Elly Roberts reviews
Otis Spann: The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions
Distributed by
Sony/BMG
- Cat.no: 82876822902
- Format: 2-disc CD
- Released: May 2006
- Rating: 10/10
Otis Spann’s life was cut short at the age of 40.
The classy blues keyboard player recorded this album, complete with false
starts and different takes, a year before he died. A band member of
Muddy Waters for many years, playing on several of his famous records, Spann
was regarded as one of the finest contemporary players.
He also contributed to Howlin’ Wolf, Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, Floyd Jones and
Johnny Young recordings. It was his trip to Europe with Waters during the
1963 AFBF that brought him international recognition. These sessions from
1969 and produced by Mike Vernon / Mike Vernon and Marshall Chess, catch
Spann at his Delta dazzling best.
As you can see from the tracklisting, there are various takes, including
false starts (and corrections) which show how professional the recordings were.
His trademark Mississippi tumbling piano tinkles and husky voice are littered
across the entire collection, whether it be blasts such as Walkin’, Dig You
and No More Doggin’, or the nice and slow numbers – Ain’t Nobody’s
Business, Bloody Murder, Someday Soon Baby, Temperature Rising and
Blues For Hippies.
Another highlight of the session is the incredible backing band in its
various forms: Fleetwood Mac members Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, Mick Fleetwood,
John McVie and legendary Bluesman Willie Dixon.
Musical highlight is the mesmerising guitar solo on Track 8, CD 1 and again,
track 7 CD2, presumably by Peter Green.
The full list of tracks included are :
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
