The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band feat. Rick Vito

The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band feat. Rick Vito - Blue Again - 2008 - Hypertension

The title Blue Again is a giveaway: like many old rock & rollers, Mick Fleetwood returns to his first love -- the blues -- in 2009, forming the aptly named Mick Fleetwood Blues Band with former Mac running mate Rick Vito on guitar and vocals, Lenny Castellanos on bass, and Mark Johnstone on keyboards. The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band hit the road in 2008 and Blue Again captures their February 2008 show at the Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, MO, which was a gig not unlike the others on the tour: the group ran through several old Peter Green standards like "Rattlesnake Shake" and "Black Magic Woman" and a bunch of originals by Vito, ending with a cover of Elmore James' "Shake Your Moneymaker." Unless the new tunes by Vito are counted -- and arguably they should, as they fit nicely with Green's -- there are no surprises here, just straight-up blues-rock played by old pros who are steadily whittling away the rock to get closer to a purer blues. If Vito's singing is a little bit too smooth and the execution occasionally a bit too on the nose, there is nevertheless an energy and vigor to the spirit here that is wholly welcome and, when it all comes together, even infectious. Stephen Thomas Erlewine © 2011 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/blue-again-r1536433 [N.B: Review refers to the no bonus version featuring "Albatross" as a twelfth track]

Recorded at The Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, Missouri on 8th February 2008, the album was a return to the blues music with which Mick Fleetwood originally found success in the late '60s, as a founding member of Fleetwood Mac . Mick dedicated the album to his original Fleetwood Mac bandmates, Peter Green, John McVie and Jeremy Spencer, and to the legacy of Fleetwood Mac. Around half the tracks on the album were composed by Peter Green. Mick was not aiming to copy the original Fleetwood Mac sound, but to "pay it tribute by creating something both historically respectful yet new and invigorated." For this purpose, he enlisted former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Rick Vito, who had played on the 1990 "Behind the Mask" album, together with two lesser known musicians, bass guitarist, Lenny Castellanos and keyboardist Mark Johnstone, to form the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band. The album was accompanied by a four track bonus studio CD including new versions of Peter Green's "Albatross" and "The Supernatural", recorded in Nashville and Hawaii. The other two tracks are Rick Vito's "Napili Noctourne" and "La Mer d'Amour". Rick Vito has said, "I went to see the original Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green at The Electric Factory in Philadelphia around 1968, and thirty years later, I'm still in awe of his performance that night. Peter was a master of taste and tone, sang great songs amazingly well, and was obviously the guiding force behind his band. He was just about everything I wanted to be as a musician. I'm still working on it!" Bonnie Raitt said: “Rick Vito's guitar playing just slays me! His style is as cool and sharp as a '59 Cadillac tailfin.” Keb Mo' perhaps says it best: “Soulful singer, brilliant guitar player, you got to check out Rick Vito, for sure!” John Mayall said of Rick, “...a master of the instrument, at last getting the attention he deserves as bandleader/bluesman that is long overdue.” Try and listen to Mick Fleetwood's classic "The Visitor" album, and Rick Vito's great "Lucky Devils" album. Todd Rundgren's classic album, "Something, Anything" features Rick Vito and should be heard by everybody interested in great rock music. Mick Fleetwood lists Rick Vito's "Band Box Boogie" album among his all-time favourite albums, saying “...absolutely incredible, soulful, and impeccable. I love this album!” "Blue Again" is VHR by A.O.O.F.C

LIVE CD

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1."Red Hot Gal" (Rick Vito) - 5:34
2."Looking for Somebody" (Peter Green) - 5:02
3."Fleetwood Boogie" (Vito) - 5:19
4."Stop Messin' Round" (Clifford Adams, Green) - 3:56
5."Rattlesnake Shake" (Green) - 5:55
6."When We Do the Lucky Devil" (Vito) - 4:38
7."Love That Burns" (Green) - 6:03
8."Medley: Rollin' Man / Bayou Queen" (Green, Vito) - 5:06
9."Black Magic Woman" (Green) - 8:38
10."I Got a Hole in My Shoe" (Vito) - 4:10
11."Shake Your Moneymaker" (Elmore James) - 7:49

MUSICIANS

Rick Vito - guitar, vocals
Lenny Castellanos - bass guitar, backing vocals
Mark Johnstone - keyboards, backing vocals
Mick Fleetwood - drums

BONUS CD

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1."Albatross" (Green) - 3:15
2."Napili Noctourne" (Vito) - 3:38
3."The Supernatural" (Green) - 3:00
4."La Mer d'Amour" (Vito) - 4:20

MUSICIANS

Rick Vito - guitar, bass guitar, keyboards
Mick Fleetwood - drums

ABOUT MICK FLEETWOOD

Mick Fleetwood is best known for his tremendous success as the drummer of Fleetwood Mac, the wildly successful band he co-founded in 1967 with fellow John Mayall alumni Peter Green (guitar) and John McVie (bass). Although the turmoil of the band's meteoric rise to superstardom is well-known and documented in its own AllMusic entry, Fleetwood himself lost his marriage after it was discovered in 1973 that his wife was having an affair with Mac guitarist Bob Weston. Nevertheless, he continued playing with Fleetwood Mac for multiple decades while periodically issuing solo recordings. After the supporting tour for 1979's Tusk, Fleetwood recorded his debut solo album, The Visitor, which was released in 1981 and displayed the drummer's interest in worldbeat. After the 1982 Mac album Mirage, Fleetwood cut a second solo record, 1983's I'm Not Me, which featured cameos from several Mac members. Fleetwood Mac subsequently went on hiatus until 1987, when Fleetwood's declaration of bankruptcy prompted the reunion LP Tango in the Night; even Lindsey Buckingham was persuaded to join in, albeit only in the studio. Even as the band's classic '70s lineup splintered, Fleetwood kept versions of the band going throughout the '90s, without enjoying much commercial success until the full-fledged reunion on 1997's The Dance. Meanwhile, he also continued working on outside projects such as the Zoo, which issued Shakin' the Cage during the early '90s. Something Big (attributed to the Mick Fleetwood Band), a joint project with songwriter Todd Smallwood, was released in 2004 on Fleetwood's own label, TallMan Records. As Fleetwood Mac prepared to tour again in early 2009, the drummer issued yet another album, this one culled from a live performance by the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band. Entitled Blue Again!, the two-disc set featured the blues-based songs of Fleetwood Mac's early career while also devoting time to original material, with former Fleetwood Mac vocalist Rick Vito assuming frontman duties. © Steve Huey © 2011 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mick-fleetwood-p17569/biography

ABOUT RICK VITO (WIKIPEDIA)

Rick Vito (born October 13, 1949, Darby, Pennsylvania) is a guitarist and singer. He was part of the band Fleetwood Mac between 1987 and 1991. Vito and Billy Burnette took over as guitarists after Lindsey Buckingham left Fleetwood Mac. In addition, Vito has been a featured player on Bob Seger's albums since 1986. He played the famous slide guitar solo on the Bob Seger song, "Like a Rock". He was a long-standing member of Bonnie Raitt's touring band in the 1990s. Rick also played with Jackson Browne, Little Richard, Roger McGuinn, Bobby Whitlock, Dobie Gray, John Mayall, John Fogerty, Delaney & Bonnie, Albert Collins, Dolly Parton and Matrix