Jim Suhler & Monkey Beat
Starvation Box: The Best of Jim Suhler & Monkey Beat
Lucky Seven – 9219
7 out of 9 stars
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some available on amazon
For a change here is a Best of collection that is 17 cuts of dynamic music, instead of 2 or 3 known songs and a bunch of filler tracks. This is truly almost 73 minutes of some of the most innovative blues from Jim Suhler and Monkey Beat. Whether it is the best is going to vary depending on individual taste, however there is not a weak cut out of the 17 included. This is Jim and some of his friends playing the electrified blues in a manner that very much brings them alive and takes his brand of blues played with {$Monkey Beat} to a different level. He also plays with most of this same crew in a more acoustic country mode, and there the blues are just as vibrant however more low key and quiet. Give a listen to {&Love Ain’t Enough}. Here the playing is harder driving, and what you might call cruise
control music. If you are playing this in the car and you aren’t on cruise control you are going to be pulled over and either given a ticket for either speeding or driving erratically. There is on this disc a diffuse variety of tempo and feel to these songs. From the slow pushing blues of Prayin’ for Rain, the incendiary slide work on Little Boy Blue to the long open road vistas of Deja Blue, this disc contains some of the tightest playing around. Shuler’s slide guitar work can stand up with most anyone playing today, and Monkey Beat is one expressive blues band. Of the 17 songs he wrote or co-wrote 14 of them. He included one each by Robert Johnson, Elmore James, and Sam Hopkins, to show how he was shaped and to pay tribute. A disc that should not be missed by blues fans, and those who just love energetic well played music that speaks a truth.