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| Jon Lord - The Hoochie Coochie Men - Live At The Basement |
 Released: 2003 Label: EMI Cat. No.: 7243 5 99184 9 5 Total Time: 130:00 | |
Reviewed by: John Bobo Bollenberg, October 2004 When Jon Lord decided to leave Deep Purple in September 2002 this was mainly to concentrate on his love for classical music. Although over the years Jon often fused rock and classics, he most definitely wanted to focus entirely on the classical ouput rather than continue with Purple. So it comes as a huge surprise to see Lord as part of a blues outfit. The story goes that Lord was in Australia to promote some of his solo stuff but hurt his thumb and thus was unable to play the delicate piano. Instead he teamed up with the Hoochie Coochie Men and decided to play a couple of low key concerts. Recorded live at The Basement, Sydney, Australia on 7th February 2003, this DVD contains a great selection of blues classics augmented on three occasions by the well-known singer Jimmy Barnes. Although the sleeve says Jon Lord on keyboards it would have been much more honest to put Hammond organ as Jon only focuses on his great Hammond. When we look at the line-up, only bass player Bob Daisley stems from the same hardrock backrgound, having played with the likes of Ozzy Osbourne and Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow to name but two. The rest of the band are authentic blues purists including harmonica player Jim Conway who sits in a wheelchair. As this DVD contains the entire show as performed in the intimacy of a tiny venue, it delivers the kind of stuff you’d expect Lord to play for his friends after they all had a wonderful BBQ at his house. This is authentic blues played with soul. Just look and listen to their great rendition of Booker T & MG’s "Green Onions," which also includes some wonderful classical improvisation by Lord. In fact, this track was the first ever song Jon Lord performed live as a professional musician. So for sure this composition brings back fond memories and remains a firm favourite of his. There are plenty of close-ups of Jon’s hand tickling the ivories here. The very first gig Deep Purple did in the States was supporting Cream, which is why the band performs "Strange Brew." The version here is very acoustic with Tim Gaze on steel guitar. A great atmospheric track is Willie Dixon’s "You Need Love" which Page & Plant credited as their own when they released it as "Whole Lotta Love." The version here remains close to the original with Rob Grosser on washboard and Tim Gaze using the bottleneck. "Back At The Chicken Shack" kicks off with some tasty organ riffs dating from Purple’s "Lazy." Pity no real Deep Purple material has been treated in a bluesy fashion. Only "When A Blind Man Cries"gets performed here sung by Jimmy Barnes who also delivers "The Hoochie Coochie Man." Barnes is asked on stage one more time for an encore, which in the right tradition concerns a pure jam session called "12 Bar Blow Jam." Jon Lord looks ever so pleased once the concert is finished. As a bonus feature there are two tracks and a very short interview with Lord as taped for the Australian TV show The Fat. Here Lord tells us of a cricket match he once organized which saw the rock team playing against Monty Python. George Harrison, who played with the rock team, had a fear of cricket balls so instead they threw him an orange! Finally, the version of "When A Blindman Cries" is given the black and white treatment as used as a promoclip. There are also some very short biographies on every single member of the band to complete the package. No doubt this DVD and its accompanying double CD (which includes the same material) sheds yet another light on the versatile talents of the unique Jon Lord. More about The Hoochie Coochie Men - Live At The Basement : Track Listing: Introduction / Hideaway / Lonesome / Traveller Blues / Blues With A Feeling / You Got Good Business / Green Onions / 24/7 Blues / Baby Please Don’t Go / The Money Doesn’t Matter / Strange Brew / Dallas / I Just Wanna Make Love To You / You Need Love / The Hoochie Coochie Man / New Old Lady Blues / Who’s Been Talkin’ / Six Strings Down / Dust My Broom / Back At The Chicken Shack / When A Blindman Cries / 12 Bar Blow Jam / Bonus DVD features : 24/7 Blues / Who’s been talkin’ live on The Fat ABC TV / "When A Blind Man Cries"promo clip Musicians: Contact: Website: www.jonlord.com or www.picturedwithin.com Discography
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