GEOFF BRADFORD, 'The Return Of A Guitar Legend' (BGO Records, 1995)

Tracks:

Going Down Slow, Broke and Hungry, The Dark Side, Pontiac, Keys To The Highway, Paris Strut, Alimony, Reds Piece,Hallelujah I Love Her So, Blind Blake's Rag, Blues Jumped The Devil, Auto Mechanic's Blues

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Keys To The Highway

Going Down Slow

Pontiac 

This cd should come with the warning for guitar players, 'listening to this may result in you burning your guitar', for Geoff really is a master of his craft, the kind of player who makes you think, 'why do I bother'. For anyone who has never heard of Geoff Bradford, he was a part of the original British blues scene of the early 1960's, playing with the likes of Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies. Brian Jones even asked him to take the lead guitar role in a new band he was setting up, later to become the Rolling Stones.

As for the cd, this is a recording of one man and his guitar. We are taken into the first track with a brief burst of guitar which leaves us in no doubt with regards to Geoff Bradford's obvious ability as a guitar player, and is something which sets the scene for the rest of this recording. According to the sleeve notes, all of the cd was recorded 'live' in the studio and, in most cases, in one take which is very impressive bearing in mind the complex guitar parts which we are treated to here. In effect this is Geoff busking in front of a recording machine which leads me to think, it must be great to see him live on stage.

On the whole, the cd is a combination of blues and ragtime tunes. Geoff's rendition of 'Blind Blake's Rag' is fantastic as well as acting as a real testament to his mastery of this style of playing. Although most of the cd is made up of covers, these are interspersed with three originals: 'The Dark Side'; Paris Strut'; and 'Red's Piece'; all of which are instrumentals, which once again showcase Geoff's undoubted guitar playing ability.

Personal favourites on this cd include his re-workings of the classics, 'Keys To The Highway', 'Alimony', and 'Going Down Slow', although the latter of these does seem to have been overdone in the guitar department.

In fact, that is my main criticism of this cd. Geoff seems to cram too many fancy guitar fills into everything that he does which sometimes means the beat can be lost in the middle of a song. Maybe Geoff could learn something from the 'less is more' school of playing, although that would probably mean we were denied some brilliant guitar playing in the process.

The sleeve notes for this cd are pretty good. We are given an insight into the background of Geoff Bradford and his contribution to the blues scene in the early 60's, although what happened to Geoff in the intervening years is left to our imaginations.

If you play acoustic blues and would like to here a great talent in action, buy this cd. If, on the other hand you just enjoy listening to it, then buy it anyway.