Little Milton
Welcome To Little Milton
(Malaco 7500)
To preface this review, I have two bias that must be addressed: One, I am a big Little Milton fan. Two, I am not a big fan of "duet" albums. Okay, now that we got that out of the way, I can tell you that Welcome To Little Milton is a fun, engaging listen. The guest artists turn in laudable performances and Milton does his usual act of supererogation.
Most folks are familiar with Little Milton's extraordinary career; spanning from the 1952 Memphis Sun Records through the 1960's Chess recordings all the way to the Stax and Malaco records of recent times.
Milton is a consummate performer with a phenomenal sense of flair and style. His music is always over the top; always full of life. His approach grabs you by the gut. His tone is visceral and pushes all the blues buttons.
And in that respect, this CD is no different than others in his discography, with the possible exception that he shares the bill with a group of celebrity guests. Now, the very word "celebrity" should make you wince and whine with disdainful disgust, much less the notion of a collection of "superstar" duet sessions. However, I am happy to report that this one works just fine, although the best two tracks on the release belong to Milton ala carte.
The tracks with Government Mule are lively. The persiflage between Milton and Peter Wolf (yes "that" Peter Wolf) is cleverly staged on their track together. John Sinclair's dialogue before the Susan Tedeschi team up tune is really interesting. The
Keb' Mo track is good and yet, I expected a bit more for my money from this encounter. The Delbert McClinton track, "Some Kind Of Wonderful," has commendable twists and turns while Lucinda Williams turns in a moving performance on "Love Hurts."
Behind all the glitter, you will still find Little Milton making voraciously good use of his axe. Check out his attack on "Lump On Your Stump" or the brilliantly moving "Right To Sing The Blues" and you get a good idea of the depth of his abilities.
- Bill Fountain -
Southwest Blues CD Review - January 2000
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