Rock & Roll Over and Get Ready to Party, Stevie Ray!
hyjyljyj | Florida | 01/03/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"SMOKIN'! Jackhammer Blues is the best in Rick Derringer's evolving mastery of the genre of blues guitar. They just keep getting better and better. Derringer's voice may be naturally better suited to rock & pop than the blues, but he belts it with soul and lets his guitar do the rest of the talking. If you can handle mean, fluid, scuttling, slicing, vicious blues guitar from an absolute virtuoso, then this CD is a must-have. From boiling hot slippery licks to shimmering cascades of impossible arpeggios, a volcanic collection of blues covers from an unrivaled master of the six-string. It's hard to define what's more amazing: Derringer's innate sense of control--when to end a riff and let that last note linger and cry--or the fact that, for all the torrents of notes, he manages never, ever to overplay even one lick. Even the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan was guilty of occasionally running his marvelous riffs together in indistinguishable groups, instead of taking a breath and letting you savor that last incredible phrase. On Jackhammer Blues, Rick Derringer takes the blues guitar to the next level, a level of such surreal complexity that it simply must be heard to be believed. Hint: If you can listen to "Somebody Loan Me A Dime" with dry eyes, give up on trying to understand the blues. You ain't got 'em. After the opening track Shake Your Money Maker, capably rendered though never a particular favorite song of mine anyway, the real fun begins. And it doesn't stop till the end, when my CD player's "REPEAT" function comes in handy.Six stars for that six-string. Can't miss.Hyjyljyj"
Rick Rules.... as they say.
cocre | Cayce, SC United States | 07/24/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have been a fan of Ricks since Hang on Sloopy, and Jackhammer Blues is perhaps Rick's best work. Shake Your Moneymaker starts out the CD and lets you know real quick what Jackhammer Blues is all about. The CD continues with great renditions of You've Got to Love Her With a Feeling and Somebody Loan Me a Dime. The latter cut is about as Blue as it gets. Rick finishes the CD with some great favorites. If you like Rockin' Blues, Jackhammer is for you.
"
Rockin blues
howard lee teitel | GLENDALE, NEW YORK United States | 09/04/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"A NICE COLLECTION OF BLUES TUNES PLAYED WITH THE USUAL ROCK EDGE. RICK PLAYS EACH SONG WITH CONVICTION AND PASSION. THE BEST CUTS ARE FRDDIE KINGS "LOVE HER WITH A FEELING" AND FENTON ROBINSONS "LOAN ME A DIME" AND A GOOD VERSION OF SHAKE YOUR MONEY MAKER TO OPEN THIS CD"
Guitar Man
John McMinn | paramus, nj United States | 11/13/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Johnny Winters back up man and Co songwriter from the Still Alive days . That band was a record company idea. Take Blues star Johnny Winter , and put him in a rock band .Rick Derringer's band The Macoy's were that rock band .The sucess of Still Alive and well was good for both men . They learned from each other .
RD is a far different guitar player than Johnny Winter , he has a jazz scale sense , yet still stays
with in the Minor blues riffs and phrasing .You really knowtice the Jazz influence with some of the chord voicings that pop up every now and then .
Derringer has alot more gain on his guitar tone than johnny had giving the songs a more modern sound . His voice is from the gut and good
enough to front the band . Really good player , i 'd recomend any of his CDs from the Blues Bureou era"
"This brilliant guitarist displays originality in his musical proposals .
Shake your money maker is an incredible theme . But may be in his blues , derringer exhibits with much more clarity than any other genre his virtuosity .
The best track of the album is the superb ten minutes blues : Somebody loan a dime , the second best blues is You' ve got to love her with feeling a touch piece and the excellent blues Texas .