STEVIE KING: for 7 years guitarist and vocalist with 2 Close 4 Comfort, then house guitarist/bassist for Brentwood’s Hot Hob Jam, as well as bass guitarist for Richard Dobney’s Blues Engine and Bad Hair Day. Stevie is now playing bass for the Andy Robinson Band and hosting the Heathcote Blues Jam in Leytonstone.
ALAN VINCENT: for 30 years now, guitarist with the legendary Shakey Vic’s Blues Band, and onetime member of Bob Brunning’s De Luxe Blues Band with Micky Waller and Dick Heckstall-Smith. More recently Alan has been playing with The Odyssey Blues Band and he is currently with Ray Bartip’s Back 2 Blues.
ADRIAN SHAW: formerly with Kevin Webb’s Doghouse Blues Band, and the original Richard Dobney Band. Once also drummer for the Hot Hob House Band, but not at the same time as Stevie! Until recently Adrian was working with popular function band Loose Talk, and can often be seen with the house band at the Bishop’s Blues Club in Bishop’s Stortford.
CORMAC O’PREY: moved to England 15 years ago, where he played first with the Third Day Blues Band, and later with eclectic punk/folk band Lady Winwood’s Maggot. Recently a part of internet band Red Velvet Swing and hard working covers band Hitsquad, he first teamed up with Adrian at the Stortford Jam. IF YOUR SLIDESHOW ISN'T PLAYING, HIT F5!
Stevie King's Blue Cats
"Scratching Around" reviewed by Jim Greaves of Blues In Britain magazine.
Here we have a 4 piece band based in the London area. the line-up is Stevie King vcl/gtr; Alan Vincent gtr; Adrian Shaw dms and Cormac O'Prey bs. There are 14 tracks here, with 6 King originals and the balance being covers, which tend towards the 60's blues boom era. The style is rocking blues with twin guitars out front.
The CD opens with "Justine", a classic rocker with good lyrics which is in the Chuck Berry mould. This is a cracking good start and one of my favourite tracks. Things continue on a high, albeit with the pace slowing, with a good version of the old Aynsley Dunbar song "Warning". This has some excellent guitar and I liked this one too. The original "When You're Gone" features both guitars and is a good solid tune. There are good vocals on their cover of "Neighbour Neighbour" and again both guitars take a solo. "Katy Johnson" is a jaunty, slightly jazzy song with some interesting lyrics ('eyes like portholes', wow!). We now move into 60s Peter Green territory with "The Green Manalishi" and Duster Bennett's "Jumping At Shadows". The former sticks pretty much to the original single version with a good tight finish whilst the latter is nicely understated. John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom" riff/theme is used for the original "Under Surveillance" and the twin guitars give this a full sound, liked this one. There is a good up-tempo take on "My Time After Awhile". The original "I Can't Forget" has a "Riders On The Storm" rolling rhythm and excellent breaks from both guitarists, one with tasty wah-wah, really liked this. There is a solid take on Canned Heat's "Going Up The Country", then "Man In A Million" has a chopped out rockin' beat, another solid original. The CD ends on a high too with a good reading of the slow blues "So Many Roads" and another Stevie King song, "Bending Over Backwards", another couple of favourites.
The vocals range from OK to fine and the rhythm section are tight and give the right amount of light and shade to each song. The two guitars work well together and each take some good solos without veering to excess. The original material is very good and provides some of the highlights on this CD, which isn't often the case. This is a thoroughly enjoyable CD and one I liked a lot. This is a band well worth getting along to see and a CD worthy of investigation. Oh yes, it gets a 'Recommended' sticker too!
Rating: 8+
Hi Blue Cats, I appreciate your friendship. I like your music. Looking forward to meeting you. Best regards to "Sweet Gene" Alan Vincent. He..s a very skilled player; I wish I could play like him. I met Alan and Shakey Vick on different occasions, eg at The Crown (Kilburn) and The Duke of Wellington (Notting Hill). The very best, keep on bluesin' horst "dot" n
Hello Blue Cats, Hope you are doing well. Blues Detour is now 'live' and taking artist CD submissions. Please check us out and we'll save some shelf space for ya' ;)
Hello Steve- hope you are well. Bout time you came up to my acoustic jam at the Bakers arms in Danbury- every tuesday cept first in month ok - keep well Cheers! Mike
Hi Guys, I did manage to get to The Blues at the Farm yesterday (23rd), and was really glad that I did. I really enjoyed myself, particularly when you did a great version of Peter Green's underated "Green manalishi". It was nice to see four talented musicians that blended so well together. It was a very nice touch at the end when Alan commented on the audience, I think we agree it was quality rather than quantity! Cheers until the next time, John (UK)
Hi Guys, Thanks for the add. I hope I can get down to Barleylands on Saturday afternoon, as it sounds like you play blues/rock the way I like it! Cheers, John (UK)
