Back once again to Canada for one of the finest blues albums I have heard this year to date, "Johnny V's Blues Allstars" (BYT71391). You may be familiar with Johnny V through his recent work with Don Johnson, Triple Threat and King Biscuit Boy, but on this set, his second solo release (he previously released "Rooster and Hens" in 1989, a disc which featured King Biscuit Boy and James Harman), he brings all his talents to the fore on a wonderful set that displays his mastery of a wide range of blues styles.
Johnny has long been recognized as one of Canada's finest blues guitarists, but his recent work, culminating in this CD, must place him in the premier league on the world blues scene. When you add to that a rich and raw, yet naturally relaxed, vocal style, and superb song writing skills, you have the ingredients for a great blues pot-potpourri, and that's exactly what you get.
Johnny has surrounded himself with some of Canada's finest musicians: Dr. Boogie on piano, Don Yuzwenko on organ and B-3, Mike Clark and Gareth Jones (The Scorned Horns), and a rhythm section anchored by Bill Eaglesham on bass, and the superb Don Johnson on drums, with special guest Sonny Rhodes singing on one track. Now for the music.
But where to begin? There are six originals by Johnny, one song written by his father, and seven cover versions, all of which have been radically changed to reflect his personal idea of the blues. Two Son Seals numbers, "Four Full Seasons Of Love" and "Don't Bother Me," both tough, swinging blues with a 50s' feel induced by a fiery horn section, are ideal vehicles for Johnny's rugged vocals and stinging guitar work. I am sure that Magic Sam would be smiling with approval if he could hear "You Belong To Me," here given a funky, "rocked out" treatment, its driving rhythms, pumping horns, lashings of fierce guitar loaded with reverb and sustain, and Johnny's urgent vocals at times creating an almost vintage James Brown feel, but deeply rooted in the blues. Of the other covers, Willie Dixon's "29 Ways," Johnny's vocals echoed by the gospel-inflected chanting of the backing singers, backed only by Don Johnson's superb percussion, induces a strong Ry Cooder feel in the originality of its arrangements. Junior Parker's "Next Time You See Me" achieves an eerie soulful quality enhanced by Johnny's wonderfully mellow, understated guitar licks.
Johnny's own songs are of the highest quality and reveal the depth and breadth of his stylistic influences, from the rocking Texas styled R&B of "As Long As I'm Movin'," through the driving Don and Dewey styled rocker "Maxine." via the roadhouse styled blues of the superb "What's Up With You," to the Tex-Mex feel of "Missin' The Flu" and the stunning slide on the Elmore James tribute "I Ain't Gonna Dust My Broom Again." To add the icing to the cake, Johnny is joined by Sonnny Rhodes in performing a song written by Johnny's father (to whom the CD is dedicated), a wonderful old time country blues, "Depression Blues," on which Sonny sings superbly backed only by Johnny's delicate and mesmerizing guitar picking, a minor classic that captures the feel of that period to perfection, and puts the finishing touches to a CD I have no hesitation in recommending....Mick Rainsford
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