Ian Parker, Spoonful Of Gold (Blues For Willie) - album review
Stourbridge musician Ian Parker accidentally stumbled across the work of Willie Dixon in a Parisian bookshop in 2015.
Since then he has fallen in love with the captivating blues of a man whose music we all must have heard but maybe didn't even realise.
There's the scintillating and seductive I Just Want To Make Love To You - synonymous with those Diet Coke ads of the 90s and 00s. The foot-tapping Mighty Earthquake And Hurricane. The warmongering The Seventh Son.
Ian has been keen to point out these aren't covers of the Willie Dixon versions of the tracks. These are his interpretations.
The shuffling, ill-at-ease feel to The Seventh Son is as good a place to start as any. Punchy bass from Ian's pal Chris Lomas pokes his guitars forward as we build up to the revealing interludes that follow each verse.
Ian's guitar work is strong, his voice stronger. He can really sing. It suits the style perfectly with its part silky smooth licks, part gravelly strength.
The booming opening to I Can't Quit You Baby shows this expertly. He really reaches for the big notes throughout as piano swishes almost lazily from side to side. The sliding guitars really hammer home that lazy, speakeasy blues vibe.
The downcast rock feel to I Can't Understand is also a nice listen. Twin guitars vie for your attention in the musical equivalent of a penalty shootout. But rather than loud and overbearing they both sing to you with equal skill and understated authority. The two-pronged attack is a great effect, and each listener would probably give you a different reason for picking their victor.
The strongest track on the record is unquestionably the magnificent Weak Brain, Narrow Mind. It's worth picking up the record just to hear this.
The backing music paints a picture of a late dusk in the Wild West, gunslingers retreating to the saloons. Here, Parker's guitars play second fiddle to the zinging lap steel of Chris Eaton and the result is mesmerising. But when they fully join in again for the chorus the simple, rising melody is spellbinding.
Rating: 7/10
Spoonful Of Gold (Blues For Willie) is available to pre-order ahead of its release on Tuesday from www.ianparkermusic.com - and on December 1, Ian will be performing tracks from this and his other work at The Bull's Head Inn in Chelmarsh, Shropshire
