A project that involves the teaming up of Stevie Ray Vaughan's rhythm section and members of Hendrix's Band of Gypsies, along with former Black Oak Arkansas guitarist Rocky Athas is interesting, to say the least. I'd not heard of this CD, but it came up while doing a search on Amazon and got me curious. Buddy Miles has certainly seen his ups and downs, but he was back riding high with the release of Blues Berries.
With Buddy Miles at the helm, Blues Berries wasted no time bringing soulful Blues/Rock into the 21st century with a vengeance. Buddy's timeless crooning is backed by an unusually tight band. Rocky Athas is a strong axe man with tasty solos and a unique rhythm style reminiscent of Stevie Ray and Robin Trower, and on Hammond organ, Mark Leach is superb. Last but not least what can you say about Tommy Shannon and Chris Leyton of Double Trouble as the foundation all of this is built upon?
The disc is loaded with the rock, funk and soul stew that Buddy is famous for, with a taste of Louisiana, and an acoustic stopover on the way to kicking dirt and attitude around over the course of these songs, all woven together in a B-3 keyboard tapestry. The guitars are unmistakably Texas Blues with a rock 'n roll flare. It's hard to pick a favorite track on this one, and in the end, it all boils down to a great album from a band of gypsies who met at the crossroads at the top of their game. We, the listeners, win.
These clips are not from the CD (could not find any)-but they give you a feel for Buddy's style of music.
DOWN BY THE RIVER
THEM CHANGES
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