Doug MacLeod

Doug MacLeod - Where I Been - 2006 - Black & Tan

“Doug MacLeod, now there’s a man who can play the blues.” - Honeyboy Edwards
“One of the most talented country bluesmen we’ve got.” - Blues Revue

Great album of country blues, soul blues, folk, and electric blues from the very underrated Doug MacLeod, another guy who keeps the great roots tradition alive. Buy Doug's brilliant "No Road Back Home" album. Find the Doug MacLeod Band's "Woman in the Street" album @ DOUGMACL/WITS

TRACKS

1 Bad Magic 5:03
2 Take Your Leave of Me Lady 4:27
3 Angel in Hell 5:59
4 Don't Believe Everything You Read 2:48
5 A Broken Dream in a Broken Room 4:30
6 I'm So Broke (I Can't Even Pay Attention) 3:26
7 The Leavin' Road 4:08
8 Bait-Man 5:04
9 Ain't No Cure 2:53
10 Strip-Ed Bone 4:09
11 Turkey Leg Woman 5:04
12 Familiar Names, Familiar Games 4:18

All songs composd by Doug MacLeod except "Bad Magic" by Doug MacLeod & Prophet Omega, and "Don't Believe Everything You Read" by Doug MacLeod & Jessie MacLeod

BAND

Doug MacLeod - Guitar, Vocals
Dennis Croy - Autoharp, Bass (Acoustic), National Steel Guitar, Percussion
Steve Mugalian - Drums, Percussion
Julie Greer, Patti Joy Macleod - Vocals (Background)

BIO

Unlike some other bluesmen now leading their own bands, guitarist and singer/songwriter Doug MacLeod spent many years as an apprentice before forming his own group. MacLeod has worked as a sideman for many different artists from the Los Angeles-area blues scene, including Big Joe Turner, Charles Brown, Pee Wee Crayton, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, and George "Harmonica" Smith. MacLeod was born in New York on April 21, 1946, and his parents moved to Raleigh, NC, shortly after his birth. In his teens he moved to St. Louis and began frequenting the blues clubs there, learning from people like Albert King, Little Milton, and Ike & Tina Turner. He took up the bass in his teens and played around St. Louis with local bands before enlisting in the Navy. MacLeod was stationed in Norfolk, VA, and spent his off-duty time playing in blues bars. He eventually settled in Los Angeles, accompanying many other blues performers before forming his own band. His songs have been recorded by Albert King, Albert Collins, and Son Seals. MacLeod's 1984 album, No Road Back Home, was nominated for a W.C. Handy Award in 1984 and has since been reissued on compact disc on the Hightone label. MacLeod has widely available albums on Audioquest -- Come to Find (1994), You Can't Take My Blues (1996), Unmarked Road (1997), and Whose Truth, Whose Lies? (2000). His first Audioquest disc features guest appearances by harmonica players Carey Bell and fiddle player Heather Hardy, while the second has a guest appearance by harp player George "Harmonica" Smith. MacLeod has also recorded for a variety of independent labels, including such albums as Woman in the Street, 54th & Vermont, and Ain't the Blues Evil. MacLeod's A Little Sin was released in 2002, recorded in July of that year with producer/frequent collaborator Joe Harley. © Char Ham © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/doug-macleod-p13577/biography

MORE

The Early Years - Doug MacLeod was born in New York City and spent his formative years in North Carolina. After moving back to New York, Doug was in his teens when his family moved again, this time to St. Louis. It was in St. Louis that Doug first heard the Blues. In the mid-60’s MacLeod enlisted in the U. S. Navy. While stationed at Norfolk, Virginia, he began to play acoustic country Blues in the coffeehouses in Virginia and Maryland. It was during this time that MacLeod met the one-eyed Blues-man Ernest Banks. Banks taught him not only the music of the Blues, but the philosophy of the Blues. Doug’s quotes, “Never Play a Note You Don’t Believe” and “Never write or sing about what you don’t know about.” came from Banks’ “countrified” teachings. In 1977 MacLeod met and played with Shakey Jake Harris in Los Angeles. Doug’s reputation as a superb guitar player spread quickly as he played with such Blues giants as Pee Wee Crayton, Lowell Fulson, Big Mama Thornton, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, and Big Joe Turner. Also in Los Angeles, MacLeod met the legendary George “Harmonica” Smith. Smith became not only one of Doug’s best friends, but also a mentor and major influence on his music and his life : The Writer - The high caliber of MacLeod’s compositions (now numbering nearly 350) is evident on his eleven albums as well as on the works of other artists. His songs have been recorded by Albert King, Albert Collins, Son Seals, Joe Louis Walker, Papa John Creach, Dave Alvin, Eva Cassidy, Coco Montoya, Tabby Thomas, Chris Thomas King, Sun Records veteran Billy Lee Riley and James Armstrong. MacLeod’s material continues to be found on the TV screen in numerous shows and made-for-televi­sion films. Several of his songs continue to be featured in the long-running hit series In The Heat of the Night. ‘Your Bread Ain’t Done,’ recorded by Albert King on King’s Grammy-nominated album I’m In A Phone Booth Baby and “Cash Talking, The Working Man’s Blues”, recorded by Albert Collins on his Grammy-nominated release Cold Snap have each received Best Song nominations. Doug’s popular column “Doug’s Back Porch” has been enjoyed by readers of Blues Revue Magazine since 1998 : The Performer - MacLeod has entertained Blues fans throughout the world at countless international music festivals. European festivals include the Belgian Rhythm and Blues Festival, Switzerland’s Lucerne Blues Festi­val, the Utrecht Blues Festival in Holland, the Delta Blues Festival in Italy, the Toyota Gympie Muster Festival in Australia, and Germany’s Dresden Blues Festival. Doug has also played Blues festivals in the U.S. including the King Biscuit Blues Festival, the Long Beach Blues Festival, Portland’s Water­front Blues Festival, the Kalamazoo Blues Festival, Blues Masters at the Crossroads, and the New York State Blues Festival. MacLeod’s experience is not limited to Blues festivals. He has entertained jazz and folk audiences at such festivals as the Tourcoing Jazz Festival in France, the Montreal Jazz Festival in Canada, Arizona’s Sedona Jazz on the Rocks, the Festival International De Guitare, and the Laba­doux Folk Festival in Belgium. In 2005 Doug made his first tours of Finland and Australia and 2006 will find him continuing to tour and perform throughout the world. Doug’s National guitar playing was heard in August Wilson’s play ‘The Gem of the Ocean’. Many magazines such as Blues Revue (U. S.), Folker and Blues News (Germany), and IL Blues (Italy) have published feature articles on MacLeod. He is also featured in a number of books on the Blues including Children of the Blues by Art Tipaldi, The State of the Blues by Jeff Dunas, and Dietmar Hoscher’s Blues, Bluesphilosophie in Wort und Bild : The Teacher - In 2003 MacLeod added guitar workshops to his touring schedule. Doug is one of the ‘faces’ for the National Reso-Phonic Guitar ads seen in magazines like Acoustic Guitar and Blues Revue and is a National Guitars “Featured Artist”. In 2006 Solid Air/Warner Bros/Alfred Publishing released MacLeod’s guitar instructional video on DVD entitled 101 Blues Essentials with Doug MacLeod. 2006 also saw the release of MacLeod’s latest album, Where I Been, on Black and Tan Records : The Radio Host - MacLeod has developed a loyal following of fans as a radio host over the years. From 1992 to 1994 Doug hosted The Blues Highway for Euro-Jazz. Doug was the host of the world famous Blues radio show Nothin’ But the Blues from 2000 to 2005 on KKJZ in Los Angeles. MacLeod was also chosen as the voice of The Blues Showcase on Continental Airlines : Honors - MacLeod received two Blues Music Awards nominations (formerly the W.C. Handy Awards) in 2006: ‘Acoustic Artist of the Year’ and ‘Best Song’ for his “Dubb’s Talkin’ Politician Blues”. Doug previously earned six W. C. Handy Award nominations as well as a nomination for ‘Best DJ in Los Angeles’. In 1998 Doug was honored by having his portrait put on display at the prestigious Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi. In 1997 MacLeod received the Golden Note Award for Best Original Recording for his album You Can’t Take My Blues. His recording Unmarked Road was named as one of The Top Blues Albums of the Century’ by Blues Revue Editor Maureen DelGrosso. Whose Truth, Whose Lies was chosen by Jazz Times writer Miles Jordan as one of The Top Five Albums of the Year in 2000. In 2002 MacLeod was honored again by the City of Los Angeles with a proclamation signed by Mayor James K. Hahn for his contributions to the culture of the City of the Angels. In 2004 MacLeod’s album DUBB was voted The Best Roots and Blues Recording of the Year by the critics and readers of Austria’s prestigious music magazine Concerto. Doug is celebrated as one of the “49 musicians shaping a new Blues tradition” in Art Tipaldi’s Children of the Blues, published by Backbeat Books. © Michael McClune’s Music : Media : Marketing : Management © http://www.michaelmcclune.net/index_files/DougMacLeod.htm