Toronto Blues Society
Maple Blues
January, 2004
By John Valenteyn
Minglewood Band Live at Last
Norton Records
Road warrior Minglewood invited a few friends to Sydney NS for his first live
recording. Dubbed "Minglefest", Jeff Healey, Michael Pickett, Billy Joe Green
and Rita Chiarelli were all on hand to celebrate his eleventh album and all
ensured that it was a memorable event. He has always straddled rock & country
as well as blues but this CD oozes blues no matter the style. No one sings
about life on the road quite like he does, just listen to the closer "Can't You
See".
For all the wonderful contributions from Michael Pickett, Billy Joe
Green, Rita Chiarelli, Sam Moon & Dennis Parker, this is Minglewood's life, no
one else's. Healey is on lead guitar throughout and shows no sign of leaving
electric blues behind. The songs here draw from the history of the band, with
some from his last one, Drivin' Wheel. Howling Wolf's "Tell Me" starts things
off in fashion, though, with Minglewood & Healey trading choruses. His road
band is in fine form throughout with Grant Leslie, bass, Neil Robertson, drums,
Jim Ralph on keyboards and all on background vocals. Other road-tested
highlights here are "Let Somebody Else Drive", "Me & the Boys", "Travelin'
Man", "Rockin' the Blues" & "East Coast Blues". "Night Creeper" is new to the
discography and is a fine feature for Mr's. Pickett & Healey.
The proceedings
were preserved for posterity by Trevor Turnbull and you should get one for your
collection, as not all eleven have been transferred to CD yet and only grizzled
collectors like myself would notice any repetition.
For more info, samples and
ordering, go to his excellent web site, http://www.mattminglewood.com
Reviewer John Valenteyn