Play 90 second soundbite of 'The Boogie Man' @ 'CD quality'
'Fired-Up & Ready' does everything a CD can to sell this talented and perhaps a little quirky musician; certainly, there's ample opportunity to get to grips with the Whellans' blues ethos and definitely there's a damn fine blues thang goin' down! Whellans' one slightly weak point is in the vocal department - oh yes he can sing alright but, his vocals are at times a little tenuous; he doesn't quite have that natural grit and gravel normally associated with the genre. However, Whellans makes it work for him through his natural ability to entertain. Whellans' main weapons of attack, for me, are guitar and harmonica - both he quite obviously knows and understands inside-out and upside-down. Instrumentally the guys a major talent and he's 'ready to go'. The album's full of great syncopation and glides effortless along and quickly gets the foot a'tappin' - and, I have to admit, it's a bit of a grower too!
Here the songs are everything they need to be without really pushing the envelope; Whellans throws in a few mighty fine covers of blues standards which he handles just fine and his originals are delivered with comfort and honesty. I think that Whellans would be a crackin' live act causing shock and awe as he swaps between instruments and pulls it all seamlessly together - as a studio work it's hard to capture that uniqueness of the man; it could, I suppose, be anyone on any of the instruments - the adaptability and versatility somehow lost to the sound baffles and behind the mixing desk. Ok, that's bound to happen, you can't be a multi-instrumentalist and hope to demonstrate that dexterity and versatility in the recording studio as you would in the live. Allowances must be made!!
Anyway, 'Fired-Up & Ready' by Mike Whellans is certainly a workmanlike album; it's all fairly easy blues (easy as in chilled not as in a doddle!!) and Whellans delivers the goods with style and accuracy and the end result is nicely fluid and well listenable. I think that this album is a great representation of a very skilful musician and if I picked it up after a gig I'd welcome it as a memento of an evening spent in the company of a true-blue multi-instrumentalist. I also think 'Fired-Up & Ready' is a fantastic promotional tool. However, I'm not sure that I'd pick this work up from the 'blues' section of a music store - it would look a bit corny to me and I'd pass it by - and that's a shame cuz Mike Whellans has quite obviously got massive talent and he clearly lives the blues and wants to share his blues with each and everyone of us.
'Fired-Up & Ready' by Mike Whellans is a superbly crafted album of pretty damn good blues 'chunes' - Whellans has done a mighty fine job here and it should bring both money and work that'll enable him to continue on his crusade to bring the one-man blues band back to the masses. Great musician, good songs, tidy album!
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