RJ Mischo

Since a few folks reading this blog will also attend the Texas Harmonica Festival and since RJ Mischo will be one of the headliners, I thought that I'd best share my thoughts about RJ's newest release, Make It Good, from Delta Groove Music.

I've been listening to and writing about RJ Mischo's music since his Blue Loon release with Percy Strother back in 1992. I'm pretty sure that I've written reviews on most of what he's recorded since then, and it is quite a body of blues harp blasting work. He's never disappointed the blues loving harp player in me and he certainly ain't starting now.

Make It Good is a particular strong outing and not just for the remarkable talent RJ has with a harp in his mouth, or his sometimes wise ass lyrics, or his solid vocals. He's rounded up one hell of a band with some of best at what they do. How can one go wrong with Wes Starr on drums, Ronnie James Weber on bass, and a couple of real blues "ringers" for guitarists. What could go wrong with current T-Bird slinger Johnny Moeller spitting out licks out of one channel, while ex-T-Birder, Nick Curran's doing the same out of the other. The note vocabulary of this duo is unfathomable and relentless throughout the disc. They bounce leads back and forth like Chinese ping pongers, sometimes blending lead notes together, and slipping in and out of rhythms duties seamlessly. I'd like to know who's slinging what and when, but it really doesn't matter. I want pretend that I know their styles well enough to tell one from the other, but I'd be a liar, because both have chameleonic styles to suit whatever a song demands.

Oh, and then there's Nick Connelly's remarkable organ swells and fleet fingered piano runs punctuating the proceedings all disc long. His presence is noticeable from the "get go" on the opening cut, "Trouble Belt", on which RJ warns each and everyone to stay away from his girl. He pounds the hell out of the 88s on the rawkus tune, which by the way is devoid of harp, while the guitar twins get wound up with some kind of down and dirty tones and start rippin' notes from the fret board. Connelly's organ sets the stage for the instrumental, "The Frozen Pickle", along with RJs fat tone warbles.

There IS a third guitarist lurking about on this disc too, though. RJ included two cuts with what he calls his two man blues band, The Super Reverbs. He and guitarist Jeremy Johnson provide the smoke for the title cut, and Johnson get some down right, low down, funky tones going on with "Make It Good", with RJ providing minimal backing on harp. Drummer Richard Meade is thrown into the two man mix on this one and his heavy handed bombs are integral to the drive of the song. On their second outing on "Up To The Brim", it's Johnson keeping time with bass drum and high hat while slinging his notes around, and RJ lets his dirty, nasty, fat toned, freak flag fly on the instrumental.

RJ tends to always mix things up and keep the harp chops flying with other modes than full on, amped up tones. He does some good time, acoustic, chord heavy whomping on "Papa's S.T. Special", replete with Sonny Terry whooping, but also by tossing in plenty of single note nuggets. His acoustic superiority is on full display on "Not Your Good Man", which kicks off with some dirty Muddy guitar stylings. The tone that comes out of RJ's harp elicits remarkably deep bends. Whoa! Talk about blues with a feeling. I do know that Moeller stabs the hell out of the solo, because RJ calls his name out. He rips it. On "Elevator Juice", RJ drags notes from the bottom of the barrel with a low keyed harp and then swings to some of the best high end playing that I've heard anyone play.

Wes Starr and Ronnie James strut their stuff particularly effectively on the gut bucket shufflin' of "All Over Again". Look no further for a rhythm section operating on all cylinders. They drive the hell out of the tune.
They do the same to the rumba flavored instrumental "Arumbala Part 1" (early in the disc) and "Arumbala Part 2" (the closer), which is a lesson in what ensemble playing is all about. RJ breaks out his chromatic chops, as he and Connelly's organ mix and mingle together.

I don't think that I have enough adverbs, adjectives, or superlatives to describe every harp lick that RJ brings to the table on this CD, not to mention just what the hell Moeller and Curran continuously swap with each other. I'll just say this, "Hell Yeah!". Oh, and get this one.

The Fabulous Thunderbirds

Back in May 2008 (dang, has it been that long) I posted a gushing review of  the first T-Birds' gig that I witnessed with the newest lineup of Mike Keller and Johnny Moeller slinging guitars, and Jay Moeller and Randy Bermudes driving the rhythm on bass and drums (respectively). Word from Kim Wilson that night was that they would have a release out with these guys in the fall and I couldn't wait to get a copy of what I felt just might be the best band that Wilson had put together since he and Jimmy Vaughn parted ways. I regularly checked my usual online sites for obtaining blues music (even iTunes) and time passed by with no T-Bird fix. Painted On was available everywhere, but no new news.

Long story short, the new CD appears to have been sitting on their website for some time and that's one place that I sort of quit checking after awhile. Like Kim Wilson's My Blues, it seems that website distribution and gig sales was the chosen method to get the CD out there (or in my case, here). So, of course, I grabbed my autographed copy and must say that it'll go into my file as one of my favorite T-Birds albums. It definitely sports some of the funkiest grooves to ever come out of a T-Birds' band. Of course, if you have any of Johnny Moeller's stuff (case in point, Return of the Funky Worm), then you know he can get funky, but this being a Fabulous Thunderbirds' release, then you know that it'll stay true to Kim Wilson's orchestration and his vision on what their sound must be. Which is a jivin' mix of the blues, R&B, soul and a bit of rock 'n roll.

Might as well start with the tracks on which Wilson blesses us with his mouth harp skills, since a few blues harp fans tap into the blog on a frequent basis. True to most of The Fabulous Thunderbird releases, he puts the songs first and sticks his harp to mouth on those that deserve and/or warrant the instrument. So, let's just begin with the last listed track, Doctor Isaiah Ross' Cat Squirrel (if anyone picked up the latest Collard Greens and Gravy, a good comparison could be made between their version and this 'un). Wilson lays down the mic and whomps out and drives the good Doctor's lick ideas acoustically and into the juke joint where it belongs. Wilson doesn't try to fancy it up any, just play it like it's supposed to be played. He also puts a ragged edge on his other wise smooth vocals to keep the tune way down in the alley where it belongs. The band keeps it there also, especially at the sticks of Jay Moeller's insistently crashing cymbals. The duo guitarists simply riff the rhythm to make the ragged feel stick.

Wilson doesn't break out his harp until the fifth track, Pay Back Time, which is one of the seven originals on the twelve tracks. It's just a nasty ol' blues, with Resonator slide rippin' and Wilson singing through his harp mic to put it in a "downhome" mood, until the band kicks into gear and brings it up to date, and Wilson spits out a few note warbles to set the tone. He jumps in and out with the harp, but it's not the song's feature. Jay Moeller and Bermudes bounce the song around significantly and no one uses those cymbals for effect as well as Moeller.

Baby I Love You invokes Wilson to pull out some Jerry McCain style riffs, mashed up with the Louisiana vibe that he's always been so good at. He waits until halfway through the song before laying it down and getting swamp juice all over it. The boys show how well they can drive a shuffle in a way that just smells and drips T-Bird groove. Keller and Moeller's guitars blend together so well, like Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla and chocolate syrup. Just hard to tell who's the ice cream and who's the topping at any given time.

Satisfied is the butt rocker that kicks off the whole proceedings and informs us that these new guys have the goods to be called The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Wilson lets them showcase what we can expect for the entire CD. Drums and bass upfront, loud and yanking the gear shift into "D". Two guitarists swapping rhythm and lead, lead and rhythm, while Wilson sings his tale (and his tail off) of being nothing but satisfied with his love. Keller and Moeller's guitars get that twangy, reverby stuff going that T-Bird legend is made of.

Speaking of butt rockin', they pull out and cover One's Too Many (and A Hundred Ain't Enough) that was covered on the Butt Rockin' album with Jimmy Vaughan's watery reverb highlighting the tune. The band funks it up quite a bit more and the dynamic duo apply their own guitar-a-rama magic to claim the tune as their own. This is a hidden bonus track, following Cat Squirrel.

They also put a funky spin on O.V. Wright's soul number, Love The Way You Love, and T-Birdify it. One of the boys spits out some rapid fired solo licks towards the end of the number that are nothing short of incredible. The band is at their funkiest on Got To Bring It With You. I'm guessing Johnny Moeller is jacking the funk quotient up with the rhythm guitar that hits from the beginning, but could just as well be Keller. The solo breaks these guys break out backs me up when I say that they are the best guitar tandem working the blues today. They had my hair standing on end.

Bermudes' Runnin' From The Blues proves his meddle as a songwriter. It sits solidly in the soul blues stew and our guitarists prove that can twinkle with the strings in the vein of a Curtis Mayfield, but before the song has faded, they're ripping the blues and the band swoops to a crashing, bashing crescendo with Wilson singing his butt off. They apply the same style of rhythmic vibe to Wilson's Hold Me and dash the funk into it liberally. The crescendo builds to a similar climax with the band banging the hell out of the tune and riffs flying around the proceedings and echoing off the walls. Great stuff.

Okay, that's enough. This is hands down, the best band that Kim Wilson has put together and they've put out one of the best albums that bears the name The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Oh, did I mention the chicken pickin' rockabilly style slinging they get going on Take Me As I Am or the topical message about helping our own here in the U.S. on Do You Know Who I Am? No? Well, just go on over to http://www.fabulousthunderbirds.com/ and buy yourself a signed copy and listen for yourself.

What's A Poor Boy To Do?

I've been out of the loop (in way more ways than one) for the past month or more, so I decided to go over to my favorite online record store (yeah, I still like to use the word record)and owner Charlie Lange slaps me in the face all these wonderful new releases for us blues harp enthusiasts. Normally, a must have recording will entice me every month or two and I can slowly part with my cash, but danged it he's highlighting a slew of the good stuff. Anyway--I thought I'd share what made me grab my credit card (not that I bought them all, but maybe I will later...tomorrow...or...dang it!)

Gary Primich
Gary, IndianaCan't pass these
live cuts up, playing
with these Scandinavian
blues cats. Besides, he
left us way too soon, so
I'll take any memories
he left behind. He was
truly one of the most creative
harmonica dudes on the planet.





Mark Hummel
Retro-active
W/Charlie Musselwhite and a
Rusty Zinn
With Charlie Musselwhite and Rusty Zinn on board, this has to be a cooking release. I've got a lot of Hummel's stuff, but I must say that this West Coast icon has become quite the master blaster in recent years.



Johnny Moeller
Bloo Ga Loo!
W/Kim Wilson & Lou Ann Barton

'Nuff said. But really, I know that Johnny's not a harp player, but he is by far one of the best damned guitar players out there or anywhere and I'll buy his stuff forever. Oh...and Kim and Lou Ann...I know they'll do it good!



Rhythm Willie
The Greatest Harp Player
You've Never Heard
I've just heard this guys name mentioned in reverence over the years by fellow harp people. No one has ever been able to point me in the right direction as far as where to find his stuff. Seems that a song here and a song there exited somewhere, but where?... now it seems that we can all judge for ourselves. Cool!

Well, these were just the ones that really tweak my interest. Go over there to bluebeat music and get your credit card out. There's also William Clarke's Tip of the Top if you missed it the first go 'round, a package deal on Paul Butterfield's best blowing, an outstanding price for a 4 cd Howling Wolf package, and the latest Mannish Boys release. Buy now!