John 'Broadway' Tucker & The Broadway Band - Mostly You

Album: Mostly You
Size: 136,0 MB
Time: 58:45
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1994
Styles: Blues, West Coast Blues
Art: Full

1. Mostly You (6:17)
2. One Way Love Affair (4:02)
3. Good Woman (6:23)
4. Drivin' Wheel (4:43)
5. Move Away (4:33)
6. Kimball Street (5:38)
7. I've Been Loving You Too Long (3:36)
8. Walkin' To My Baby (3:38)
9. Can't Afford Two (6:49)
10. Treat A Dog (5:31)
11. Come Back (4:30)
12. Steal Away (3:00)

With the release of their debut album, the Broadway Band brings to fore a unique sound developed during the course of over a dozen years. The album, a mixture of classic rhythm and blues covers and Broadway Band originals, captures the essence of West Coast blues.

Since his early days as a youth in Natches, Mississippi, singer John "Broadway" Tucker has been pursuing his dream and his calling. The son of a sharecropper, Tucker moved to Memphis in his late teens and hung out in the shadows of many of the great blues artists including Sam Cooke, Al Green, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Willie Mitchell, B.B. King, and Rufus Thomas. Teaming with bassist/songwriter Gary Souza in 1980 to form the Broadway Band, Tucker's dream came to fruition.

Featuring trademark and dynamic horn arrangements, Chicago-inspired guitar chops, and a strong and punchy rhythm section, the Broadway Band captures that soulful big band sound. The powerful vocals of John "Broadway" Tucker and the virtuosity of the Broadway Band is a winning combination. This album, "Mostly You," is a successful testimonial to their achievements.

(For personnel details, see artwork included.)

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John 'Broadway' Tucker - Impromptu Blue

Year: 2000
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:25
Size: 100,0 MB
Styles: Blues
Scans: Full

1. The Woman I Love (4:49)
2. As Years Go Passing By (5:21)
3. I'm A Jealous Man (3:46)
4. Straighten It Out (5:28)
5. Help Me (4:40)
6. (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right (4:29)
7. Lonesome Whistle Blues (4:55)
8. Tin Pan Alley (5:25)
9. Sometimey Woman (4:28)

Oakland/San Francisco-area bluesman Tucker sings in a manner undeniably derivative of Bobby "Blue" Bland, and he stands in this style quite strongly. A horn section adds extra juice, but it is the pianist/organist Bill Heid who really provides the spark that powers this full bodied authentic blues machine. Tucker's repertoire on this CD is well known to all, and quite enjoyably rendered.

Most Bland-ish from the get-go is the cool 12 bar swinger "The Woman I Love" and classic ballad anthems "As the Years Go Passing By" and "If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don't Want to Be Right." Heid's piano work is most pronounced on the down home "Lonesome Whistle Blues," and especially upfront for the sweet swinging 12 bar jazz of "Tin Pan Alley." Firing up the B-3, Heid jams out on A.C. Reed's "I'm a Jealous Man," while steadying the band for Latimore's pop funk tune "Straighten It Out."

The best overall cuts are the deliberate boogie based, dark & delicious "Help Me," and the swaggering swing of "Sometimey Woman," the period at the end of this solid program. Tucker's a sleeper that only Californian's may be aware of. The rest of the world, take notice before he gets put on a shelf. Recommended. /Michael G. Nastos, AllMusic

Personnel: John 'Broadway' Tucker (vocals); Bill Heid (piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Dave Workman (guitar); David Price (bass); Bill Turner (drums). The Broadway Horns: Ron Coolidge (trumpet); Mark Whitney (tenor and baritone sax); Michael Curtin (tenor sax).

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John 'Broadway' Tucker - Mississippi To Monterey

Year: 1999
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:56
Size: 124,7 MB
Styles: Blues
Scans: Full

1. Born Lover (3:49)
2. That's Alright Mama (3:25)
3. It Hurts Me Too (3:24)
4. Somebody Have Mercy (4:39)
5. You Can't Spend What You Ain't Got (5:09)
6. Must Be The Blues (4:43)
7. Since I Fell (4:59)
8. Home At Last (4:36)
9. Leavin' Home Blues (5:51)
10. Ain't That Good News (4:51)
11. Unwanted Child (3:35)
12. Guitar Talk (1:23)
13. Steal Away (3:27)

With the release of this album, Tucker further establishes his reputation as one of the finest pure rhythm and blues singers on the West Coast. Born the son of sharecroppers in Greenville, Mississippi during World War II, Tucker grew up in Greenville where the blues was a way of life. In this record I hear the roots of blues as well as the roots of John's love for the music. Tributes to Muddy Waters are heard in the eloquent interpretations of "Born Lover" and "You Can't Spend What You Ain't Got", and Tucker and Haines leave their mark with the original composition "Leaving Home Blues". There is a motherlode of blues in this recording and nothing sounds the same.

Fans of the big band sound of the Broadway Band will not be disappointed as guitarist Haines, harp aces Gary Smith and David Wellhausen, upright bassist Bill Sullivan and a host of others lend to the quality of this recording with both heart and virtuosity. On "Home At Last" the full band gets in on the fun, a tip of the hat from Tucker to his longtime bandmates. This recording is hopefully only the next of what will be many recordings to come from the maturing artist. This album is a tribute to the blues as well as to the artist John "Broadway" Tucker. His journey from Mississippi to Monterey is now complete. /Excerpt from the liner notes by Stephen L. Vagnini

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