Puedes leer la versión en español de este blog en
elrockandrollyyo.blogspot.com
1. Hitting On Nothing 2. Axe To Grind 3. I'm A Little Mixed Up 4. Hold On Baby 5. Kiss Me 6. Good Morning Little School Boy 7. Cry To Me 8. Lonely 9. Start At The Bottom 10. Hey There Little Boy 11. Birthday 12. Shaking All Over 13. Hot Damn 14. Party Girl 15. Nikki Kay
Blue Lake Records / BLR-CD 26
Yes, it is a CD from 2013, so it can't be said that it's "new"... But I want to bring it here because I've enjoyed it a lot.
For some reason, this Chicago born singer has remained unnoticed to me, even though she is not "just arrived" to the roots music scene, being part of The Honeybees for instance... But during this year's Ubangi Stomp Festival (great one, by the way) held once more in Benidorm, Alicante, Spain, I had the good luck of being at Barbara Clifford's show. Lucky me. And at the end of the show I needed to buy her CD (and to have it signed, by the way). What a voice!
The songs of "Introducing" are true to what I listened to and saw during the show: a beautiful voice singing different styles: from Rock'n'Roll ("Hot Damn") to Soul ("Hitting On Nothing"); from Rhythm'n'Blues ("Good Morning Little School Boy") to somewhere close to Rockabilly ("Start At The Bottom") and everywhere in between, even though is in Rhythm'n'Blues where I find Barbara Clifford more confortable. From 50's to 60's and back.
Fifteen songs were chosen for this album, with some written by Barbara herself, others written by Ken Mottet for her and a handful of well chosen covers.
Among the songs written by Barbara Clifford, I feel the need of highlighting the slow "Kiss Me", but the rest are not bad at all. "Birthday" or "Nikki Kay" (inspired by the great Nick Curran) are good examples.
From the songs written for her, "Axe To Grind" is one of the best, with a beat that will have you tapping your feet from the very first bars. The rocker "Hot Damn" or "Lonely" have to be highlighted as well.
Going to the covers, standing ovation, please, to the wonderful adaptation of "Shaking All Over", from Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, with "Good Morning Little School Boy" (Larry Williams) close in second place.
About the band, thumbs up for the boys: a very good job in all the wide range of styles included in the CD. Well, you can expect it when you learn that they are experienced musicians with Juan Rodriguez (AKA John Guster) as the leader of the band. By the way, good guitar player and, more that that, the big boss man at Blue Lake Records, the label publishing the record.
As said before, a very good album that may like to a wide open range of listeners for the different styles found, always in Roots Music, always Rock'n'Roll friendly, with a magnificient singer with an incredible voice.
Highly recommended. Really. I love it.
Barbara Clifford, with John Guster (guitar),
during the 9th edition of the
Ubangi Stomp Festival (April, 2015).
