Phillip Walker & Otis Grand

Phillip Walker & Otis Grand - Big Blues From Texas - 1992 - JSP

Nice comeback set after a lengthy absence from the recording scene that was cut in London under the direction of guitarist Otis Grand (who shares axe duties throughout). Why this Louisiana-born guitarist hasn't been recorded more heavily is a mystery; he seldom fails to connect, and this import is no exception to the rule. © Bill Dahl © 2011 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/big-blues-from-texas-r129357

An exceptional 1992 classic blues album. The late Phillip Walker was one of the most talented blues guitarists of the postwar years and some say that this album was the finest moment of an illustrious career. The album was recorded with Otis Grand as guitarist, producer and bandleader. The original release deservedly won a Handy Award. The horns by the Oh Gee Horns are rootsy and contemporary and the guitars of Phillip and Otis combine to create an outstanding studio collaboration. Listen to the late Phillip Walker's brilliant "Tough As I Want to Be" album and Otis Grand's "He Knows the Blues" album. Philip Walker's "I Got A Sweet Tooth" album is @ PHILWAL/IGAST & Otis Grand's "Nothing Else Matters" album is @ OTISGND/NEM

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 Dressin' Trashy - Phillip Walker, Nat Dave, Nathaniel Dove
2 Young Devil - Phillip Walker
3 She's Gone - Phillip Walker, James Thomas
4 Bluesmobile - Phillip Walker, James "Son" Thomas
5 Beatrice, Beatrice - Phillip Walker, Larry Garner
6 Don't Leave Me Baby - Lou Baxter, T-Bone Walker
7 Play Me Some Blues - Phillip Walker, Jimmy Johnson
8 Insomnia - Phillip Walker, Otis Grand
9 Goodie Train - Cleo Page
10 She Torture Me - Phillip Walker, Otis Grand
11 You're So Fine - Little Walter
12 Big Blues from Texas - Phillip Walker, Otis Grand

MUSICIANS

Phillip Walker RIP (guitar,vocals)
Otis Grand (guitars)
Dan Quinton (Fender bass)
Steve Diamond (piano,Hammond B3)
Alan Premier (drums, percussion)
Oh Gee Horns: Peter Beck (Tenor & Alto Sax), Mike Hobart (Baritone Sax), Noel Harris (Trumpet)
Buzz Brown (harmonica solos) on Tracks 5,11,&12

ABOUT PHILLIP WALKER

Despite recording somewhat sparingly since debuting as a leader in 1959 on Elko Records with the storming rocker "Hello My Darling," Louisiana-born guitarist Phillip Walker enjoys a sterling reputation as a contemporary blues guitarist with a distinctive sound honed along the Gulf Coast during the 1950s. A teenaged Walker picked up his early licks around Port Arthur, TX, from the likes of Gatemouth Brown, Long John Hunter, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Lonnie "Guitar Junior" Brooks. Zydeco king Clifton Chenier hired Walker in 1953 as his guitarist, a post he held for three and a half years. In 1959, Walker moved to Los Angeles, waxing "Hello My Darling" for producer J.R. Fulbright (a song he's revived several times since, most effectively for the short-lived Playboy logo). Scattered 45s emerged during the '60s, but it wasn't until he joined forces with young producer Bruce Bromberg in 1969 that Walker began to get a studio foothold. Their impressive work together resulted in a 1973 album for Playboy (reissued by HighTone in 1989), The Bottom of the Top, that remains Walker's finest to date. Walker cut a fine follow-up set for Bromberg's Joliet label, Someday You'll Have These Blues, that showcased his tough Texas guitar style (it was later reissued by Alligator). Sets for Rounder and HighTone were high points of the 1980s for the guitarist, and 1994's Big Blues from Texas (reissued in 1999) continued his string of worthy material. His 1995 set for Black Top, Working Girl Blues, shows Walker at peak operating power, combining attractively contrasting tracks waxed in New Orleans and Los Angeles. I Got a Sweet Tooth followed in 1998, and displayed no letdown in quality or power. Walker got together with fellow blues legends Lonnie Brooks and Long John Hunter in 1999 to record Lone Star Shootout for Alligator. Walker is featured as lead vocalist on four tracks and backs the others on the rest of the record. In the fall of 2002, a live recording of a spring concert was released on M.C. Records. © Bill Dahl © 2011 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/phillip-walker-p135596/biography [N.B: Phillip died on Jul 22, 2010]

ABOUT OTIS GRAND

Otis Grand (born February 14, 1950, Beirut, Lebanon) is an American blues musician, best known for his album, Perfume and Grime (1996). Although born in Beirut, Grand has spent much of his life in the United States. He played with local blues musicians at Eli's Mile High Club in Oakland, California, and made contacts that would later prove useful; such as Joe Louis Walker who produced his debut album, Always Hot (1988). He later cited his early influences as being B.B. King, Otis Rush, Johnny Otis and T-Bone Walker. By the late 1980s, Grand was based in the UK where he and his Dance Kings became a popular nightclub act. He was voted 'Best UK Blues Guitarist' seven years running (1990–1996) by the British Blues Connection magazine. In 1991, Grand co-starred with his backing band and Guitar Shorty, on the My Way or the Highway album. Joe Louis Walker also played on Grand's next album, He Knows the Blues (1992) alongside Calvin Owens, Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis, and the singer Jimmy Nelson. The album was nominated for a W.C. Handy Award. Nothing Else Matters (1994) involved Curtis Salgado, Sugar Ray Norcia, and Kim Wilson, whilst Walker and Salgado returned for Perfume and Grime (1996) which also utilised Luther Allison and Darrell Nulisch. In 1997 Grand guested on Joe Louis Walker's album, Great Guitars. In March 2009, Grand appeared on stage at the Arts Centre in Cranleigh, Surrey, England. In addition to living in Lebanon and the United States, Grand has lived in France and currently resides in Croydon, England, Grand remains an incisive guitarist. His latest album, Hipster Blues, was released on May 21, 2007. [from Wikipedia]