STUDEBAKER JOHN’S MAXWELL STREET KINGS

That’s The Way You Do

Delmark

by Brian K. Read

Studebaker John Grimaldi is doin’ a lot of shoutin’ lately, and it’s all good, because he’s shoutin’ about the blues on his new Delmark CD That’s The Way You Do, his first release on the venerable Chicago label, and surely one of his best recordings to date.  This is the old time blues, the way it used to be played on Maxwell Street, out in the open air, under a shade tree, or on the steps of a storefront. 

Maxwell Street was where some of Chicago’s finest blues musicians cut their teeth, and folks of all shapes, sizes, colors and creeds came out to shop, eat, drink, and dance in the street to the blues all day and night.  It may have been more of a salad bowl than a melting pot, but it represented the roots of the Chicago blues sound, played by musicians fresh up from the South.

Those roots run long on this new CD.  Chicago’s Maxwell Street market wasn’t far from Studebaker John’s neighborhood, where as a kid he would head over to mingle with the crowds and hear the likes of J.B. Hutto, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Hound Dog Taylor, Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Reed or Little Walter.  He soaked up the Maxwell Street blues, and now, he’s giving some of them back.    

If you know Chicago blues roots, you will hear all of those cats echoed in one or more of the tunes by the Maxwell Street Kings.  It’s the Chess Records sound that used to dominate the airwaves in years gone by, and Studebaker John proves that sound is still alive and well!

Muddy Waters could have written the opening track, “That’s The Way You Do.”  With a walking Willie Dixon bass line, expertly played on his regular guitar by Kreher in the tradition of Brewer Phillips from Hound Dog Taylor & the Houserockers, along with some harp playing that feels like a séance must have brought back Little Walter, the title track is an homage to the Golden Age of Chicago blues. “So In Love With You” recreates that early John Lee Hooker step dancing rhythm, and on “Steppin’ Stone,” the bass lines and guitar lock up on a solid groove that blends smooth rhythm with just the right amount of overdrive and distortion.

My favorite cut is “Shake It,” a boogie-down number that hearkens back to the joys of Hound Dog Taylor’s slide guitar, or Luther Allison’s wild energy.  That same electricity cuts through on “Fine Cadillac,” where John’s signature slide guitar sounds so good, back in the day, it would have made Leonard Chess go out and buy him his own new Caddie!

“I’ll Always Be The Same” conjures up some Jimmy Reed soulfulness and guitar style, while “Headin’ Down To Maxwell Street” puts Sonny Boy’s sticky sweet harp memories out in front of the band.  “Low Down Woman” has that saturated reverb and lump-de-lump groove guaranteed to get you up and dancing, whether it’s under a shade tree on a side street, or rollin’ up the rug at home.

Quite a band on hand here, too:  Rick Kreher plays guitar (he also produced the record) and he provides a fine compliment to John’s guitar playing, giving him lots of room to move around on slide.  Kreher was one of the last guitar players to work with Muddy Waters, so he brings the genuine Maxwell Street sound to the mix.

Shuffling is the specialty of drummer Steve Cushing, who is also known as the host of the longest running blues show on NPR, “Blues Before Sunrise.”   With Kreher and Cushing, Studebaker John is right in the pocket all the way, from one tune to the next, throughout That’s The Way You Do.

My only beef is that I wish there were more tunes on this 15-song tribute, and with a little luck, maybe we will get a “Maxwell Street Kings Part TWO” in the not too distant future.  Watch for the next show by this trio, to take a trip back to a time and place where you could find a new pair of shoes, haggle over a socket wrench set, score four seersucker shirts and a sharkskin suit, and still have enough change left over to toss into the guitar case of a Maxwell Street blues man…all before lunch time!

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