THE
WHITE CLOUD HUNTERS are 4 Mardi Gras Indians from New Orleans who looked
great but sounded very generic after 10 minutes with only cymbals as instruments.
I am convinced that they 
must
be lotsa fun at the Mardi Gras parade but on a rather sterile concert platform,
they looked rather out-of-place. Time to check out EARL GILLIAM
in the small club! One of the virtues of the Bluesestafette is that European
blues afficionados get the chance to see bands who normally don’t play
outside their American hometown. Earl Gilliam is one of those authentic blues
artists who mostly plays in Houston clubs. In Utrecht, he created a rather unique
sound with his pumping organ and was backed by a great band featuring Shedrick
Cormier on saxophone and I.J. Gosey on guitar. JOE HOUSTON
had a saxophone hanging around his neck but didn’t use it a lot. His young
white guitar player A.C. Myles played some real nasty blues licks and although
the whole band sounded great, the gig suffered under too many hi-ho-silver-shake-your-moneymaker-clichés.
LAURA LEE put on a fine soul show but couldn’t match
the godlike Bettye Lavette performance from a couple of years ago. But the first
real highlight was St. George Records recording artist 
CHARLES
‘BLUES HOG’ HAYES who turned out to be a terrific guitar
player, as well as a great singer. He played some devastating electric blues
songs and was backed by a terrific band : Rick Kreher & Rockin’ Billy
Harnden on guitar, Nick Loyd on bass and the legendary Warren Storm on drums
(including his inseparable black Nike gloves). Hayes’ guitar-playing was
razor-sharp and his sound rather dark but always moody. Among the songs I recognised
‘Next Time You See Me’, one of my favourite Junior Parker songs.
I can hardly wait to hear his St. George record although the copy Hayes had
brought along looked like an inferior bootleg. Still, a wonderful show! I didn’t
have time to check out the LAZY LESTER set, instead I chose
for EDDIE BO WITH GEORGE PORTER’S ELECTRIC FUNK BAND.
Not a bad choice since I have already seen Lazy Lester a couple of other times
on the Bluesestafette and especially because George Porter’s Electric
Funk Band included Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington who looked like a
prewar blues artist with his nice suit and hat. Eddie Bo was in top form and
when he didn’t play the piano, he was doing the boogaloo or some other
crazy thing on stage. The set wasn’t really coherent but this couldn’t
stop the fun as this was in the first place a houseparty ‘New Orleans-style’.
A goodie! I only catched a glimpse of JOHNNY DRUMMER and wasn’t
really impressed. Maybe it had something to do with guitar player Alvin Short
who went over the top with his Stevie Ray Vaughan-like guitar wanking. I still
think modesty is a virtue. Anyway, I didn’t have much time left since
I wanted to check out ‘WEE’ WILLIE WALKER who is
best known for his song “There Goes my Used To Be” which was recently
reissued on the Ace compilation CD ‘The Goldwax Story Volume 1’.
However, ‘Wee’ Willie Walker lacked a certain amount of charisma
which made his performance rather ordinary. His show was OK but I couldn’t
stop thinking about similar & way better shows that I had witnessed in recent
years in Utrecht (although everyting pales in comparison to Howard Tate’s
devastating concert last year). SONNY BURGESS made a better
impression than Billy Lee Riley last year but again I experienced the rockabilly/blues
set as a desperate attempt in reanimating 50’s rockabilly music. Sadly,
nostalgia too often creates wallpaper music. I missed ROY LEE JOHNSON’s
show but was totally ready for what would become the highlight of the 25th Bluesestafette.
During the soundcheck, it looked like ELLIS HOOKS had taken
some illegal 
amphetamines
as the guy could hardly wait to kickstart the show. The godlike 45-minutes show
was a true delight from start to finish! Ellis Hooks looked like Sam Cooke and
sounded like Otis Redding! It is no accident that he’s on the same label
(Zane Records) that reissues all those wonderful Eddie Hinton records! The band
too was nothing less than brilliant with drummer Billy Block who could hardly
sit down, Muzz Skillings - the original bass guitar player for Living Colour
- who was constantly pumping the bass and an amazing Duane Jarvis whose guitar-playing
was pure genius. These days, Ellis Hooks is the ultimate soulman and this must
have been one of his very best shows. A rare talent and a unique experience!
Despite
the fact that this might have been the last Bluesestafette ever, it is still
evident that the blues is still very much alive & kicking. Let’s hope
I will be able to tell you the same next year…
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