We’ve had a seismic event on the Blues Power Rankings this week, leading to a brand new #1. Blues veteran Magic Slim’s latest Raising The Bar has done just that, raising it all the way to the top slot at blues radio according to the latest from Roots Music Report. The shakeup goes deeper with two albums that have been dominating the charts for over a month — Peter Karp & Sue Foley’s He Said She Said and Janiva Magness’ The Angel Is A Devil Too tumbling a bit. The beneficiaries? Anders Osborne’s glorious American Patchwork, Smokin’ Joe Kubek & Bnois King’s Have Blues, Will Travel, and the new album pairing Legendary Blues Band alumni and former Muddy Waters sidemen Pinetop Perkins and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith.”
One of the most exciting things on this week’s BPR chart is the debut of Chris James & Patrick Rynn’s Gonna Boogie Anyway. This is such a good record and their debut did so well with I just couldn’t understand why I wasn’t seeing it on the radio chart. It’s here now and it’s about damn time!
Nick Moss’ Privileged, Guitar Shorty’s Bare Knuckle, and Moreland & Arbuckle’s Flood all remain in roughly the same area of the chart they’ve occupied for weeks now, while a slew of new releases from Delmark Records — — are sprinkled throughout. Jonny Lang’s Ryman live set bounces upwards after a large drop and Peter Parcek’s Mathematics of Love takes this week’s big dip. Blogcritics Asst. Music Editor Donald Gibson reviewed Ryman and also interviewed Lang while John Taylor has taken a look at Parcek’s CD.
Last week I debuted a companion to this feature — The BPR 6-Pack — highlighting six songs from BPR albums you can download to get a taste of the best of the blues at the moment. I’m going to continue with that so be on the lookout.
- Magic Slim & The Teardrops – Raising The Bar
- Smokin’ Joe Kubek & Bnois King – Have Blues, Will Travel
- Anders Osborne – American Patchwork
- Pinetop Perkins / Willie ‘Big Eyes’ Smith – Joined At The Hip
- Karen Lovely – Still The Rain
- Janiva Magness – The Devil Is An Angel, Too
- Otis Taylor – Clovis People, Vol. 3
- Peter Karp / Sue Foley – He Said She Said
- Nick Moss – Privileged
- John Nemeth – Name The Day!
- Cyril Neville – The Essential Cyril Neville
- Cee Cee James – Seriously Raw – Live At Sunbanks
- Guitar Shorty – Bare Knuckle
- Mississippi Heat – Let’s Live It Up
- Moreland & Arbuckle – Flood
- Dave Weld And The Imperial Flames – Burnin’ Love
- Clothesline Revival – They Came From Somewhere
- Popa Chubby – The Fight Is On
- Jonny Lang – Live At The Ryman
- Les Sampou – Lonesomeville
- Harper – Stand Together
- Chris James & Patrick Rynn – Gonna Boogie Anyway
- Shakura S’aida – Brown Sugar
- Kirk Fletcher – My Turn
- Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps – You Know You Love It
- Tim Woods – The Blues Sessions
- Rick Taylor – Lucky Room
- Elvin Bishop – Red Dog Speaks
- Forrest McDonald – Certified Blue
- Peter Parcek – The Mathematics Of Love