A1 Artist Spotlight.Com did a phone interview with Smokin’ Joe Kubek about his CD Blood Brothers. Excerpts of the interview are also in the podcast.
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This CD is 55-minutes long, with 14 songs of pure joy. There is not one song I’d want left out. After listening to Blood Brothers for the first time, I liked every song. After a few more listens, I was in love with Blood Brothers. Smokin’ Joe Kubek’s Texas blues/rock guitar playing cuts through everything and gets you hopping. Then you have the rich full sound of Bnois King’s (pronounced buh-noyss) guitar that really compliments Smokin’ Joe’s guitar sound. Bnois also handles all the vocals, which is good because you would not want someone getting in the way of his great voice. Bnois could be a hit just as a singer. His vocals are so rich and full. Stop Drinking is a Lightnin’ Hopkins song. The other songs are written by Kubek, King, or another collaborator. The songs are full of great hooks, great guitar, and great vocals. Hey, it’s a great CD! The best review for this CD is to just listen to the songs. They sell themselves.
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The start of Joe Kubek & Bnois King’s lives are pretty much the same as the lyrics to the song Coleman Avenue. Even though Bnois wrote the lyrics, the story is pretty much the same for both of them. At a young age they heard the blues and knew that would be their calling in life. Many years later they would be on many stages trying to recapture that feeling of their youth. Joe made it clear that music is the only thing that really mattered to him. At the age of 14, Joe was playing in bands and touring throughout Texas. At 19, Joe was backing Freddie King and ready to go on tour, when Freddie passed away from heart failure. Joe also jammed with Albert King and on other occasions with Stevie Ray Vaughan who he became good friends with. In the late eighties Joe asked Bnois to sit in with his band and was amazed by how good they sounded together. Bnois has more of a jazz sound which works very nicely with Smokin’ Joe’s more blues/rock sound. From then on the two have been working together. From 1991 to 2008 they have put together 13 records on 4 different labels. Blood Brothers is an album released by Alligator Records. They tour a lot like Dylan’s “Never Ending Tour”. For the last 17 years or so they have been on tour. The songs on Blood Brothers were written during the last tour. When they got to the studio it was more of a fine tune job on the songs.
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Blood Brothers opens with “My Dog’s Still Walkin’”. Joe pointed out that there was a lot of musical influence from Jimi Hendrix. After Joe told me that, I replayed the song and could see what he meant about Hendrix’s roots. The great thing about the song is that it isn’t a Hendrix song with new lyrics. To me it sounds like a great new song with an awesome opener too.
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“Don’t Lose My Number” is their beefed up Texas version of Jimmy Reed’s song “Going To New York” with Joe on slide guitar. The song is hard kicking with great lead guitar and Bnois voice is tough sounding.
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In the early years, Joe and Bnois would listen to a cassette tape of Lightnin’ Hopkins which had the song “Stop Drinkin’”. They always liked the song so for years they’d play the song live. Now for the first time you’re going to get to hear Smokin’ Joe Kubek & Bnois King do this on their CD. Their version is eight minutes of great electric guitar picking. It’s like the first time you heard Cream do “Crossroads”. Yes, it’s Robert Johnson, but it’s really souped-up. This is more like Smokin’ Lightnin’ Hopkins and may very well become the definitive version of “Stop Drinkin’”.
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In my opinion, “Must Be Karma” should be a crossover hit with any station that plays adult rock. While the song is blues and rock, it’s not real strong on either. It’s the perfect blend of both. A song that should reach out to a much larger crowd than would normally listen to the blues. This song, to me, has hit written all over it, the hooks, the beat, and the story. Bnois voice so wonderful. I can’t imagine anyone hearing this song and not liking it. Then again I think most of the people nominated for Grammy Awards are not good enough to be on this show.
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While I’m talking about great hit songs “Coleman Avenue” must not be overlooked. This is much more of a blues song than “Must Be Karma”, but just play it for someone. They can’t help but love this great song. “Coleman Avenue” really creates a feeling of being out on the streets late at night. The mood is set just right for a story about Bnois falling in love with the blues as a young man and how this is the feeling he is trying to recreate throughout his life. This is something most people can relate to. Finding something in their youth that they love so much (music, cars, sports, whatever). It’s the driving force of their adult life. The only thing I’d change on this song is to make it twice as long, maybe in concert they will.
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“That Ring Don’t Mean A Thing” Bnois sings about a friend having an affair with someone who they know had a wedding ring on and how they should have known better. The song is a hard stomp with nice piano work by John Street and a great guitar solo.
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Like “Coleman Avenue” they set a bluesey mood for “The Pleasure Was All Mine”. I almost feel like I’m walking through a foggy dream. There are also two very contrasting lead solos. One at 2:10 and the other at 3:57.
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Blood Brothers closes with “Troubled Dreams” which contains one of Joe’s favorite guitar solos. This is another hard kicking song. Almost like an encore to the CD. One last chance to stand up and cheer.
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While I left out some songs to talk about, it does not mean they are not good songs. Just trying to keep you from being here all night when you could be listening to the podcast.
“Flame Thrower” is a good upbeat song.
“Freezer Burn” is a firey instrumental with a lot of guitar, in tribute to Albert Collins (The Iceman).”Midlife Crisis, Midnight Flight” is a fun, upbeat song. If you’re getting a little older like I am you’ll relate to the somewhat funny lyrics. Love this song.
“Bumpy Ride”, “Cold Folks Boogie”, and “Out On A Limb” all good songs.
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Like I said before, Blood Brothers is 55-minutes long without any songs you’re gonna want to skip over. I’ve only been listening to this for about three weeks and there are also a bunch of other CD’s I need to get to know for the show as well as others I’d just like to hear. Yet, Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Bnois King is who I want to listen to over and over.
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The songs played in the podcast are:
1. “My Dog’s Still Walkin’”
2. “Don’t Lose My Number”
3. “Coleman Avenue”
4. “Must Be Karma”
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The band is:
Smokin’ Joe Kubek - Guitar
Bnois King – Guitar and Vocals
Paul Jenkins – Bass
Dave Konstantin – Drums
John Street – Keyboards
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Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Bnois King - Website
Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Bnois King - MySpace page
To buy Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Bnois King’s CD Blood Brothers
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Check out other great CDs on Alligator Records
Like new ones by Michael Burks, Eddy Clearwater, Janiva Magness, Roomfull of Blues, and Marcia Ball
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I’d like to thank Joe Kubek and Bruce Iglauer for their time and help in putting this show together.
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