Personnel: Guy Davis (vocals, spoken vocals, acoustic guitar, acoustic 12-string guitar, electric guitar, electric 12-string guitar, bottleneck guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, percussion); Nerak Roth Patterson, John Platania (electric guitar); Mark Murphy (upright bass); Gary Burke, Brian Doherty (drums).
Recording information: The Clubhouse, Rhinebeck, NY; Three Bays Studio, Gallatin, NY.
Arranger: Guy Davis.
Guy Davis, the son of actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, has a fascination with country blues, but comes at it from a modern (though never post-modern) perspective. A number of the cuts here dip into a feel that will be familiar to fans of Mississippi John Hurt or Fred McDowell, but there are also Americana/folk-rock moments, like "Angels Are Calling" and the Bob Dylan cover that gives this album its title. Since Davis's voice has never been his strongest asset, it's his own tunes that carry the day here, rather than his takes on classic blues songs by Muddy Waters and Big Joe Williams.
Professional Reviews
Dirty Linen (p.53) - "Davis continues to tread a neo-traditionalist path, but he takes a few side roads along the way. He brings his soulful voice as well as first-rate musicianship on six- and 12-string acoustic guitars, bottleneck slide, and banjo."
Living Blues (p.31) - "[It's his] mischievous sense of humor that makes this album such a joy....Davis possesses a deep soulful voice and a sense of delivery and timing rivaled only by all time-time greats like Solomon Burke."
Billboard (p.38) - "He covers several great tunes here, including a fairly sizzling version of Willie Dixon's 'Hoochie Coochie Man'..."
