The third album by St. Louis'
Boo Boo Davis, 2004's
The Snake, is a small departure for the singer and harmonica player. Where 2001's
East St. Louis and 2002's
Can Man were straight up old-school electric blues with a very strong early
Chicago influence,
The Snake hedges its stylistic bets by incorporating more of an R&B feel more along the lines of
Robert Cray's soulful but poppy albums. The problem is that the album doesn't commit itself fully either to
Davis' early
Howlin' Wolf-oriented style (the old-school pomade anthem "Crown Royal," which incorporates a vocal sound that approximates the classic old Chess Records' sound) or to the newfound, sleeker and more stylish direction (the smooth "Where Was My Baby," which one assumes
Bonnie Raitt has on her "to cover" checklist), which makes it sound a bit scattered and unfocused.
Davis acquits himself well on the soul-influenced material, and a full album of it would be quite enjoyable, but this, unfortunately, is not that album. ~ Stewart Mason