John Primer & The Real Deal Blues Band - The Soul Of A Blues Man (Feat. Billy Flynn) (2019)

Personnel:
John Primer - Vocals, Guitar
Steve Bell - Harmonica
Ronnie Hicks - Keyboard
Lenny Media -Drums
Chuckaluck - Bass

Special Guests:
Billy Flynn - 2nd Guitar
Charlie Kimble - Saxophone

Those who’ve followed John Primer over time know he can sing a bit of soul music: like most contemporary Chicago bluesmen, he’s apt to include a Tyrone Davis standard during a typical show. But what we get in Soul of a Bluesman is completely unexpected, and beyond fantastic. Primer pulls out all the stops in delivering a wide-ranging set of soul blues, some searing, some mellow. Songs made famous by Bobby Bland and Freddie King, Lloyd Price, Johnnie Taylor, Toussaint McCall, Brook Benton, and Clarence Carter shine alongside a sterling selection of straightforward blues that will satisfy Primer’s core audience.
Cut live at the House of Tone studio with John’s working group, the Real Deal Blues Band (Steve Bell, Lenny Media, and Ronnie Hicks, with guests Charlie Kimble on sax, Chuck-a-Luck on electric bass and the great Billy Flynn on guitar), many of these tracks groove harder than the originals, without sacrificing any emotional resonance. And Soul gives John a fresh palette with which to demonstrate yet again how underrated he is as a vocalist, with powerful, nuanced singing. He and his chief instrumental foil, harp man Steve Bell, play with rare inventiveness and melodicism. With serious soul and Chicago blues power, from the driving, churchy “Meet Me in the Morning” through the gorgeous reading of “Rainy Night in Georgia” to the funky take on “Still Called the Blues” that closes the program, Soul of a Bluesman finds John Primer at his absolute best. ~TOM HYSLOP- Contributing Editor, Blues Music Magazine