The Hollywood Blue Flames - Road To Rio (2060)

Tracklist

CD1
01.Road To Rio
02.Everybody's Blues
03.Coffee Grindin' Man
04.Steady Rollin'
05.Long Black Cadillac
06.Gumbo Grinder
07.Gone Away
08.3rd Degree Burn
09.Let's Rock A While
10.Dr. Blakes Boogie
11.Black Chili Pepper
12.Sharpest Man In Town
13.Juniors Boogie Rocket
14.Let Me Love You
15.Honeydripper

CD2
01.Fats Fries One
02.Nasty Boogie Woogie
03.Baby Lat's Play House
04.Side Tracked
05.Kidney Stew
06.Cleanhead Blues
07.Shake Rattlen Roll
08.Rockihitis
09.This Little Voice
10.Love For Sale
11.Boogie Woogie Blues
12.Motel Time

DISC ONE: Brand new recordings by the Blue Flames featuring Kirk "Eli" Fletcher on guitar, a guest appearance by Kim Wilson on harp, plus three bonus tracks with Junior Watson! 2ND BONUS DISC: Includes never before released vintage live recordings of the original Hollywood Fats Band from '79-'80 - their first new release in over 30 years!!! Also features special guests Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson and Roy Brown, plus a rare vocal performance by the one and only Michael "Hollywood Fats" Mann on the song " Nasty Boogie Woogie ".
The Hollywood Blue Flames emerged from the smoldering embers of The Hollywood Fats Band, arguably the best young blues band to come out of the 1970s, led by guitar phenomenon Michael "Hollywood Fats" Mann. Along with bassist Larry Taylor (fresh from Canned Heat), drummer Richard Innes (ex-Rod Piazza), Lloyd Glenn protege Fred Kaplan on piano, and featuring the multi-talented Al Blake on harmonica and vocals, Hollywood Fats almost single-handedly ignited a traditional blues revival that still echoes loudly to this day. Whenever you hear the warm retro sounds of classic Chicago blues coupled with a swinging rhythm section and tasty-but-nasty guitar, you're hearing the legacy of the Hollywood Fats Band. Sadly, Fats passed away unexpectedly in 1986, and the band members all went on to other successful musical ventures.
Their 2005 reunion release "Soul Sanctuary" on Delta Groove - with acclaimed young blues guitarist Kirk Fletcher ably filling the shoes of Fats - earned universal rave reviews. Their new Delta Groove release "Road To Rio" picks up without skipping a beat, and includes several very welcome extras: two previously un-recorded songs co-written by Hollywood Fats and Al Blake that point in a roots-rock direction the band was just beginning to explore before Fats' untimely passing; collaborations with fellow West Coast blues guitar pioneer Junior Watson, and Fabulous Thunderbirds frontman Kim Wilson; and an entire CD of previously un-released vintage live performances by Hollywood Fats in his prime, including guest appearances by Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, and legendary blues shouter Roy Brown!
The Hollywood Blue Flames / Hollywood Fats Band music contained on "Road To Rio" and "Larger Than Life" stands on its own as some of the most enjoyable blues and roots music to be released in recent memory, but with the inclusion of the previously unheard live recordings, it's also an important and historic document of musical geniuses whose likes we will not see again.

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