Shell-Shocked
by: David Kimbrough Jr.
David Kimbrough Jr.
Shell-Shocked
(Blues Cool Records)
David Kimbrough, the son of the late and great North Mississippi bluesman Junior Kimbrough, recorded this album called “Shell-Shocked” less than a week after getting out of jail, having spent several years in the joint for drug dealing and whatnot. Well, I guess that gets the question of blues cred is out of the way. Actually, Kimbrough repents for his sins on here, with songs that tell the story of drugs getting him sent up the river, and how not fun that is. “I Don’t Do The Things I Used To Do” is a good example. Still, he recorded this album with his funk intact, and his desire to chase some ass back on line.
The best way I can describe this groove of an album is to compare it to the blues house party music from back in the day. These are the kind of jams that a good house party would have going on the record player, that are both smoking yet mid-tempo enough for folks to pair off and dance to, so you can show your groove off to the babe swaying in front of you who is smiling and looking you in the eye.
The album starts off with “Come Into My World,” a good sign of the soulful songs to come. The instrumentation backing Kimbrough is solid and strictly blues in nature, yet it allows his Curtis Mayfield-influenced soul singing to float on top of it effortlessly. There are nine songs on here, and six of them are over 7-minutes long, including the old school blues shuffle of “Jump To My Rules,” the funky “Will You Be My Wife,” and the nasty groove of the title cut. He also pays tribute to his late father with “I Dreamed Pop Gigged With Us.”
-Derek Halsey
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