Mike Henderson & The Bluebloods – First Blood (1996)

1 When I Get Drunk 5:51
2 So Sad to Be Lonesome 4:15
3 Hip Shakin' 4:00
4 Pony Blues 5:44
5 Bloody Murder 5:02
6 Pay Bo Diddley 5:05
7 When the Welfare Turns Its Back on You 4:56
8 Give Me Back My Wig 4:14
9 How Many More Years 4:41
10 Mean Mistreater 4:23 

Bass – Glenn Worf
Drums – John Gardner
Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals – Mike Henderson
Piano – Reese Wynans

First Blood harks back to the glory days of the '60s blues-rock boom -- Mike Henderson and the Bluebloods' gritty sound is far from original, but years on the Nashville bar band circuit have honed their skills to a razor-sharp point, and the record is refreshingly raw and direct, distinguished by rock-solid musicianship. ---Jason Ankeny, allmusic.com

The Bluebloods’ debut effort is a knock-your-socks off collection of blues standards performed in respectfully modernized arrangements. This is a bar band supreme, as recognized by the liner notes author, Mark Knopfler. It’s pretty rare these days for a band to start out with an album of covers, but sometimes you wish a lot more bands did. The choice what to cover is always interesting , and the ‘bloods are no exception. "Pay Bo Diddley"? While you surely admire the sentiment, why this odd corner of the Diddley canon? Who knows, or cares, when you’ve got a band chunking out that Bo Diddley beat with the fervor these guys do. "Give Me Back My Wig"?–I never understood where that song was coming from, but again, the Bluebloods rock it out with a vengeance.

The set spans the blues spectrum, and Henderson practically squeezes tears from his guitar on "When the Welfare Turns its Back on You". The instrumentation is vintage, with Silvertone guitar and upright bass, and you can practically smell the overheated tubes on some of these numbers. Reese Wyans played piano for Stevie Ray Vaughn, and shows off some fine licks on "So Sad to Be Lonesome." If you’re lucky enough to have the Bluebloods playing in a nearby tavern, don’t pass the chance to see these guys live. Till then, slide First Blood into the CD tray, and settle back for some fine blues. ---Bill Kuhn, jellyroll.com

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