More great clarke harp!
Robert Miller | San Francisco, USA | 10/02/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Early Years Vol. 2 picks up right where Vol. 1 leaves off - more great long-unavailable or never released stuff from William Clarke. Like Vol. 1, it features great harp and vocals from Clarke. Most of the songs here are Clarke originals, with some well chosen covers of Sonny Boy II, Eddie Taylor, John Brim and James Oden songs. Clarke was a true original, and these songs show it, even before his big label releases of the 90s.
Clarke's friend George "Harmonica" Smith shows up again on this cd on track 4 with some very tasty chromatic harp and vocals. Clarke, meanwhile, is blowing some of his own tasty non-chromatic notes behind Smith's vocals. "Bloody Tears on My Pillow" is a slow blues original featuring great vocals and harp by Clarke, plus some great guitar by Ronnie Earl. Clarke's version of Brim's "Ice Cream Man" is much like the original, but Clarke suits it to himself. "So Glad I'm Livin'" features vocals by Johnny Dyer and dual harp work from both men. Another Clarke original, "Horn of Plenty" is an instrumental with the combined outstanding harps of both Clarke and Mitch Kashmar playing off of each other. There are even 3 live cuts from 1987 that show Clarke at the top of his game in a live situation (with some nice keyboard work by Fred Kaplan).
All the songs here show a fully formed professional who knew what he was doing. Clarke was able to merge the Chicago blues sound with West Coast blues and make a unique sound that was truly his own. That's what made him stand out as a bluesman. Both volumes 1 and 2 are highly recommended for William Clarke fans and for blues fans in general. And again, thank you William Clarke.
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Track Listings (13) - Disc #1