| Blue Soul | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1989 | |||
| Genre | Blues | |||
| Label | HighTone [1] | |||
| Producer | Joe Louis Walker | |||
| Joe Louis Walker chronology | ||||
| ||||
Blue Soul is an album by the American musician Joe Louis Walker, released in 1989. [2] [3] Walker supported the album with a North American tour, backed by the Boss Talkers. [4] [5] Blue Soul was nominated for a Bammie Award for "Outstanding Blues Album". [6]
The album was produced by Walker; he also wrote the horn arrangements. [7] [8] It incorporated hard blues, gospel, and folk blues sounds. [9] "Personal Baby" is about the virtues of fidelity in a relationship. [10] David Hidalgo played accordion on "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On". [11] "I'll Get to Heaven on My Own" is performed with just Walker's voice and slide guitar. [12] "Prove Your Love" is a soul song with overdubbed vocals. [13]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [14] |
| Chicago Tribune |  [10] |
| Robert Christgau | B [15] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [16] |
| MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide | [7] |
| The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings | [12] |
| Tulsa Tribune | [13] |
Robert Christgau deemed the "unsoullike, unaccompanied" "I'll Get to Heaven on My Own" as the album's "standout" song. [15] The New York Times wrote that Walker's voice "is weather-beaten but ready for more; his guitar solos are fast, wiry and incisive, often starting out with impetuous squiggles before moaning with bluesy despair." [17] The Fayetteville Observer warned that "Walker nears Las Vegas-style schmaltz on a couple of early tracks." [18]
The Province noted that Walker "applies his light-fingered, spare guitar style to a variety of blues-styling, including soul and gospel." [19] The Chicago Tribune stated that Walker has "a contemporary style heavily influenced by B.B. King and the Stax sound, an impressive ability on guitar and an appealing vocal style marked a strangely velvety cragginess." [10]
AllMusic praised the "vicious guitar from one of the hottest relatively young bluesmen on the circuit." [14]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Prove Your Love" | |
| 2. | "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On" | |
| 3. | "T.L.C." | |
| 4. | "Personal Baby" | |
| 5. | "Since You've Been Gone" | |
| 6. | "Alligator" | |
| 7. | "Dead Sea" | |
| 8. | "City of Angels" | |
| 9. | "I'll Get to Heaven on My Own" |
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