Saturday Night Fish FryDirt Road BluesSeven Arts 0012

Saturday Night Fish Fry - Dirt Road Blues - Seven Arts 0012

Written by John Taylor

The name may be a little misleading with its rather rustic implications, but there’s nothing dry and dusty about “Dirt Road Blues,” the latest from Bill King’s Saturday Night Fish Fry. Taking its title from a Bob Dylan tune, the project turns out to be a high-energy homage of sorts to both His Bobness and the late, great Eddie Hinton, with a few surprises along the way for good measure.

This is the Fish Fry’s third outing, and once again the lineup revolves around the core talents of bandleader King, with guitarist Neil Chapman acting as musical foil. Also returning is the magnificent Shakura S’Aida, whose powerhouse pipes add either gospel gravity or salacious sass as appropriate. New this time out are the rock-solid rhythm section of drummer Mike Sloski and bassist Howard Ayee, while the exemplary horn section – Bob Brough, Chris Gale, John Johnson, and William Sperendi – remains intact.

While Dylan’s always been influenced by the blues, he’s never confined himself to twelve-bar convention, so purists may question the categorization. But from the rollicking title tune to the stately dignity S’Aida brings to “2X2”, King and company find the blue heart that informs so much of his catalog.

Eddie Hinton, in contrast, remains a criminally underrated as a songwriter in the gritty, blue-eyed soul vein. (A quintessentially ‘Hard Luck Guy’ - the title of one of his recordings – Hinton was a fixture in the Stax stable before his untimely passing in 1995). Here he’s represented by the wryly apt “Poor Old Me,” a funky “Here I Am,” and the vaguely menacing ‘Watchdog.”

Also on the playlist are Blind Willie Johnson’s “I Just Can’t Keep From Cryin’” and Wilbert Harrison’s “Let’s Stick Together,” both given a New-Orleans-style backbeat that renders each unique; King has clearly labored over the charts to come up with complex yet unobtrusive arrangements that compliment rather than complicate proceedings. King also contributes a pair of his own, both instrumentals – a funky “Memphis Ivory Jag”, and “Room 13 Blues”. The latter is a gem; co-writing credits to core band members indicate an impromptu effort, yet the tune progresses with all the tension and inherent inevitability that informs the best of the blues.

As vocalist, King sounds more comfortable and assured than ever, all while proving himself as adept at organ as he is on piano (check out his furious comping on the title track!). Chapman favours a somewhat snarly, rock-tinged tone but exercises his phenomenal chops with taste and restraint. The disc’s only misstep is a bordering-on-bizarre cover of “It Ain’t Me Babe” that closes the disc, the chirpy female voices sounding more odd than appealing.

Leaning a bit more towards ‘bluesy’ than blues, perhaps, this outing ought to appeal to those with a taste for seeking the blues in unexpected places. Surprises abound, execution is uniformly excellent, and the sound is superb.

Highly recommended!

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