Specialising in the slick R&B side of the blues, Big Mamma's Door keep it all very real here - low key, what you see is what you get. And what you get is well worth a little looksee!
Play 90 second soundbite of 'I Want To Shout About It' @ 'CD quality'
Specialising in the slick R&B side of the blues, Big Mamma's Door keep it all very real here - low key, what you see is what you get. And what you get is well worth a little looksee!
Big Mamma's Door comprise Fiona McElroy (vocals), Mal Barclay (guitar), Joe Glossop (keys), Big Andy Roberts (bass) and Rob Pokorny (drums); a coming together of five like-minded bluesters to form one slick entity. 'Open For Business' is cleverly a low key production insofar as Big Mamma's Door are allowed to be heard much as they would be if you saw them live. I love the fact that these 'guys' do R&B in the manner that I remember it being before the tag got somehow sideways kicked towards the street soul idiom. This is good old 50's proper Rhythm & Blues, not the soul-less heart-less pop of the 00's ; real blues with real rhythm - do I have to say more? I don't think so!! Big Mamma's Door have compiled a gloriously rich set of eight classy blues 'standards' here; they cruise their way through each and every track and sound like a well oiled, precisely assembled unit. I could well imagine Big Mamma's Door groovin' away on some street corner, pulling in massive crowds and entertaining everyone that come into contact with them. They have that friendly, approachable feel about them!
Big Mamma's Door don't get bogged down with 'arty-farty improvisations or 'look how fast I can play this' interludes - Big Mamma's Door play with undivided unity, as one, they play for each other rather than for showboatin' and ego building - don't you just love it when a band sticks to the job-in-hand!! Big Mamma's Door show here just what can be done by sticking to the basics and refusing to get drawn in to the all-too-common instrumental 'blow-outs' - 'Open For Business' certainly benefits from the band's honest, down-to-earth approach. No, there's absolutely no room in this unit for a prima donna or show-off. Big Mamma's Door take it back to basics and the music is all the better for it!
My only criticism is that the album is just too short; less than thirty minutes in total - just as you really start to slip into their groove it all comes to an abrupt end!! Without doubt I was just starting to get really into 'Open For Business' and then....silence and disappointment! Oh well, such is life! Anyway, 'Open For Business' by Big Mamma's Door is an extremely workmanlike and honest piece of work - a slick and sensitively handled bunch of great songs - polished and wholesome, robust without being overly bulked-up, tantalising yet somehow familiar - like an old friend come to stay and going over old stories but putting a new slant on them. A rich and rewarding eight track outing from a real honest-to-goodness blues band. Tasty, very very tasty!!
|
|
