JAWBONE: dang blues

Jawbone

dang blues

© 2003 12 Volt Music (5029432005327)

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Jumper cables. An old car battery. A bent 6-common nail. A cat-clawed amp. A paint bucket. A discarded child's toy tambourine. Jawbone combines these garage floor leftovers with guitar, harp, and a chop-shop drum kit to create an original, raw blues.

notes

From liner notes:

-Genesis-
The whole original idea behind jawbone was just the harmonica. Just harmonica songs and some singing. I had a handful of songs I had written on the harmonica, you know, just driving around in the car. Old-timey blues hollers, field calls, stuff like that. My version of those things, anyway. It was fun, and somewhere in the back of my head was the idea that if I could come up with enough stuff, enough material, that I would try to put some kind of an act together. I took the name from the side of a panel truck that I'd see in our neighborhood from time to time. Just big, blue hand-lettering on the side panels. It's actually some kind of home business moving company of some kind, I think, Jawbone Movers or something like that. I have no idea what it means, why they chose that name, but I liked it enough to use it myself.

-Harp. And guitar.-
Anyway, I'm not a great harp player, and playing the harmonica alone by itself can be a little limiting in the end. I mean, where can you play, really? Maybe some coffee houses, but I was never too into that. A while back I was in New York busking in the subway and when I would do my harmonica bit I got the feeling that people thought that, because my style is pretty primitive and I'm not a virtuoso, that it was all a come-on for drug money or something, or that I was maybe a little crazy. But if you've got a guitar then you're legitimate, it's all pre-meditated, you're a serious musician then, not something from outer space. And I wanted to play rock and roll clubs, and be loud, and try to make some excitement, you know? So the guitar was an inevitable addition. That's why the drum, too. Bunji-cording a tamborine to my foot always got a laugh from onlookers, which is ok I suppose, but they look at the bass drum differently. It's a real instrument. Musically, it gives you that bottom end, sure, but more important -- BAM! BAM! BAM! BOOM! -- it's got authority.

-Car Batteries, jumper cables.-
I wanted to be able to play anywhere, sidewalks, flea markets, beer tents, barbeques, parking garages, airport runways, wherever. So aside from the aesthetics, there's a practical reason for the cables, too. It took a while for me to get through the mechanics of it, but it works really well.

-Slim Harpo. Flint's Dr. Ross.-
You know, there's actually a long tradition of one-man bands. The blues is full of them: Joe Hill Louis, Jesse Fuller, Frank Frost, Dr. Ross, the harmonica boss. And, even though it's more rare, there's rock and roll solo acts out there too. With computers and stuff nowadays, you see all kinds of one person shows, djs and the like. And that's good, at least, it can be. I like the physicality of playing the instruments, but there's room for drum machines and samplers, too. I am not a purist. If anything, I'm anti-purist.
Interview by J.T.Pretty

reviews

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  • yee hah
    author: Tony

    I first saw the CD in a shop staring at me with JAWBONE on it. I spent a good 30 minutes under the earphones laughing with tears in my eyes as I hadnt had such a good time since the Cramps. This is White Stripes in the nuddy!

  • Too cool live
    author: Mark

    CD is a blast, just like his show. Played downtown Detroit festival summer'04, hoo-ha!!

  • author: Steve

    I first heard of Jawbone on Grunnenrocks thats (www.grunnenrocks.nl) and I knew I had to get this album. All I can say is this CD ROCKS. I have played it for some on of friends, and it became an instant hit with them. Jawbone is a must have!! Also check out Scatrag Booster or Skip Jensen and his magic feet...also very good stuff.

  • get ready for a headshock
    author: boggy

    Oh my god! What has this album done to my head. I'ts not that I did'nt know what to expect having heard the session on the peel show but still. Bob shows why blues was so instrumental in changing the music scene back in the 1920/30's, and with a deft tap of his foot and a shake of his ass you'll end up wondering why all music don't sound this good. Jawbone I salute you........

  • One very happy kiwi
    author: Oz

    Like most other reviewers here, I 'discovered' Jawbone thanks to a radio session on the John Peel show. Ordered the CD before the session had ended. The service on this website is first-class, and the CD turned up promptly, in immaculate condition (I live in New Zealand so it had a fair way to travel!).

  • Bad ass 1 man blues
    author: Henry Kammerer

    Jawbone delivers like he sells it. Dirty blues that will make you take your B.B. King to the pawn shop. Take whatevpretty girl don smeer thay offer, you got the real deal. They got some blue down there somewhere sho nuff. And pretty girls dont smell no better than the ugly ones,

  • great raw blues - tour the uk soon
    author: pete weth

    great raw blues - all energy and excitment. PLEASE tour the uk (inc. Wales!) soon

  • Incredible. Down and dirty blues at its best.
    author: Simon

    I was turned on to Jawbone by a friend who had heard him on the John Peel show here in the UK. I checked out the website, was immediately hooked and ordered the album there and then. This is the blues performed as it should be: down and dirty. Incredible stuff.

  • I give the cd 7out of ten
    author: douglas mclellan

    I think the cd is very good it has a raw quality I heard tracks on the John Peel show in the UK peel only plays good stuff I am looking forward to more music from jaw bone

  • author: Gary Dickinson

    I heard whats goin on when John Peel interviewed Jack White on BBC radio 1 and knew I had to hear more. Can't say I've been disappointed. If you're a fan of raw stripped down blues then you'll love this. Thanks to CD Baby for the three day delivery, USA to the UK.

  • Like Beck on speed
    author: Ray C

    Imagine if Beck had been beaten as a child, discovered speed as an adolescent, and turned to the blues for revenge as an adult - this is Jawbone.

  • ...and you thought The White Stripes were stripped down.
    author: Richard Wheeldon - UK

    This thing is so lo-fi it doesn't feel right listening to it on a CD! In this day and age of computer music and digital production (which I enjoy), it's almost a shock to be so moved by something so basic, but by crikey it rocks! It's an audiophiles nightmare.......what more recommendation do you need? Thanks John Peel.

  • Dirty, distorted blues that I can't stop playing. Buy it.
    author: Michael

    It's dirty, distorted blues and I can't stop playing this album. Listen to 'jackrabbit' or 'if it's rock' on the links above and have your credit card ready. Great exchange rate makes it top value for UK music lovers.

  • fantastic
    author: ben

    raw and dirty blues. great musicianship. he claims he isn't a great harpsichord player but he ain't half bad. a real must buy. thank you john peel.

  • Mama's mowing the lawn...
    author: Taco

    Heard couple of tracks on Peel, fans of white stripes, detroit scence, blues or just music take note. Hot-dang this is a good album. Just the right lenght aswell for a blues injection. Also for UK folk, incl p&p works out at about £8-9 and only takes a couple of days...

  • Fantastic Striking Album
    author: Ben Drew

    An absolutely fantastic album, if like music buy this album!! Thanks to John Peel on BBC Radio 1 for letting the UK know about this Album.

  • Raw and dirty Detroit Blues at its best.
    author: Steve Pateman

    In these days of vastly over produced albums that cost a fortune to make and months to engineer, dang blues comes as an absolute breath of fresh air. Raw and dirty Detroit Blues at its best, with a distinct lo-fi busker feel to it. Thanks to John Peel for bringing it to our attention in the Uk - and of course thanks Bob too!

  • This is the Real Thing, Baby!
    author: Bruce Lomet (CHINASKI)

    Jawbone keeps it down and dirty - like a walk through the muddy Delta after a rainstorm. The tracks on "dang blues" showcase exactly how much rock you can get out of a rudely amplified guitar and mouth organ.

  • is it the real thing? sure sounds like it to me!
    author: hugh featherstone

    don't have it yet, but hope to get it soon. heard a track on john peel (bbc world service - always good for a surprise or two)and found myself shouting "whaaaat?", grinning like a fool and joining in with "mama's got to mow the lawn" ...or whatever. the word is out, jawbone is about to be seriously hyped, hope he survives it!

  • heard in on peel in san francisco
    author: peelielistener

    well based on what i heard on the john peel show, i have to say i'm very keen to hear the rest of this lp. great stuff.

  • A Blues Explosion!
    author: Paul

    Has anyone heard the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion song "Get With It"? A short blast of bluesey, punky guitars, manic vocals and bone shaking harmonica that last about 2 minutes, and excites me the way I thought only Jon Spencer can. Jawbone does this too. And this is a good thing. If anything, the only critism I have is that I'm exhausted after 20 minutes. But this is the blues at it's best. Dirty, raw, funny and exciting. But hey, I'm a white guy in my thirties, with a wife and two kids who lives in the north east of England. What should I know abou the blues? A great cd - buy it and find out. And the service from the US to the UK was first class too!

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