Tommy Castro - Johnny Nitro - Kevin Russell

Tommy Castro - Johnny Nitro - Kevin Russell - San Francisco Blues Guitar Summit - Volume 3 - 1993 - Blues Bureau International

This album is supposed to be Tommy Castro's first recorded appearance. It's a brilliant blues rock album featuring the great Tommy Castro, (Look at the album cover, and you will notice that Tommy is listed as "Tom Castro"), Johnny Nitro and Kevin Russell. There is some mind boggling guitar on this album. Lyrically, the songs are very weak, but this aspect of the album quickly fades away, when you listen to some of the fretboard wizardry by these three guys. Feeding the fire with every measure, Kevin Russell, Johnny Nitro and Tom Castro push each other to set new contemporary blues standards. This album is HR by A.O.O.F.C.

ABOUT TOMMY CASTRO, JOHNNY NITRO, & KEVIN RUSSELL

Michael Locke, the dean of the North Beach blues scene, mentor to Tommy Castro and countless others, has stated that "If the world was fair, Johnny Nitro would be famous". Johnny has played with Albert King, Albert Collins and Sonny Rhodes. He wrote Dirty Dishes, a song popularised by Albert Collins and also recorded by the great Tab Benoit. Johnny’s also a long time blues instructor at Blue Bear School of Music in San Francisco. If you can find it, it is worth buying the great "Car Fixin' Blues" album by Johnny Nitro & the Door Slammers. He is a very much underrated artist. Kevin Russell is quoted as saying, "I have always been suspect of musicians who do not dig blues". Kevin comes from Detroit and is proudly maintaining the great Motor City blue rock tradition. Kevin played in a successful rock band, Kokomo, with Grateful Dead members, Bill Kreutzman and Brent Midland. He also played with ex-Stray Cats, Slim Jim Phantom and Lee Rocker. Kevin is a highly respected session guitarist, and has played on many great recordings. He has produced some of Rick Derringers work. An immensely talented guitarist, his "Movin` On" album is a brilliant modern electric blues album, and well worth buying. There is no need to elaborate too much on the Californian master Bluuesman Tommy Castro's guitar prowess. Carlos Santana had this to say about Tommy Castro, - "The blues is in good hands. When someone has the right intentions, with sincerity, you can never go wrong. This is the person who has the voice, the sound, and the intentions, to touch everybody's heart." Influenced by blues and soul greats like Muddy Waters, Freddie King, Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett., Tommy Castro is one of the most talented bluesmem playing today. Check out Tommy's "No Foolin'" album @ TCAST/NF and his "Exception To The Rule" album @ TCAST/E2TR

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. Train Conductor (Kevin Russell) (4:34)
2. You Know I Love Ya (Tommy Castro) (5:20)
3. Nobody Else's Arms (Johnny Nitro) (6:50)
4. Alligator Alley (Kevin Russell) (5:37)
5. I Tried (Tommy Castro) (9:35)
6. Runnin' On Fumes (Johnny Nitro) (6:46)
7. Take It Like A Man (Kevin Russell) (5:38)
8. You Got Something (Tommy Castro) (5:30)
9. The Wrong Bed (Johnny Nitro) (8:04)
10. You Gotta Roll (Kevin Russell) (5:13)

MUSICIANS

Johnny Nitro, Tommy Castro, Kevin Russell - Guitars, Vocals
Brad Russell - Bass
Andy Doerschuk - Drums