Jay Gordon & Phillip Walker

Jay Gordon  & Phillip Walker - Jaywalkin - 2000 - Blue Ace Records

This CD is a summit meeting between the fiery guitarist/singer Jay Gordon and veteran Phillip Walker. Walker's guitar playing and vocalizing, though a bit more traditional, holds its own with Gordon, who is properly respectful but far from restrained. They perform eight Gordon originals, and their collaboration "Jaywalkin" with either Jimmy Thomas or Russ Greene on bass and piano, and Butch Azevedo or Joey E. Covington on drums. The lyrics are often witty, the interplay between the guitarists display their contrasting styles, and high points include "Whiskey, Women & Fast Cars," "You Should Have Married a Priest," and "Strings Talkin'." © Scott Yanow © 2011 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/jaywalkin-r490856

Buy Jay's great "Blues Infested" album. and listen to Phillip Walker's "Bottom of the Top" album.

TRACKS

1 Whiskey Women & Fast Cars 3:40
2 You Should Have Married a Priest 3:37
3 Blacktop Alley 5:28
4 Shade Tree Mechanic 4:46
5 Strings Talkin 6:33
6 Rub Some Good Luck on Me 3:56
7 Farm Dog 3:02
8 Pure Grain Alcohol 5:02
9 Jaywalkin 6:21

All songs composed by Jay Gordon except "Jaywalkin" by Jay Gordon & Phillip Walker

MUSICIANS

Jay Gordon - Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Slide Guitar, Vocals
Phillip Walker - Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
Butch Azevedo, Joey E. Covington - Drums
Jimmy Thomas, Russ Greene - Bass Guitar, Piano

SHORT BIO (JAY GORDON)

Electric blues guitarist Jay Gordon recorded a series of albums for Blue Ace that inspired comparisons to such legendary guitarists as Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Beginning with Blues Infested (1994), Gordon won much praise from the blues community. Each successive album became increasingly successful -- Broadcasting the Blues Live (1996), Electric Redemption (1998), and so on -- and the guitarist soon found himself being compared to some of the most legendary guitarists to ever play electric blues. In 2000, Gordon collaborated with Phillip Walker on the Jaywalkin album for Blue Ace, yet another accomplishment for the celebrated guitarist. Furthermore, in addition to his guitar playing, Gordon also produces and sings on many of his own recordings. © Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

MORE ABOUT JAY GORDON

Texas enjoys a reputation for putting out more top notch contemporary blues and blues-rock guitar players than any other state in the US, and considering the rich history of players coming out of that state, few can argue. One state that may have a legitimate contention for equal rights however is California. While many of the top players from the West Coast may not be as well known, there are quite a number of them non the less. Jay Gordon is among those making a strong case for the capabilities of guitar players from California. As electric blues has migrated into the contemporary music scene, it's been broken down into several sub-categories, including Chicago blues, Texas blues, blues-rock, and what I had considered to be the last frontier and farthest reaching boundries of the blues, Heavy-blues. But Jay's style necessitates a new classification, at least one I haven't considered before. Shred-blues is the best description I can come up with that aptly describes Jay's style of play. Even though I'm a major league fan of seriously guitar oriented blues, I recognize that as the boundries are move outward there's the risk that emphisis on speed and technique will undue the passion. However, Jay plays with fiery passion that matches the power and ferocity of his style. Jay's guitar playing talents are amazing to say the least. His picking attack is fast and furious, and he's also very capable on slide guitar. His axe has a piercingly crisp, heavily over-driven tone with tons of sustain and bite. Vocals are on the hard side and a bit harsh at times, but for the most part they're solid and a good match for his style of blues. The band is a minimal three piece arrangement of guitar, bass & drums. © Herm, © ElectricBlues

PHILLIP WALKER BIO (WIKIPEDIA)

Phillip Walker (February 11, 1937 – July 22, 2010, was an American contemporary blues guitarist, most noted for his 1959 hit single, "Hello My Darling", produced by J. R. Fulbright. Although Walker continued playing throughout his life, he recorded more sparsely. Walker grew up on the Texas Gulf Coast, and by his mid-teens was playing guitar in Houston. He worked with Lonesome Sundown (and would do so again in the 1970s) and Lonnie Brooks. In the mid 1950s he had a spell in Clifton Chenier's band. He spent the 1960s in Los Angeles, California leading a band that played a catholic repertoire of the R&B chart music, joined by his singing wife Ina, alias Bea Bopp. Singles furnished his album Bottom of the Top (Playboy, 1973), succeeded by sets for Joliet, Rounder, Hightone, JSP and Black Top. Walker was also known for his variety of styles and the changes he would often make for each album. Not until 1969 did he begin to record more regularly when he joined with producer Bruce Bromberg. Since then, fans had a more steady supply of Walker's music. He appeared on show 237 of the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour in 2002 when Live at Biscuits & Blues had just been released. Walker's final studio release is Going Back Home (2007) on Delta Groove Productions. On July 22, 2010, Delta Groove Productions issued an email statement regarding Walker's death: "It is with deepest sorrow that we report on the sudden and unexpected passing of legendary blues guitarist Phillip Walker. He died of apparent heart failure at 4:30 AM, early Thursday morning, July 22, 2010. He was 73 years old." Another article was posted on All About Jazz.

MORE 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 © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kzfoxqrgldae~T1