On October 20, longtime Fabulous Thunderbirds frontman Kim Wilson will release one of the best traditional blues albums of the year, Blues and Boogie, Vol. 1, via Severn Records. We know this to be true because we've heard it—over and over again.
As readers discovered when we premiered "Same Old Blues" last month, Wilson—a serious blues devotee—has gone back to basics on Blues and Boogie, Vol. 1, coming up with an album that sounds like it's from another era, an era when "real musicians played real instruments with real feeling" (to quote a comment on our "Same Old Blues" premiere).
To truly drive home the point, we hereby present the exclusive premiere of "Searched All Over," a Kim Wilson original with tons of vintage barroom ambiance that feels, sounds and grinds like a long-lost Elmore James recording from 1957. You can hear it below.
The powerful track features Wilson on vocals and harmonica, Big Jon Atkinson and Billy Flynn on guitar (laying down some impassioned, Elmore James-style slide vibrato), Barrelhouse Chuck on piano, Larry Taylor on bass and Richard Innes on drums.
“I want to tell the real blues fans out there what a labor of love this project has been,” Wilson says in the liner notes. “I’ve been recording many, many tracks for a couple of years now, and time has just flown by. A couple of the greatest musicians that ever lived—Richard Innes and Barrelhouse Chuck—passed away during the process of making this [album]. One of their dreams was to see this stuff come out.
“So here it is, the first of many to come. This kind of music is very easy and pleasurable for me to perform. I like to surround myself with musicians who like to ‘fly by the seat of their pants,’ people like Richard and Barrel, Billy Flynn, Big Jon Atkinson, Marty Dodson, Nathan James, Larry Taylor, Malachi Johnson and all the other fantastic blues musicians on this CD. I desired to record songs I've always wanted to do. However, I have to put my own twist on everything.”
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
The album's track list includes covers of tunes by Elmore James, Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter and more, plus several Wilson originals, including "Searched All Over," "Bonus Boogie" and "Edgier," that fit right in with the rest of the pack. Wilson even covered an old Fabulous Thunderbirds tune, "Learn to Treat Me Right," which originally appeared on the band's What's the Word? album in 1980.
Check out the album's full track list—and listen to"Searched All Over"—below.
Kim Wilson,Blues and Boogie, Vol. 1Track Listing 1. Bonus Boogie 2. No Love in My Heart 3. Ninety Nine 4. Worried Life Blues 5. You Upset My Mind 6. Teenage Beat 7. Same Old Blues 8. Searched All Over 9. From the Bottom 10. Look Whatcha Done 11. Blue and Lonesome 12. Sho Nuf I Do 13. Learn to Treat Me Right 14. Edgier 15. Mean Old Frisco 16. You’re the One
Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
