Howlin' Bill - Midnight Hero (2-CD set)

Deriving their name from the sobriquet of their leader Wim DeVos, Belgian blues & boogie band Howlin’ Bill were the winners of the first European Blues Challenge in Berlin in 2011. A baritone-voiced singer and mean blues harmonica player, DeVos is the band’s chief songwriter. They perform mostly original music moulded very much in the Chicago blues vein, occasionally venturing into rockabilly. Whatever the style, Howlin’ Bill deliver the music with complete authenticity and sonic authority. A total of 32 songs populate this 2CD compilation, the first disc containing tracks culled from the band’s first four studio albums dating from 2004 to 2012, and the second a reissue of their 2009 live set. Although there are some variations in the quartet’s lineup, its characteristic sound never fluctuates. DeVos’ longest serving sidemen are guitarist Little Jimmy Hontelé and bass player Walkin’ Winne Penninckx. Hontelé nails that thick-toned early electric blues guitar timbre to complement DeVos’ Little Walter-soaked harp stylings and the bouncing, swinging, shuffling, funkified drive of the rhythm section. They don’t just go through the motions, Howlin’ Bill’s output crackles with boundless energy and stirring emotion from the slow-burning ‘A Man’s Got To Do’ to their dynamic tour-de-force reading of Omar & The Howlers’ ‘Don’t You Know’. Midnight Hero attests to the preservation of real blues in a model that keeps it fresh, new and exciting without deviating from the way it was meant to be played.

Album: Midnight Hero (Disc 1)
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 55:57
Size: 128.1 MB
Styles: Electric blues
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[4:11] 1. Gone Too Soon
[3:51] 2. Dont Wanna Go Home
[3:57] 3. Foxy Little Lady
[2:55] 4. Midnight Hero
[3:23] 5. Need A Ride
[2:25] 6. Circus Is Coming To Town
[3:06] 7. This Time No Lies
[3:30] 8. Strongest Man Alive
[3:57] 9. A Date With The Devil
[3:23] 10. Get Outta My Life
[3:23] 11. Night Nurse
[3:03] 12. Bellboy John
[3:45] 13. Rat Race
[3:36] 14. My Baby
[3:34] 15. Howl
[3:50] 16. So Close

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Album: Midnight Hero (Disc 2)
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 72:07
Size: 165.1 MB
Styles: Electric blues
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[3:53] 1. Next Time
[3:42] 2. Foxy Little Lady
[6:05] 3. Six Feet Five
[3:41] 4. My Own World
[4:09] 5. Gone Too Soon
[2:27] 6. Circus Is Coming To Town
[4:32] 7. Bully
[3:22] 8. Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
[9:08] 9. Dont You Know
[7:26] 10. A Mans Got To Do
[5:52] 11. Remember The Day
[3:47] 12. Second Hand Shoes
[3:25] 13. Sipido
[2:42] 14. You Got It
[2:57] 15. Pick Up Lines
[4:50] 16. Hell Freezes Over

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