EDDIE TURNER AND
TROUBLE TWINS
NAKED…IN YOUR FACE
7-14 PRODUCTIONS
JODY–MISTREATED–SO MANY ROADS–RISE–BURIED ALIVE IN THE BLUES–BLUES FALL DOWN LIKE RAIN–DON’T LET ME BE MISUNDERSTOOD–DANGEROUS–SECRET
Guitarist Eddie Turner has been on our radar for a number of years. He spent several years with Tracy Nelson and Mother Earth back in the day, and, more recently, as Otis Taylor’s guitarist of choice, as well as a robust solo career. Thru it all, Eddie has never released a live album, tho. Enlisting the aid of the Trouble Twins—bassist/vocalist Anna Lisa Hughes and drummer/vocalist Kelly Kruse, “Naked…In Your Face” lets this power trio unleash all its blues fury on a very appreciative audience at the Blues Can in Calgary, Alberta, last August 22nd.
They start off with a good ole funky read of the age-old story of “Jody,” altho, this time, Eddie gladly “sends you to Jody, so I can live my life a righteous kind of man!” Anna Lisa takes the vocal on her original, the powerful “Mistreated,” with Eddie’s gritty, stinging guitar sounding as if he were sitting in a West Side club in Chi-town rather than live on stage in Canada. Anna Lisa returns a bit later for the vocal on “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” turning this chestnut into a sultry, breathy torch song, as she plays the “girl who’s intentions are good” to the hilt.
Eddie’s original, “So Many Roads,” evokes memories of his days pushing the blues-rock boundary with Otis Taylor’s band, while the pulsating drone of “Rise” comes from his 2005 album of the same name.
We had two favorites, too–one cover and one original. Eddie’s original, “Dangerous,” is pure Chicago swagger, as Eddie struts and proclaims himself the proverbial “rollin’ stone” with a “juju bone in my pocket!” Our other was a playfully-funky duet between Eddie and Anna Lisa on Nick Gravenites’ iconifc “Buried Alive In The Blues.”
Eddie Turner and the Trouble Twins, with “Naked…In Your Face,” does exactly what a great live album is supposed to do. It makes you wanna shout, dance, and, as a great man once wrote, just “forget about life for a while.” Eddie’s in great form vocally and strings-wise, and this one is highly-recommended listening! Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow.
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