Big Jack Johnson & The Oilers: Big Jack Johnson (vocals, vocals); Chris Dean (guitar, background vocals); Maury "Hooter" Saslaff (bass); Chet Woodward (drums).
Additional personnel: Little Anthony Geraci (piano, organ); Bob Rushford (harmonica).
Recorded at Tiki Studios, Glen Cove, New York, on March 18 & 19, April 25 and September 29, 1997. Includes liner notes by Donald E. Wilcock.
Personnel: Big Jack Johnson (vocals, background vocals); Chet Woodward (drums); Christopher Dean (background vocals).
Liner Note Author: Donald Wilcock.
Recording information: Tiki Studios, Glen Cove, NY (03/18/1997-09/29/1997).
Photographer: James Fraher.
For All the Way Back, Big Jack Johnson decided to tame the instinct for social commentary and concentrate on what his audience loves: hard-hitting, electrified Delta blues. The result is a monster of a record, filled with great songs and unbridled, earth-shaking playing from Johnson. The key to his music is that he knows how to write a great song, one that adheres to blues traditions without being a slave to them. The funk and soul flourishes he brings to the blues don't compromise the form but bring it into fresh new territory, and this is what makes All the Way Back such a terrific listen. ~ Thom Owens
Johnson's WE GOT TO STOP THIS KILLIN' raised the eyebrow of many a hardcore blues fan with it's unadulterated, hard-hitting approach to a mixture of Chicago and Delta blues. The follow-up ALL THE WAY BACK continues in much the same vein as its predecessor. Again there are tunes that show Johnson's unwillingness to rely on blues tropes for lyrical inspiration. Like KILLIN', with its anti-violence title track, ALL THE WAY BACK features songs ("I Wanna Know," "Crack-Headed Woman") that are more concerned with contemporary social issues than with longhaired doneys and Terraplanes.
The sound is expanded a bit, with the addition of harp and keyboards, but the Oiler's gritty, no-nonsense approach to the 12-bar shuffle is still the backbone of the sound. Naturally, it's Johnson's bold, soulful vocal style and scrappy electric guitar that make ALL THE WAY HOME a safe bet for anyone enamored of the '50s Chicago sound but tired of unimaginative imitations.
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