Exile On Blues ST” by Various Artists

22 May

Written by Morrice Blackwell
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I am a big fan of the Rolling Stones and I always have been. When I saw "Exile On Blues ST" in my mailbox it got my attention. I must say that I am not exactly the perfect candidate to review a tribute to this album because I never heard it in its entirety, the only song I remember is "Tumbling Dice." This is the type of release I unfortunately look upon with both curiosity and pessimism, which is nothing new for this writer. I cannot help this attitude, there have been far too many of these albums coming out recently and more than I ever expected from Telarc. This is the best one yet if you were to compare all of them this year, which does not necessarily mean that it is a great compilation either.

If you like modern electric blues most of this is very entertaining. If you were to compare it to the original album by the Rolling Stones, I am not sure there would be any comparisons to make. The group of musicians gathered for this session is out of this world, you will recognize the names.... Thackery, Walker, Benoit, Castro, Shannon, Layton; the list is long and impressive. Regardless of the talent available, it never seems to be enough to make these tributes come together as you would hope. I think this label should step back and take a closer look at what they are doing with all of these tributes and concentrate more on each individual artists’ projects, they certainly have the cream of the crop to work with.

Additional Info

Artist / Group Name: Various Artists
CD Title: Exile On Blues ST”
Genre: Blues
Year Released: 2003
Record Label: Telarc
Tracks: Ventilator Blues performed by Lucky Peterson All Down the Line performed by Christine Ohlman Rip This Joint performed by Tommy Castro Sweet Black Angel performed by Otis Taylor Sweet Virginia performed by Jeff Lang Tumbling Dice performed by Andrea Re Shake Your Hips performed by Tab Benoit Shine a Light performed by Joe Louis Walker Happy performed by Deborah Coleman Rocks Off performed by Jimmy Thackery
Label Website: http://www.telarc.com
Rating: Three Stars