DOGHOUSE
DADDIES
"DIG
THIS"
GREENBACK HILL
MUSIC
BY PETER "BLEWZZMAN" LAURO
© MARCH 2008
It's been well over
a year and a half since my first encounter with these Daddies, and here they are
- still in the doghouse. That's right, the DOGHOUSE DADDIES are back,
and on their second CD "DIG THIS", it appears they're still
dishin' out blues with a bite.
On "DIG
THIS", the nucleus of the DOGHOUSE DADDIES, BILL MORLAN on upright
bass & vocals and MARK ROLLINGS on guitar & vocals, are joined
by newcomers NEIL NOLAN on saxophone & harmonica and JERRY RICCARDI on
drums & vocals. And from the sounds of things, the two newcomers seem
very comfortable in the doghouse.
On "MESSIN' WITH
THE KID", the discs opening track, it doesn't take the new
kids long to establish their credentials. The scorching 90
second solo NEIL performs on sax is surely this tracks - and possibly one
of the discs highlights, and JERRY on the drums proves to be
a admirable rhythm partner for BILL on the big bass. Good stuff
on this very popular cover tune.
Although the band
slows the pace down a bit on "CONJURED", that's the only
thing that changes. Lots more great sax; softer, yet scintillating
rhythm; mellow, yet masterful guitar work by MARK and soothing,
soulful vocals by BILL make this another highly enjoyable
track.
When's the last time
you made someone say "OH BABY" for nearly seven minutes? That's
OK, I can't remember either. Well, with "OH BABY" being one of
the longest songs on the disc, what that means is you just get to hear that
much more of what's been highlighting all the previous tracks.
This track rocks way
too much to be called "AIN'T NO ROCKIN' NO MORE". And what's got
it rockin' is MARK performing some of the discs best guitar work. This one
also features all the dogs in the house on some harmonic
howlin'.
I'm sure
everyone will have fun adding their own lyrics behind the title
of "IF THE SEA WERE WHISKY". Some of mine might
be...........then I'd be a swimming fool". However, if you want
to find out how it really goes, you'll just have to get the disc. This
particular track was one of the bluesiest - and all of my readers know what
that means - it was also my most favorite. BILL'S got the perfect
voice for this song.....as a matter of fact, he may have just had a swim
before recording it. Being a soft, slow and low down blues
number means lots of great sultry sax and hot guitar licks - and
that's always a good thing. The Doghouse Daddies nailed this
one.
"MO BLUES",
written by JERRY, is the discs only original track, and as you might expect,
it's heavy on the rhythm.....very heavy. This eight minute, nearly
all instrumental track, features the band in total jam mode often fed
by hot drum leads. This one's a smoker.
Although there are
only nine tracks on "DIG THIS", most of them are long and the disc
features nearly an hour of rockin', sockin' music. Other tracks not
mentioned are "BLACK DIAMOND", "FUN TO VISIT" and "MY
BABE".
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
