Knowing I'd heard
these words before, and thinking it was a lot more than just once, I
couldn't help but put "I was born on the south side of Chicago" - the
opening line of BIG WOODY'S biography - into a Google Search. As
expected, the number of Web pages that have some type of combination of the
words in that sentence is staggering - 2,340,000, just to mention
a few. Like some of those others, BIG WOODY grew up to be a blues
musician - a damn good one at that.
On "GOIN
HOME", BIG WOODY on drums and percussion is joined by: JAMES GILBERT
on bass, lead and background vocals; EUGENE SMILEY, SR. on guitar and
background vocals; DEWEY RUCKER on alto and tenor sax; "MEMPHIS" MIKE MCDANIEL
on guitar; KEVIN HOOPER on trumpet; CRAYGE LINDESAY on keyboards; JASON GOUDEAU
on trombone; BOBBY ADAMS on drums. That musical ensemble already has
my appetite whet. I've always felt that the way to make a
good blues band better is to add a horn section or a piano and WODDY'S
got 'em all. Let's have a listen.
The opening track
immediately started to "HELP ME" take a liking to this disc. It's
a hot, funkified number that quickly took my fingers off the keypad and
started them snappin' to the same beat as my feet. The
rhythm and horn sections, combined with great vocals from JAMES
highlighted this one.
With his baby having
just left him, you can tell just by the way JAMES is belting out this one
that he seriously has the "BLUES THIS MORNING". His gut wrenching
and soulful vocals are some of the discs best. Also highlighting
this one - by far the truest of the discs blues tracks - are some scorching
blues licks from EUGENE'S guitar.
"LONELY
MAN" is another of the several great R&B sounds to be found on "GOIN'
HOME". WOODY and JAMES connect well, and combined with the tight horns,
this one features some of the discs best rhythm. Of course, JAMES on
vocals is at his soulful best.
The slow dancers
will absolutely love "PLEASE COME BACK HOME". With the whole
band locked into a very nice groove, this is one of those tracks that make
you want to just close your eyes and let your body
sway. Trying to figure out what other song this track reminded me of,
I listened to it at least a dozen times and each listen was more enjoyable
than the last. Finally I got it - this one has a strong resemblance to
Jimmy Reed's "Honest I Do". That right there tells ya you'll
like it.
"TRAVELIN'
MAN" closes out the disc with the same fashion it opened - smokin'!
As with pretty much all of the disc tracks, the rhythm's hot. WOODY
on drums, and EUGENE on guitar, could be at discs best on this one.
Other tracks on
"GOIN' HOME" are: "I BELIEVE", "OOH BABY",
"PEOPLE ARE TALKING", "A REAL GOOD SIGN" and "SOMEONE TO
LOVE".
When you
see BIG WOODY, there will be no guessing as to why he's
called that, On the other hand, after you give "GOIN' HOME" a
listen, you just may realize it's a word that could also be used to
describe the BIG sound this band puts out. Check the big guy out
at www.big-woody.com. Once
you're there, you know the drill - buy the disc and tell BIG
WOODY that Big Pete the Blewzzman sent ya.
Peter "Blewzzman" Lauro
