Tab Benoit

Tab Benoit - These Blues Are All Mine - 1999 - Vanguard

Great blues album heavily influenced by his Louisiana roots. A stylish and technically basic guitar player, Tab Benoit does not rely on demonic and flashy guitar solos to get his music across. His phrasing is superb and he plays from the heart. Check out his discography.

TRACKS

01. I'm Tired
02. Crosscut Saw
03. These Blues Are All Mine
04. Lights Are On But Nobody's Home
05. Raided That Joint
06. Crawfishin"
07. Mother Earth
08. Don't Lose Your Cool
09. Jambalaya
10. Twenty Nine Ways
11. Keep Yourself From Crying Too
12. Travelin' South
13. Bayou Boogie

MUSICIANS

Tab Benoit Primary Artist, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Vocals, Primary Artist
Michael Bolotin Track Performer
Robbie Parrish Drums
Allyn Robinson Drums
David Lee Watson Bass
Marc Adams Organ, Piano
Rueben Williams Guitar

TECHNICAL CREDITS

Tab Benoit Producer
Andy Bradley Producer, Engineer
Denny Purcell Mastering
Art Tipaldi Liner Notes
Georgette Cartwright Creative Services Coordinator
Robert Hakalski CD Package Design
Ramon Morales Engineer

REVIEWS

When it comes to rocking the blues bayou style, guitarist/singer/songwriter Tab Benoit wins the cookin' contest. Maybe it's because his Louisiana blues dig mighty close to the Texas border. The late Lone Star guitar giant Albert Collins is obviously Benoit's man -- "Travelin' South," "Lights Are On But Nobody's Home," and "Don't Lose Your Cool" are among the Master of the Telecaster's signature tunes that Benoit covers here. The New Orleans-based blues stylist may let his fingers do most of the talking, but Benoit's becoming more comfortable singing these days. On an acoustic version of Memphis Slim's "Mother Earth," his languid southern voice comes off spiritualized without being self-conscious. Benoit's "These Blues Are All Mine" brings out the best in his vocalizing and picking. Notes flow hot and salty while he testifies to the loneliness of a long-term commitment to the blues. With this new release, Benoit has found a healthy balance playing fluff-free old school blues with just enough rock influences to keep the classroom alert, even riveted. When it comes to rocking the blues bayou style, guitarist/singer/songwriter Tab Benoit wins the cookin' contest. Maybe it's because his Louisiana blues dig mighty close to the Texas border. The late Lone Star guitar giant Albert Collins is obviously Benoit's man -- "Travelin' South," "Lights Are On But Nobody's Home," and "Don't Lose Your Cool" are among the Master of the Telecaster's signature tunes that Benoit covers here. The New Orleans-based blues stylist may let his fingers do most of the talking, but Benoit's becoming more comfortable singing these days. On an acoustic version of Memphis Slim's "Mother Earth," his languid southern voice comes off spiritualized without being self-conscious. Benoit's "These Blues Are All Mine" brings out the best in his vocalizing and picking. Notes flow hot and salty while he testifies to the loneliness of a long-term commitment to the blues. With this new release, Benoit has found a healthy balance playing fluff-free old school blues with just enough rock influences to keep the classroom alert, even riveted. © Roberta Penn © 1997-2007 Barnesandnoble.com llc

This is a strong statement by Tab Benoit announcing his true arrival; although he only wrote five of the 13 songs on this disc, he stakes a legitimate claim to all of them with some of his most inspired playing and singing ever. His backing group sounds great and keeps up with him over the entire disc. He is one of a handful of performers -- Tabby Thomas and Johnny Jenkins also manage this -- with that rare ability to combine aggressive blues with the rhythms and sounds of the dark standing waters and Spanish moss-draped trees of the Louisiana swamps. Listen to the spin he puts on the Hank Williams classic "Jambalaya." He injects just a tad more blues and zydeco seasoning to take the song to a different level without messing with the basic ingredients that made it a standard. He does some equally good and interesting things with songs from Albert Collins and Willie Dixon, among others. However, when he plays his own songs, he rips apart the room and leaves it all out there for us to see. Feel the anguish and pain that run rampant in the title cut, "These Blues Are All Mine." Neither his voice nor his guitar leave room for any doubt about how he is feeling. As tormented as he is in "These Blues," feel the joy of a life lived in the swamp that percolates through "Crawfishin'." Listen to him rave in "Bayou Boogie" -- this is one happy and satisfied man. This is definitely one hell of a keeper. © Bob Gottlieb All Music Guide

New Orleans-based blues guitarist Tab Benoit's gotten a bum rap over the years from certain pundits, who call him brilliant on other performers' albums but not so stellar on his own. His latest on Vanguard shows him coming into his own, with a punchy, slightly edgy, yet thoroughly rocking Crescent City R&B-laced, hard blues disc. The paper packaging (no jewel box) is minimalist and rough, a perfect foil to the music contained within, including covers of old chestnuts such as "Jambalaya," "Crosscut Saw," and "Twenty-Nine Ways," and some nice originals, such as the brooding opener "I'm Tired," the title tune, and "Crawfishin'," one those driving cajun blues that will get even the stodgiest joint jumping. Benoit's voice has developed some gritty character over the years, and goes well with his nonpareil blues guitar mastery. With workmanlike effort, he's slowly building a body of work that should keep the critics happy and the fans dancing along the Texas-Louisiana line. © Don Fluckinger www.bluesreviews.com/Reviews/benoit.html

BIO

Tab Benoit (born November 17, 1967 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States) is a blues guitarist, musician and singer. He plays a style that is a combination of Swamp blues, Soul blues and Chicago blues. He plays Fender guitars and writes his own music compositions. Benoit graduated from Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma, Louisiana in May, 1985. In 2003, he formed an organization promoting awareness of coastal wetlands preservation known as "Voice of the Wetlands." A guitar player since his teenage years, he hung out at the Blues Box, a music club and cultural center in Baton Rouge run by guitarist Tabby Thomas. Playing guitar alongside Thomas, Raful Neal, Henry Gray and other high-profile regulars at the club, Benoit learned the blues first-hand from a faculty of living blues legends. He formed a trio in 1987 and began playing clubs in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. He began touring other parts of the south two years later and started touring more of the United States in 1991- and he continues to this day. He is an avid fan of the New Orleans Saints. Tab is also featured in the current IMAX film, Hurricane on the Bayou.