I am starting a new feature called Spotlight On What I’m Listening To, and the intent is to highlight an album that I am enjoying at the moment.
The inaugural featured album is Mel Brown – Chicken Fat!
Mel’s 1967 debut album on Impulse Records is an enjoyable sonic experience. It features a rather unique, smoking hot guitar and organ playing.
The title track, Chicken Fat, delivers some fine blues guitar work by Mel and some Merle Saunders-ish organ work by Gerald Wiggans.
Another standout is the second track, Greasy Spoon. More heavily focused on Mel’s blistering guitar work, it really showcases just how great an artist Mel was (he passed away in 2009). If you like rockin’ blues guitar, you will love this track.
Home James is an enjoyable, slow blues number (although I have not included it here). Great to listen to when you just want to kick back and truly absorb the blues.
Hobo Flats has a very interesting, 1960s psychedelic like “vibration” to Mel’s guitar work.
Finally, I’m Going To Jackson is a wonderful track that has tremendous interplay between the acoustic and electric guitars. It’s the kind of track that if you listened to it on vinyl, you’d get up and keep picking the needle up after it’s over and plopping it back down for another listen.
Overall it’s just a superb debut album by a great guitar player. It comes with the Luv4music seal of approval. Do yourself a favor and sit and listen to the whole record. You will be a better listener for doing so. Until the next installment, enjoy!
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