Name Droppers — “Let’s Live Together” — Horizon Music Group

The Name Droppers are a tightly knit quartet of veteran New England musicians who have traveled a long and winding musical road in shaping their multiple talents into a high-octane blend of blues, R&B, soul and good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll.

The group came together in the 1980s as Charlie Karp and the Name Droppers, with the Connecticut-based Karp being a seasoned guitarist, a prolific songwriter and an Emmy-winning producer.

After Karp’s death in 2019, the remaining Name Droppers stuck together: songwriter/guitarist Rafe Klein, Ron Rifkin on piano, Bobby “T” Torello on drums and Scott Spray on bass. Torello and Spray added to their impressive resumes by working with the likes of Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter, Michael Bolton, Grace Slick, Felix Cavalier and the Rascals — and many more.

Now they’ve poured all that talent and experience into their sixth album, Let’s Live Together, an energetic session driven by smartly crafted original songs and creative covers, following last year’s highly regarded Cool Blue Shoes.

Everything kicks off with Klein’s whimsical Grey Haired Blues boasting that living together longer may just help turn shades of grey into still-fiery blues: “Yeah It’s true my roof is covered in snow / Don’t be fooled, there’s a fire below.” Let’s Live Together fires up next, the album’s thematic centerpiece. It’s a chunky, rhythmic anthem written by Klein, whose soulful vocals partner magically with Crispin Cioe’s soaring sax and gospel-infused background vocals by Simone Brown. Klein’s vocals pour out its eloquent message: “Lately we’ve seen a lot of sadness in the news / Each Monday morning we wake up with the blues / Have to find a way where we can do better … let’s live together.”

Rifkin takes over the vocals on the driving blues of Heartbreak City, a town without pity for lost love: “Don’t know what you’re looking for / Don’t look back, cause it ain’t here no more.” Then Brown brings her seriously soulful chops out of the background for a smoking live recording of Aretha Franklin’s classic Chain of Fools. Klein returns with his thoughtful take on Bob Dylan’s epic Gotta Serve Somebody, propelled by Rifkin’s churning B3 and Brown’s sanctified background vocals. Klein next offers a plaintive reading of Frank Durazzo’s Don’t Cry Over Me, a look at breaking up from both sides now: “You see the picture from a different view than me / I see the picture the way my love has to be.”

Klein also revisits two tracks from the band’s Charlie Karp years: The salaciously sexy Talk Dirty, and Love Lightnin’, by Karp, Klein and Bruce Carter, longing for love to strike twice in the same place: “Even lightning love runs thin when the money runs out / They say it don’t strike twice, but I wish it happens to me.”

Torello’s percussive drumming and gritty vocals drive the blues rock of his threadbare Watch Pocket, with stinging slide guitar from Jay Willie, as time slips away on his love: “Baby since you’ve been gone / There’s a hole in my watch pocket / Time keeps on slipping away … I’ll get you back some way” The Name Droppers wrap it all up by dropping a pair of big blues names with a tough take on the Muddy Waters-Bo Diddley classic, “Mannish Boy,” adding crisp down-home harp from Richard Hunter.

The Name Droppers bring a musical drive and vitality to the tracks of Let’s Live Together that make it so much easier for the rest of us to live together in the blues.

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Here’s “Let’s Live Together” from the album:

Tracklist:

Grey Haired Blues — 3:36
Let’s Live Together — 3:56
Heartbreak City — 4:00
Chain of Fools (Live) — 4:23
Gotta Serve Somebody — 3:33
Don’t Cry Over Me — 4:19
Talk Dirty — 3:35
Love Lightning — 3:25
Watch Pocket — 3:57
Mannish Boy — 3:01

John Primer — “Tribute to Theresa’s Lounge” — Blues House Productions LLC

If you’re a blues fan (and you should be!), music from the smoky mists of the classic Chicago blues sound should always have a top spot on your playlist, your CD or vinyl collection, and most of all, in your mind.

One of the early spots where the Chicago blues simmered and cooked was a basement bar under an apartment house at 4801 S. Indiana, called Theresa’s Lounge. The term “lounge” is a bit of an exaggeration. By all accounts it was tiny, cramped basement room with no bandstand, holding about 50 patrons, opened in late 1949 by Theresa Needham.

Needham was working in a laundry on the city’s South Side when a customer asked her to open a bar, but couldn’t get a liquor license. couldn’t obtain a liquor license in his own name. She got him a license, and he gave her a job in the bar.

The club owner tried to remove Needham, but since the license was in her name, the club became hers. Theresa’s Lounge was born. first as just a place to drop in for a libation and possibly some recorded music. But, in 1954, a singer named Carl Jones brought in a band to try playing live music — and it worked.

Sooner or later, much of Chicago’s blues talent descended the stairs into Theresa’s gritty lounge to stand in the corner and ignite the nightly crowds. It became Buddy Guy’s first steady gig in Chicago. He played in the house band at Theresa’s for several years, and John Primer, whose Chicago blues highlights this “Tribute to Theresa’s Lounge,” played there seven nights a week for seven years. Surprisingly, only one live album was ever recorded there: Delmark’s “Junior Wells: Live at Theresa’s 1975.”

This session gathers an all-star lineup of musicians who got their start playing at Theresa’s, including Primer, Billy Branch, Willie Buck, Carlos Johnson, Mary Lane, John Watkins, Harmonica Hinds, Twist Turner, Bob Stroger, Jeff Brinkman, and Tony Mangiullo.

The 13 tracks here could easily be a setlist at Theresa’s, including the four originals from Primer. The blues are Chicago-straight, no chaser, filled with bluesy grit and passion. Highlights include the Muddy Waters classic “Champagne and Reefer,” featuring Willie Buck; Little Walter’s “Mean Old World” with Primer; Sugar Sweet” with Billy Branch and a very special “Mary’s Song,” by 90-year-old Mary Lane.

Theresa’s was forced out of its basement headquarters in 1983, and a second location closed in 1986. Needham died in 1992. Her lounge, which earned her the title “The Godmother of the Chicago blues,” may be history, but its blues definitely are not. The music lives on in the works of the great artists who passed through its doors, and in the tracks of this memorable recording.

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Here are two articles that detail the history of Theresa’s Lounge:
The Chicago Bar Project
Article by Jeff Mores

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“Up in Heah,” from the album:

Tracklist:
1. UP IN HEAH Feat. John Primer – 3:45 Daniels & Moore 
2. 7 NIGHTS FOR 7 YEARS Feat. John Primer – 3:21 John Primer 
3. THE BLUES IS KING Feat. John Primer – 4:56 John Primer 
4. SUGAR SWEET Feat. Billy Branch – 4:21 Mel London 
5. CHAMPAGNE AND REEFER Feat. Willie Buck – 4:59 M. Morganfield 
6. WE ALL NEED HELP Feat. John Primer – 3:44 John Primer 
7. SHE’S NINETEEN YEARS OLD Feat. Carlos Johnson 5:14 M. Morganfield 
8. LITTLE BY LITTLE Feat. John Primer 5:09 Mel London 
9. MARY’S SONG Feat. Mary Lane 5:07 Mary Lane 
10. CUT YOU A-LOOSE Feat. John Primer 3:14 Mel London 
11. BLUES SURVIVALIST Feat. John Primer 4:44 John Primer 
12. HERE I AM KNOCKIN’ AT YOUR DOOR AGAIN Feat. John Watkins 3:25  John Watkins  
13. MEAN OLD WORLD Feat. John Primer – 4:30 Little Walter Jacobs

Trevor B. Power Band — “Two Crows” — Farm 189 Records

Blues and roots rocker Trevor B. Power has been in and around the music industry for decades, but the New Jersey native has finally stepped out on his own as a singer/songwriter and guitar-slinging bandleader of the Trevor B. Power Band.

The release of his latest album, the rootsy, introspective “Two Crows,” is Power’s fourth release since his 2019 debut, the well-received Everyday Angel. “I wish I would have gotten started recording more seriously sooner,” the 63-year-old Power says, but he notes that “life has a way of unfolding exactly when it’s meant to.”

Backing Power on the album are two world-class musicians: drummer Steve Holley (an Englishman whose impressive resume includes a stint with Paul McCartney’s band Wings), and Dave Fields, a N.Y. Blues hall of famer who plays guitar, bass and keys, and co-produced the album.

Power’s personal philosophy is instrumental in creating his music. “We’re all going to leave this form someday, so let’s make the best of it,” he says. That perspective carries over into his lyrics: They’re powerful statements of his personal journey, artfully blended with his rugged blues rock in the ten original tracks.

“Two Crows” opens with three songs that draw darker images of the world – a grim reality check. “Bobby Lane” opens with Power’s vocal growling out the tale with minimalist blues chugging behind: “Killed a man if you stepped outta line / I was proud to say he was a friend of mine… mean Bobby Lane.” “Let It Ride” is a tough blues rocker about tougher times: “Chilly winds really get to me as I grow old / Hard times to keep smiling / But you know I gotta let it ride,” all riding fierce harp work from guest Dennis Gruenling. “Ain’t Got No Bread” rocks hard to rework the old message that crime doesn’t pay: “Living the good life ain’t easy but living the hard life will get you done.”

The album’s mood lightens as “Neighborhood” rocks with dynamic guitar riffs and Power finds himself “Feeling good in my neighborhood … Ain’t got no crime / I got me a dime in my neighborhood.” The pensive “Speck of Life” opens with a guitar-led folk-music feel and gentle background vocals by Laura Kate Marshall: “You wonder about your own mortality / Our life here is a just a speck in the universal reality.”

“Horizon” keeps adding optimistic momentum with an airy flow, a stinging guitar with psychedelic overtones and ethereal flute from Jason Fields: “We are climbing up a hill / You are right beside me … Then you make it to the top, what do see / It’s a beautiful world, lottsa peace,” with the haunting refrain of “Love, love, love.” “The Message” adds a choral effect for its anthemic statement: “Well the message is all so very clear / We’re all so lucky to even be here / I have had my trials and tribulations / Why must there be such pain in any nation.” “Puddles of Blood” expands that message with its own profound questions: “Why does the blood have to spill before the peace? / How many children have to die before the peace?”

“The Fire Burns” is a moody, spoken-word metaphor: ”I can’t imagine if a fire burned down my home / All that is left are the memories / The melted artifacts don’t really mean anything to me.” Power’s finale is the poignant “Our Time is Short,” building from a delicate acoustic intro to a passionate choral conclusion with its personal lament: “I miss you, but I will see you again / When my time is done.”

The Two Crows album art of – two crows – is a reminder that a group of crows is known as a “murder.” Although the cover displays just two, it would still be a crime to ignore the rugged rootsiness and passionate vision in Trevor B. Power’s music.

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Here’s “Ain’t Got No Bread” from the album:

Tracklist:
01. Bobby Lane
02. Let It Ride
03. Ain’t Got No Bread
04. My Neighborhood
05. Speck Of Life
06. Horizon
07. The Message
08. Puddles OfBlood
09. The Fire Burns
10. Our Time Is Short