Album Of The Week, December 4 – December 10

Album Of The Week, December 4-10
Our album of week for December 4-10 is Blues WIth Horns, by Chris Daniels and The Kings

Blues With Horns, Volume 1 has the air of familiarity of great soul and funk records. Featuring the hit “Sweet Memphis”, Chris Daniels And The Kings have found their sweet spot with their new album. On “Sweet Memphis”, the band drives forward with funky horn and organ, accompanied by the slide guitar work of Louisiana maestro Sonny Landreth. After the Beale Street funk of “Sweet Memphis” Daniels takes you down to the Bayou on the swamp/funk tune “Fried Food/Hard Liquor”, originally written by blues musician Rex Peoples.

Blues With Horns is laden with superior covers of American classics allowing Daniels to channel Buddy Miles, Sam Cooke (“Soothe Me”) and Bobby “Blue” Bland on the standout “Wouldn’t Treat A Dog (The Way You Treated Me)”. The closer “Rain Check” highlights the harp playing of Clay Kirkland, who has performed with a who’s who of musicians from Willie Nelson to Chuck Berry.

And what a band Chris has put together for the album. Eric Clapton has calls Sonny Landreth a guitar virtuoso. Long-time collaborator Freddi Gowdy shares vocals. Keyboardist John Magnie comes over from former Fort Collins based the subdudes, a renown band. And the brass work of The Kings needs no introduction.

Listening to this album, you’d think Daniels is from somewhere in the South. In fact, he has lived in Colorado for four decades, and has been releasing albums with The Kings since the ’80s. That they have put out arguably their greatest album to date tells you how important they are to the Colorado scene.

In fact, they’ll be live December 16 at Swallow Hill Music in Denver. 

If you think they sound good on record, you need to experience them in a live setting.

We will be featuring songs from Blues With Horns all week long on The Colorado Sound.