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Long John
Baldry:vocals, Elton John:piano, Rod
Stewart:banjo, Ian Armitt:keyboards, Nigel Olsson:drums,
John Porter:bass, Barry St. John:vocals,
Terry Stannard:drums, Liza Strike;vocals
Mickey Waller:percussion,
Bob Weston:guitar,
Richard Brown:bass, Madeline Bell: vocals, Jimmy
Horowitz:keyboards, Davey Johnstone:guitar, Sam
Mitchell:guitar/steel, Doris Troy:vocals, Ray
Cooper:percussion, Stefan Delft:viola, James Litherland:guitar |
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PENGUIN EGGS
MAGAZINE: MUSIC REVIEW/ Spring/06 - 'Back in the days
when a certain Jagger gentleman was honing his chops on old
Muddy Waters records, Elton John was still known as Reg Dwight
and Rod Stewart was drunkenly singing in the London underground,
young John Baldry was looked up to
by that famous generation of young English blues singers. Baldry,
who died this year, never attained the pop stardom of his
acolytes, but they still feel the influence of Long John. Holger
Petersen has done a big favour both for older fans like myself - and a new generation of bluesers by re-releasing these two discs on Stony Plain
Records. It
Ain’t Easy is one of those recordings that’s hard to get
tired of because it has so much depth. Long John’s signature
tune, 'Don't Try to Lay no Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock &
Roll' is just the start. Produced by Elton John and
Rod Stewart, Baldry growls through classic blues of
Leadbelly and Willie Dixon, and then
bluesifies songs by the likes of Randy Newman. Everything Stops
for Tea has more of the same, with Stewart and Elton all
over the album. It's not surprising that the
overall sound on these records is similar to Stewart’s
breakthrough album, Every Picture Tells a Story. Baldry
used most of the same musicians, including the bottleneck of
Sam Mitchell, and Stewart used the sessions as a rehearsal
for his own album. Listening to these albums again makes me
proud that Baldry called Canada home for the last 20 years of
his life. - by Mike Sadava
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Penguin Eggs Magazine |
