There were many different routes in life open to Bernard Allison but, being a son of the legendary Luther Allison, he felt obliged to self-learn guitar and follow in his father’s footsteps to become an original blues master in his own right. However, nearing 60 years of age now, the France-based Chicagoan – whose recording career started back in 1990 with an appropriately titled “The Next Generation” – has never forgotten his foremost inspiration in the music field, and is set to honor his pater with a dedicated platter that will be issued on January 26th.
“Luther’s Blues” should speak to aficionados on a few levels, as this album’s title not only gathers quite a lot of Allison Sr.’s classic pieces, spread over two CDs or two LPs, but it also references one of those – one not included in its tracklist. What’s in there, though, is impressive as there’s Bernard’s own stamp on these familiar tunes – but why did he decide to take up such a project, I asked him.
“We thought it would be a great idea to go along with the Ruf Records’ 30-year-anniversary tour, considering my father pretty much started the label with Thomas Ruf,” says Bernard, “so we gathered some of my recordings where I covered my dad’s titles. I pretty much cover one or two of his songs on all my albums, and now we put a nice remix on them to create a 20-title CD and LP set. I really wanted to share with the world my spin on my dad’s songs, recorded for Ruf, and present them all in one package.”
A worthy reason to play great music.
Disc 1:
1. Hang On
2. Reaching Out
3. Too Many Women
4. Into My Life
5. Serious
6. Bad Love
7. Now You Got It
8. Love Is Free
9. Midnight Creeper
10. Help
Disc 2:
1. Back Down South
2. I Gave It All
3. Life Is A Bitch
4. Let’s Try It Again
5. Change Your Way Of Living
6. You’re Gonna Need Me
7. Compromising For Your Needs
8. A Change Must Come
9. Move From The Hood
10. Castle