New Music Review:Shemekia Copeland 33 1/3

This year I have reviewed a lot of new blues albums since I have been getting them on the cheap.  Which means since nobody buys them, Half Priced Books throws them in the Clarence bins.on certain days.

Sad about today's blues, is that you don't hear it on the radio, it's a dying art that only the hardcore still care about and there's plenty of them out there.  Dani Wilde, Omar And The Howlers, Samantha Fish have been part of the rotation here in Crabb land, Royal Southern Brotherhood as well, Ole Brown too.  I have never reviewed as many Ruf artists has I have this year and most have that SRV sound just enough to pass as blues folk.  As well as the old fart rock and rollers of today, Little Caesar, Aerosmith, Van Morrison, basically going on the hope that the old faithful fans will continue to buy their albums although it's getting mighty late and shelves are getting full to capacity here.  As much as  I would like to continue to seek out new music and forgotten dollar specials, time is getting too short to continue this madness.  A banishment from Best Buy and Half Priced Books in order?  Hard habits are hard to break.

I find myself getting more agreeable with women in music since I have listen to more of female performers this year more than I have the last decade or two.  The latest Heart is fantastic to the point that I had to seek out Red Velvet Car for reference. Sam Fish I continue to rave about although she rarely leaves Kansas City to play elsewhere.  Today's latest discovery find was Shemekia Copeland's 33 1/3 (Telarc Blues/Concord).  Copeland is no stranger here, she has played blues festivals around the area and did play Brucemore in their Bluesmore Summertime Series.  Daughter to late great Johnnie Copeland, Shemekia is cut from the same cloth that gave us Etta James or closer to her style Koko Taylor although on the new album she's gotten more Bonnie Raitt than usual.  Again with Oliver Wood producing like he did on her earlier 2009 effort, he guides her through 11 nitty gritty blues and soul numbers and bringing out the ultra sassy in her with stuff like I Sing The Blues or Mississippi Mud.  The title of the album makes it clear she is a fan of vinyl records as well being it her actual age, she was born in 1979 which makes her 33 and when I found the cd a third of a way through her 33rd year. Irony eh?

Legendary bluesman Buddy Guy adds mad lead guitar to Ain't Gonna Be Your Tattoo and covers a wide variety of songwriters, J J Cale on A Woman, Sam Cooke on Ain't That Good News and a interesting cover of Bob Dylan's I'll Be Your Baby Tonight to which Shemekia adds a bit of a romantic sweetie.  But then will turn around and kick your ass on One More Time too, a blueswoman with a heart but do her wrong watch out.  It makes good blues music but once upon a time they used to call that Rhythm & Blues. 

33 1/3 is an album that cries out for the old AOR stations of yesterday, KFMH or the old KKRQ or for that matter the old old KRNA when they did play blues but that was before your time anyway.  You won't hear it on the radio unless either NPR or KCCK when they plays blues on the weekend.  But maybe this might have been a promo copy for KCCK that I found, who knows?  For later day blues Copeland excels as both a blues or soul singer and the record does rock hard even for the blues.  I'm sure Koko Taylor is nodding with approval just like her dad Johnny is from the great beyond.  Good soul blues, the way that I used to remember it years ago too.

Grade B+