Shake Down/Getting to the Point in Bloomington, MN

BGO
brings together the first two
Savoy Brown
albums in this double-disc set to great effect. Much of
Shake Down
, recorded in 1968, has been forgotten -- which is easy to do given that virtually the entire band turned over after its release, including singer
Bryce Portius
who was replaced on
Getting to the Point
by the great
Chris Youlden
. On the former album,
Portius
relies on the early
Yardbirds
philosophy to try and phrase like the great bluesmen -- from
Howlin' Wolf
to
John Lee Hooker
. It doesn't actually work. On the latter set,
Youlden
, with bassist
Tony Stevens
, drummer
Roger Earle
, second guitarist
Kim Simmonds
and bandleader
Lonesome Dave Peverett
, dug deep into songwriting and interpreting the
blues
their own way.
's totally unusual voice made that possible whether he was singing a standard such as
Muddy Waters
'
"Honey Bee,"
or
Willie Dixon
's
"You Need Love"
or the smoky , steamy original tunes like
"Flood in Houston,"
and
"Mr. Downchild."
Hopefully this means that
-- one of the coolest labels in the reissue biz -- will be bring out remastered versions of all the
classics. ~ Thom Jurek