Trudy Lynn
Blues Keep Knockin'
Connor Ray Music
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It’s
always a great year when
Trudy Lynn
releases a new album, so the year turned great this summer when she released her
13th album and the fourth for the Connor Ray Music
label. Blues Keep Knockin’ features the blues
icon working through ten terrific songs, backed
by a formidable band (Steve Krase – harmonica,
David Carter – guitar, Terry Dry – bass, Randy
Wall – keyboards, Matt Johnson – drums, Jim
Brady – trumpet, Dan Carpenter – saxophone),
along with guests Bob Lanza and Carolyn
Wonderland on guitar.
Lynn covers a wide variety of styles with her
song selections, transforming most
of them to fit her own style. The opener,
Georgia White’s pre-war classic “The Blues Ain’t
Nothing,” is nicely updated, still with
rollicking piano backing from Wall but with a
hearty blues-rock edge thanks to Bob Lanza’s
guitar solo and Krase’s driving harmonica. The
mellow take on “That’s All Right,” associated
with Jimmy Rogers from his ’50s Chess heyday, is
a fine showcase for Lynn’s smoky vocal and
features Krase and Wall prominently.
Up next is the title track, a lively new tune
written by Lynn that discusses her lifelong (and
ongoing) relationship with the blues, which is
followed by a feisty read of the Big Maybelle
hit “One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show,” and a
delightfully funky version of the Three Dog
Night ’70s hit (written by Hoyt Axton) “Never
Been To Spain.” The slow grinder “I Sing The
Blues,” one of two songs from Etta James’
catalog, is top notch, and the slow burner,
“Pitiful,” another Big Maybelle tune with Lanza
returning on guitar, is putty in Lynn’s hands.
The Big Bill Broonzy standard “When I Get To
Drinkin’” gets a swaggering Crescent City-styled
reworking featuring Wall’s dazzling piano,
Brady’s trumpet and Carpenter’s saxophone. “It
Won’t Be Long” is a spirited blues taken from
Aretha Franklin’s early recording days with
Columbia (incidentally, Ms. Franklin also
recorded “Pitiful”).
Lynn closes the
album with a superb heartfelt reading of James’
“Would It Make Any Difference To You,” which
also features fellow Houston resident / force of
nature Carolyn Wonderland on guitar.
Trudy Lynn got a relatively late start
recording, but she has more than made up for
lost time with some fine recordings since that
first recording for Ichiban Records in 1989.
Blues Keep Knockin’ ranks with her best work to
these ears, and hopefully the best is yet to
come.
--- Graham Clarke