Hamilton, Ontario is a steel town. I guess you could compare it to Pittsburgh, although I've never been to Pittsburgh -- but the skyline is marked by foundries, their chimneys belching black smoke and the odd flame. A rust colored haze hangs in the sky, stratifying the horizon -- earth, air (somewhat breathable), smog and heaven. The Hamilton mountain provides the backdrop. Really it is an escarpment, but we call it the mountain, because we need to. It provides a layer of oxygen-producing trees needed in the overall picture. This is the kind of place that a hardy breed calls home. It is the perfect place for the blues. Blue collar blues, we know what that means. The city is a little bluer today--our own King of the Blues died last week. Not BB, or Albert, or Freddie--but a local boy. Richard Newell's blues ran as deep as his soul--his body finally couldn't take any more abuse, and gave up the ghost. King Biscuit Boy is gone. But his music will never die! <br /><br />I've been listening to a lot of Biscuit over the past few days. The first album I turned to was Badly Bent, his Best of collection which contains a perfect selection from his first three albums; but really you should listen to the original albums in their entirety to fully appreciate Newell's gifts. So when Stony Plain sent me the original albums on CD I quickly put on Official Music, the album he made with Crowbar in 1972. Crowbar had been the rag-tag bunch of musicians Ronnie Hawkins hired to replace his last band, the one that backed up Bob Dylan, and moved to the Big Pink house in Woodstock. These guys were raw, tough and raunchy, they could really play. Newell adopted the King Biscuit Boy name-tag because he could play the harp to sound like Sonny Boy Williamson. He could blow that harp like anything. He made those reeds quiver. He made 'em sound like a saxophone, an orchestra, it was amazing. The music this raw band -- and the young blues shouter made, was "official" all right! <br /><br />The album begins with a screamer, "Highway 61." Twin guitars of Rheal Lanthier and John "the Ghetto" Gibbard and then Biscuit's high voice, a blend of Robert Johnson howl and Muddy Waters growl. This one rocks. Tracks <br />1. Highway 61 (A. Luandrew) - 0:00 <br /><br />2. Don't Go No Further (Willie Dixon) - 2:53 <br /><br />3. Unseen Eye (Sonny Williamson) - 6:39 <br /><br />4. I'm Just A Lonely Guy (R. Blackwell, D. La Bostrie) - 9:39 <br /><br />5. Key To The Highway (W. Broonzy, C. Segar) - 12:13 <br /><br />6. Corrina, Corrina (Public Domain) - 15:30 <br /><br />7. Biscuit's Boogie (R. Newell) - 19:57 <br /><br />8. Hoy Hoy Hoy (J. Jones) - 29:35 <br /><br />9. Badly Bent (R. Newell) - 34:54 <br /><br />10.Cookin' Little Baby (R. Newell) - 37:04 <br /><br />11.Shout Bama Lama (Otis Redding) - 39:42 <br /><br />
