Vinyl Reivew: "Moanin' At Midnight: The Howlin' Wolf Project" by Tomas Doncker

Like the good man, Inigo Montoya said, Fezzini said to go back to the beginning and it seems most appropriate that I, your friend and humble narrator do precisely the same.

In 2020, my stream of vinyl records to review has dried up.

This is not a complaint, but a statement of fact and I stand with those bands who couldn't fulfill the promises. How do you ask?

That's a fair question.

I bought their records, usually on Bandcamp Fridays, and did Glacially Musical Roots reviews of them. I've been coping by drinking beers and buying records. See, I've been basically inside of my home since mid-March.

But I love you, so I stay. Gladly.

Now, I'm going to do some tire pumping if you don't mind too terribly much, or if you hate it something awful, because my fingers are typing and I'm on beer number four today, it's an inevitability.

I first "met" Tomas, back in 2017. (Damn does time fly.) He played on and produced  the James Chance record, This was my first tine hearing his guitar playing.

Then, then later that year, he sent me a copy of his new album, The Mess We Made. It was 2017 when that record, with its provocative cover was released... and good god damn is it still relevant today.

If you didn't know, BLACK LIVES MATTER.

Moving on, True Groove Records then releases a pair of Sam Huber records, and the latter of the two is one of my absolute favorite records of all time.

So. How does a heavy metal journalist deal with a guitarist who owns a record label, has been a part of punk rock, soul, and funk that sends him a blues record?

If any metal dude doesn't admit to loving blues, he's either ignorant or racist, because the blues is the father of metal. Not the godfather, cousin, or uncle, but the direct father of Metal.

You don't believe me?

You ask Black Sabbath about that shit.

For me...I'm a white dude in his mid-40s who's been listening to The Blues for far longer than he knew.

 Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Eric Clapton, Jimi GOD DAMN MOTHER FUCKING Hendrix.

You want more? Kirk Hammett, Randy Rhoads, Gary Moore, Rory Gallagher, Ace Frehley, ZZ Top, Eric Johnson, Jeff Beck, and Pink Floyd....every single one of them has played the Blues in one form or another.

Apart from the inimitable Hendrix, all of the gentleman listed have been, well, they look like me. Pasty white dudes.

Dan Auerbach and Billy Gibbons spoke of the English Blues in Guitar World once...Auerbach didn't ever check it out, but voiced his appreciation for keeping the art form alive. Buddy Guy, in his autobiography, talked about how the African American community in the 60's, well for lack of a better term, abandoned the blues for soul.

James Brown anyone?

15 years before that it was Chuck Berry. When you're considering the people who've had their finger in every single kind of popular music in the United States since 1866, or earlier.... you're looking at people who're forward thinking and continually creating something new.

You don't see too many people of color living on former glories like Styx, ZZ Top, and even my beloved KISS.

So, in the 60's, the art form that is Blues was picked up white people.

And the guitar heroes began flooding into the world in a way we had never seen. Up until that point, it had only been Les Paul playing... jazz.

When the English came into the world of Blues, new things started happening. Case in point...

Hooker'n'Heat might not exist. And side four of that record is the greatest 22 minutes of music ever recorded.

If you've not heard it, go listen and get back to me.

I could spend the next 12 years dissecting that record and telling you about the effects John Lee Hooker had on popular music, popular culture, and America in general.

It seems to me that I'm being heavy handed here, but there was a change, like Rock'n'Roll when it started to become whitewashed.

But let's move on to this record.

Willie Dixon is one of the greatest writers of music that this world has ever known, but your average person doesn't know his name.,

You know what names they do know?

Jim Morrison, Jimmy Page, Ginger Baker, Eric Clapton, and Robert Plant.

You know why?

Because they all covered his music. Morrison, Page, Plant, and Baker put his music on their DEBUT records. Also, big ups to the Doors for not trying to hide that a Black Man wrote at least one of their songs.

Pagey and Plant, what the hell, dudes??

This record is an attempt to re-envision the songs all of us Americans grew up with, but taking it back to a person of color.

And...the version of Back Door Man, on this record...dayum. It's the kind of rendition that would get us all going in a smokey ass bar in 1972. I can hear that.

This album has caused me to do more than just appreciate the music, which is phenomenal. (My daughter couldn't believe that a record this good was sent to me....she's singing along and dancing to it as I type this.)

Like any great blues covers, these versions are perfectly imperfect. The structures are there, but they're not the same songs, but they are the same songs.

Doncker has an ability to take these classic, well worn songs and turn them into something, modern, authentic, and nostalgic.

How is that even a thing?

Really, in the end, what this album does is reinforce my personal love of The Blues. Anyone who's followed this insane blog since 2012 knows how much I love it.

Anyone following my vinyl focused Instagram Page, knows how much I dig all kinds of music.

It's honestly unfair that I'm writing this review today, but after listening to the record at least four times, I'm still unpacking it. There's so much to deal with, especially if you're a white guy who's grown up listening to white guys playing the Blues.

If you'd like though, I've got a list of black dues from back in the day.

Lightning Hopkins for one. Start there.

Purchase At Rough Trade

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