TINSLEY ELLIS
''LIVE HIGHWAY MAN''
JUNE 7 2005
79:02
1 - Introduction/0:08
2 - To The Devil For A Dime/4:37
3 - Highwayman/5:39
4 - A Quitter Never Wins/7:01
5 - Real Bad Way/7:48
6 - Hell Or High Water/5:22
7 - The Next Miss Wrong/5:27
8 - The Last Song/9:58
9 - Leavin' Here/3:51
10 - Pawnbroker/10:00
11 - The Axe/8:32
12 - Double Eyed Whammy/10:32
Tinsley Ellis/Guitars, Vocals
Todd Hamric/Keyboards, Backing Vocals
The Evil One/Bass, Backing Vocals
Jeff Burch/Drums
REVIEW
By Jason MacNeil
Tinsley Ellis has some great studio albums in his catalog, but like several blues guitarists, you have to see him live or at least hear him live to experience what the fuss is about. And the guitarist, backed by a strong supporting cast, delivers an exceptionally pleasing and well-rounded set on Live! Highwayman. Beginning with the standard brand of Texas or Austin blues, the musician opens with the mid-tempo "To the Devil for a Dime," which comes off as a blend of Stevie Ray Vaughan and a grittier, rowdier Robert Cray. Cray is also heard somewhat on the heartache soul of "The Last Song," which travels into epic Floyd-ian bombast near the conclusion. Setting the groove early, Ellis has an equally blues soul and voice that suits his fabulous playing to a T. From there he ventures down a slightly less edgy, more swinging vibe on the bouncy, sway-inducing title track the way B.B. King would've performed it in his prime. It's also on this number where you get to see the guitar chops of Ellis front and center. Even the slower, downbeat tunes are strong, especially the deliberately building "A Quitter Never Wins," which brings to mind Cray and Buddy Guy. About halfway through the song he displays his style before asking if any blues fans are in attendance. The second half of the number is more of a rock-blues style à la David Gilmour but just as solid. The first track that seems to be almost run of the mill is the mid-tempo and keyboard-tinted "Real Bad Way" although Ellis manages to play off it well two-thirds of the way in. One of the first sleeper picks is "Hell or High Water," which has the band picking up steam thanks to the Evil One's rapid-fire bass line and Ellis upping the ante. And this flows nicely into the up-tempo, high-energy "The Next Miss Wrong," which could be described by some as Waylon Jennings nailing an old blues tune. Just makes you start to boogie wherever you may be. The crowning moment might be the terrific rendition of "Pawnbroker," a ten-minute tune that reeks of blues-rock that groups like Big Sugar and Wide Mouth Mason dream of. Above all, Ellis has the blues coursing through his bloodstream, especially on the tired-of-appeasing tone on "The Axe." "Double Eyed Whammy" resembles a blues tune funneled through Motown, but on the whole Ellis shows why he is the best, if not the most underrated, axeman in the blues business.
BIOGRAPHY
By Steve Huey
A hard-rocking, high-voltage blues guitarist most often compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tinsley Ellis is hardly one of the legions of imitators that comparison might imply. Schooled in a variety of Southern musical styles, Ellis draws not only from fiery Vaughan-style blues-rock, but also Texas bluesmen like Freddie King and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, the soulful blues of B.B. King, the funky grit of Memphis soul, and numerous other electric bluesmen. Ellis has been praised in many quarters for the relentless, storming intensity of his sound, and criticized in others for his relative lack of pacing and dynamic contrast (he's also been dubbed a much stronger guitarist than vocalist). Yet no matter which side of the fence one falls on, it's generally acknowledged that Ellis remains a formidable instrumentalist and a genuine student of the blues. 
the Heartfixers' first project in their new incarnation was backing up blues shouter Nappy Brown on his well-received 1984 comeback album Tore Up. Ellis debuted his vocals on record on the Heartfixers' 1986 LP Cool on It, which brought him to the attention of Alligator Records. Ellis left the Heartfixers to sign with Alligator as a solo artist in 1988, and they picked up his solo debut Georgia Blue for distribution. The album helped make Ellis a fixture on the blues circuit, and he toured heavily behind it, establishing a hard-working pattern he would follow for most of his career. The follow-up, Fanning the Flames, appeared in 1989 and explored similar territory. Released in 1992, Trouble Time helped land Ellis on album rock radio thanks to the track "Highwayman," but it was 1994's Storm Warning that really broke Ellis to a wider blues-rock audience, earning more media attention than any of his previous recordings; additionally, guitar prodigy Jonny Lang later covered Ellis' "A Quitter Never Wins" on Lie to Me. 
For 1997's Fire It Up, Ellis worked with legendary blues-rock producer Tom Dowd (the Allman Brothers, Derek & the Dominos), as well as Booker T. & the MG's bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn. Ellis subsequently left Alligator and signed with Capricorn; unfortunately, shortly after the release of 2000's Kingpin, Capricorn went bankrupt, leaving the album high and dry. Still, Ellis soon caught on with Telarc, releasing his initial disc Hell or High Water on the label in 2002, followed by The Hard Way in 2004. One year later, Ellis was back with Alligator, putting out the live set Live! Highwayman and 2007's Moment of Truth, the first studio album to contain original material since Hell or High Water. Ellis toured relentlessly behind the album, and re-entered the studio in early 2009. Speak No Evil was issued in October of that year.
''LIVE HIGHWAY MAN''
JUNE 7 2005
79:02
1 - Introduction/0:08
2 - To The Devil For A Dime/4:37
3 - Highwayman/5:39
4 - A Quitter Never Wins/7:01
5 - Real Bad Way/7:48
6 - Hell Or High Water/5:22
7 - The Next Miss Wrong/5:27
8 - The Last Song/9:58
9 - Leavin' Here/3:51
10 - Pawnbroker/10:00
11 - The Axe/8:32
12 - Double Eyed Whammy/10:32
Tinsley Ellis/Guitars, Vocals
Todd Hamric/Keyboards, Backing Vocals
The Evil One/Bass, Backing Vocals
Jeff Burch/Drums
REVIEW
By Jason MacNeil
Tinsley Ellis has some great studio albums in his catalog, but like several blues guitarists, you have to see him live or at least hear him live to experience what the fuss is about. And the guitarist, backed by a strong supporting cast, delivers an exceptionally pleasing and well-rounded set on Live! Highwayman. Beginning with the standard brand of Texas or Austin blues, the musician opens with the mid-tempo "To the Devil for a Dime," which comes off as a blend of Stevie Ray Vaughan and a grittier, rowdier Robert Cray. Cray is also heard somewhat on the heartache soul of "The Last Song," which travels into epic Floyd-ian bombast near the conclusion. Setting the groove early, Ellis has an equally blues soul and voice that suits his fabulous playing to a T. From there he ventures down a slightly less edgy, more swinging vibe on the bouncy, sway-inducing title track the way B.B. King would've performed it in his prime. It's also on this number where you get to see the guitar chops of Ellis front and center. Even the slower, downbeat tunes are strong, especially the deliberately building "A Quitter Never Wins," which brings to mind Cray and Buddy Guy. About halfway through the song he displays his style before asking if any blues fans are in attendance. The second half of the number is more of a rock-blues style à la David Gilmour but just as solid. The first track that seems to be almost run of the mill is the mid-tempo and keyboard-tinted "Real Bad Way" although Ellis manages to play off it well two-thirds of the way in. One of the first sleeper picks is "Hell or High Water," which has the band picking up steam thanks to the Evil One's rapid-fire bass line and Ellis upping the ante. And this flows nicely into the up-tempo, high-energy "The Next Miss Wrong," which could be described by some as Waylon Jennings nailing an old blues tune. Just makes you start to boogie wherever you may be. The crowning moment might be the terrific rendition of "Pawnbroker," a ten-minute tune that reeks of blues-rock that groups like Big Sugar and Wide Mouth Mason dream of. Above all, Ellis has the blues coursing through his bloodstream, especially on the tired-of-appeasing tone on "The Axe." "Double Eyed Whammy" resembles a blues tune funneled through Motown, but on the whole Ellis shows why he is the best, if not the most underrated, axeman in the blues business.
BIOGRAPHY
By Steve Huey
A hard-rocking, high-voltage blues guitarist most often compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tinsley Ellis is hardly one of the legions of imitators that comparison might imply. Schooled in a variety of Southern musical styles, Ellis draws not only from fiery Vaughan-style blues-rock, but also Texas bluesmen like Freddie King and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, the soulful blues of B.B. King, the funky grit of Memphis soul, and numerous other electric bluesmen. Ellis has been praised in many quarters for the relentless, storming intensity of his sound, and criticized in others for his relative lack of pacing and dynamic contrast (he's also been dubbed a much stronger guitarist than vocalist). Yet no matter which side of the fence one falls on, it's generally acknowledged that Ellis remains a formidable instrumentalist and a genuine student of the blues.
Tinsley Ellis was born in Atlanta in 1957, and spent most of his childhood in southern Florida. He began playing guitar in elementary school, first discovering the blues through the flagship bands of the British blues boom: John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, the Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac, the Yardbirds, the Rolling Stones, and so on. He soon moved on to a wide variety of original sources, becoming especially fond of B.B. King and Freddie King. After high school, Ellis moved back to Atlanta in 1975 to attend Emory University, and soon found work on the local music scene, joining a bar band called the Alley Cats (which also featured future Fabulous Thunderbird Preston Hubbard). In 1981, Ellis co-founded the Heartfixers with singer/harmonica player Chicago Bob Nelson, and they recorded an eponymous debut album for the tiny Southland imprint. They soon signed with the slightly larger Landslide and issued Live at the Moon Shadow in 1983, by which point they were one of the most popular live blues acts in the South. However, Nelson left the group shortly after the album's release, and Ellis took over lead vocal chores.
the Heartfixers' first project in their new incarnation was backing up blues shouter Nappy Brown on his well-received 1984 comeback album Tore Up. Ellis debuted his vocals on record on the Heartfixers' 1986 LP Cool on It, which brought him to the attention of Alligator Records. Ellis left the Heartfixers to sign with Alligator as a solo artist in 1988, and they picked up his solo debut Georgia Blue for distribution. The album helped make Ellis a fixture on the blues circuit, and he toured heavily behind it, establishing a hard-working pattern he would follow for most of his career. The follow-up, Fanning the Flames, appeared in 1989 and explored similar territory. Released in 1992, Trouble Time helped land Ellis on album rock radio thanks to the track "Highwayman," but it was 1994's Storm Warning that really broke Ellis to a wider blues-rock audience, earning more media attention than any of his previous recordings; additionally, guitar prodigy Jonny Lang later covered Ellis' "A Quitter Never Wins" on Lie to Me.
For 1997's Fire It Up, Ellis worked with legendary blues-rock producer Tom Dowd (the Allman Brothers, Derek & the Dominos), as well as Booker T. & the MG's bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn. Ellis subsequently left Alligator and signed with Capricorn; unfortunately, shortly after the release of 2000's Kingpin, Capricorn went bankrupt, leaving the album high and dry. Still, Ellis soon caught on with Telarc, releasing his initial disc Hell or High Water on the label in 2002, followed by The Hard Way in 2004. One year later, Ellis was back with Alligator, putting out the live set Live! Highwayman and 2007's Moment of Truth, the first studio album to contain original material since Hell or High Water. Ellis toured relentlessly behind the album, and re-entered the studio in early 2009. Speak No Evil was issued in October of that year.
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