Carey & Lurrie Bell - Dynasty! - 1990 (1994)

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Carey & Lurrie Bell - Dynasty! - 1990 (1994)

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Biography: A Chicago based harmonica player whose style incorporates the flair of LITTLE WALTER Jacobs and the subtle sensuality of BIG WALTER HORTON, Carey Bell has worked as both a sideman and bandleader and is noted for his work on the doublereed chromatic harp.
Born and raised in Mississippi where he taught himself the rudiments of his instrument, it wasn't until Bell moved to Chicago with his godfather, pianist Lovie Lee, and became a member of Lee's band that Bell began his career in earnest. Bell also performed with DAVID ''HONEYBOY'' EDWARDS and JOHNNY YOUNG, took harp lessons from Little Walter, appeared on albums by EARL HOOKER and MUDDY WATERS, and in 1969 made his debut as a featured recording artist.
His album, Carey Bell's Blues Harp, was released on the Delmark label. Although it sparked little interest outside serious blues circles, the album enabled Bell to rise, if only temporarily, above sideman status. There years later he was a featured guest on Big Walter Horton's Alligator album, Big Walter Horton with Carey Bell, which drew further attention to Bell and placed him on a par with Chicago's other harp masters.
In the 1970's and 1980's Bell toured extensively with WILLIE DIXON'S Chicago Blues All-Stars, as well as with his own band, the Carey Bell Blues Band, which often included his son, guitarist LURRIE BELL. He also recorded with the Bob Riedy Blues Band and appeared in the blues documentary Sincerely, the Blues. In 1984 Bell and his son recorded Son Of a Gun for the Rooster Blues label. In 1988 Bell began an association with the Maryland-based band Tough Luck, which resulted in an album for Blind Pig Records called Mellow Down Easy, released in 1991. A year earlier Bell was part of Alligator Records' critically acclaimed Harp Attack, a super-session album that also featured Chicago harp standouts JAMES COTTON, JUNIOR WELL, and BILLY BRANCH. Bell continues to record and perform.
Lurrie Bell: The son of harmonica player CAREY BELL, is a Chicago-based blues guitarist and a founding member of the 1970s group the SONS OF BLUES. Bell grew up in a blues household. His father's band, the Carey Bell Blues Band, often rehearsed in the Bells' Chicago apartment. After he taught himself how to play guitar, Lurrie often sat in with his father's band during rehearsals and later in club performances. In 1977, Bell, along with bass player Freddie Dixon, son of WILLIE DIXON, and harp player BILLY BRANCH, formed the Sons of Blues. The group was represented on two Alligator Records anthologies, Living Chicago Blues, Vol.3 and The New Bluebloods though Bell did not play on the latter album. Bell left the Sons of Blues in 1982. He spent the rest of the 1980s as a free-lance session musician and a member of KOKO TAYLOR'S touring band. In 1984 he and his father recorded the album Son of a Gun for Rooster Blues. He also recorded Everybody Wants to Win for the JSP label, Bell continues to play Chicago Blues

Review: If you like Carey and Lurrie Bell you will love this cd, great song selection playing and vocals. I would give all Carey Bell cd's five stars except (Last Night) a three star and (Son Of A Gun) about four, even (Going On Main Street) should be a five, this is a great live cd from the father & son the complete collection is worth owning.

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Carey & Lurrie Bell - Dynasty! - 1990 (1994)

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