THE TODD WOLFE BLUES PROJECT
''LIVE FROM MANNY'S CAR WASH''
1999
58:04
1 /I Can't Quit You Baby
Willie Dixon/7:08
2 /Evil
Willie Dixon/6:19
3 /Stop Messin' Round
Clifford Adams / Peter Green/2:55
4 /On the Run
Mike Lawrence / Todd Wolfe/4:28
5 /Same Thing
Willie Dixon/11:24
6 /You Gonna' Wreck My Life
Chester Burnett/8:17
7 /Four Walls
Todd Wolfe/4:44
8 /Homework
D. Clark / Al Perkins / Otis Rush/4:25
9 /Eyesight to the Blind
Sonny Boy Williamson II/8:24
Todd Wolfe/Guitar, Vocals
Eric Massimino/Bass
Mike Lattrell/Keyboards
Yves Gerard/Drums, Backing Vocals
Paul Unsworth/Drums On 1, 2, 5, 7
REVIEW
By Tom Hyslop
Todd Wolfe spent five years playing guitar behind pop songstress Sheryl Crow. Now he fronts his own band, a strongly blues-based rock outfit whose first recording, Live From Manny's Car Wash, delivers heavyweight guitar heroics from the old school.
The players are finely tuned and capable of expressive dynamics: bassist Eric Massimino and drummers Yves Gerard and Paul Unsworth don't sound strictly like moonlighting rockers, while keyboardist Mike Lattrell, with his supportive rhythm work and strong soloing, is a tremendous asset. Wolfe's guitar sensibility is a rock 'n' roller's, bringing a searing quality to the band's Cream-y explorations. That's a useful point of comparison for Wolfe's style: Drop the needle (as it were) anywhere on Live, and you'll hear strong echoes of Eric Clapton's playing. Wolfe has adopted the legato note-cramming and highly ornamented approach of latter-period Clapton. He's imaginative, varying his attack song by song, and it's refreshing to discover a guitarist who doesn't smack of Texas or the West Coast. Wolfe's tone isn't far from Clapton's, though judging from the high noise level in his signal, his compression comes from a high-gain amp rather than from his pickups.
Wolfe doesn't sound like a natural singer, but he gives a spirited and relatively unmannered performance. The set list is a traditional, with selections such as "Same Thing," "Evil," "I Can't Quit You Baby" and "Homework." A high-energy "Stop Messin' Round," from Fleetwood Mac (possibly via Gary Moore), keeps the Brit Flag flying. Wolfe shows his songwriting hand only on "Four Walls," a Son House-style Delta slider arranged for a band, and the excruciating warp-speed power boogie "On the Run." So Live serves as a calling card, introducing Wolfe and his guitar but revealing little of the artist. For many that will be enough, and this is quite a good album in "gunslinger" terms.
''LIVE FROM MANNY'S CAR WASH''
1999
58:04
1 /I Can't Quit You Baby
Willie Dixon/7:08
2 /Evil
Willie Dixon/6:19
3 /Stop Messin' Round
Clifford Adams / Peter Green/2:55
4 /On the Run
Mike Lawrence / Todd Wolfe/4:28
5 /Same Thing
Willie Dixon/11:24
6 /You Gonna' Wreck My Life
Chester Burnett/8:17
7 /Four Walls
Todd Wolfe/4:44
8 /Homework
D. Clark / Al Perkins / Otis Rush/4:25
9 /Eyesight to the Blind
Sonny Boy Williamson II/8:24
Todd Wolfe/Guitar, Vocals
Eric Massimino/Bass
Mike Lattrell/Keyboards
Yves Gerard/Drums, Backing Vocals
Paul Unsworth/Drums On 1, 2, 5, 7
REVIEW
By Tom Hyslop
Todd Wolfe spent five years playing guitar behind pop songstress Sheryl Crow. Now he fronts his own band, a strongly blues-based rock outfit whose first recording, Live From Manny's Car Wash, delivers heavyweight guitar heroics from the old school.
The players are finely tuned and capable of expressive dynamics: bassist Eric Massimino and drummers Yves Gerard and Paul Unsworth don't sound strictly like moonlighting rockers, while keyboardist Mike Lattrell, with his supportive rhythm work and strong soloing, is a tremendous asset. Wolfe's guitar sensibility is a rock 'n' roller's, bringing a searing quality to the band's Cream-y explorations. That's a useful point of comparison for Wolfe's style: Drop the needle (as it were) anywhere on Live, and you'll hear strong echoes of Eric Clapton's playing. Wolfe has adopted the legato note-cramming and highly ornamented approach of latter-period Clapton. He's imaginative, varying his attack song by song, and it's refreshing to discover a guitarist who doesn't smack of Texas or the West Coast. Wolfe's tone isn't far from Clapton's, though judging from the high noise level in his signal, his compression comes from a high-gain amp rather than from his pickups.
Wolfe doesn't sound like a natural singer, but he gives a spirited and relatively unmannered performance. The set list is a traditional, with selections such as "Same Thing," "Evil," "I Can't Quit You Baby" and "Homework." A high-energy "Stop Messin' Round," from Fleetwood Mac (possibly via Gary Moore), keeps the Brit Flag flying. Wolfe shows his songwriting hand only on "Four Walls," a Son House-style Delta slider arranged for a band, and the excruciating warp-speed power boogie "On the Run." So Live serves as a calling card, introducing Wolfe and his guitar but revealing little of the artist. For many that will be enough, and this is quite a good album in "gunslinger" terms.
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