This is the second album by the Carter Brothers. Jerry Carter quit soon after the first album was released in 97, so this one is by the rest of the brothers, Al on lead guitar, and Roman on vocals. (Roman doesn't play bass anymore.) The first album was sensational and had a lot of impact (see the review below), and this one maintains the same energy if not more. The title track is a slow blues in the style of Guitar Slim's "Things That I Used To Do" which begins with a tasty guitar solo by Al followed by Roman's soulful shouting vocals. Just by listening to this one song, you can imagine that this album is good. In this song Roman mentions that he shook so many hands in Japan. The brothers came to Japan for the first time in 97 and the Japanese fans welcomed them with enthusiasm which seemed to leave very good impression on them. Unlike the first album about half of the songs on which were remakes of the old Jewel recordings, this new one includes only two remakes, and the rest are all new material written by Roman and Al. The two remakes are 3. and 7., and you will be pleasantly surprised how well they're done. Especially the tight and funky touch on 7. is very impressive. Straightforward blues songs like 5. and 10. probably best represent the character of the brothers, but more types of music are included on this album. 6. has the R&B touch, and the up tempo gospel song 8. has a good pop flavor to it. But no matter what types of songs are played, the unique character of these fine southern country boys are always there. That's what's good about them! It's mentioned in the notes that 11. is a bonus track for Japanese release only. My question is, will this CD be released elsewhere? I sure hope so. （6/29/2000)
Michael Hawkeye Herman is an acoustic style bluesman out of Oakland, CA. This CD capture his live performance played alone by himself. Robert Johnson cuts like (6) and (11) is good, but his rather soft-touched playing and the storyteller-typed vocals fit more to a moody classics like (4). It is interesting that he even plays Percy Mayfield tune (8) in acoustic, but it came out very good. His own composition (5) talks about the flood of great Mississippi River and the slow tempo of the tune flows like a river. No technical show-offs here on this CD, but Hawkeye's blues is one of the few nowadays that makes you feel right at home. Check out his website for more info on himself. （3/25/98)
An ultimate collection of Lightnin' Slim! (limited edition, too.) This CD contains all 58 sides Lightnin' recorded for Excello between 1955 and 1965 in the legendary Jay Miller sessions in chronological order. The earlier sessions are more rough and wild with more direct Lightnin' Hopkins influences while the latter sessions are more straight Excello-flavored stuff. They all are quite good. Good harp work by Lazy Lester on many of the tracks should not be missed. (12/6/97)
The Carter Brothers / Coming Back Singing The Blues (P-Vine PCD-5292)
Produced and mixed by Jimmy Sloan
This is an incredible come back! The Carter Brothers is a trio originally from Alabama who had some mighty fine recordings from Jewel label in the sixties including the classic "Southern Country Boy." The three brothers Roman (bass & vocals), Al (guitar) and Jerry (keyboards) started out in Southern California in 1954. They have been away from the music business for almost 30 years, but thanks to Andy Grigg of the Real Blues Magazine who has been in search of them for the past 15 years, the brothers have been "rediscovered", and they are here again making a record. The album was recorded between September, 96 and January, 97 in Los Angeles with a lineup that includes Rod Stewart's music director Carmine Rojas on bass and music direction.
VARIOUS ARTISTS / ROCK AND ROLL DOCTOR:  ( 1) Bonnie Raitt and Little Feat:
Cold, Cold, Cold( 2) Taj Mahal: Feats Don't Fail Me Now ( 3) J.D. Souther: Roll Um Easy ( 4) The Bottle Rockets with David Lindley: Rocket In My Pocket ( 5) Randy Newman and Valarie Carter: Sailin' Shoes ( 6) Jackson Browne: I've Been The One ( 7) Allen Toussaint and Leo Nocentelli: Two Trains ( 8) Keisuke Kuwata: Long Distance Love ( 9) Eddie Money & Buddaheads: Rock And Roll Doctor (10) Chris Hillman and Jennifer Warnes: Straight From The Heart (11) Little Feat: Honest Man (12) Phil Perry, Merry Clayton, and Ricky Lawson: Spanish Moon (13) Inara George: Trouble
Release Date: Oct. 22, 1997
A tribute album put together by Kaigan Records of Japan for ex-Little Feat guitarist Lowell George. Lots of great artists participated in this tribute, and it turned out to be a very good album. Most of the artists are either big fans of Little Feat or people who are very close to the band (or both!) and quite naturally, each of the tracks are filled with affection for the band. (7) is Toussaint-flavored all the way with his distinctive arrangements and piano playing. I especially liked Jackson Browne's rendition of "I've Been The One (6)". With David Lindley on slide, this sounds much like his great days when he recorded albums like "Late for the Sky" in the seventies. Lowell's daughter Inara sings great on (13) with Ry Cooder on guitar.
The song played by the current Little Feat (11) is originally from Lowell's solo "Thanks I'll Eat It Here." It came out very funky with powerful vocal by Shaun Murphy.
   
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( 1) Things Gotta Change