JAMES COTTON
''COTTON MOUTH MAN''
MAY 7 2013
48:49
1. Cotton Mouth Man /James Cotton feat. Joe Bonamassa/3:47
2. Midnight Train /James Cotton feat. Gregg Allman/3:29
3. Mississippi Mud /James Cotton feat. Keb Mo/4:00
4. He Was There /James Cotton/3:44
5. Something For Me /James Cotton feat. Warren Haynes/3:40
6. Wrapped Around My Heart /James Cotton feat. Ruthie Foster/3:22
7. Saint On Sunday /James Cotton/3:31
8. Hard Sometimes /James Cotton feat. Delbert McClinton/3:18
9. Young Bold Women /James Cotton/3:25
0. Bird Nest On The Ground /James Cotton/4:19
1. Wasn't My Time To Go /James Cotton feat. Keb Mo/4:16
2. Blues Is Good For You /James Cotton/4:25
3. Bonnie Blue /James Cotton/3:33
Gregg Allman /Guest Artist, Vocals
Joe Bonamassa /Guest Artist, Guitar
James Cotton /Harmonica, Vocals
Ruthie Foster /Guest Artist, Vocals
Tom Hambridge /Drums, Percussion, Vocals (Background)
Warren Haynes /Guest Artist, Guitar, Vocals
Tom Holland /Guitar
Keb' Mo' /Guest Artist, Guitar, Vocals
Chuck Leavell /Hammond B3, Keyboards, Piano, Wurlitzer Piano
Colin Linden /Guitar (Resonator)
Tommy Macdonald /Bass
Delbert McClinton /Guest Artist, Vocals
Rob McNelly /Guitar
Noel Neal /Bass
Darrell Nulisch /Vocals
Jerry Porter /Drums
Glenn Worf /Bass, Bass (Upright)
REVIEW
by Steve Leggett
Blues harp maestro James Cotton was 77 at the time of this album's release. He can barely sing anymore, and the years of playing and touring have left his voice a hoarse croak, but make no mistake, he can still play the harp, and his stunning, overdriven blasts on the instrument are as powerful and as immediate as ever. He's the living embodiment of the Chicago blues, and one of the genre's last surviving founders of it, having mentored with the great Sonny Boy Williamson, and he recorded, played, and toured with Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, cutting his first sides at the age of 19 for Chess Records. He's done this a long time, and as this delightful, joyous, stomping, and vibrant set shows, he doesn't need to sing to command the stage. Cotton wrote or co-wrote most of the songs here with the album's producer, Tom Hambridge, and the vocals are handled by guest artists, most of them by Darrell Nulisch, the former Texas Heat and Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets vocalist who has been handling the singing duties for Cotton's band for some time now, but Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes, Ruthie Foster, Delbert McClinton, and Keb' Mo' are also featured singers. But this isn't one of those duets albums that artists make in the twilight of their careers by any shot -- Cotton is amazing on these cuts, his harp blasts full of passion, power, and enough pure energy to light up the night sky. Cotton may not do somersaults on stage anymore, but his harp lines do, weaving in and out of these songs like a charging Chicago freight train. There isn't a single lame cut here, but the closer, "Bonnie Blue," with Cotton croaking out a moving vocal accompanied only by his harp and the resonator guitar playing of Colin Linden, is particularly poignant. Cotton may be cruising in on 80 years of age, but he's just released one of the best albums of his career.
BIOGRAPHY
by Bill Dahl At his high-energy, 1970s peak as a bandleader, James Cotton was a bouncing, sweaty, whirling dervish of a bluesman, roaring his vocals and all but sucking the reeds right out of his defenseless little harmonicas with his prodigious lung power. Due to throat problems, Cotton's vocals are no longer what they used to be, but he remains a masterful instrumentalist. Cotton had some gargantuan shoes to fill when he stepped into Little Walter's slot as Muddy Waters' harp ace in 1954, but for the next dozen years, the young Mississippian filled the integral role beside Chicago's blues king with power and precision. Of course, Cotton had been preparing for such a career move for a long time, having learned how to wail on harp from none other than Sonny Boy Williamson himself.
Cotton was only a child when he first heard Williamson's fabled radio broadcasts for King Biscuit Time over KFFA out of Helena, Arkansas. So sure was Cotton of his future that he ended up moving into Williamson's home at age nine, soaking up the intricacies of blues harpdom from one of its reigning masters. Six years later, Cotton was ready to unleash a sound of his own.
Gigging with area notables Joe Willie Wilkins and Willie Nix, Cotton built a sterling reputation around West Memphis, following in his mentor's footsteps by landing his own radio show in 1952 over KWEM. Sam Phillips, whose Sun label was still a fledgling operation, invited Cotton to record for him, and two singles commenced: "Straighten Up Baby" in 1953 and "Cotton Crop Blues" the next year. Legend has it Cotton played drums instead of harp on the first platter.
When Waters rolled through Memphis minus his latest harpist (Junior Wells), Cotton hired on with the legend and went to Chicago. Unfortunately for the youngster, Chess Records insisted on using Little Walter on the great majority of Waters' waxings until 1958, when Cotton blew behind Waters on "She's Nineteen Years Old" and "Close to You." At Cotton's suggestion, Waters had added an Ann Cole tune called "Got My Mojo Working" to his repertoire. Walter played on Muddy Waters' first studio crack at it, but that's Cotton wailing on the definitive 1960 reading (cut live at the Newport Jazz Festival).
By 1966, Cotton was primed to make it on his own. Waxings for Vanguard, Prestige, and Loma preceded his official full-length album debut for Verve Records in 1967. His own unit then included fleet-fingered guitarist Luther Tucker and hard-hitting drummer Sam Lay. Throwing a touch of soul into his eponymous debut set, Cotton ventured into the burgeoning blues-rock field as he remained with Verve through the end of the decade.
In 1974, Cotton signed with Buddah and released 100% Cotton, one of his most relentless LPs, with Matt "Guitar" Murphy sizzling on backup. A decade later, Alligator issued another stand-out Cotton LP, High Compression, which was split evenly between traditional-style Chicago blues and funkier, horn-driven material. Harp Attack!, a 1990 summit meeting on Alligator, paired Cotton with three exalted peers: Wells, Carey Bell, and comparative newcomer Billy Branch. Antone's Records was responsible for a pair of gems: a live 1988 set reuniting the harpist with Murphy and Tucker, and a stellar 1991 studio project, Mighty Long Time. Cotton moved into the 21st century as one of the last surviving originators of the Chicago blues sound, and never slowed his pace a bit, releasing a series of fine albums, including Fire Down Under the Hill (2000) and Baby, Don't You Tear My Clothes (2004), both for Telarc Records, and Giant (2010) and Cotton Mouth Man (2013), both on Alligator Records.
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''COTTON MOUTH MAN''
MAY 7 2013
48:49
1. Cotton Mouth Man /James Cotton feat. Joe Bonamassa/3:47
2. Midnight Train /James Cotton feat. Gregg Allman/3:29
3. Mississippi Mud /James Cotton feat. Keb Mo/4:00
4. He Was There /James Cotton/3:44
5. Something For Me /James Cotton feat. Warren Haynes/3:40
6. Wrapped Around My Heart /James Cotton feat. Ruthie Foster/3:22
7. Saint On Sunday /James Cotton/3:31
8. Hard Sometimes /James Cotton feat. Delbert McClinton/3:18
9. Young Bold Women /James Cotton/3:25
0. Bird Nest On The Ground /James Cotton/4:19
1. Wasn't My Time To Go /James Cotton feat. Keb Mo/4:16
2. Blues Is Good For You /James Cotton/4:25
3. Bonnie Blue /James Cotton/3:33
Gregg Allman /Guest Artist, Vocals
Joe Bonamassa /Guest Artist, Guitar
James Cotton /Harmonica, Vocals
Ruthie Foster /Guest Artist, Vocals
Tom Hambridge /Drums, Percussion, Vocals (Background)
Warren Haynes /Guest Artist, Guitar, Vocals
Tom Holland /Guitar
Keb' Mo' /Guest Artist, Guitar, Vocals
Chuck Leavell /Hammond B3, Keyboards, Piano, Wurlitzer Piano
Colin Linden /Guitar (Resonator)
Tommy Macdonald /Bass
Delbert McClinton /Guest Artist, Vocals
Rob McNelly /Guitar
Noel Neal /Bass
Darrell Nulisch /Vocals
Jerry Porter /Drums
Glenn Worf /Bass, Bass (Upright)
REVIEW
by Steve Leggett
Blues harp maestro James Cotton was 77 at the time of this album's release. He can barely sing anymore, and the years of playing and touring have left his voice a hoarse croak, but make no mistake, he can still play the harp, and his stunning, overdriven blasts on the instrument are as powerful and as immediate as ever. He's the living embodiment of the Chicago blues, and one of the genre's last surviving founders of it, having mentored with the great Sonny Boy Williamson, and he recorded, played, and toured with Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, cutting his first sides at the age of 19 for Chess Records. He's done this a long time, and as this delightful, joyous, stomping, and vibrant set shows, he doesn't need to sing to command the stage. Cotton wrote or co-wrote most of the songs here with the album's producer, Tom Hambridge, and the vocals are handled by guest artists, most of them by Darrell Nulisch, the former Texas Heat and Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets vocalist who has been handling the singing duties for Cotton's band for some time now, but Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes, Ruthie Foster, Delbert McClinton, and Keb' Mo' are also featured singers. But this isn't one of those duets albums that artists make in the twilight of their careers by any shot -- Cotton is amazing on these cuts, his harp blasts full of passion, power, and enough pure energy to light up the night sky. Cotton may not do somersaults on stage anymore, but his harp lines do, weaving in and out of these songs like a charging Chicago freight train. There isn't a single lame cut here, but the closer, "Bonnie Blue," with Cotton croaking out a moving vocal accompanied only by his harp and the resonator guitar playing of Colin Linden, is particularly poignant. Cotton may be cruising in on 80 years of age, but he's just released one of the best albums of his career.
BIOGRAPHY
by Bill Dahl At his high-energy, 1970s peak as a bandleader, James Cotton was a bouncing, sweaty, whirling dervish of a bluesman, roaring his vocals and all but sucking the reeds right out of his defenseless little harmonicas with his prodigious lung power. Due to throat problems, Cotton's vocals are no longer what they used to be, but he remains a masterful instrumentalist. Cotton had some gargantuan shoes to fill when he stepped into Little Walter's slot as Muddy Waters' harp ace in 1954, but for the next dozen years, the young Mississippian filled the integral role beside Chicago's blues king with power and precision. Of course, Cotton had been preparing for such a career move for a long time, having learned how to wail on harp from none other than Sonny Boy Williamson himself.
Cotton was only a child when he first heard Williamson's fabled radio broadcasts for King Biscuit Time over KFFA out of Helena, Arkansas. So sure was Cotton of his future that he ended up moving into Williamson's home at age nine, soaking up the intricacies of blues harpdom from one of its reigning masters. Six years later, Cotton was ready to unleash a sound of his own.
Gigging with area notables Joe Willie Wilkins and Willie Nix, Cotton built a sterling reputation around West Memphis, following in his mentor's footsteps by landing his own radio show in 1952 over KWEM. Sam Phillips, whose Sun label was still a fledgling operation, invited Cotton to record for him, and two singles commenced: "Straighten Up Baby" in 1953 and "Cotton Crop Blues" the next year. Legend has it Cotton played drums instead of harp on the first platter.
When Waters rolled through Memphis minus his latest harpist (Junior Wells), Cotton hired on with the legend and went to Chicago. Unfortunately for the youngster, Chess Records insisted on using Little Walter on the great majority of Waters' waxings until 1958, when Cotton blew behind Waters on "She's Nineteen Years Old" and "Close to You." At Cotton's suggestion, Waters had added an Ann Cole tune called "Got My Mojo Working" to his repertoire. Walter played on Muddy Waters' first studio crack at it, but that's Cotton wailing on the definitive 1960 reading (cut live at the Newport Jazz Festival).
By 1966, Cotton was primed to make it on his own. Waxings for Vanguard, Prestige, and Loma preceded his official full-length album debut for Verve Records in 1967. His own unit then included fleet-fingered guitarist Luther Tucker and hard-hitting drummer Sam Lay. Throwing a touch of soul into his eponymous debut set, Cotton ventured into the burgeoning blues-rock field as he remained with Verve through the end of the decade.
In 1974, Cotton signed with Buddah and released 100% Cotton, one of his most relentless LPs, with Matt "Guitar" Murphy sizzling on backup. A decade later, Alligator issued another stand-out Cotton LP, High Compression, which was split evenly between traditional-style Chicago blues and funkier, horn-driven material. Harp Attack!, a 1990 summit meeting on Alligator, paired Cotton with three exalted peers: Wells, Carey Bell, and comparative newcomer Billy Branch. Antone's Records was responsible for a pair of gems: a live 1988 set reuniting the harpist with Murphy and Tucker, and a stellar 1991 studio project, Mighty Long Time. Cotton moved into the 21st century as one of the last surviving originators of the Chicago blues sound, and never slowed his pace a bit, releasing a series of fine albums, including Fire Down Under the Hill (2000) and Baby, Don't You Tear My Clothes (2004), both for Telarc Records, and Giant (2010) and Cotton Mouth Man (2013), both on Alligator Records.
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