Nick Moss & The Flip Tops - First Offense / Got A New Plan

Album: First Offense
Size: 121,7 MB
Time: 52:51
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2003
Styles: Chicago Blues
Art: Full

01. Try To Treat You Right (4:17)
02. Night Has Fallen (2:33)
03. Baby's Got Ways (3:23)
04. She Keeps Me Worried (5:34)
05. No Hide Nor Hair (6:44)
06. You Right And I'm Wrong (3:08)
07. Just Stay In Bed (3:46)
08. Chez Sweet Petite Pea (4:26)
09. Judged By Twelve (3:02)
10. Tossin And Turnin' (3:49)
11. Just In From Texas (2:53)
12. Crazy Mixed Up Baby (3:07)
13. All Night Jump (3:22)
14. Lost Paycheck Blues (2:40)

Nick Moss' blues education started early, with the help of his parents' record collection and his sneaking into blues clubs while still in high school.

At eighteen, he played bass alongside his brother Joe as a ribtip in Buddy Scott's band.

At twenty, he was touring the country with Jimmy "Fast Fingers" Dawkins.

At twenty one, Nick replaced Calvin "Fuzz" Jones of the Legendary Blues Band; the longtime bassist of Muddy Waters.

LBB's drummer, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith recommended Nick to the legendary Jimmy Rogers who was heading back to the U.S. early for a tour of his own.

Nick filled and held the coveted guitar spot in the Jimmy Rogers Band for nearly 3 years until the urge to set out on his own began.

With the encouragement of Jimmy and many club owners, Nick started his own band, "Nick Moss & the Flip Tops".

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Album: Got A New Plan
Size: 151,8 MB
Time: 65:08
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2001
Styles: Chicago Blues
Art: Full

01. When It Rains It Really Pours (4:31)
02. Ain't Got That Time (3:50)
03. Playing By The Rules (3:16)
04. Arrowmaker Pass (4:24)
05. Let's Try This Again (6:50)
06. My Daddy Was Right (4:45)
07. Work Your Hips (4:44)
08. For You (3:34)
09. Boogie Man (3:20)
10. Poison Ivy (4:11)
11. Katie Ann (6:09)
12. My Love Strikes Like Lightning (3:03)
13. Two Fools With A Misunderstanding (5:42)
14. (Kind Of) Ghetto (6:42)

Anyone who thinks youngsters don't make blues albums like in the old days needs to be introduced to Nick Moss. His impressive credentials include journeyman work behind windy city mainstays Jimmy Dawkins and Jimmy Rogers, and although he hasn't logged as many miles as either, his sophomore release shows him to be a tough, roots-heavy traditionalist. Planted firmly in the Chicago tradition, Moss plays guitar with authority, tearing into trebly, terse, staccato lines like the old pros he learned from. Only four of these 14 tracks are covers, but even though his self-composed songs don't break new territory -- and some like "Work Your Hips" outwardly cop familiar riffs -- this is blues music of uncommon intensity. Moss occasionally shifts gears into R&B on tunes like "For You." It's just enough to alter, but not water down, the straight-up Chicago vibe that dominates this disc. His playing on Freddie King's "The Boogie Man" slices like the strings are made of razor blades. Occasional sax, credited to the Dez Desormeaux Orchestra, adds a further rough and tumble feel to the palate, as does the ominous Hammond B3 from John Kattke. Vocally, Moss is merely adequate, but he gets by on sheer force of will. A concise, rugged version of Muddy Waters' "My Love Strikes Like Lightening" sounds like it was recorded at the same time as the original, a high compliment indeed. Moss delves into back alley blues on "Two Fools With a Misunderstanding," another original that seems as if it came from the Muddy songbook. A cover of Donny Hathaway's "The Ghetto" is as contemporary as this album gets, but even on this funky instrumental, Moss retains his uncluttered approach. Dedicated and hardcore without being slavishly imitative, Nick Moss' new plan looks a lot like his old one;keep the raw Chicago blues alive. ~Review by Hal Horowitz

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