Mason Ruffner
YOU CAN'T WIN
Burnside 0035
visit Mason's website
and on myspace
also available on amazon
To get this "return" disc for Mason Ruffner was a breath of fresh air. He was a performer I made it a point to see whenever I was in New Orleans years ago. Then he seemed to abruptly vanish, and when inquiring about him there were just shrugs. No one knew where or what had happened to him. There is a nice little biography filling in all the details and trials of his so called missing time. However the main thing is he is back and he has the licks to show us the time off was used well. The familiar guitar driven, blues based rock and roll is still there. The song writing is as sharp and pointed as it ever was. There are 13 new songs on this disc and they range from some slow blues to his characteristic hard driven Texas blues that he learned growing up in the Fort Worth. His main influences that you can hear are Jimmy Reed, Anson Funderburgh, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Though much of his vocal phrasing probably comes from the time he spent playing in Robert Ealey's band. His guitar playing is his strong point and he displays it well. From the tasteful slide work on MAMA'S GIRL, to the loping lines he uses on CAN'T STOP LOVIN' YOU, to the chuk chuk guitar of BACK IN THE ALLEY, to the tune that really grabbed me on this disc, the hard driving DEE BLUES. On this latter cut he lets his guitar soar and pound away at the restraints of the speakers, and spends his time really bending the wires to stretch any limits that remain. He makes excellent use of his horn players here, using them to augment his sound and make it fill up the room. A nod must be given at this point to Keith Sykes who co-produced the disc with Mason Ruffner for his contribution on that end. Its good to hear that rasp voice rubbing over the lyrics, but it is even better to hear the guitar driven Texas blues of this man again. A dynamite performer if you get a chance to see him.
Produced by Mason Ruffner and Keith Sykes
Songs - no times given, all written by Mason Ruffner
LOVE DON'T LOVE NO BODY
RULER OF THE WORLD
MAMA'S GIRL
LET ME DOWN EASY
BACK IN THE ALLEY
DEE BLUES
KEEP YOUR LIGHT ON FOR ME
HIGHWAY BLUES
YOU GOT MY NUMBER
BREAKOUT
LOADED DICE
KEEP ON HOLDIN' ON
MUSICIANS
Mason Ruffner - guitar, vocals
Dave smith - bass, background vocals, arrangement on RULER OF THE WORLD
Bo Harris - drums (except where noted)
Parker Card - organ ( except where noted), background vocals
Art Edmaiston - saxophone
Scott Thompson - trumpet
Charlie Wood - piano
Mark Avsec - organ (2, 4, 5, 6, ,8, 13)
Michael Ramos - organ (3)
Joel Duhon - drums (3, 4)
Kevin Eddy - maracas (1)