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| Alligator Prepares Double Release Alligator Records has set a June 27 release date for new CDs from Chicago blues masters Lil' Ed and The Blues Imperials and Washington, D.C.-based acoustic duo, Cephas & Wiggins. RATTLESHAKE from Lil' Ed and The Blues Imperials is a foot-stomping, houserocking slice of West Side Chicago blues. SHOULDER TO SHOULDER is John Cephas and Phil Wiggins' fourth Alligator release, and is a down-home, acoustic blues tour-de-force. LIL' ED AND THE BLUES IMPERIALS RATTLESHAKE features Lil' Ed's romping, sizzling guitar and his rough-hewn vocals, his half-brother James "Pookie" Young's thumping bass, Mike Garrett's feral rhythm guitar and Kelly Littleton's unpredictable, yet bone-crunching drumming. Produced by Alligator president Bruce Iglauer and Williams, RATTLESHAKE features 13 songs, and captures all of Lil' Ed and The Blues Imperials' legendary live energy on disc. The variety on the CD, from stomping slide workouts to deep, slow blues to blues-ified country, makes this the most rewarding and soul-satisfying album the band has ever recorded. Born in Chicago on April 4, 1955, Ed Williams was playing guitar, then drums and bass, by the time he was 12. Along with his half-brother Pookie, Ed received lessons and support from their famous blues-playing uncle, J.B. Hutto. Ed and Pookie spent their teen years making music together, and in 1975 formed the first incarnation of The Blues Imperials. Over the next few years, the group played every club in the neighborhood, but they still needed day jobs to pay the bills. Ed worked ten hours a day as a buffer at the Red Carpet Car Wash. Pookie drove a school bus. Night after night they played their roaring brand of blues in tiny clubs, and eventually the word reached Alligator president Bruce Iglauer, who chose to include the band on a compilation of local Chicago blues artists. After recording just two songs, the Alligator staffers in the control room were on their feet begging for more. Two songs later, complete with Ed's signature toe walking and back bends, even the engineer was dancing. Iglauer offered the band a full album contract on the spot. The end result of the session was 30 songs 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. 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. Night after night, Ed's live shows were bringing down the roof. The New York Times raved, "Raw-boned, old-fashioned Chicago blues has a new young master -- Lil' Ed Williams." 1999's GET WILD! and 2002's HEADS UP! kept the blues fire burning, as critics and fans continued to heap praise and adulation on the band. The Washington Post described Williams' music as "contagious wildness." The Philadelphia Inquirer expressed it as "raucous and hugely entertaining." Adding to the legend is Ed's storybook rise taking him from working in a car wash to entertaining thousands of his fans all over the world, to an appearance on Late Night With Conan O'Brien (in a hilarious film with Lil' Ed teaching Conan how to play the blues) culminating with Lil' Ed on stage with O'Brien in front of a televised audience in the millions. Now, with RATTLESHAKE and a schedule that will take the band on another non-stop tour across the country and across the ocean, Lil' Ed and The Blues Imperials will continue to shake, rattle and roll into the hearts, minds and dancing shoes of old-school blues fans everywhere. CEPHAS & WIGGINS Because both guitarist/vocalist John Cephas and harmonicist/vocalist Phil Wiggins were born in Washington, D.C., they bring an urban sophistication to the traditionally rural blues they perform. With SHOULDER TO SHOULDER, Cephas & Wiggins' spirited and seamless mix of both original and classic material sheds a bright light on Piedmont blues. Of the album's 12 songs, Cephas wrote or co-wrote six. With the solid mix of brilliantly played music fueled by Cephas' gently rolling guitar and vocals and driven by Wiggins' roller coaster harmonica, SHOULDER TO SHOULDER is the antidote for anyone who still thinks blues music is a soundtrack for sadness. The duo is joined by pianist Ann Rabson (Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women) on six tracks, pianist Daryl Davis on one and bassist Andrew Volpe on two. John Cephas was born in Washington, D.C. in 1930 into a deeply religious family and raised in Bowling Green, Virginia. His first taste of music was gospel, but blues soon became his calling. After learning to play the alternating thumb and finger-picking guitar style that defines Piedmont blues, John began emulating the records he heard by Blind Boy Fuller, Blind Blake, Rev. Gary Davis and other early blues artists. By the 1960s, he was starting to make a living from his music. Since hooking up as a duo with Wiggins in 1977, he has performed all over the world, often under the auspices of the U.S. State Department. The two spent much of the 1980s abroad, playing Europe, Africa, Central and South America, China, Australia and New Zealand. In 1988, they were among the first Americans to perform at the Russian Folk Festival in Moscow. In 1989, John received a National Heritage Fellowship Award. Often called the "Living Treasure Award, " this is the highest honor the United States government offers a traditional artist. Phil Wiggins was born in Washington, D.C. in 1954. He began his musical career with some of Washington's leading blues artists, including Archie Edwards and John Jackson, and attributes his style to his years spent accompanying locally popular slide guitarist and gospel singer Flora Molton. His harmonica sound developed from listening to piano and horn players, as well as the music of Sonny Terry, Sonny Boy Williamson I, Little Walter, Big Walter Horton and Junior Wells. Phil first met John in 1976 at the Smithsonian National Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. Along with pianist Wilber "Big Chief" Ellis and bassist James Bellamy, John and Phil formed the Barrelhouse Rockers. A year after Ellis' death, the duo of Cephas & Wiggins was born. By the 1980s, the international blues community recognized this marvelous acoustic twosome as the leading exponents of traditional Tidewater blues. In 1996, after a string of successful albums for other labels, Cephas & Wiggins made their Alligator debut with COOL DOWN. 1999 saw the release of HOMEMADE followed by 2002's SOMEBODY TOLD THE TRUTH. The Washington Post declared, "Cephas & Wiggins are giants, weaving Wiggins' harmonica and Cephas' voice and guitar together so seamlessly that one mind seems to govern both mouth and all four arms...a marvelous and essential journey." The success of COOL DOWN, HOMEMADE, and SOMEBODY TOLD THE TRUTH helped establish Cephas & Wiggins as key figures in the resurgence of interest in country blues, as seen in the success of young acoustic artists like Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Guy Davis, and others. "No pretense here, " hailed The Chicago Tribune describing a typical Cephas & Wiggins performance, "just down-home, traditional country blues delivered with feeling." After hundreds of concerts at major festivals, concert halls and colleges (not to mention the many workshops the two conduct), Cephas & Wiggins continue to bring energetic good times to each performance, winning new fans everywhere they go. Now, with SHOULDER TO SHOULDER and extensive domestic and international touring, Cephas & Wiggins' mission to keep the Piedmont blues alive continues from the White House to festival stages all over the world. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |