A New Chapter in 2 Former Backup Artists’ ‘Book’

Guitarist Randy Jacobs can speak at length about the wonderful memories he has had working as a session player on scores of records by such celebrated artists as Bonnie Raitt and B.B. King.

But, he says, none of that compares to the excitement of being in the spotlight with your own band. And that’s where he is these days as the co-leader of the Boneshakers, a spirited quartet that blends smooth Detroit soul with Muscle Shoals-style R&B.;

“Working with Bonnie Raitt was great, working with B.B. King was great. . . . It’s great, but it’s over,” says Jacobs, who will appear with the Boneshakers on Friday at Billboard Live in West Hollywood. “It’s never the same satisfaction as when you’re onstage playing for a bunch of people and getting a response. That’s just overwhelming.”

The group’s debut album, released in April by Virgin Records, is titled “Book of Spells”--which Jacobs, 40, feels is an accurate description of the way music can act on an audience.

The album is a tour de force of juke-joint blues and rowdy funk shot through with Jacobs’ stunning chops and singer Sweet Pea Atkinson’s rousing voice--equal parts honey and grit. From a horn-spiced version of Don and David Was’ “I Blew Up the United States” to Jacobs’ sad, soulful “Why Don’t You Want Me,” the record revels in the duo’s technical skills and earthiness.

“Jacobs has chops galore,” said the Hollywood Reporter in a review of the Boneshakers in concert, “with a searing style that often recalls the fingerboard fireworks of Stevie Ray Vaughan, the perfect foil for Atkinson’s demanding growl of a voice.”

Much of the credit for the group’s power goes to Atkinson, who has also seen his share of studios, backing such artists as Lyle Lovett, Brian Wilson, Elton John and Raitt.

“There’s such a unique quality to Sweet Pea’s voice,” Jacobs says. “It has those things that I grew up with in Detroit: Motown, that rough but gentle sound. I always dug those kinds of singers. Otis Redding, same thing--powerful, but it could be tender when it had to be.”

Atkinson, 51, holds equal esteem for his old friend Jacobs’ skills. “I always thought he was the baddest guitar player I’ve ever seen in my life,” Atkinson says. “The craziness, the man would turn flips and things. When we played Europe, they didn’t believe he was really playing. He has to sit and strum to show these clowns he was really playing.”

The two met in Jacobs’ hometown of Detroit, where Atkinson moved from Oberlin, Ohio, to work on the assembly line at the Chrysler plant. Someone heard him singing at work and recruited him for a group, and he later joined the soul outfits the Exquisites and Energy.

In contrast, Jacobs began his career about as quickly as he picked up his guitar at 13, eventually scoring a Top 10 R&B; hit in 1980 as co-writer of Michael Henderson’s “Wide Receiver.” Soon he was collaborating with Don Was, who had just started his group Was (Not Was).

Was introduced the two in the studio one day. Recalls Jacobs, “I had heard Sweet Pea on tape and when I met him in the studio and we started to talk, I told him, ‘I cannot believe that voice that comes out of you.’ ”

Discovering a common love for Tower of Power, the two shared an instant rapport. When Was moved to Los Angeles in the early ‘80s, they followed and worked together sporadically over the following years, making key contributions to the series of acclaimed, offbeat albums by Was (Not Was). When Jacobs decided to record with a band of his own, he instantly thought of Atkinson’s deep, rich voice.

At the time, however, the singer was tied up with a record label contract, and then Jacobs’ own work intervened. By the time Jacobs was ready to begin working on the record, Atkinson was free. With no manager and no record deal, the two--along with bassist Trent Stroh and drummer Denny Weston--repaired to Was’ recording studio.

Producing the record on his own, Jacobs filled each track with stirring, groove-oriented music that is equal parts R&B;, soul and rock, kicking it off with a swinging version of James Brown’s “Cold Sweat.”

After hearing a few songs, Virgin signed the Boneshakers to its subsidiary Pointblank Records. Now that they are on the road with their own songs, Atkinson and Jacobs are no longer mere backup for star acts--and they are loving it.

“People were always talking about how good me and Randy work together. We’ve been wanting this for too many years,” Atkinson says. “I hope it lasts, lasts, lasts. This is about longevity.”

BE THERE

The Boneshakers, Friday at Billboard Live, 9039 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, 8 p.m. $12.50. (310) 786-1712.