Joe Louis Walker is a four-time Blues Music Award-winner and Blues Hall of Fame inductee with a career spanning over half a century.
Joe Louis Walker recently released his latest album, Everybody Wants A Piece, via the Provogue/Mascot Label Group. The album’s producer is Grammy-winning guitarist/producer Paul Nelson of Johnny Winter fame and was recorded at the Chop Shop studio near Philadelphia. The band on the album features Phillip Young (keyboards), Lenny Bradford (bass), Byron Cage (drums), and Joe Louis Walker (guitars, vocals, harp).
The album opens with a couple of uptempo numbers in the shape of the title track “Everybody Wants A Piece” featuring passionate playing from Walker and whirring keyboard riffs from Phillip Young. Likewise, “Do I Love Her” with it’s piercing blues harp licks from Joe Louis Walker is one of the stand out tracks on the album. Both “Witchcraft” and “Wade in the Water” add a bit of funk to the album, where as “Man of Many Blues” has an almost Otis Redding-esque quality to it.
Walker writes about universal themes such as love and relationships to which everyone can relate. The heartfelt number, “Black and Blue,” is a perfect example of that. However, it is the instrumental slow blues number, “Gospel Blues,” which shines a spotlight on Walker’s incredible playing. The slide-tastic “35 Years Old” closes the album.
Everybody Wants A Piece is a superb blues record oozing with soul you can really feel.
Joe Louis Walker
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Photo: © Marilyn Stringer