Webb Wilder is an old coot of a guy who makes the blues sound like they were meant to be played. He’s got a great snarl in his twang of a voice, and he plays guitar in his juke joint band of bob Williams/g, Tom Comet/b and Jimmy Lester/dr through a mix of originals and classics. He rocks the boogie on Otis Rush’s “It Takes Time” and honks the tonk on Jimmy Reed’s “I’m Gonna Get My Baby” while Charlie Rich’s “Who Will The Next Fool Be” has a nice ‘last set’ glide and strut. The album is bookended by some vintage field hollers, which sets the scene for the rockabilly of “Rough and Tumble Guy” and the Stratocaster over the beer gut rocker of “I Gotta Move” which sound like logical progressions of the historic sounds. A bit of New Wave pop makes a cameo on “Yard Dog,” but other than that it’s a Saturday Night at the VFW for a toe tapping time.
Landslide Records