Daddy Mack Blues Band - Bluesfinger (2010)

Bluesfinger is the fourth release from the Daddy Mack Blues Band, an electric blues band fronted by the charismatic and entertaining Daddy Mack Orr. Opening with Great Recession Blues, Daddy Mack immediately grabs your attention with a song describing the current economic situation as only a bluesman could. The CD’s title track is a new arrangement of the STAX classic instrumental “Soul Finger,” first made popular in 1967 by the Bar-Kays. Substituting “Soul Finger” shouts with an exotic, Eastern European “Blues Finger” coolness, the song is given an entirely new vibe. Harmonica virtuoso Billy Gibson jams with Daddy Mack throughout this unique performance, recreating the original horn lines with gritty Mississippi soul blues. Another instrumental gem is the juke box classic Honky Tonk, highlighting Daddy Mack’s lead guitar expertise. On both Can’t Make It Without Your Love and Always Want You, the band effortlessly embraces Southern soul. Other mid-tempo blues tracks that will likely inspire radio DJs include Soda Pop, Blues Highway, Mailman and You Got My Money. It only seems appropriate that Daddy Mack covers If You Got It, a STAX recording by Albert King, the artist with whom Daddy Mack is most often compared. While All Tore Up & Cryin’ is a track sure to satisfy fans of simmering slow blues, Long Hard Road is straight-forward twelve bar blues reflecting Mack’s trials and tribulations as a traveling bluesman.
The simple chemistry of this extraordinary band remains the same as their previous release Bluestones featuring brothers James and Harold Bonner on guitar and bass, and William Faulkner on drums.