Fort Worth's J&J's Blues Bar ... a great place for "live blues" !!!
Influences
Jim's Influences are: The Beatles, Byrds, Yardbirds, Buffalo Springfield, Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Free, and Paul Rogers
Bryan's influences are: Frosty J. Freeze (my cool daddy), FJF II (my big bro...who taught me my first Jimmy Reed lick), Jimmy Reed, Chuck Berry, The Beatles , J.R.(Ray Sharpe),
Cream, Canned Heat, Rolling Stones, Stevie Ray Vaughn,
Billy Sanders, Delbert McClinton, John Lennon, and Steely Dan
Jim's self-cusomized "Tele" .... "THE BLUESERATOR"
DR. WU' "...the good in me
...the good in you"
Band mates JIM ASHWORTH and BRYAN FREEZE formed Dr. Wu’ in 2002 after growing up and playing in various bands starting in the late 60’s. The name was taken from a favorite Steely Dan song that encourages us to live life to the fullest and strive to be the very best that we can be. With this as their goal, they set out to record their “Texas Blues” Project Volume I “Fort Worth Artists”… a long overdue recorded history utilizing guest appearances by musicians who have made Fort Worth a global mecca of top players… especially great “guitar slingers”.
The first being BUDDY WHITTINGTON , a multi-talented guitarist and singer with an endless bag of guitar licks, sounds, and tricks that are always refreshing and are inspiring. Buddy is a permanent member of blues legend, John Mayall’s BLUESBREAKERS band. Buddy lends his talent to three tracks on the CD, including a live version of the popular Gary Nicholson song… “JACKSBORO HIGHWAY” an infamous strip on the Northside of Fort Worth which in the 50’s and 60’s was lined with nightclubs like THE SKYLINER BALLROOM where under aged teens could get in to see their blues heroes like Jimmy Reed, Ray Sharpe, Delbert McClinton and countless others on any given Saturday night.
After a chance meeting at The 6th Street Bar & Grill, a local Fort Worth blues venue, long time friend STEPHEN BRUTON instantly agreed to add his creativity to a track. Stephen, a “star” in his own rite, has been a player early on with the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Delbert McClinton, Bonnie Raitt, and countless other greats.
Home-grown JAMES PENNEBAKER added his tracks from his home studio in Nashville due to his busy schedule and much sought after talent as a guitar, fiddle, and pedal steel master. James has been a member of the Delbert McClinton, Leroy Parnell and more recently….Big & Rich bands. James is now the Artist Representative for FENDER GUITARS, NASHVILLE.
Hammond B-3 master, “RED YOUNG" lends his “classic” B-3 sound on two tracks, teaming up with Stephen Bruton on “Come Back Baby” and guitarist Danny Hubbard on the Charlie Bassham scorcher, “Storm Watch Warning.”
“Red” is currently on the road with Eric Burden and the “Animals” and has also toured with Linda Rondstadt, Sonny and Cher, Joan Armatrading, Tanya Tucker, Delbert, and is the front man for his own band, the ever popular.... RED and the RED HOTS.
Long time friend CHARLIE BASSHAM, original drummer for THE ATOMIC CLOCK and LEE PICKENS GROUP was enlisted as the
third member of DR. WU' after it was apparent that he was the "voice" that was needed to give the "TEXAS BLUES" PROJECT that special magic that would push the project to new levels of "BLUESDOM".
The core element of DR. WU' music is is established with the help of MIKE KENNEDY on drums (early on with FREDDY KING),
DANNY HUBBARD on guitar, and GRAMMY nominated bassist, JERRY HANCOCK ...collectively, the popular FORT WORTH group, "THE SIDEMEN."
Other GREAT musicians who added their individual talents to the project inlude:
"MOUSE MAYES" guitarist for BLACK OAK ARKANSAS and POINT BLANK in the 80's and later THE VOODOO KINGS...more recently teams up with BUDDY WHITTINGTON when not on tour with JOHN MAYALL.
LEE PICKENS of “D.O.A.” and BLOODROCK fame, adds his licks on two tracks
“ROLLO” SMITH laid down a tasty traditional slide guitar on “I DON’T CARE BLUES”
BOBBY COUNTS…..Fort Worth’s “OFFICIAL BLUES AMBASSADOR” and bassist extraordinaire contributes on two tracks and…..
RANDY CATES the bass man on the popular “LIVE” version of “JACKSBORO HIGHWAY”
GARY "OWA" OWEN ...an original member of The LEE PICKENS GROUP...plays his vintage '66 Fender Precision bass on two tracks including the theme song of the album...NOTHIN' LIKE TEXAS BLUES
RUSTY BODEN , an original member of THE LEE PICKENS GROUP and THE PARTY CRASHERS plays KEYS on two cuts
Drummer DANNY COCHRAN “Fort Worth Shuffles” his way on “HIGH MAINTENANCE BABY”
MICHAEL HAMILTON grooves on the keyboards along with THE SIDEMEN on “JACKSBORO HIGHWAY"
RODNEY BOWENS of PROFESSOR D fame, blows sax on the new dance craze... “THE FOOL AROUND”
YOLANDA WALKER sings soulful backup .. YOUR LYIN’ ”
...and Last but not least….. “THE WORLDS GREATEST BLUES HARMONICA PLAYER"....
GARY GRAMMER plays on three..
Quite the collection of “World Class Musicians” to come from FORT WORTH and be featured on
The first Volume of “TEXAS BLUES” PROJECT !
* * * * *
This Saturday, January 24, 9:30pm, MILTON HOPKINS (9 yrs. with BB King's band and one of the last of the school of "real deal" legends of Texas Rhythm & Blues guitar) & "TEXAS JOHNNY BOY (vocals, harmonica, flute, tenor & alto saxophone) will be in downtown Dallas at a fine club called "PEARL" at 2038 Commerce St, 75201, ph# 214-655-8824. WE'D LOVE TO HAVE YOU AND YER FRIENDS AT THE PARTY!!
Thank you for including me in your friends circle! Myspace seems to have a few bugs in it lately! lol Your music is fantastic...love the blues! Hugs Peggy
Saturday Sept. 20th, 9:30pm. Texas Johnny Boy & Milton Hopkins (9 years with BB King's band and a Texas legend of blues guitar) will be in downtown Dallas at "PEARL", 2038 Commerce Street, DALLAS, Texas 75201. We've got all kinds of blues I know all y'all can use! Hope to see y'all at the party! Thanks for the AD, friend. Texas Johnny Boy eclectic bluesician, vocalist, harmonica, flute, saxophone
Hey, guys, I LOVE the CD!!! And talk about a "who's who" of Ft. Worth musicians on it!!! WOW! Charlie, you continue to amaze me, buddy, both as a drummer and a singer. Good to See Rusty Boden on there too and glad he's still doing what he does best (Ft.Worth blues). Thanks for a great efort to everybody involved! wade johnson
Hey thanks for the ADD Bryan. Really enjoyed your playing at the Trinity park Fest. By the way, you need to delete that comment that Charlie sent you. It's a hack and he didn't really send it. He knows about it though.
We love you guys !Thanks for all the great vibes and inspiration.We used to go to ft worth all the time just to see and study all you wonderful great musicians-people,I wish you all the great luck-DRIVE-mike Brown
Hey Doc, Thanks for the add! I've been trying to tell all my friends down here in Austin that Ft. Worth has always been where it's at when it comes to TX blues. Now I have this album to prove it. Tell Bassham, Pickens, Kennedy, Owa, and the rest of the guys I said hello.
Hey there Mr.Freeze,Dirt played this stuff for me last night.Great songs, I didn't know you were as good on playing as you were on the sound board,shoulda known better,huh?!!LOL
