Basically, this is a searing 2003 live date from Canadian (Cape Breton to be precise) blues guitarist John Campbelljohn, who specializes in the lap slide mode of playing though he is also an acoustic guitarist of startling ability, and has great emotional depth as a songwriter when he wants to. He and his rhythm section roar through 11 originals and a stomping read of Muddy Waters' "Rollin' and Tumblin'." This is stripped to the bone, walking-on-the-wire, hardcore, rollicking electric blues. Campbelljohn may not be from the U.S., but he doesn't slip into Yankee blues clichés, either. His sound is raw, unhinged, rowdy, and shows none of the artificial upper class polish of his Chicago contemporaries; and while he rocks, he doesn't delve into the sterile waters of Clapton-ist laziness or guitar god masturbation either. This is straight talk, hard, wooly, and raucous. Campbelljohn's best tunes, "Heart Like a Stone," "Martha Mae," "Nerves of Steel," and the showstoppers, "Ready for a Riot" and "Punchin' Bag," are off the chart. Campbelljohn's knowledge of blues traditions as well as early hillbilly and even rockabilly blues come into his playing and writing as well, making him more sophisticated than most of his contemporaries, but it all folds its way into that blistering energy, as he and his band pull out all the stops. [A live in Germany version was also released.]
© Thom Jurek /TiVo