Clarence Spady - Nature of the Beast (1996)


Genre: Blues
Styles: Contemporary blues
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 192
Year: 1996
Time: 52:52
Size: 73.1 MB

Let's see, a debut album on a respected but still second-tier label by a new generation bluesman from that fabled blues center of Scranton, Pennsylvania? Tell me that don't have journeyman and formula written all over it. But the nature of the beast that is Clarence Spady's debut album is that while you can't really zoom in on any one element that makes it work, the music moves and grooves and most definitely works.

Spady is a good singer with a raspy growl that falls close to Johnny Copeland territory. As a guitarist, he's a capable yet not breathtaking soloist but genuinely funky in his rhythm comping, probably since he was playing in R&B showbands on the East Coast casino/resort circuit for most of the `80s. The four songs he contributed here show he's a solid songwriter, the lyrics taken from personal experience more than blues archetypes, but nothing to stamp him as a true original in that department.

What is distinctive is that the group is an organ trio (Mark Hamza supplies bass via pedals) with extra sax integrated into the group sound (Tom "T-Bone" Hamilton plays a lot more than the usual section parts and solos). Spady does have a good eye for stepping outside the usual blues repertoire for tunes by Raful Neal, Son Seals, and hard bopper Clifford Brown. Even his take on "Hi Heeled Sneakers" goes by way of Chuck Berry's "Memphis" to show off a repertoire of country licks. ~Art Tipaldi

Clarence Spady (vocals, electric guitar); Tom "T Bone" Hamilton (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); George Young (alto saxophone); Lew Del Gatto (baritone saxophone); Mike Delorenzo (piano); Steve Shiposh, Shorty Parham (drums).


[5:56] 1. Baby Baby Baby
[2:53] 2. Answer to the Man
[4:21] 3. Change My Way of Living
[7:38] 4. Nature of the Beast
[4:46] 5. Bad Axe
[5:07] 6. Built for Comfort
[5:28] 7. Picture of Love
[3:15] 8. Hi-Heel Sneakers
[5:48] 9. A Good Fool Is Hard to Find
[4:31] 10. Blues Walk
[3:04] 11. Gospel Blues


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