The Blue Cat Blues club in Dallas' Deep Ellum district is where this live performance was recorded. It has none of the studio touchup work that's fashionable on many albums that purport to be "live". It figures, you could trust Suhler, Haynes, and TopCat Records to bring to you the music just as it happened, in a true-life Texas saloon on a winter night in '98. There is edge, tension and spontaniety as well as high caliber musicianship. Suhler, the Dallas-born singer/guitarist has accompanied such blues notables as George Thorogood and Zuzu Bollin, and works with his own band (Monkey Beat). He's that rare sort of bluesrocker who can play straight blues more to the liking of blues hard-liners than many who're supposedly specialists in the idiom. He's reckoned to be one of the most formidable slide men on the sphere. Suhler's been seen on national TV on Conan O'Brien's show, backing Thorogood. He's currently a member of Thorogood's touring band. Haynes is generally considered to be the more traditional blues stylist, though that's not to say he's restrained. Alan has played with some of the real heavy guys, like Muddy Waters, Albert Collins, Hubert Sumlin, and Stevie. "One of my earliest blues/rock influences was Johnny Winter and Alan knows Johnny from way back", offers Suhler. The kickoff cut is "Two Poor To Die", the chunka-chunk rhythm of which hosts as sardonic and macabre a lyric as "Black Cat Bone" by the poet laureate of Texas death music, Lightnin' Hopkins. The tune has tons of slashing, volcanic slide. A slide swapmeet of epic proportion brings on "Knockin' On My Door", a hard-hitting shuffle. Suhler sings the former song, Haynes the latter. They tear into "My Baby's Gone", a fast-paced item made famous on North Texas' blues circuit by Fort Worth's Ray Sharpe. Then come room-rattling tom-toms of the sort that either mean you're either in a Tarzan movie or else Paul Hollis is pounding out the intro to "Don't Do It". Another audience favorite is Suhler's reworking of psychedelic bluesmaster Jimi Hendrix's "Are You Experienced?". It's replete with requisite feedback and sonic weirdness wrought not from a Strat as you'd expect but from a National steel acoustic guitar! Jim Suhler & Alan Haynes - Live At Blue Cat Blues is destined to receive rave reviews and generous radio airplay, and is sure to be one of the top blues CD releases of 2000. Look for Jim Suhler and Alan Haynes on tour worldwide this spring and summer! - from Album Notes © http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jimsuhler1
You have to wonder what they put in the water in Texas, as so many unbelievable Blues Rock guitarists came from that State. Freddie King, Johnny Winter, Billy Gibbons, Stevie Ray, Doyle Bramhall, Ian Moore, Chris Duarte, David Grissom, Jay Hooks, Joe Kubek,Chris Anderson, Albert Cummings, Shane Henry, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and the list goes on and on. You can include Alan Haynes and Jim Suhler. Unlike the majority of reviewers so far, I prefer the dirtier Slide Blues of Jim Suhler, and not surprisingly my favourite songs are the Suhler led 'Down and out in Texas' and 'Too poor to die', but 'Knocking at your door', sung by Haynes is totally awesome too. Nothing but great Rocking Blues and a fitting 'Are you experienced' to close the disc. Highly recommended. By & © Paul Watson (Ireland) © ***** from More Classic Blues Rock from Texas, March 8, 2008 © 1996-2013, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates http://www.amazon.com/Live-at-Blue-Cat-Blues/product-reviews/B000QQZ6RU/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#R1LXIMLV03B33G
Recorded in 1998 at the Blue Cat Blues club in Dallas' Deep Ellum district, Texas , Jim Suhler (guitarist for George Thorogood) and Alan Haynes (Muddy Waters guitarist) play authentic, hard driving live blues with great guitar work from both guys. Carlton Powell plays great cranking bass and Paul Hollis pounds the drums. This is the real deal. These guys know their stuff and this album, HR by A.O.O.F.C makes a change from some of the commercial "radio friendly" blues posers out there. Read more about Jim Suhler @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Suhler and listen to Jim Suhler & Monkey Beat's brilliant "Tijuana Bible". Read more about Alan Haynes @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Haynes and listen to his "Wishing Well" album [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 109 Mb]
TRACKS / COMPOSERS
1. Too Poor To Die - Louisiana Red 6:47
2. Knocking At Your Door - Eddie Taylor 8:04
3. I Wonder Why - Freddie King 7:57
4. Down And Out In Texas - Jim Suhler 6:27
5. Don't Do It - Jim Suhler 4:18
6. Oh My Baby's Gone - Ray Sharpe 3:43
7. Say Your Prayers - Jim Suhler 5:25
8. Are You Experienced - Jimi Hendrix 6:35
MUSICIANS
Jim Suhler - Guitar: Vocals on Tracks 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Alan Haynes - Guitar: Vocals on Tracks 2, 3
Carlton Powell - Bass
Paul Hollis - Drums
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