Luther ALLISON - Love Me Mama / Underground

Three years younger than Buddy Guy, the teenaged Luther Allison arrived in Chicago from Arkansas before Guy left Louisiana. Thereafter, though similar, their careers diverged as Guy became the popular face of young Chicago blues while Allison toiled unnoticed. After his 1969 debut for Delmark he became one of few blues artists to join Motown, although the results failed to enhance his status. In the early '80s moved to Europe, where he refined his style to accomodate a more rock-oriented audience. A decade later, with newfound but hard-won prestige, he was able to return in something like triumph to the US, where his popularity began to rival Guy's, but lung cancer cut short his enjoyment of his finest moment.

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Album: LOVE ME MAMA
Styles: Modern Electric Chicago Blues
Recorded: 1969
Released: 1996
Bitrate: 320k/s
Size: 138.54 MB
Time: 60:45
Art: Full

1. Why I Love The Blues - 4:06
2. Little Red Rooster - 4:31
3. 4:00 In The Morning (Waiting On You) - 2:16
4. You Done Lost Your Good Thing (alt.) - 4:18
5. Five Long Years - 4:19
6. Dust My Broom - 3:35
7. Every Night About This Time 4:01
8. Love Me Mama - 3:58
9. The Sky Is Crying - 5:38
10. Help Me - 3:51
11. You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now - 3:56
12. Bloomington Closer - 7:23
13. Little Red Rooster (alt.) - 5:21
14. Walking From Door To Door - 3:46

Personnel: Luther ALLISON - Guitars, Vocals
Jimmy 'Fast Fingers' Dawkins - Guitar
Robert 'Big Mojo' Elem - Bass
Bob Richey, Bobby Davis - Drums;
Jim Conley - Tenor Saxophone

Note:  A strong seller on its first release, this album now show its age. In plain terms, Allison wasn't yet a good enough guitarist to work in a trio format and his frequent use of a wah-wah pedal hinders the flow of his invention. Unlike Magic Sam, he couldn't cinvincingly combine rhythm and lead guitar work, as the seven-minute instrumental 'Bloomington Closer' amply illustrated. What isn't dispute is that he already possesses a powerful and commanding voice that will improve further with age. Officialy this was his debut solo album.

                                                              Love Me Mama
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Album: UNDERGROUND
Styles: Modern Electric Chicago Blues
Recorded: 1958 or late 1960's
Released: 2007
Bitrate: 320k/s
Size: 61.46 MB
Time: 25:36
Art: Full

1. Hide Away (2:31)
2. Don't Start Me Talking (4:38)
3. Drivin' Wheel (3:28)
4. Cut You Loose (3:34)
5. Easy Baby (1:38)
6. You're Gonna Miss Me (2:20)
7. Take My Love (2:28)
8. Rock Me Baby (4:35

Personnel: Luther ALLISON - Guitar & Vocals
Bobby King - Rhythm Guitar
Mule & Bobby Rush - Bass
Robert Plunkett - Drums
Sammy Logan - Runner

Notes: There's only about 30 minutes of music on Underground and as is to be expected the sound isn't of the greatest quality. The material itself though is an interesting mixture of instrumentals and songs that give the listener a good idea of the sound Luther was after in those days.

   You can hear Luther's interest in the rockier side of things on some of his instrumentals, (remember this is the guy who played guitar with his teeth as much as Hendrix did), but you can also hear his affection for the smoother sound of R&B coming through.

    What I found the most interesting about these recordings is just how laid back they are. All descriptions I've heard of Luther, and any other music I've heard of his, has been driven and intense. Normally he played like he was propelled by Rocket fuel, but here it sounds like he's just kicking back and exploring some mellow licks with Bobby Rush's band.That's what distinguishes the playing on this disc, is Luther Allison's ability to enjoy a note. Sure he could play fast but so could a million other people; on Underground you have the opportunity to hear him play slow and relaxed, maybe something you've not heard before.

   This is a fantastic, raw album of an early Luther Allison studio session. A good portion of these songs ended up on Luther's classic early 70's Motown albums, so I'm assuming that that the session dates from sometime before then. However, there is no way on earth that these were recorded in 1958, as a sticker on the cover states! (the funky arrangement of "Cut You Loose" is a dead giveaway) Ruf records is certainly no fly-by-night operation (they've been putting out Luther's records for years) so it's frankly mind-boggling that they could allow such an obvious mistake to hit the shelves. Let me reiterate that this disc captures a Terrific Luther Allison studio performance, but that it's not exactly what it claims to be.

   Ruf records given this album said, that he recorded on 1958, but more of sources given year of recording on late sixties. See this page:  - http://blogcritics.org/music-review-luther-allison-underground/

                                                                  Underground
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