PLEASE NOTE: This ordering portal (and price) is for USA ONLY. All others (including Canada and Mexico) should order item MBH-006-INT, which is priced slightly higher to cover the cost of international shipping.
Adam Gussow and Alan Gross, a.k.a. TheBlues Doctors, are Mississippi-based blues veterans who play a mix of Delta standards and urban grooves from the Texas-to-Chicago axis with some New Orleans funk thrown in. They're a two-man band with a big, bold sound: Gussow on harmonica and drumset, Gross on guitar, with both men sharing vocals. Their debut, Roosters Happy Hour (2013), spent several months at #1 on Amazon's "Hot New Releases in Acoustic Blues" chart and hit #10 on the Living Blues national radio airplay chart.
Same Old Blues Again is their second album. Recorded at the Hill Country Recording Service in Water Valley, Mississippi, it swings, struts, and grooves hard, beginning with a bluesed-up remake of "Tequila" that features Gussow's squealing high notes. "Rollin' and Tumblin'" introduces a new sound for the duo: cigar-box guitar, handmade by Gross, with slide and harp paired Delta-style. The title track, driven by a loping New Orleans beat, sings of a young man betrayed by love, drinking heavily and drifting downward towards despair.
Classic compositions by Mississippi masters Elmore James ("Cry For Me, Baby") and Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup ("That's All Right") anchor the album, which ends with a three-track live set recorded at the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic and powered by Jimmy Reed ("You Don't Have to Go"), Muddy Waters ("Take You Downtown"), and Robert Johnson ("Crossroads Blues"). The bittersweet sounds of soul-jazz show up in "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" and Gussow's minor-key original, "Blues For Hank," both of which feature jazz bassist Bill Harrison, a Chicago veteran.
The big surprise on Same Old Blues Again is "Magic," Olivia Newton John's 1980 pop hit, arranged as a quiet but urgent blues-pop incantation. Memphis-based R&B vocalist Zaire Love shadows and dances around Gussow's voice and harmonica, creating a haunting sonic tapestry, casting a spell.
Lonely hearts and endless grooves.Same Old Blues Again
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This is a professionally replicated CD in 4-panel digipak format. I ship it to you via First Class Mail. The list of songs includes the key of harp that I played on each track, so you can jam along.
I will autograph the CD at no extra charge, at your request. Just note this using the little selector near the "Add to Cart" button.
PLEASE NOTE: The price above is postpaid, meaning it includes postage & handling charges.
