When two old friends get together, they have much to tell. Or they record an album. This is what happened with Barrelhouse Chuck and Kim Wilson.
Both are veterans of the blues. Barrelhouse Chuck Goering is one of the outstanding traditional blues pianists and singer. His teachers were, inter alia, Sunnyland Slim and Little Walter Montgomery. Kim Wilson we know as an exception-Harper and singer from his long collaboration with the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Included are the Blues All-Stars consisting of Jeremy Johnson (guitar), Richard Innes (drums), Larry Taylor (bass), Billy Flynn (guitar) and Sax Gordon (Sax). These gentlemen are many years in the business and each of them belongs to the tips of their guild. They can compete individually and as a band with every famous musician or band I know - so they are true All-Stars.
For lovers of traditional Chicago blues a dream team has come true. I would give much to experience this band live. They surely have had a lot of fun during the recording sessions. As vivid and easily sounds the CD. Add to this the impeccable quality recording. Of course there are also songs to find on the album.
Here we go with Barrelhouse Chuck‘s <The big Push>. Chuck puts on the piano and sings. Wilson pulls all the stops to offer. With songs like Floyd Jones <Stockyard Blues> and Sunnyland Slim‘s <She‘s got a thing going on> it goes on.
Kim Wilson shines as a singer in Howlin ‚Wolf‘s <I‘m leaving you> (Chuck gets going right, there is a remarkable guitar solo). There are yet to discover many other songs. I like Chuck Berry‘s <Thirty Days> and Willie Dixon‘s <Three hundred Pounds of Joy> is not to be despised.
An album like this does not come every day. It must have been difficult to get these musicians the same time in a studio. The producer Steven B. Dolins is hereby acknowledged. Hopefully it is more than a dream that I might see the guys performing on stage one day. (The Sirens Records SR5021)
