By Geoff Trubow

With his name and record label seemingly referencing Edgar Allan Poe, the impression given may be that Reverend Raven is rooted in Virginia or Baltimore.  The fact is, he originally hails from Chicago’s South Side and has long resided in Milwaukee.

Converted to the blues after seeing Freddie King play in Chicago, he later relocated to Milwaukee where he forged a personal and professional relationship with harpist Madison Slim, who played for years with Jimmy Rogers. Since 1971, the talented, and versatile good Reverend (a.k.a. Rik Raven), a guitarist, singer and songwriter, has been playing the blues in the tradition of Chicago’s houserockin’ slide guitar titans like Elmore James, J.B. Hutto, Lil’ Ed Williams and Hound Dog Taylor.

 Rev. Raven and the Chain Smokin’ Altar Boys, who are six time winners for Best Blues Band from the Wisconsin Music Industry (WAMI) Awards, have been travelling the country for decades to preach the word of the blues and gain converts wherever they go.

For the unconverted who have never seen them perform live, Shake Your Boogie will surely serve to save some souls for the blues. Or it just might liven up your Saturday night party.

This disc was recorded live at Milwaukee’s Miramar Theater as the Reverend states “with a minimum of overdubs in two different sessions with two of my favorite line ups.”

            Madison Slim contributes his harmonica proficiency and lead vocal talents to some of the better tracks here:  “She’s Murder,” Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Like Wolf” and the title track. 

The Reverend has assembled a fine line up of players including saxophonist Big Al Groth, who plays on the majority of the songs. He’s an exceptional musician, but on a few of these tracks, Madison Slim’s harp would have been more gratifying, particularly on the two tracks penned by Gerry Hundt: “Stomping and Shouting” and “Walking To Chicago.”  Hundt, a former member of Nick Moss & the Fliptops who are known for playing straight-ahead Chicago blues, most likely envisioned the tunes with the accompaniment of the Mississippi saxophone.

Drummer Bobby Lee Sellers, Jr. contributes lead vocals to two songs, most remarkably on “Bricks in My Pillow” where his voice is evocative of a young B.B King.  It is also one of the tunes where Groth’s powerful sax really works well in the whole scheme.

This brings us to the Reverend himself, whose guitar deftness, both slide and otherwise, is unquestionable.  As the sole guitarist on the album, he provides some very tasty licks on all the aforementioned songs as well as an excellent version of Hound Dog Taylor’s “The Woman I Love,” in which he also handles the lead vocals.

 His three original songs on the album, where he again sings lead, “Looking For Love,” “You Didn’t Even Say Goodbye” and “I Can Do You Right” just don’t contain the same high level of excitement as the other numbers. Perhaps the Reverend is most comfortable when he can step back from the pulpit and concentrate on settling back into a groove with his playing that remarkably shifts gears very admirably from tune to tune. 

In fact, the Rev.’s guitar work is so versatile, that one has to pick up the liner notes to make sure that there are no other guitarists playing on the CD. The man can do it all -- whether the song calls for killer slide work, flashy riffs, powerful note bending or subtle bluesy melodies – the Raven does it in style.

Capturing the magic of a live performance can be a tricky business. Although it was recorded in an ideal setting, the only problem with Shake Your Boogie may well be the “busy” production on a few numbers. This is handled by “R. Raven and a slew of armchair producers.” (Eight others are listed).  Due to the simplicity of the recording, with no extensive overdubbing, this could be a case of too many cooks contributing to a basic blues stew centered around a formidable and incredibly diverse guitarist.

If you’ve never seen Reverend Raven and the Chain Smokin’ (emphasis on smokin’) Altar Boys in person, then Shake Your Boogie will whet your appetite for when the band brings their blues tent show revival to your town.

Shake Your Boogie is available at:

https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rrcsab

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