Lord, Jon - The Hoochie Coochie Men - Live At The Basement

Year of Release: 2003
Label: EMI
Catalog Number: 7243 5 96789 2 4
Format: CD
Total Time: 121:24:00

Recorded live at The Basement, Sydney, Australia on 7th February 2003, ex-Deep Purple keyboard player and legend Jon Lord treats us to a lavish selection of blues classics. Taking on both acoustic and electric blues, it's mainly the Australian Hoochie Coochie Men who do the job whilst Lord adds his unique Hammond playing to the songs. When one says blues there's mainly a harmonica there, which here is played in a very warm way by Jim Conway. Legendary artists such as Little Walter, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Jimmy Smith and Willie Dixon all see some of their compositions treated with utmost respect. This kind of material most certainly wouldn't fare well when played in front of a large capacity. Instead the intimacy of the Basement club adds to the originality and bluesy nature of the songs.

Some well-known songs on display here are "Green Onions," as made immortal by Booker T; "Strange Brew," originally written and recorded by Cream; and "Dallas" by Johnny Winter. Although personally I would've loved to hear some well-known Purple classics given the blues treatment, only "When A Blind Man Cries" is offered here. None other than ex-Cold Chisel singer Jimmy Barnes steps in as a guest singer, here adding his distinctive voice to the whole. During the intro for "Back At The Chicken Shack," Lord attacks his organ in the same vein as during the intro for Purple's "Lazy," but instead of delivering all of the Purple classic, he settles for the Jimmy Smith original instead. As happens with these kind of semi-improvised gigs, the crowd wants more but the setlist has been fully played. Instead of playing the same song twice, the band there and then decides to improvise and see how it goes. The endresult is "12 Bar Blow Jam," the only song credited to Barnes/Gaze/Lord/Daisley/Grosser. In the end, it sounds like the audience and the band alike had a wonderful evening resulting in a unique collaboration, and documents the very first time Jon Lord has played the blues since before founding Deep Purple.

Tracklisting:
Disc One: Introduction / Hideaway / Lonesome / Traveller Blues / Blues With A Feeling / You Got Good Business / Green Onions / 24/7 Blues / Baby Please Don't Go / The Money Doesn't Matter / Strange Brew / Dallas / I Just Wanna Make Love To You / You Need Love

Disc Two: The Hoochie Coochie Man / New Old Lady Blues / Who's Been Talkin' / Six Strings Down / Dust My Broom / Back At The Chicken Shack / When A Blindman Cries / 12 Bar Blow Jam / When A Blindman Cries (single edit)

Musicians:
Jon Lord - keyboards
Bob Daisley - bass
Tim Gaze - guitar, vocals
Rob Grosser - drums
Jim Conway - harmonica

Special guest:

Jimmy Barnes - vocals

Discography:
Gemini Suite (1970)
Windows (1974)
Sarabande (1976)
Before I Forget (1982)
Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady (1984)
Pictured Within (1999)
Live At The Basement (2003)
Beyond The Notes (2004)

Live At The Basement (2003) (DVD)
Beyond The Notes Live (2004) (DVD)

Genre: Other

Origin UK

Added: October 4th 2004
Reviewer: John

Artist website: www.jonlord.com
Hits: 2467
Language: english