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1.
Thunder
In My Heart 4:25
(P.Lacocque, Ransart Music,
BMI)
2. I
Luv U So 3:34
(M. & W. Flynn, Easy Baby
Music, BMI)
3. Hometown
Boy 4:37
(P.Lacocque & D. Farr,
Ransart Music & Deitra Farr Music, BMI)
4. Loan
Me Train Fare 5:33
(Copyright Control, add. lyrics
Robert Stroger)
5. Nothin'
But Trouble 4:18
(W. Flynn, Easy Baby Music,
BMI)
6. You
Gave Nothing 5:35
(D. Farr, Deitra Farr Music,
BMI)
7. Natalie
4:32
(P.Lacocque, Ransart Music)
8. Gonna
Hit That Dusty Road 5:30
(P.Lacocque,
Ransart Music)
9. Don't
Dare Call 4:18
(P.Lacocque)
10. Baby
Please Stop Drinkin' 3:56 (W.
Flynn)
11. Somebody's
Always Talking 4:39
(D.
Farr, Deitra Farr Music, BMI)
12. Better
Day 4:42
(P.Lacocque)
13. Brand
New Woman 6:34
(J.O. Wheeler, O.J.Y. Music,
BMI)
14. Steamrollin'
3:03
(P.Lacocque) |
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The journey
through life is treacherous and profound. The aware have
learned the hard way - through direct experience - the
joys and sorrows of living fully every day. Mississippi
Heat TM share their insights straight from the heart,
through the blues, in the most honest and penetrating
way they can. Thus, we are privileged to share their journey
with them. The configuration of the message is a strikingly
contemporary yet wholly authentic version of the classic
1950s Chicago blues sound. Its richness and rhythm draw
us closer so that we may listen more deeply to hear the
acute understanding the music contains.
The members of Mississippi Heat, a band of travelers on
this spiritual quest, are a diverse and interesting crew.
Pierre Lacocque is the man with the vision. He holds the
light that shines on the path. Deitra Parr is oracle,
truth-teller and chanteuse, but she has no false fronts,
no affectation. Fearless, she lets you know what she sees.
Allen Kirk, the "Captain," is the pathfinder,
the guide who charts the course through the jungle. The
smiling sage, Bob Stroger is near otherworldly in his
serenity and "cool." James Wheeler, worldly-wise,
patient and experienced, delivers the truth in measured
doses. The skilled young acolyte, Billy Flynn is inspired
and inspiring. The light burns bright in him.
Lacocque began playing harmonica on a green plastic toy
he was given by his father. The instrument's sound overtook
the boy, bringing tears to his eyes. The Lacocque family
moved from Belgium to Chicago when Pierre was 16, where
he was able to connect with his two primary influences,
Big Walter Horton and Junior Wells. He developed a style
based on pure tone and conversational phrasing. At once
elegant and practical, his playing says what needs to
be said, and gets out of the way. Lacocque is the first
to admit he is continually listening and learning, yet
his relentless drive and creativity underscore his role
as a leader. He is constantly at work on new riffs and
songs.
Lacocque left the blues for a time to focus on home, career
and family, but he felt a void - a hole in his soul -
that only the blues could fill. In 1992, he and brother
Michel, who agreed to handle the business end of things,
secured a core group of seasoned Chicago musicians that
became the first incarnation of Mississippi Heat. They
were, and still remain, dedicated to the classic Chicago
blues sound. Somewhere in heaven, the elders of Chicago
blues are smiling.
Deitra Farr has stared down her demons, looked into the
black and come out more strong and fierce for meeting
the challenge. Now she looks at life straight in the eyes,
unwavering and brutally honest. And when she sings, her
voice, smooth and warm, rich and inviting, also carries
her bravery and intelligence. Her songs are unflinching
portraits, messages in a bottle tossed overboard on a
stormy trip through the sea of her own psyche. She has
led her own band and sung with Chicago heavyweights including
Sunnyland Slim and Sam Lay. Now she has cast her lot with
Mississippi Heat TM since 1993.
Drums are a joy for Allen Kirk. He has performed for 25
years in nearly every style played regularly in the U.S.
Beneath his clowning and bad boy manner, Kirk has depth,
caring and loyalty. He is the trusted traveler; he knows
where he is and where he's going, and moves forward with
confidence.
Bob Stroger has played bass forever and with everyone.
Chicago Blues magazine called him "Father Time."
He calls Mississippi Heat TM his family. Before linking
with Lacocque in 1992, Stroger held down the bottom for
a Who's Who of Chicago artists, including Eddie Taylor,
Jimmy Rogers, Willie Mabon, Memphis Slim, Snooky Pryor,
Otis Rush, James Cotton, Luther Tucker, Sunnyland Slim,
Fenton Robinson and many others. In performance, swaying
with the beat, a placid smile on his face, Stroger is
a rock solid foundation around which the band swirls and
spins, adding layer upon layer to build their distinctive
yet ageless sound.
Guitarist James Wheeler is one of Chicago's best kept
secrets. Throughout the60s and 70s his group, The Jaguars,
gigged regularly at clubs throughout Chicago, and backed
up touring artists such as Etta James, Al Green, Johnny
Taylor, Esther Phillips, McKinley Mitchell, Ann Peebles,
and The Chi-Lites. He then did long stints in the bands
of hard soul legend Otis Clay (seven years) and west side
blues master Otis Rush (10 years). A commanding presence
on stage, he plays solid chordal rhythm, punctuated with
melodic single string bursts. More and more he is contributing
songs to the group and taking lead vocals.
Versatility could be Billy Flynn's middle name. But the
band calls him "Frites," after the Belgian French
fries he adores. He's a magician with a guitar, conjuring
up archetypal blues sounds of Chicago, with hints of Memphis
and Texas. He plays economically and eloquently, without
flash. He's not in your face, he's in the pocket. His
personal musical trail has led him from Green Bay, Wisconsin,
through gigs and recordings with Jimmy Dawkins and The
Legendary Blues Band, to a solo career (and self-produced
CD, Leavin' In The Morning), and now Mississippi Heat
TM since 1992.
The songs on this album, all originals by members of the
group save one, are like signposts, pages from a diary
kept during a mystical journey. Farr's vocal creates a
potent mix of longing and caution on the title tune, a
variation on the Bo Diddley beat featuring Flynn's eerie
evocation of Albert Collins on the solo in the fade-out.
Flynn's right back on the chugging boogie "I Luv
You So," his and Wheeler's guitar lines winding back
and forth around each other, and the harp just right.
'Home Town Boy" has more of that wonderful guitar
interplay pushing a primal drive through the mix like
a tiger through dense, rain forest growth. Flynn's fiery
solo sets off Farr's warm, inviting voice. She's known
the man since she was six years old; now she's gonna make
her move.
Stroger steps to the front for "Loan Me Train Fare,"
a classic train blues filled with relentless rhythm and
evocative harmonica blasts. The power shuffle of 'Nothing
But Trouble" follows, leading into a slow ballad,
"You Gave Me Nothing." Farr's mostly spoken
vocals speak simultaneously to heart and head, literate,
insightful, matter-of-fact. She knows the score, and won't
be played for a fool. We hear from Wheeler next on a jump
boogie in tribute to "Natalie." Fan- returns
only to "Hit That Dusty Road."
"Don't Dare Call" takes us on a relaxed trip
through bossa nova country, the reluctance in the lyrics
challenged by Stroger's quiet strength. The ringing guitars
in Flynn's uptempo shuffle, "Please Stop Drinking,"
hearken back to glory days.
Little Junior and the Blue Flames come to mind, and hints
of Lightnin' Hopkins. Farr longs to be on the move again
in 'Somebody's Always Talking," away from liars,
backstabbers, the grasping, and the jealous.
"Today's A Better Day" lets the light of hope
peek through the clouds, the sun riding in on the back
of Lacocque's remarkable harp solo. Because a struggling
musician can't hope to compete with a man who can pay
all those bills, Wheeler sings a slow blues about a "Brand
New Woman." And in case you needed to know just how
this band travels, we end with the harmonica instrumental
"Steamrollin'." Shuffle boogie 'til the light
of day.
Mississippi Heat is moving and grooving now, but it's
been a wild ride - ecstatic highs and crashing lows, new
friends made, a new "family" formed, loved ones
lost in senseless and uncontrollable ways. They've come
through it loving and looking out for each other, and
producing a music startling in its intensity, refreshing
in its honesty, and filled with magic and spirit.
Listen to this album with an open mind, and heart, It
will help guide you on your journey. The thunder isn't
in the distance, its in your heart. Find it, hear it,
follow it.
– Niles Frantz, April 1995
Niles is the host of "Comin' Home" on WBEZ 91.5
FM, Chicago. He has written for Living Blues, Blues Revue,
Blues Access, and Blues & Rhythm (UK) magazines and
the All Music Guide to the Blues.(Van der Linden Recordings
- VdL 102).
Personnel: Pierre Lacocque,
Deitra Farr, Billy Flynn, James Wheeler, Bob Stroger,
Alan Kirk.
Guest Star: Ken Saydak. |
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