When this landed in the mail it gave me an odd felling of deja vu. I knew I knew the name but I must admit over the years my Blues credentials haven’t been kept as well up to date as my hard rock ones. Rifling through my collection I came across the thing that had been bugging me ‘Georgia Blue’ by a young Blues guitarist called Tinsley Ellis, an album if I remember rightly had a lot of swing to it. So here I am staring at the covers of the two albums one from 1988 and one from 2020 and realising I’ve missed 32 years and the 16 albums in-between.
32years later what you get is certainly a lot slicker than that debut and sonically a nice selection of shades of blue and styles from Chicago and Memphis to more contemporary stylings. I love the sound he’s archived and the wonderful melodies, searing guitar breaks but most of all the satisfying feel that everything here is considered,not in the sense that he’s sat down and broken it down, but in the sense that there’s no overplaying and that every note has value. And thats what makes the flourishes that come at times all the more momentous.
Opening with the Memphis soaked ‘Last One To Know’ there’s plenty to enjoy here and you soon realise that you’re in safe hands. There’s plenty to take your attention too stylistically – from the funky ‘Don’t Know Beans’, the jump of ‘Sit Tight Mama’, the Latin vibes of ‘Everything And Everyone’, the barroom roll of ‘Foolin’ Yourself’ (checkout the solo) or the piano-led boogie of ‘Unlock My Heart’.
Best for me though this time around are the laid back title track and the smoky late night slow blues of ‘Your Love’s Like Heroin’ which is the real masterpiece here.
Nice to make your acquaintance again Sir, now to fill in those missing years
8/10
