JIMMY HALL: Rendezvous With the Blues

Jimmy Hall

Rendezvous With the Blues

© 2006 Rockin' Camel Music (181719000533)

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True Southern Blues

notes

If you are a true Southern Blues fan, Jimmy Hall’s name will resonate with you. If you are a true Southern Blues fan, “Rendezvous With The Blues” is a must have in your collection as one of the most definitive records of the genre.

Jimmy Hall, former lead vocalist and harmonica player for Wet Willie, has a long and varied background as a performer, working with Capricorn Records from its early days in the 1970s.

Born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Hall co-founded Wet Willie in 1970. Over the next ten years, Hall and the group toured with Aerosmith, the Allman Brothers Band, Grand Funk Railroad, and The Grateful Dead. Hall was later nominated for a Grammy Award for “Best Male Rock Vocalist” for Jeff Beck’s 1985 “Flash” album.

After Wet Willie’s break-up, Hall moved to Nashville to work on a solo project for Epic Records, and has remained there since. In Nashville, Hall found a healthy blues scene in a city best known for its country music. On his 1996 effort, “Rendezvous With The Blues”, Hall is back by artists such as Clayton Ivey on piano, former Capricorn session drummer, Bill Stewart, and Dr. Dan Matrazzo on Hammond B-3 organ. The album also features Johnny Sandlin, the same producer who sat behind the console on Wet Willie’s 1973 live album “Drippin’ Wet”.

In recent years, Hall joined Hank Williams Jr.’s touring band playing sax and harmonica. Hall also performs nationwide to audiences who truly appreciate Southern Blues.

reviews

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  • Great CD!!
    author: Ole Andersen

    Being a true southern rock fan most of my life, I have enjoyed Wet Willie tremendously over the years. Somehow I lost track of Jimmy Halls whereabouts along the way, but I was reminded, how great a performer he is when I watched the recently issued DVD presenting D. McClintons Blues Cruise. In my search for newer material with Jimmy, this one came up, and I just thinks it shows how capable he is in making every corner of the blues idiom sound like his own material. He does it so effortlessly and classy - just great!

  • Loved it!
    author: Kim

    Loved all the songs Good Mix---especially liked The Hunter Jimmy, come to Santa Fe and sing the blues Bring the Prisoners! I miss your music!!!!!

  • Excellent
    author: John Ivey

    I was one of the fortunate people who bought this CD in 1996. It knocked me out then and with the new remix and bonus cuts still knocks me out. Great songs, great players and lotsa soul. Now if Jimmy would just come to Colorado...

  • The absolute blues singer doin' the real blues the way that he can do it !
    author: Johnny Greenwell-Rent Money Band

    Had the pleasure of working with Jimmy and the Prisoners of Love (his house band) at 12th and Porter in Nashville some years back. This cd was in the can and they were performing cuts from it. This is a stellar effort, and must have in any collection of great blues. Jimmys' singing is effortless and so perfect it is riveting. Tell the Truth is burning and nasty with killer slide work, while A Change Is Gonna Come would make the great Sam Cooke proud.Jimmy is not only a great musician, he is a student of the realm, and he makes that clear on every song. To me, this is like an old Beatles record by comparison. Every single cut is a winner and all the tracks are equally well produced and picked. Thanks Jimmy !This is a great effort. Love ya' brother.

  • Rendezvous With the Blues displays Jimmy's talents
    author: Jeff

    I saw Jimmy Hall perform live at B.B. King's in Nashville, TN in October of 2005. It was the first time I had seen or heard of Jimmy (although I do remember Wet Willie and Keep On Smilin'), and I haven't seen him since...but I was hooked as soon as I walked in the door. Jimmy's vocals rank up there with all the greats and combined with his command of the sax and harmonica make him an artistic treasure. Rendezvous With the Blues is a very nice collection of music and I have recommended it countless times. Keep it up Jimmy.

  • Great stuff!
    author: Carey

    I bought this after hearing Jimmy rock the boat on the 13th Delbert cruise. Great stuff, and he really needs to get a live album. Don't miss him if he comes around!

  • Jimmy Hall: Better the 2nd Time
    author: Hittin' The Note Magazine: Bill Ector

    In 1995, Jimmy Hall went into the studio to record “Rendezvous With the Blues” with some of his favorite musician pals. Bill Stewart, Jack Pearson, Clayton Ivey, David Hood, and Kevin Holly all played on the album, and legendary producer Johnny Sandlin sat behind the board to create one of the most enjoyable CDs ever recorded. As is typical in the music business, great records do not always translate into great-selling records. That was the case with the original release of Rendezvous…as it sold less that 10,000 copies, which remains to this day a crying shame. Fear not, friends, for that travesty has now been rectified. The re-release of a CD that simply should be in every music lover’s collection has taken place, with the full original recording embelished by three additional tracks. Remastered by Mr. Sandlin, the music on this record covers the gamut of timeless blues, with covers of songs by Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Sam Cooke, Jack Pearson and William Howse, and original songs from Jimmy Hall himself gracing the album. Jimmy’s voice sounds stronger and more powerful than it did even in the heyday of Wet Willie, and his vocal range is still something to behold. With a rhythm section that is second to none, and songs that are the essence of the blues genre, Rendezvous With the Blues, is better than ever, with crisp sound and amazing musicianship throughout. From the opening guitar riff of “That’s the Truth” Rendezvous With the Blues promises so much, and delivers even more than expected. The vast majority of this album was recorded live in the studio, particularly the interplay between Jack Pearson’s guitar and Jimmy Hall’s harp, sax, and vocals to give it that natural feel that comes only from such close proximity. The songs on this CD are all outstanding, and showcases the vast talents of Jimmy Hall. “Don’t Hit Me No More” tells of all the many ways one can get hit in life, beginning with “I got hit on the butt by the doctor on the day I was born,” and moving on to taxes, union dues and even bums needing a new pair of shoes. The humorous side of the blues continues with such gems as the old Nighthawk’s song “Too Tall To Mambo,” which tells the story of a woman so tall that she got the judge to send the cops to jail for arresting her in the first place. Booker T and the MGs’ “The Hunter” is given a great take here, and its barely-disguised innuendo gives a nice edge to an old classic. Old school blues is featured in Willie Dixon’s “Twenty-nine Ways to My Baby’s Door” and Muddy’s “Long Distance Call.” These two songs take the old back-door theme abd presents it from both sides. Pearson’s slide guitar graces both tunes perfectly, and Bill Stewart is particularly noteworthy on drums on the former, while Jimmy’s impassioned vocals at the end of “Long Distance Call” are the essence of the blues. One thing that Jimmy Hall has always been is soulful, and he gets to stretch his soul chops on the old Sam Cooke “A Change Is Gonna Come,” which is breathtaking in its delivery. Think of a revival meeting, with swirling B-3 and sparse piano and guitar surrounding the vocals that make this a sure-fire hit. The title track is a minor key blues that evokes the sadness of a lonely late night with no one there to hold on to, and is worthy of its centerpiece location on the CD. As is the case when talented musicians gather to make an album, there is always something that gets left out of the final product. Three bonus tracks included in this re-issue are all remarkable, starting with the slow blues “That Did It Baby,” and A-track for sure. Of special note is the remake of the Ray Charles classic “Night Time Is the Right Time,” with Carla Russell handling the call-and-response vocals with Jimmy-this one is so rowdy and a lot of fun to listen to. “Duck Soup” features Johnny “The Duck” Sandlin on bass along with Jimmy, Jack, Clayton, and Bill to round out what truly is a masterpiece of recorded music. Make a date for your very own Rendezvous With the Blues”- it will set you free.

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