Sadly, Bobby Charles never lived long
enough to witness the release of this
testimony to his immense talent. He
died in January of 2010. However, he
was one of the most songwriters and
performers in swamp pop. He wrote
such standards as "See You Later,
Alligator," "Walking To New Orleans"
and "(I Don't Know Why) But I Do." In
2007, he was inducted into the
Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. I have a
feeling that a lot of performers are
going to plunder this CD for material
and if I was still a performer, I'd love to
do "Rollin' Round Heaven." The
supporting musicians include of
course, Dr. John as well as Sonny
Landreth, Mickey Raphael, Derek
Trucks and a horn section to die for.
Definitely a CD of the Month.
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There have always been two trains of
thought. White men can't sing the
Blues and contrarywise, Everyone has
the Blues. Well John D'Amato can sing
the Blues up a storm. He is also a
damn fine picker. John's playing is very
reminiscent of Stevie Ray Vaughan in
that is like a non-stop conversation.
There is also a lot of Jeff Beck about
his playing with his complete mastery
of the fretboard. John is based in
Nashville and is certainly one of Music
City's hidden treasures. The material is
a mix of original material mainly written
with producer, Kim Shrum and
reworked classics such as T-Bone
Walker's "Stormy Monday." Two cuts
stick out for being different from the
rest and for John's eclecticism. One is
Luiz Bonfa's "Black Orpheus" from the
movie of the same name has John
sounding like Carlos Santana. The
other is "Folsom Prison Blues" which is
a tad Hendricks meets Betts meets
Duane Eddy. It is only a matter of time
until Eric Clapton beckons him to the
Crossroads Guitar Festival.
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