraph – and especially Mance – will be pleased their legacy continues to be treated both vibrantly and with respect.
Norman Darwen