 | KENNY NEAL and BILLY BRANCH “Double Take” Alligator Records, 2004 (ALCD 4894) |
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This all-acoustic re-release from the French Isabel label was recorded/produced in France in 1998. It originally came out in Europe in 2003. No music has been added or removed by Alligator but the CD has been completely re-packaged. Its 60 minutes prove acoustic blues doesn’t have to mean songs that are slow, sad, or boring. Kenny is well known due to his musical heritage and prolific recording career. Billy hasn’t enjoyed a similar amount of recorded output but he’ll be no stranger to anyone closely associated with Chicago blues. The credits for the 12 tracks indicate Neal handles more lead vocals. Of the two, Kenny has a far more deep and commanding voice which includes a southern drawl. The credits do not clearly indicate what instruments these musicians perform. Although Kenny is a fine harmonica player, it has been assumed he plays all guitars while Billy handles the harps. Neal wrote three numbers while Branch contributes one. The pair co-wrote the only instrumental on the CD. The harp chugs, churns and then throttles everything in its path on “Going Down Slow.” It gets down right ass-kickin’ on “I Just Keep Loving Her” while the guitar rhythm is rumbling and tumbing. Both artists long for the country on separate, original tracks. The two numbers celebrate the joys of rural living. Kenny claims he, “don’t need no burglar bars” on “Going To The Country” while Billy simply states, “I was born in the north but my heart was in the south” on “Northern Man Blues.” When Muddy Waters performed “Mannish Boy” on his “Hard Again” album, he named the LP after the way the music made him feel. When Muddy hears the Neal/Branch version of his classic tune, he is going to be one pogo-stick-hopping angel. “The Son I Never Knew” is a deep song that makes the listener ponder what life this father and son may have had if they had met and begun a relationship. My first exposure to the song was the electric version on Kenny’s “Devil Child” album, however; it is far more suited to an acoustic arrangement. This allows the storyteller’s melancholy mood to emit. There are two versions on the disc. On one, Branch performs electrified harp. This modern acoustic blues collection isn’t the same old country blues from the ’20s and ’30s. Yes, the disc has its roots in that era but the tunes are performed in a way that is relevant for today. Overall, the disc showcases more mesmerizing harp than guitar. The biggest drawback is the selected covers will already appear many times in your CD collection. Two finer young-generation bluesmen couldn’t have been found to demonstrate how the blues gets past from one period to the next. Who knows -- this genuine back-porch rockin’ party may even start a new folk/blues revival. |