Billy Jones - Prime Suspect for the Blues (2001) [Re-Up]

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Billy Jones - Prime Suspect for the Blues (2001) [Re-Up]

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This guy is 53 ? Unbelievable. With a smile a yard wide and moves that could make Shakira blush, Little Rock product Billy Jones seems 20 years younger onstage. It's been said of many artists, but it fits Jones' music to a tee: This ain't your grandpa's blues. And perhaps that was the main problem at the Lübeck International Blues Festival. Most of the audience wasn't any older than Jones. They just acted that way.Since releasing his international debut, Tha' Bluez, on the Dutch label Black & Tan in 2005, Jones has been making inroads in the conservative European blues scene. On this night, he had travelled 600 kilometers to close a one-night festival in a converted factory that now serves as a cultural center. Jones' urbanized spellings ‹ his song titles include "At Da' Crossroads" and “Da' Love Doctor” suggest he's one of the new breed of "hip-hop" blues artists. But in reality, his sound and attitude are more of a throwback to '70s and '80s heroes such as Rick James or Kool & the Gang. His 90-minute set offered that kind of danceable funk, plus plenty of the mellow Southern soul heard on Tha' Bluez. And on white-hot Albert Collins-style electric blues, Jones proved he can tear it up when he feels like it.After two straight blues tunes built on stinging guitar and R-rated sexual innuendo, Jones segued into the easygoing soul of “Come Back Tonight”. A good deal edgier than the album version, it was an example of what made the show a success: His live performances are sweaty, gritty, and alive. He's a smart, concise player who keeps his solos and songs brief and to the point.Judging by this show, Jones could be accused of jumping all over the musical map. But his varied attack is probably just his way of keeping audiences entertained. He included covers of “Purple Rain” and a surprising “Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys”, each convincing in its own way. He told the story of a “Juice Headed Woman” with the authority of someone who's been there. Later, Jones morphed into Hendrix for a few bars, reaching out to that portion of the crowd that whoops instantly when a guitarist plays with his teeth. He even built in a couple of sleight-of-hand tricks and finished the night wearing a hat that looked like an oversized condom.But try as he might, nothing was going to animate the staid, befuddled audience to rise from their chairs. Watching Jones stay focused and complete a thoroughly professional set, I couldn¹t help but think of the song title “Poor Boy a Long Way From Home”. Jones and his band belonged not here, but in some smoky, cramped, sexual-tension-filled room where people are on the make and ready to party.–by Vincent Abbate

1. Breakdown 3:50
2. Marry My Mother-In-Law 7:44_Play_
3. Slip Away 4:24
4. Come Back Tonight 3:37
5. Doin' Alright Again 5:12
6. Let's Straighten It Out 6:51
7. Ain't Good Lookin' 4:36
8. Her Daddy's Alligator Farm 5:32_Play_
9. The One For Me 3:30
10. Be Your Man 3:54
11. Don't Answer The Door 4:35
12. Anything You Say 3:37_Play_
13. The Rumor 3:43
14. Make Love Tonight 3:07
15. Barnyard Love 5:39

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Billy Jones - Prime Suspect for the Blues (2001) [Re-Up]

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BIO: This blues bandleader, who sings and plays guitar and calls his music "bluez," began releasing his own compact discs in 2001. When Billy Jones substituted a "z" for an "s," he was not trying to make the name of his beloved genre closer to the way a drunken bar patron might pronounce it at the end of the night. Rather, "bluez" is all about being independent from the big-time music business, a stance more often taken by indie rockers. While in reality even the biggest blues labels are nothing but small independents, these firms still represent too big a clique for Jones, who prefers issuing material on his own Cyborg-Blue imprint.
Though apparently not documented on many available recordings, Jones' involvement with blues goes back to his childhood. He was supposedly considered something of a prodigy, studying with artists such as Little Johnny Taylor, Rufus Thomas, and Larry Davis, among others. When he became a teenager he hit the road, musically hitting a variety of styles in the bands of the beautiful Chaka Khan, the tasty Chocolate Milk, and the rhythmically astute Bar-Kays. This background certainly ought to supply him with the goods to create a contemporary vision of roots music. He sees himself as part of a new movement in this genre, described colorfully as follows in his own promotional material: "…it ain't your grampa's music, or that same ol' predictable stuff that you may find at big corporate labels…But then…what do these 'fat cat' record company guys know about what's happening on the streets right now?"
The first Jones release on his own, Prime Suspect for the Blues, was nonetheless well received by the so-called blues establishment of magazines, distributors, and underground radio shows, proving how much they might know after all. Based out of the Bay Area, Jones has put together a touring band whose membership draws from veterans of that area's blues scene, such as bassist Palmalee Byrd as well as keyboardist Corey Bray, who might just make a place for the synthesizer in this genre, or maybe that's why they call it the "bluez."–by Eugene Chadbourne