FULL TILT

Amazon.com Full Tilt isn't just an album title to diminutive slide guitar slinger Lil' Ed Williams. It's the only way he plays -- even on this CD's slow double entendre blues "Check My Baby's Oil," where Lil' Ed's guitar maintains its serrated keen as his Blues Imperials ply a gentle groove under their boss's most restrained warm-clay crooning. This disc also marks Ed and his backing trio's 20th year updating the slide-driven sound Hound Dog Taylor, Elmore James, Robert Nighthawk, and Ed's uncle J.B. Hutto defined in Chicago's fertile '50s and '60s blues scene. Williams assimilates his influences' finest qualities. He sings with the howling wildness of James and Hutto, which swaps the urban sophistication of the R&B classic "First I Look at the Purse" for a dirty juke joint patina. The James and Nighthawk inspired melodies of Ed's slide on the heartbreak ballad "Life Got in the Way" have the slow ebb of falling teardrops. And when Ed tackles Taylor's traditional set-ender "Take Five" his speed and precise intonation, also drawn from Nighthawk and James, allow him to execute a slew of delirious, whinnying, moaning slide effects without upending the song. Track-to-track Full Tilt is raw, deeply rooted, and unremittingly entertaining. -- Ted Drozdowski Product Description The rawest Chicago blues being made today. Ed stokes the up-tempo tracks to a white-hot intensity and the tough, slow blues even hotter. A touch of barrelhouse piano and raucous horns add to the fun, while The Blues Imperials match Ed step for step, pushing him to the best performances of his career. "They blow down the walls. Dim the lights, turn up the stereo, and let the house party begin" -- GUITAR PLAYER Review "...contagious wildness" -- The Washington Post "...raucous and hugely entertaining" -- The Philadelphia Inquirer Raw-boned, old-fashioned Chicago blues has a new young master--Lil' Ed Williams -- The New York Times The world's #1 houserocking blues band -- The Boston Globe Williams represents one of the few remaining authentic links to the raucous, pure Chicago blues -- The Chicago Tribune From the Artist Ed and his half-brother Pookie received lessons and support from their blues-playing uncle, J.B. Hutto. "J.B. taught me everything I know," says Ed. "I wouldn't be where I am today without him." About the Artist Born in Chicago on April 4, 1955, Ed grew up surrounded by the blues and boasts a direct bloodline to blues history--his uncle and musical mentor was the great Chicago slide guitarist, songwriter and recording artist J.B. Hutto. He was playing guitar, then drums and bass, by the time he was 12. Ed and his half-brother Pookie received lessons and support from their blues-playing uncle, J.B. Hutto ,and spent their teen years making music together, and in 1975 formed the first incarnation of The Blues Imperials. They played their first gig at a West Side club called Big Duke's Blue Flame. Over the next few years, the group played every club in the neighborhood, and eventually the word reached Alligator president Bruce Iglauer. "Ed and his band had a good reputation," recalls Iglauer. "I had only seen them live once or twice. I knew Ed was a hot slide player, but I had no idea what he and the band were really capable of..." It seemed like having a band this rough and ready would be a nice change of pace for the anthology, so I asked them to come down to the studio and cut a couple of songs. I never expected what happened." What happened is not supposed to happen. Not in real life anyway. The band - never having been in a recording studio before - treated the studio like a club, playing live to Iglauer, the engineer, and all the people on the other side of the control room glass. Iglauer offered the band a full album contract on the spot. The end result of the session was 30 songs cut in three hours with no overdubs and no second takes. Twelve of those songs became the band's debut album, ROUGHHOUSIN', released in September of 1986. The national press reacted with overwhelming amazement. Feature stories ran in Spin, Musician, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune and dozens of other publications. Quickly, the band went from playing local bars to clubs, concert stages and festivals coast to coast. The band played The Long Beach Blues Festival, The San Francisco Blues Festival, The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and others before heading off to Europe, Canada and Japan. Spurred on by the band's rowdy performances, a legion of fanatical fans, proudly calling themselves "Ed Heads," eagerly spread the word. Lil' Ed And The Blues Imperials' next two releases, 1989's CHICKEN, GRAVY & BISCUITS and 1992's WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET, brought them to more people than ever before. They toured Australia, then went back to Europe before joining the Alligator Records 20th Anniversary Tour. That tour teamed them with blues greats Koko Taylor, Elvin Bishop, L
ASIN: B001BWQA5K
VSKU: DBV.B001BWQA5K.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:Lil Ed & The Blues Imperials
Binding: Audio cd
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.
Condition Notes: Individually inspected: Guaranteed to play perfectly or your money back. Case may show wear and may be in library packaging. Ships Fast!