Li'l Ronnie and the Grand Dukes
Too Fast For Conditions
Planetary 9008

by Al Kunz

Rockzillaworld subscribes to the "big tent" (as opposed to the "just alt-country") definition of Americana. Blues definitely fit under that tent. Our recent blues reviews (and my recent listening) have largely been artists that are either the guitar-centric (a la Stevie Ray) or a blues hybrid like the rockabilly blues of the Hillbilly Voodoo Dolls. The blues as played by Li'l Ronnie and the Grand Dukes were a great change of pace.

Since 1963, when teenage "Li'l" Ronnie Owens began playing professionally, he has continually sharpened his blues harmonica chops, playing over the years with top bluesmen like John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal, and John Mayall. Too Fast For Conditions, his debut album, was recorded with his touring band, the Grand Dukes, and a few special guests. Former Lee Roy Parnell and current Delbert McClinton keyboardist Kevin McKendree guests on piano and organ, while Pete Kanaras of the Nighthawks lends help on guitar.

A mixture of originals and older blues covers, the thirteen tracks incorporate a variety of blues styles from the jazzy, instrumental of Duke Ellington's "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" to the sax and piano dominated, New Orleans influenced, "Blame It On Me." Three of the cover tunes were written by George "Harmonica" Smith, an early practitioner of electric harmonica blues and rumored to have been the first mouth harpist to "go electric." He co-wrote "Love Life," "I Found My Baby," and disc opener "Cross Eyed Suzie Lee," originally recorded by Smith in the early '50s.

I got a girl they call her cross eyed Suzie Lee
Yes I got a girl they call her cross eyed Suzie Lee
Well she ain't so good lookin', she is the girl for me

She got those jealous eyes and she watch me all the time
She got those jealous eyes, she watch me all the time
Well she ain't good lookin', but man she sure is fine

McKendree and second guest guitarist Ivan Applerouth co-wrote "T-Bonin' Part I," a laid-back, guitar-centered, instrumental. Applerouth also wrote the morning-after-blues "My Aching Head." Chris Waitling's baritone sax honks while Stave Riggs plays upright bass in the background.

Went out ballin' the other night
Had some drinks and I got into a fight
I went to a place where the birds were flockin'
The cats down there, they was really rockin'
Ohhhhhh, my aching head

But let's not forget whose name is on the jewel case. While he pays tribute, covering songs by a major influence, and gives his guests the chance to contribute their own tunes, this is still Li'l Ronnie's disc. Owens wrote half of the cuts, with his vocals and harmonica playing taking center stage throughout. Title track, "Too Fast For Conditions," is a throwback to the double-entendre R&B of the '50s. You know the songs I mean. They never got played on the radio. Those living a middle-class, white bread life like mine probably didn't know they existed for years. If you had heard the song, it was a cleaned-up interpretation by someone like Pat Boone. A version with the soul sucked right out of it. Owens' leaves the soul in this tune, written with Grand Dukes' guitarist Jim Wark and sung from the viewpoint of Owens' "baby's" car . . . or maybe not.

Well you start me up baby, with a love that can't be beat
Yeah, you start me up sugar, I'm afraid I'll overheat
I put the key in your ignition, you just too fast for conditions
Too fast, too fast for conditions

Chubby Checker had "The Twist," Li'l Ronnie has "The Spin," the dance he claims "started down south" and is "sweepin' the nation." Sure the lyrics are simple, "Grab your baby / look her in the eye / get on the dance floor / now don't be shy / you spin her to the left / shake her to the right / spin your baby all night," they have to be simple so you can sing along as you're dizzily dancing. Li'l Ronnie's vocals are a bit Chuck Berry-ish and Ivan Appelrouth's guitar riffs could actually be Berry. That's more than good enough for me.

The cliché says, "love makes the world go 'round," and every songwriter has songs about love and relationships. Two that Owens chose for this disc are of the end of relationship variety. "I Wasted Too Much Time," as in "I wasted too much time on that two-timing woman of mine," and the my-lady-left-me lament, "Lonely Man."

I came home from work
I was feelin' tired and beat
I crawled into the house baby
I was lookin' for you
Well all I found
That note you left behind
Yeah, all that's left baby
Is this lonely old man

When I think of the blues, I imagine artists from New Orleans or towns and cities close to Highway 61, the "Mother Road of the Blues," as it goes north on the path of immigration from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago and Detroit. With Too Fast For Conditions, Virginia based Li'l Ronnie reminded me that the blues have spread to both coasts. Despite their East Coast home, the Grand Dukes draw on influences from the distinctive blues of Chicago, New Orleans, and even the West Coast. Check this one out. You may find it's the change of pace you need, just like I did.

*Li'l Ronnie and the Grand Dukes home on the web is http://members.aol.com/lilronnigd or visit the site for Planetary Records, an offshoot of regional record store chain Plan 9 Music, at http://www.planetaryrecords.com



Contact Al Kunz at kunz-at-rockzilla.net

 
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