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CD45
If Licks Could Kill
Steve Lott Band
Full Moon Records
Steve Lott first arrived in Australia from West Texas in 1995 and has been steadily making a name for himself as a musician and recording artist. In 1998 he was awarded Best New Talent at the Chain Awards and Male Artist of the Year at the Australian Roots Music Awards. Since arriving in Australia, he's returned to Texas where he played with greats such as The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Kenny Neale.
Steve has been playing guitar since 1964 and along with Stevie Ray and Jimmy Lee Vaughan, Bill Campbell and WC Clark, he was a student of Freddie King. As with his debut release, West Texas Refugee, Lott has gathered the cream of Australia's musicians including Venetta Fields, Paul Cheeseman, Don Lebler, Kirk Lorange, Johnny Whyte, Brea James, Chi Chi Palmano and David Sanders. The production is as good as it gets and Paul Cheeseman once again solidifies his reputation as one of the better producers and engineers. Cheeseman also plays electric and acoustic guitars, bass and Dobro and I can't help but think that his role with these instruments, along with the appearance of diva Venetta Fields, are the main reasons why this album is more impressive than West Texas Refugee.
The album traverses a range of styles from blues-rock through to ballads and instrumentals. Too Hot to Handle is an as-solid-as-they-come, blues tune which reminds me of one of my all-time favourite Eric Clapton blues CDs From the Cradle. For me the highlight of the album is Money Don't Care - a poppy and very danceable, blues tune, full of flavour and bite. This tune would sit comfortably on any Chess or Alligator compilation. This is one hot song that I'd be burning as a single and sending to rock radio stations if I was running the Steve Lott Band. Personally I would have liked to hear more rockier, blues stuff, because that's where, in my opinion, Steves' best stuff lies.
All in all Steve Lott has given us another great CD and a worthy addition to any blues collection.
BASEQ member Al Smith
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