Still Bluesy After All These Years

The surprising--no, make that amazing--success of Columbia’s recent Robert Johnson compilation has spurred another resurgence of interest in the blues. In the past, those spasms of enthusiasm have often focused so narrowly on the Mississippi/Chicago blues guitar axis that a number of other significant blues traditions got slighted.

The wide world of the blues is the subject of this edition of On the Off Beat, a periodic review of roots, ethnic and non-mainstream pop music from around the globe.

**** ALBERT KING

“Wednesday Night

in San Francisco”

Stax/Fantasy

** 1/2 ALBERT KING

“Thursday Night

in San Francisco”

Stax/Fantasy These collections of previously unreleased live material were recorded at the same 1968 performances that yielded the epochal “Live Wire/Blues Power,” a bona fide classic. But they’re not scraps from the bottom of the barrel. “Wednesday Night” in particular sparkles--King’s warm vocals and stinging guitar leads are in fine form while the backing quartet offers forceful support. “Thursday Night” suffers by comparison--the performances are more ragged, and the way “Stormy Monday” and “Drifting Blues” are adapted to King’s style straddles the line between signature sound and formula.

**** JUNIOR WELLS

“Hoodoo Man Blues”

Delmark

This ’65 classic, part of Delmark’s CD reissue series, features lean, sinewy music that relies on understated riffing rather than torrents of notes--hearing the hyper-flashy Buddy Guy play such restrained guitar is pretty shocking. But it’s the quiet dignity of Wells’ singing and his economical harmonica work that carry the title track, the slow instrumental “In the Wee Hours” and strong versions of “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” and “You Don’t Love Me.”

*** BELL/BRANCH/COTTON/WELLS

“Harp Attack”

Alligator

***BALL/BARTON/STREHLI

“Dreams Come True”

Antone’s

Wells pops up in the company of fellow graybeard James Cotton, blues scene legend Carey Bell and youngblood Billy Branch in this conclave of Chicago harmonica players, but “Harp Attack” sidesteps the usual pitfalls. No succession of solo battles or sham democracy--making the music work dictates everything, from the collective assault on “Down Home Blues” to Branch’s homage “New Kid on the Block.” Even harpophobes should enjoy “Harp Attack.”

“Dreams Come True” is kinduva distaff Texas Tornados from the Austin honky-tonk zone. Dr. John’s production puts the music within the jaunty Texas/Louisiana tradition of rollicking piano, bright horns and vocal sass as Angela Strehli splits the difference between Lou Ann Barton’s whiskey rasp and Marcia Ball’s clearer, cooler trill. Only a couple of stumbles mar a collection sparked by an assertive version of “A Fool in Love,” the prototypal Texas shuffle arrangement of “Good Rockin’ Daddy” and bassist Sarah Brown’s seriously rocking “Bad Thing.”

*** 1/2 BOBBY (BLUE) BLAND

“Midnight Run”

Malaco

Don’t expect many new tricks from this seasoned vet. But Bland delivers big time on this album, which spent over a year hanging around the middle of the R&B; charts (that’s the sign of a hit these days). Bland doesn’t have to force his singing on songs impeccably tailored for his voice and subtly, sensitively delivered by a mixture of Muscle Shoals and Malaco studio musicians. They call this kind of performance mature artistry--where else are you going to hear a sublime blues couplet like, “If you’re going to walk all over my love / The least you could do is take off your shoes”?

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to five (a classic).