Many things to cover in this week’s Blues Power Rankings and we begin with three cheers for blues DJs and fans for helping Robin Rogers’ new CD from San Francisco-based Blind Pig Records make a Top 10 debut. The CD was released this week and as I mentioned in this week’s New Album Release column, she is home battling liver cancer. Fans and friends have been rallying to her side to emotionally and financially support her and her family during this time. Many of them have been organizing through Facebook and the internet to help give Back In The Fire some life at radio and retail, hoping to boost her spirits by helping to spread her music. A Top 10 debut is a nice tangible return on those efforts and good wishes.
Charlie Musselwhite’s reign atop the charts lasted one week. This week he slips a notch to #2 and Elvin Bishop’s Red Dog Speaks is once again #1. Joining them in the Top 5 are Walter Trout’s Common Ground, Albert Castiglia’s Keepin On, and JJ Grey & Mofro’s Georgia Warhorse.
Microwave Dave, a fine bluesman himself with ties to the Tennessee Valley, played a few cuts from Ronnie Earl’s beautiful new CD Spread The Love on his weekly program on Huntsville’s WLRH on Saturday night. I’m so happy to see it make its appearance on the chart, joining Musselwhite and Duke Robillard. Those three CDs were released last month, they’re amazing, and music fans need to know about them and hear these songs. Great choice, Dave.
I’ll throw a couple more shoutouts for a few albums that have recently been released that made chart debuts: Robin Rogers’ labelmate Kenny Neal is in with Hooked On Your Love, Jay Gaunt’s Harmonicopia makes a strong debut, and we’ve also got Matt Hill’s On The Floor from VizzTone. Hill’s CD includes contributions from the great Bob Margolin and Dave Gross. I have all three of these discs but haven’t had enough time to absorb them yet. I look forward to listening to them more and reporting back on them. In the meantime, please check out the albums on the chart I have reviewed.
- Elvin Bishop – Red Dog Speaks
- Charlie Musselwhite – The Well
- Walter Trout – Common Ground
- Albert Castiglia – Keepin On
- JJ Grey & Mofro – Georgia Warhorse
- Jimmie Vaughan – Plays Blues, Ballads & Favorites
- Steve Miller Band – Bingo!
- Robin Rogers – Back In The Fire
- Robert Cray – Cookin’ In Mobile
- Janiva Magness – The Devil Is An Angel, Too
- Jay Gaunt – Harmonicopia
- Davis Coen – Jukebox Classic
- Smokin’ Joe Kubek & Bnois King – Have Blues, Will Travel
- Dr. John And The Lower 911 – Tribal
- John Nemeth – Name The Day!
- The Derek Trucks Band – Roadsongs
- John Lee Hooker Jr – Live In Istanbul Turkey
- Dave Specter – Spectified
- Duke Robillard – Passport To The Blues
- Kenny Neal – Hooked On Your Love
- Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters – Spread The Love
- Moreland & Arbuckle – Flood
- Mitch Kashmar & The Pontiax – 100 Miles To Go
- Mississippi Heat – Let’s Live It Up
- Karen Lovely – Still The Rain
- Matt Hill – On The Floor
- Otis Taylor – Clovis People, Vol. 3
- JW-Jones – Midnight Memphis Sun
- Eddie Turner – Miracles & Demons
- Alabama Mike – Tailor Made Blues