Stone Down Blues

wasn't a prolific bluesman by any means. He recorded several sides in the '40s, '50s, and '60s, including a pair of singles for ' , but perhaps his best-known recording is 1970's , his only full-length record. That's entirely due to who supports him on the album, produced by , who also played drums on the record and brought in his son to play bass and the occasional guitar, forming something of a power trio with . Certainly, father and son help push away from his comfortable wheelhouse -- a wheelhouse that's firmly indebted to , whose influence can be heard on 's fluid single-line leads -- and into slightly funkier territory. The rhythm section is loose and gritty, something that's readily apparent on the jumping opener "Shake 'Em Up" and that swing pops up elsewhere, including the homage "Old Folks Blues." One of the attractive things about is how continue to goose along in sly ways, urging him to sing 's protest tune "This War Ain't Right" and mixing up shuffles ("Make Love All Night") with slow 12-bar blues ("My Little Angel Child"), piano blues ("You Make Me Feel So Good"), and urbanized country blues ("Big Fine Thing"). 's gravelly voice and mellow presence help tie this all together and the whole album feels something like a casual triumph: is paying his old friend a favor and, in doing so, finds an unwitting intersection between the old and modern blues at the turn of the '60s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine