ARTiST: Michael Messer
TiTLE: King Guitar
LABEL: Cooking Vinyl
GENRE: Blues
TiME: 73:48 min
SiZE: 106,9 MB
BiTRATE: VBRkbps
RiP DATE: May-24-2006
RELEASE DATE: May-15-2006
WEBSiTE: http://www.cookingvinyl.com/
Track List:
01. King Guitar 02:55
02. Living In Rhythm 03:29
03. Lone Wolf Blues 03:38
04. Crow Blues 04:27
05. Step Right Up 03:39
06. Drivin' Wheel Blues Part One 04:37
07. Worried Life 07:08
08. Steel Guitar Blues 03:36
09. Rollin'n'tumblin' 03:53
10. Right Hand Road 00:31
11. Drivin' Wheel Blues Part Two 06:26
12. Diving Duck 03:43
13. Rising Sun Blues 04:01
14. I Can't Be Satisfied 04:04
15. Robert Johnson's Wake 05:31
16. Cannonball Blues 08:32
17. Moonbeat 03:38
Release Notes:
"What I hear here is the real thing. Bare-bones
blues gut-bucket rural rock à" - Johnny Cash
"Michael Messer's poignant Drivin' Wheel Blues Part
One is equalled only by Part Two, and while his
playing, with its echoes of Blind Willie Johnson, is
always spot on, it's Messer's vocals which are the
real revelation: heartfelt and pained, full of trial
and struggle just like the best blues. If he were
American he'd be right behind Eric Bibb & Alvin
Youngblood Heart in the hipness sweepstakes." - Q /
King Guitar review
"To say that Michael Messer is a slide guitarist is
like describing Mother Theresa as a nun! He's one of
the finest slide guitarists and blues music
innovators that Britain has ever produced" - Time
Out / King Guitar review
"Moby eat your heart out. This is the best British
blues album of the 21st century so far."
What's On In London / Second Mind review
"Michael Messer is one of the most important
bluesmen in Britain and mightily relevant throughout
the blues world. He has progressed from being an
excellent technician - on the National Steel
especially, to being in the vanguard of the 21st
century blues. And that doesn't mean he has forsaken
traditional values either. A beautiful amalgam of
history and foresight; musicality and grit; blues,
boogie and beats - Second Mind is a work of near
genius." - Blues Matters / Second Mind review
"Messer can handle a slide guitar like a true 1920s
hero, but Second Mind is more than that: it's an
old-meets-nu blues tour de force that gives full
reign to our man's love of pop, rock and, frankly,
spooky shit. Electric guitars rage over loop/dub
backdrops, lovely, liquid acoustic figures recall
slide kings of yore, vocals plumb the dark side like
Tom Waits or Johnny Dowd, the band swerve from
boogie to funk to ambient with nonchalant ease - and
it all hangs together just right." Guitar / Second
Mind - Albums of the Year 2002
Monday 15th May sees the reissue of two albums by
British virtuoso slide guitarist, Michael Messer -
King Guitar and Second Mind.
Originally released in 2001, King Guitar established
Messer as one of the most respected slide guitarists
and roots music innovators around. Receiving
critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, the
album reached number one in the US Living Blues
chart and in May of that year, it was the most
played album on US college radio. King Guitar
features 16 tracks, 10 of which are originally
compositions, and showcases Messers blues recordings
and interpretations, clearly illustrating why he
merits an entry in the Virgin Encyclopedia of the
Blues, which describes his music as 'an outstanding
distillation of blues and contemporary music'.
Second Mind, recorded and released in 2002 followed
the widespread success of King Guitar. Deeply rooted
in and inflected with the blues, this highly
anticipated and critically acclaimed album features
Messer's regular band, plus the great Ruby Turner on
backing vocals. DJ Louie Genis, who previously
worked with Messer in 1995, cut loose and played on
the whole album, creating a sound that was both
totally contemporary and very traditional. The album
won the Best Blues Guitar Album at the 2003
International Guitar Federation awards, beating
other nominees including Chris Rea, Sonny Landreth
and Eric Bibb.