BO RAMSEY: stranger blues

bo ramsey

stranger blues

© 2006 robert franklin ramsey (707541807326)

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my intrepretation of old blues songs - blues

notes

BO RAMSEY

Born and raised in the blue-collar Mississippi River town of Burlington, Iowa in 1951, Robert Franklin 'Bo' Ramsey not only played a vital role in shaping Eastern Iowa's distinctive blues-rock hybrid, but has continued in his still-vibrant career as a performer, much-in-demand producer, recording session guitarist and "hired gun" in touring bands of high-profile national acts.

Ramsey broke out in the early-'70s with the seminal Mother Blues Band, a honking powerhouse which also featured Iowa blues legends Joe Price and Patrick Hazell. In the latter part of the decade, the guitarist broke off to form Bo Ramsey & The Sliders.

Merging the sounds of his beloved Chess Records blues masters with Rolling Stones muscle and swampy, river basin funk, Ramsey & The Sliders enjoyed a strong following on the Midwest circuit for nearly a dozen years.

Following a brief hiatus in the late-'80s, Bo began a collaboration/friendship with revered folksinger Greg Brown that continues to the present. Ramsey has played guitar on ten of Brown's discs, and produced/co-produced 1990's Down In There, 1994's The Poet Game, 1996's Further In, 1997's Grammy-nominated Slant 6 Mind, 2000's Covenant and 2006's Evening Calls (all on Red House), as well as 2000's Over And Under and 2004's Honey In The Lion's Head for Trailer Records.

The pair has toured the U.S. and abroad extensively. The past 16 years have brought a dizzying array of cross-pollinations. In between gigs with Greg Brown, Ramsey briefly co-fronted a band with Nashville singer/songwriter Kevin Gordon, led his own bands (The Backsliders and The Middle Of Nowhere), and — for the past few years — has recorded and toured with singer/songwriter Pieta Brown.

Bo produced (and added his guitars to) Iowa City treasure Dave Moore's Breaking Down To 3 (Red House) Tucson roots-rocker Teddy Morgan's Lost Love & Highways (Hightone) and, most recently, acclaimed singer/songwriter Jeffrey Foucault's Ghost Repeater, due in 2006 on Signature Sounds.

He also co-produced Dave Zollo's Uneasy Street (Trailer), Pieta BrownÕs self-titled debut (Trailer), I Never Told (T Records) and In The Cool (Valley Entertainment), Kevin Gordon's Down To The Well (Shanachie) and — perhaps most notably — alt-country superstar Lucinda Williams' Essence (Lost Highway).

The Lucinda connection began in the early '90s, when Williams heard Ramsey's 1991 masterpiece, Down To Bastrop, in (of all places) a New Zealand record shop while on tour. She subsequently contacted Bo, and the two became fast friends. Ramsey played on her Grammy-winning Car Wheels On A Gravel Road (Mercury), and joined her band for part of that disc's tour.

Bo produced and played on the basic tracks for Lucinda's follow-up, the Grammy-nominated Essence — again joining her band on tour in support of that record.

All told, Ramsey and his trademark scruffy cowboy hat garnered two TV appearances with Williams on "The Late Show With David Letterman" and one each on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno and "Late Night With Conan O'Brien."

Other tube appearances include playing with Lucinda and Elvis Costello in the first segment of CMT's "Crossroads" series and again with Lucinda in award-winning German film director Wim Wenders' "Soul Of A Man" segment for Martin Scorsese's seven-part series on the blues for public television.

In addition, Bo's distinctive, inimitable guitar sounds have graced the recorded works of numerous artists, including extraordinary Nashville singer/songwriter Kate Campbell's Visions Of Plenty (Compass), folk god Pete Seeger with Larry Long on If I Had A Song . . . : The Songs Of Pete Seeger, Vol. II (Appleseed), a track on alt-folkie Ani DiFranco's Swing Set (Righteous Babe), and two tracks — which he also produced — on country-roots queen Iris DeMent's latest disc, Lifeline (Flariella). He's also appeared on discs by R.B. Morris, Mark Stuart, Brother Trucker, Joe Price and Jennifer Danielson.

Oh, yeah, and he also produced a six-song session for Joan Baez . . ..

The demand for Ramsey's unmistakable imprint on other artists' work has tended to keep his own work on the back-burner, but Bo's a fine, evocative and passionate writer in his own right and a commanding singer and performer.

Bo Ramsey HAS recorded nine albums under his own name, three of which — the aforementioned gem, Down To Bastrop, 1995's Bo Ramsey & The Backsliders: Live and 1997's In The Weeds — remain in print on Trailer Records.

His latest is "Stranger Blues," a long-promised — and much anticipated — project rounding up Bo's inspirational nuggets drawn from the likes of Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Elizabeth Cotton, Sonny Boy Williamson and others.

Produced by Bo and Pieta Brown, "Stranger Blues" features appearances by Greg Brown, Joe Price, Pieta Brown, Benson Ramsey and Ricky Peterson. The disc will be released on Bo Ramsey Records and will be available through www.boramsey.com in summer, 2006.

Bottom line: this ol' Iowa boy surely can rockit — always has, always will . . ..

— Jim Musser, March 2006

reviews

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  • Sublime
    author: Kelly Pollins

    Falling in love with a record, and then almost every song on it, is an infrequent occurance for me. Extraordinary musicianship and a voice that melts the soul.

  • Unhurried Blues
    author: Bruce Lowery

    It took me awhile to track this album down after hearing some tracks on Melbourne, Australia's Triple R radio station program 'Off the Record', together with a great interview with Bo Ramsay. It was worth the effort. I just adore the mature interpretations of some blues master composer's works (which Bo is keen to acknowledge - unlike many other artists). I hope we don't have to wait too long for Bo's next recording.

  • I love this soulful, down home album
    author: Leif Ericson

    Took me a while to track this CD down after hearing a couple of tracks on 3PBS public radio in Melbourne Australia. I love it - the great interpretations of these songs, the fantastic playing and the spot on production. Bo Ramsey puts a lot of soul into these songs. Turns out I had heard him before singing a track on the Australian group The Backsliders album Poverty Deluxe - a song I also love.

  • Master of the subtle touch
    author: Virginia Ivanicki

    Tasty production, subtle touches of sound that hit the bull's eye every time - like listening to a CD that was made especially for me. Everything I want to hear is there. I love Bo's smokey voice, the whispery touches are nothing short of intimate. Impossible to play once, this is a sexy, edgy, low-down soul grabbing musical ride. Up, down, and sliding sideways. I am greedy-hungry for more.

  • Undeniably Bo
    author: Dana Davis

    This isn't Rhinestones and makeup. It's wood, steel and wire and it feels perfectly natural. You don't have to point out what's good about this CD. It is self evident. Bo rides to work with me and he plays while I'm there. I'm giving this 4 of 5 stars because I sense there is more in Bo that hasn't been let out yet.

  • This CD was focused and did what they wanted to do with it..
    author: Mark Salo

    A few years back I bought Ramsey's first CD and Didn’t care for it. It didn’t hold together for me. This one is different. He sticks with the blues and shows a virtuosity with blues riffs and rhythms that are as good as anyone can play them. While being true to the genre, his unique style of playing comes through. If no one told me who was on the lead and I heard the CD, I would know who it was…regardless.

  • loved this blues CD from an artist new to me..
    author: Anne Ramsey

    the guitar playing is the best..and the smokey voice can't be forgotten .. makes the commute to and from work bearable

  • good ol' blues, as I remember it with it's "voodoo" feel!
    author: Phil Bober

    Blues standards that hooked me as a teenager, played with basics, trem. and reverb thru lipstick pickups. Bo Ramsey has a real Gut feel for making you so aware of the guitars' voice yet not running thru clipped phrases, as done to death on so many blues numbers today.

  • After being a longtime fan of Bo and his original work, I really appreciate his
    author: Karin Leonard

    Totally entertaining...thanks BO!

  • Bo's got some blues
    author: Jayne Fletcher

    His guitar work is wonderful. You Got Me Dizzy and Unseeing Eye remind me why I fell in love with the blues.

  • very tasty
    author: kully mindemann

    great mix of material by blues luminaries, great vocals, and some really great playing. Bo and company get in the groove and stretch it out. especially love the title cut, stranger blues, and the last cut, where the sun goes down. I bought this for my brother but he might never get it.

  • One Of The Best Releases Of The Year.
    author: Mike in Austin

    There's simply not enough stars in the cosmos to rate this great new CD from Bo Ramsey. It's always been reason to celebrate when Bo releases a new CD. This one will take it's place -- among every other release of his -- as some of the best music ever laid down. "Stranger Blues" will get under your skin and stay there. The charactors that reside in Ramsey's songs are as real as any ever written about. And the songwriters he's chosen to cover are simply put, top drawer. Truely, truely a masterwork! If you are able to find a copy of Bo Ramsey and the Backsliders, "Live" (Trailor 04), do not hesitate for one second to get it. Same goes for every other CD he's released. Bo's recordings may be flying under the radar, but those who allow him landing clearance are in for some of the best music ever to be heard, played and sung by a true master.

  • outstanding work from a fellow Iowan
    author: mike

    LOVE LOVE LOVE Bo and Greg and David and all the other Iowa City and/or Iowa muscians that I have been listening to for over 25 years now. Great to have Bo doing solo albums and best of luck to him and Pieta on their new marriage and upcoming parenthood!

  • Simmering & swampy blues
    author: Mitchell

    While Mr. Ramsey maybe more famous for his excellent production work, his guitar chops is what impresses me the most. This is one of the best cds I have heard in along time. This one will definitily stay in heavy rotation in my favorites.

  • way cool
    author: aek

    This is very serious, greasy, 21st century swamp featuring some of the best guitar tones you'll ever hear.

  • AWESOME!
    author: Rena Sheehy

    Very laid back, relaxing. I love listening to Bo on the drive home from work.

  • superb singing, playing choice of material and production
    author: douro crotch

    no self written "bo" songs on this album just all round superb singing, playing, choice of material and production make it one of my albums of the year, which is strange as i am not a "blues" lover normaly. a benchmark album to compare with other "cover version" discs by all genres past, present and future. if you only buy a single album a year from your normal selection of artists or music types make it this one, the quality shines throughout.

  • author: Mark Ostrander

    What is special about this CD is we get to hear Bo sing for a change. It's worth the price of the CD alone to hear his voice. Bo knows the blues.

  • Traditional Blues at its best
    author: Jason

    If you like sparse, swampy guitar playing mixed with a rough and tumble voice, you're sure to dig this CD. Bo gets some of coolest guitar sounds EVER recorded on his CDs, I have no idea how he does it, but they are fantastic, and his playing is deliberately phrased and well tought out. Jimmy Vaughan, who many think of as the ultimate "less is more" player, sounds like a wanker, compared to Bo. Fantastic CD!!! I highly recommend contacting Bo to get all his other CDs

  • Blues Standards with Bo's signature sound.
    author: Doug M

    Thanks Bo! This CD is absolutely masterful. Give a listen with a nice set of headphones. The Freight Train is simply sublime.

  • More please
    author: Ed Funek

    This is a perfect example of a cd you wish would never end. Bo has delivered a fantastic blues cd which I hope gets widespread attention. Easily one of the best releases of 2006. A great array of blues covers with a slinky, swampy, bluesy & laid back grove. This album reinforces Bo's great playing, recently heard on releases by Peita Brown & Jeffrey Foucault. Play it again Bo !

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