THE CHARLES BURTON BLUES
BAND
"I WOULDN'T LIE TO
YOU"
CHARLES BURTON MUSIC
BY PETER "BLEWZZMAN"
LAURO © JULY 2007
Although this is the first review of a
CHARLES BURTON release, regular and attentive readers of
Mary4Music.com reviews may recall
having heard his name mentioned here before. CHARLES
appeared as a guest guitarist on Michele Lundeen's 2005 release, "
Song
Inside Me", reviewed here back in 2005. Back then, I only got to
hear him on 2-3 tracks, now I get to appreciate him even more.
On "I WOULDN'T LIE TO YOU", an
all originals disc, CHARLES BURTON, on vocals and guitar, is joined by
EDUARDO SABOGAL on drums and RICK NASH and STEVE WELLS on bass.
The disc opens with the title track,
"I WOULDN'T LIE TO YOU". Now I don't know about you, but
whenever I hear that line, I can't help but think it's a lie in
itself. As a matter of fact, that line should be right up there with the
two other biggest lies in the world....."the check is in the mail" and .......oh
never mind, you get my drift. On this track CHARLES appears to be telling
some hot babe the many different ways that her boyfriend is mistreating her - in
hopes that she'll go home with him instead. Wait a minute.....who's the
real snake here? Great rhythm from STEVE and EDUARDO behind
some great guitar highlights by CHARLES already have me thinking this may be one
of the best tracks on the disc.
Jazz, and blues fans alike, will
appreciate the instrumental track titled "CUBA". This one's all
about CHARLES and his guitar. It's four and a half minutes
of absolute skillful mastery over an instrument.
Very sharp drum work by EDUARDO
leads the band in several tight grooves on "YOU CAN'T TREAT ME THAT
WAY", "BIG EYES", "THIS LITTLE NUMBER" and "I
HAD TO PULL HER OVER". These tracks pretty much emulate what this
band is all about. You've got three very talented musicians doing
what they do best- laying down tight rhythm, putting on virtuoso guitar
performances and singing perfect sounding vocals. No trickery
necessary!
If you think that a title like
"MY BABY DON'T LOVE ME" might be some low down dirty blues song,
then we think alike. Happily, that's exactly what it is - the kind of
stuff that lights my blues flame. CHARLES nails the mood with the vocal
tempo and the blues licks on guitar are the best on the disc. This is good
stuff.
Another instrumental, this one titled
"SWING", has me very impressed. As proficient as this band is
musically, I find myself uncharacteristically thinking I could easily enjoy
many more of these instrumentals. Not since Ronnie Earl has a guitar
player impressed me as much as CHARLES BURTON is now doing.
Other tracks on "I WOULDN'T LIE TO
YOU" include "HOW WE DO IT DOWNTOWN", "BLOCK PARTY", "SEE MY BABY and
"I'D LIKE TO KNOW".
I've said this before and I'll say it
again. if you're going to make it as a three piece band, you better
be damn good, and THE CHARLES BURTON BLUES BAND is damn
good. Check them out at
www.charlesburton.com and tell them
the Blewzzman is talkin' 'bout 'em.
This review has been complimentary written
for your newsletter by Peter "Blewzzman" Lauro, a contributing writer for
BLUESWAX and the Blues Editor at www.Mary4Music.com where you can read many
more CD and live show reviews, view lots of blues photographs and find an
abundance of blues material. I can be reached at
Blewzzman@aol.com