Route 61 Music presents the second volume of the Live from the Archives Series, based on master recordings from the legendary Chiari Rock & Blues Festival in Italy.
This Eric Bibb concert, recorded in Chiari (BS) on July 7, 2019, is a testimony of the last Italian performance from the American bluesman which to many sounds like a perfect combination between Eric Clapton and Keb Mo’.
Bibb, now a Sweden-resident blues troubadour, grew up in the ‘60s, in New York, surrounded by amazing singer-songwriters whom he got to see and hear real up close, including Joni Mitchell, Jerry Jeff Walker, folk protest songwriters like Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs (although he never consider himself an artist in that vein), and later people like Guy Clark, whom he had a chance to hang out with in Nashville. His influences are James Taylor, The Beatles, Stax, Ray Charles, all of that is in the mix, as well as an exposure to classical and jazz.
The show presented here, enriched with a fine artwork and detailed notes, shows once again the finely honed guitar picking, the honeyed vocals, the good humour and all-round positive vibe that Bibb’s show are made of. From brilliant originals to traditional we heard from Lightnin’ Hopkins and Woody Guthrie, this talented singer and guitar player addresses the troubled racial history of the United States and what is still, sadly, going on.
For that sum of reasons Downbeat wrote: “Expressing truth and social justice comes naturally to Bibb; his genteel voice reveals a moral scrutiny that is instructive”.
Tracklist:
1.Goin’ down slow (St. Louis Jimmy Oden)
2.Silver spoon
3.Going down the road feelin’ bad (Trad. Lyrics by Henry Whitter)
4.Turner station
5.On my way to Bamako (Eric Bibb/Habib Koité)
6.With my maker I am one
7.Refugee moan
8.Come back baby (Walter Davis)
9.Needed time (Trad. Lyrics by Lighnin’ Hopkins)
10.Don’t ever let nobody drag your spirit down (Eric Bibb/Charlotte Höglund)
11.In my father’s house
All songs by Eric Bibb except where noted.
