MICK ABRAHAMS – Revived!
Gonzo 2015
British blues doyens doing what they do
best – in force and in style.
This is so fundamentally wrong – you’re not
supposed to be having fun with such a miserable music genre, are you? – that
“Revived!” is a robust contender for the “Blues Album of the Year” gong. Mick
Abrahams retired from playing live, following a stroke, but he hasn’t lost the
stroke of unsung guitar genius which made him an imposing presence on the scene.
Although the veteran is more remembered for his short stint with JETHRO TULL
than for solid solo career or the jazz-tinged experiments with BLODWYN PIG, Mick
chose the latter’s “Summer Day” to open and close, in an unhurriedly heavy way,
the record that finds him in the company of peers and kindred spirits, who for
the most part play standards – with much gusto.
The good-time feeling oozes out even of the
non-merry songs, such as the slide-caressed “Goodnight Irene,” where Paul Jones
blows a harp, or “On The Road Again,” where Mark Feltham’s harmonica wails,
while Abraham’s busy trading licks with Elliott Randall. He is the main man’s
sparring partner on many a cut, including the loose-but-tight “Elz. & Abys
Jam” – laid down on Mick’s 65th birthday – but axe duties are generously shared
here. Long past the rivalry, if there ever was one, Martin Barre, Abraham’s
successor in TULL, joins in for the punchy “I Can Tell” which sees Feltham in a
singer’s position, whereas Jones takes to the mic with Mick on “Bright Lights
Big City” that gains weight thanks to Bernie Marsden‘s twang and
Jim Rodford’s rumble.
This side of the blues, Geoff Whitehorn lays it on
the host-drawn line in instrumental “Red River Rock,” and there’s an
irresistible pull to Leiber and Stoller evergreens “What About Us” and “Poison
Ivy” which Bill Wyman’s bass anchors at the bottom and Beverley Skeete’s voice
delivers at the top. The result lives up to the album’s title, with a
revitalizing sensation, and, given that 50% of royalties made from this record
sales go to “Kids ‘n’ Cancer” charity, it’s a glorious proof of the British
blues vitality.
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AT GONZO
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AT GONZO
Michael Timothy 'Mick' Abrahams (born 7 April 1943, Luton, Bedfordshire, England) was the original guitarist for Jethro Tull. He recorded the album This Was with the band in 1968 but conflicts between..
It is a story as old as time itself. I'm sure that it predates rock'n'roll, but it is a paradigm that has appeared so many times within the canon of the sort of bands that I have spent the last ..
Over the years Mick Abrahams has recorded a number of solo albums, steeped in the delta blues DNA that had mystically been passed down to him by Robert Johnson. Mick is 71 now, and not in the best of .
Michael Timothy 'Mick' Abrahams (born 7 April 1943, Luton, Bedfordshire, England) was the original guitarist for Jethro Tull. He recorded the album This Was with the band in 1968, but conflicts betwee..
It is a story as old as time itself. I'm sure that it predates rock'n'roll, but it is a paradigm which has appeared so many times within the canon of the sort of bands that I have spent the last..
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