Melvin Taylor - Blues On The Run (1982)

2012-01-06T10:06:52Z

Melvin Taylor - Blues On The Run (1982)


1. Traveling Man   6:20
2. Lowdown Dirty Shame   7:30
3. Escape   6:55
4. Cold Cold Feeling   4:40				play
5. Just Like a Woman   8:00
6. Chitlins Con Carne   8:50

Musicians:
Melvin Taylor– Vocal, Lead Guitar
Johnny Dollar- Rhythm Guitar
Big Moose Walker- Piano
Willie Love– Bass Guitar
Casey Jones- Drums

Melvin Taylor is simply the most unappreciated guitarist of all time. Even though he's now the king of the West Side Chicago Blues, he first caught on in Europe, where his first two CDs were recorded. This effort clocks in at under 45 minutes, but it's solid throughout. It shows off his wide range, but only hints at what's to come from Melvin. There are plenty of impressive guitar runs that will satisfy the most demanding blues guitar fan. All of Melvin's albums are worthwhile. My favorites are "Melvin Taylor and the Slack Band" and "Dirty Pool," but I wouldn't do without a single one of them. "Blues on the Run" features a young Melvin just beginning to make a name for himself. I'd rank his talent and inventiveness up there with all-time greats like Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Just try "Chitlins Con Carne" if you don't believe me. --- Mister E. (Sandy, OR)

Melvin Taylor may run a little long at times on his Blues on the Run, but that gives him the opportunity to dazzle with the full scope of his chops. He can play Chicago blues as gritty as anyone, but he can also rock hard and has enough sensitivity for jazz. Hearing him run through all these styles is a little dizzying, however, especially since he doesn't know when to let a little space into the music. Nevertheless, the record functions as an effective showcase for his talents. ---Thom Owens, allmusic.com

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Melvin Taylor – Rendez Vous with The Blues (2002)

2009-10-29T14:10:56Z

Melvin Taylor – Rendez Vous with The Blues (2002)


1. Comin' Home Baby
2. Help The Poor
3. Rendezvous With The Blues
4. I'm The Man Down There
5. Chill Out/The Healer
6. Help Me
7. Five Women
8. Blue Jean Blues
9. Eclipse
10. Black Queen 

Personnel: 
Melvin Taylor (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars); 
Lucky Peterson (guitar, Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards); 
Mato Nanji (guitar); 
Jerry Mallet (tenor saxophone); 
Sidney Janise (baritone saxophone); 
Scott Thompson, Marshall Cyr (trumpet); 
Dave Smith (bass); 
Steve Potts (drums, congas, percussion); 
Brian Brignac (congas, percussion)

Rendezvous With the Blues marks another step in the normalization of Melvin Taylor. With Lucky Peterson on keyboards, Taylor is much more the featured lead guitarist in a straight-band context that too often finds him fighting for room to move in the full arrangements. He takes a jazzy lead on the opening "Coming Home Baby," but that runs counter to the measured, mid-tempo groove that dominates the first three tracks and seems like a move to court the contemporary rock-blues audience. So does some of the material -- no originals, with ZZ Top, Stephen Stills, and Carlos Santana's tribute to John Lee Hooker in the songwriter credits on one side and Charles Singleton and Prince for contemporary black funk/rock relevance on the other. Horns kick in to punctuate the slinky, clavinet-anchored funk on "I'm the Man Down There," but Taylor's solo gets cluttered up by a duel with Peterson (on guitar here). Taylor is better-served when he escapes the rock beat straitjacket on "Tribute to John Lee Hooker" -- the Latin-tinged rhythms give his guitar more freedom to float and sting. ZZ Top's slow "Blue Jean Blues" definitely picks things up with blitz distortion solos and nice dynamics, but "Help Me" leaves behind Sonny Boy Williamson's haunted train groove for a plodding mid-tempo blues that winds up anonymous. Eric Gales' instrumental "Eclipse" goes so far down the Wes Montgomery mellow jazz blues instrumental route it could almost be a quiet storm/fuzak format candidate. And Prince's "Five Women" sounds like disjointed parts with a group that never really coheres, while Stills' "Black Queen" is transformed into a rhythmic stomp that goes nowhere. Almost all the songs have moments, but Rendezvous With the Blues is spotty, mostly because Taylor seems to be struggling to force his way through busy arrangements and a less-than-inspired choice of songs. The disc wants to have it both ways -- to distinguish Melvin Taylor as a more versatile and contemporary bluesman, but then saddles him with a regulation-issue sound that reins in the freewheeling guitar solos that are his greatest asset. --Don Snowden, Rovi

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