Ben Poole - Trio (Live '19)

Size: 237 MB
Time: 101:31
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2020
Styles: Blues Rock
Art: Full

CD 1:
01. Intro (Live) ( 0:46)
02. Take It No More (Live) ( 5:31)
03. Win You Over (Live) ( 6:15)
04. Start The Car (Live) ( 5:34)
05. Have You Ever Loved A Woman (Live) (11:35)
06. The Question Why (Live) ( 7:43)
07. Further On Down The Line (Live) ( 4:37)
08. Don't Cry For Me (Live) ( 8:18)

CD 2:
01. Lying To Me (Live) ( 4:06)
02. I Think I Love You Too Much (Live) ( 5:25)
03. Found Out The Hard Way (Live) ( 6:54)
04. Stay At Mine (Live) ( 4:48)
05. Anytime You Need Me (Live) (14:24)
06. Time Might Never Come (Live) (15:35)

Personnel:
Ben Poole – Guitar, Lead Vocals
Steve Amadeo – Bass, Backing Vocals
Wayne Proctor – Drums, Backing Vocals

The album mainly features songs from his two studio albums, opening up with one of the stronger tracks from 2018’s “Anytime You Need Me”, the riff driven chugging rock of “Take It No More”, setting the scene for what follows, mainly mid-tempo blues-rock sung quite soulfully (the guitarist is in fine voice throughout) punctuated by long solos and underpinned by the reliably steady backbeat laid down by drummer and producer Wayne Proctor and unfussy bass playing of Steve Amadeo. To be honest the best numbers are the covers, Jude Cole’s “Start the Car” helping to keep the show on the road early on, a song that really suits the guitarist’s singing and rhythmic telecaster playing. Jeff Healy’s “I Think I Love You Too much” is another standout. The recordings are drawn from three gigs performed in intimate settings and the sound reflects that, relatively raw and unprocessed, providing listeners with a front of stage audio experience. The two-CD set is a very good representation of the guitarist’s current live show and it will be interesting to see what direction his guitar playing and songwriting take him in future (Ben Poole Live – 2022?). ~Simon Green

Trio (Live '19)

---

Ben Poole - Anytime You Need Me

Size: 118,3 MB
Time: 50:53
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2018
Styles: Blues Rock, Funky Blues
Art: Front

01. Anytime You Need Me (4:09)
02. Take It No More (4:33)
03. You Could Say (4:36)
04. Found Out The Hard Way (5:53)
05. Further On Down The Line (3:54)
06. Dirty Laundry (5:38)
07. Start The Car (4:41)
08. Don't Cry For Me (5:58)
09. Let Me Be (5:58)
10. Holding On (5:30)

Personnel:
Guitars, Vocals: Ben Poole
Drums: Wayne Proctor
Bass: Beau Barnard
Hammond, Wurlitzer, Piano, Synth: Ross Stanley

‘Anytime You Need Me’ is a very accessible, funk laden album with one eye firmly on the mainstream.

From the hook led title track, through 10 groove laden cuts which come to rest on the rolling momentum of the post Hendrix meets grunge guitar of ‘Holding On’, ‘Anytime You Need Me’ gives Ben Poole all the ammunition he needs to make a significant impact.

The thing that might stand in his way is that a lot of the material sounds similar to artists who have already made their mark.

The album gently percolates and bubbles up on 8 well crafted songs and two confidently played covers, of which The Eagles ‘Dirty Laundry’ highlights the distance between Poole’s current style and his ultimate musical ambitions.

Intuitively produced by Wayne Proctor, ‘Anytime You Need Me’ is a melange of subtle moods, deep grooves, significant solos and lingering tones that glue together an album that relies heavily on feel. But it’s the band’s seamless interplay and Poole’s own tonal colours rather than his vocal that makes an emotional connection.

He does have a very soulful voice that at different time evokes the confessional mood of John Mayer, the falsetto white boy soul of Mayer Hawthorne – stopping just short of the androgynous phrasing of Daly – while he occasionally nuances the new soul direction of Jonny Lange. The only thing missing is his own DNA.

His guitar playing varies from the crisp and incisive to the kind of grungy and distorted buzz tones favoured by Gary Clark Jr. And it’s the twin pillars of funk and soul built on subtle dynamics and his softly voiced vocals that hold this album together.

All the different elements combine tastefully as part of a funky palette that embraces different tempos, but it’s on the laid back Steve Wright penned Don’t Cry for Me’ that he excels. It’s the moment when the album relaxes on a beautiful song that finds its own space and time and gives BP the context well suited to his talents.

Gentle drifting guitar notes float and hover effortlessly, while his vocal is more natural sounding on a beguiling hook that could be the sound of the summer.

He sets out his stall on the funky slick opening title track with a slight tempo change on the hook. The staccato phrased lyrics flow into two contrasting solos, as his high pitched floaty vocals border on falsetto.

He toughens things up on the sludgy mid tempo ‘Take It No More’, while ‘You Could Say’ is organ-laden poppy funk. A slight pause ushers in unexpected ascending Allman Brothers style solo that builds up with great purpose, before shadowing the melody on the outro.

His opts for a more conversational Mark Knopfler style tone on the excellent ‘Found Out The Hard Way’. The laid back tempo, whispered vocal and big guitar resolution that fades a shade too soon could be The Eagles.

Up until this moment, all the guitar solos feel like an integral part of his aural palette, while on this solo it feels as if he’s stepping out, until the fade.

He builds up the tension again on the tightly wrapped funk of ‘Further On Down the Line’, on a train time rhythm that draws us into the snappy hook and some nicely contrasting tone on a brief solo.

He’s good with arrangements too, most notably on Jude Cole’s ‘Start The Car’ on which he substitutes lilting funk for rock and strut to good effect.

A combination of funky catchy hooks, soulful vocals and expansive guitar work gives ‘Anytime You Need Me’ real crossover potential. And in this age of download culture Ben Poole has a handful of tracks that might give him the breakthrough this thoughtfully crafted album deserves. **** ~Review by Pete Feenstra

Anytime You Need Me MP3
Anytime You Need Me FLAC

---

Ben Poole - Time Has Come

Size: 116,2 MB
Time: 49:31
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. Lying To Me (4:07)
02. I Think I Love You Too Much (6:38)
03. Longing For A Woman (3:48)
04. If You Want To Play With My Heart (3:37)
05. Time Might Never Come (8:37)
06. Stay At Mine (4:21)
07. You've Changed (4:17)
08. Just When You Thought It Was Safe (4:29)
09. Whoever Invented Love (4:33)
10. The Question Why (4:59)

Time Has Come. It's not just the title of Ben Poole's new studio album but also the consensus of the press, punters and star players who have caught this British gunslinger on his rise from hot-tip to headline act. Already, Ben has been dubbed 'f**king amazing' by Jeff Beck, 'really great' by Gary Moore, 'ferocious' by Guitarist and 'one to watch' by The Blues.

Ben has moved fast since he burst out of the Brighton Institute Of Modern Music onto the post-millennial scene. We've had the breakthrough debut album (2013's Let's Go Upstairs). We've had the rocket-fuelled live release (2014's Live At The Royal Albert Hall). Now, Time Has Come fuses both sides of Ben's musical personality, capturing the gritty velocity of his shows in a studio context. In an age of sterile, computer-driven productions, Time Has Come is an album that lives and breathes.

Recorded at Nottinghamshire's Superfly Studios in late 2015, the sessions found Ben's core band tracking nose-to-nose in the live room, with producer Wayne Proctor and engineer Andy Banfield catching the sparks, and an anything-goes ethos spurring the collective to new heights. Given Ben's reputation, you'll come expecting guitar fireworks, and won't be disappointed, from the wah-soaked opener Lying To Me, through the nimble rock n roll picking of Stay At Mine, to the impulsive call-and-response outro solo of I Think I Love You Too Much.

Time Has Come also features the cream of Europe's blues guitar players: Aynsley Lister, Henrik Freischlader & Todd Sharpville. Add to this wonderful backing vocals by Stevie Nimmo and you have a real quality album. Time Has Come is the sound of an artist whose time is now and an album that defies you to take it off your stereo or smartphone.

Time Has Come

---

Ben Poole - Live At The Royal Albert Hall

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 53:54
Size: 123.4 MB
Styles: Blues-funk, Electric blues
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[ 0:50] 1. Intro
[ 3:53] 2. Let's Go Upstair
[ 6:19] 3. Love Nobody No More
[ 9:48] 4. (I Know) I'm Losing You
[ 5:22] 5. Mr Pitiful
[ 7:48] 6. It Doesn't Have To Be That Way
[ 5:06] 7. Leave It On
[10:56] 8. Have You Ever Loved A Woman
[ 3:48] 9. Starting All Over Again (Bonus Studio Track)

Night after night. Regular as clockwork. Walking offstage after every firecracker gig, Ben Poole found himself fielding the same backstage enquiry from another breathless fan: 'When are you going to release a live album...?' You asked for it. And now, by public demand, Manhaton Records presents Live At The Royal Albert Hall: the long-awaited live snapshot that finds Britain s brightest blues-rock talent blowing the roof off the nation s best-loved venue. 'I m first and foremost a live performer,' says Ben. 'The energy, adrenaline and excitement you can conjure up live is near-impossible to capture in a studio environment. I feel like I come into my own on stage.' As the stamping-ground of legends from Cream and Led Zeppelin to B.B. King and Joe Bonamassa, it s fair to say the Royal Albert Hall is not a venue for lightweights.

Though still in his mid-twenties, Ben has surely earned his shot. Starting out as a blues-obsessed teenage gunslinger in Bedfordshire, Ben fused the influences of Eric Clapton, SRV, Jeff Healey and Jimi Hendrix into his signature style. Having toured the planet and traded licks with Jeff Beck, Gary Moore and Richie Kotzen, the Albert Hall held no fears. And so, it came to pass that on October 31st, 2013, Ben and his crack band of Craig Bacon (drums), Mat Beable (bass), Sam Mason (keys) and Amy Eftekhari (backup vocals) pulled into London to play the first day of BluesFest 2013. It s a vintage performance. And yet, as anyone who caught the original broadcast on BBC Radio 2 s Paul Jones Show will remember, this show was not just about fist-tight execution, but also the light-footed setlist. It s a testament to Ben s songwriting talent that his own originals like Let s Go Upstairs and It Doesn t Have To Be That Way stand shoulder-to-shoulder with all-time classics like Otis Redding s Mr. Pitiful and Billy Myles Have You Ever Loved A Woman. Stick around for the encore, too: a studio version of Ben s latest track, Starting All Over Again, that s sure to whet the fans appetite for his next album.

Live At The Royal Albert Hall mc
Live At The Royal Albert Hall zippy

---