RAY STUBBS & His Amazing One Man Band, 'Frisco Bound' (Delta Records, 1991)

 

Tracks:

San Francisco Bound, Brownsville, Georgia Crawl, Bring It To Jerome, Cuckoo, Hey Porter, Leaving Mama, Everbody's In The Mood, K.C. Railroad Blues, Big Road Blues, Frisco Leaving Birmingham, Can't Be Satisfied, Railroad Work Song

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Leaving Mama

Everybody's In The Mood

Hey Porter

Ray does exactly what it says on the box, he plays all of the instruments, sings, and, if that isn't enough, he does it all at the same time. How he manages to do this will probably baffle those who have not had the pleasure of seeing him in action. Hopefully, the picture of Ray in the photo section might give you some idea of how this piece of musical magic is actually achieved.

As for the cd, this is an absolute gem. It kicks off with the title track which has Ray using most, if not all, of the instruments at his disposal. The rest of the cd follows in a similar vein with notable exceptions such as Bo Didley's 'Bring It To Jerome' which has Ray keeping the usual strong beat coupled with almost droning harmonica and vocals working to great effect. 'Frisco Leaving Birmingham' provides Ray with the vehicle he needs to show us his undoubted ability in the field of harmonica playing.

Personal favourites include the upbeat 'Everybody's In The Mood' by Howlin' Wolf, which is guaranteed to get your feet tapping, and the classic Muddy Waters song 'Can't Be Satisfied', which once again has Ray playing everything at the same time. However, to pick favourites is difficult as there isn't a bad track on the whole of the cd, this really is a classic and a must for anyone into country blues.

The sleeve notes with this cd are not brilliant but they do give some insight into how Ray and his weird and wonderful musical contraption have evolved into what we see today. I say 'today' because, although this cd was recorded in 1991, Ray and his amazing One Man Blues Band is still going strong.

The first time I saw Ray was in the late 70's in a pub in the north east of England where he had a residency fronting the Ray Stubbs R & B Allstars, a band still going strong today. Since those days in the north east I've only managed to catch him live a hand full of times, the last time being at Colne in 1999. Never the less, each of those gigs has been a one to remember. If you like to see performances full of fireworks and lasers, go to see Jean Michelle Jarre. If, on the other hand, you like to hear no nonsense blues played by a real bluesman, go to see Ray Stubbs.

Unfortunately, Ray's cd's are not the easiest things to get hold of unless you live within striking distance of one of his live performances where he will willingly sell you a hand full. However, if you'e not one of the latter, luckily, you can still get your hands on the aforementioned goodies through mail order, (telephone 0191 477 0717).