Blue Soul (Joe Louis Walker album)

Last updated

Blue Soul
Blue Soul (Joe Louis Walker album).jpg
Studio album by
Joe Louis Walker
Released1989
Genre Blues
Label HighTone [1]
Producer Joe Louis Walker
Joe Louis Walker chronology
The Gift
(1988)		Blue Soul
(1989)		Live at Slim's, Volume One
(1991)

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]

Contents

Production

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]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [14]
Chicago Tribune Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Robert Christgau B [15]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [16]
MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [7]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [12]
Tulsa Tribune Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [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]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
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" 

References

  1. ↑ Herzhaft, Gérard (September 16, 1997). Encyclopedia of the Blues-2nd (p). University of Arkansas Press.
  2. ↑ "Joe Louis Walker Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  3. ↑ Kelton, Jim (December 1, 1989). "'Blue Soul' Joe Louis Walker". The Fresno Bee. The Everett Herald. p. F8.
  4. ↑ Mackie, John (June 14, 1990). "A breath of blues". Vancouver Sun. p. F13.
  5. ↑ Haeseker, Fred (June 22, 1990). "Blues great waits for stardom". Calgary Herald. p. E1.
  6. ↑ Sumrall, Harry (December 1, 1989). "Dead Lead Bammie Nominees". San Jose Mercury News. p. 1F.
  7. 1 2 MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. p. 377.
  8. ↑ Toombs, Mikel (December 9, 1989). "Joe Louis Walker 'blue' despite great album". The San Diego Union-Tribune. p. E9.
  9. ↑ Dicaire, David (November 5, 2015). More Blues Singers: Biographies of 50 Artists from the Later 20th Century. McFarland.
  10. 1 2 3 Heim, Chris (March 1, 1990). "Joe Louis Walker Blue Soul". Tempo. Chicago Tribune. p. 16.
  11. ↑ Kanzler, George (November 19, 1989). "New Releases Confirm Status of 2 Bluesmen as Among Best". News. The Star-Ledger.
  12. 1 2 The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin Books Ltd. 2006. p. 673.
  13. 1 2 Widner, Ellis (March 23, 1990). "Music reviews". Tulsa Tribune. p. 9B.
  14. 1 2 "Joe Louis Walker Blue Soul". AllMusic.
  15. 1 2 "Joe Louis Walker". Robert Christgau.
  16. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8. MUZE. p. 482.
  17. ↑ Pareles, Jon (December 22, 1989). "Blues Album of the Week". The New York Times. p. C26.
  18. ↑ Nelson, Chris (December 24, 1989). "Joe Louis Walker 'Blue Soul' Is Worth the Search". Leisure. The Fayetteville Observer.
  19. ↑ Wyman, Max (January 12, 1990). "One way to fight the mid-winter blues...". The Province. p. P2.
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