Kim Simmonds and Savoy Brown
Goin’ To The Delta
Ruf Records

www.rufrecords.de
 

Like a fine wine, Wales-born Kim Simmonds and Savoy Brown have matured gracefully. Nearly a half decade since their hard-rocking approach to boogie-woogie, Texas shuffle, and Chicago blues injected a sharp-edge to the British blues scene, Simmonds, and Savoy Brown, not only recapture former glory, with their latest album, Goin’ to the Delta, but step forward with one of the most satisfying releases in years. Their early-’70s hits ranged from scorching covers of blues classics, including Muddy Waters’ “Louisiana Blues,” Etta James’ “Tell Mama,” Willie Dixon’s “Wang Dang Doodle,” and the Temptations-popularized “Can’t Get Next to You,” to powerful originals like “Street Corner Talking,” in 1971, and “Hellbound Train,” the following year. Simmonds’s pure-toned guitar picking has remained consistent, while the group has undergone numerous personnel changes. After its’ original lineup dispersed, in 1970, with three members leaving to form Foghat, Savoy Brown reorganized with members of Chicken Shack and vocalist Dave Walker, and became a staple of FM commercial rock programming. Simmonds has continued to push Savoy Brown onward. Performing as a power-trio since 2001, they expanded to a quartet (with vocalist Ian Whiting) before recording their 2011 album, Voodoo Moon). Returning to the scaled-down format (without Whiting), for Goin’ to the Delta, the first release to be credited to Kim Simmonds and Savoy Brown, the band leader takes over lead vocals, while letting his guitar soar over Pat DeSalvo’s bass and Garnet Grimm’s drums. Having played many recent shows as a solo acoustic guitarist, Simmonds masterfully transfers sensibility and tonal expression to the electric six-string. He further shows his command of the Delta-originating genre, writing all twelve songs on the CD, and resurrecting the spirit of Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker, Elmore James, and Freddy King.

— Craig Harris