Thu 12 Nov 2009
Hear Sandy Mack’s brand new record, as well as Sandy talking about the songs.
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Ever sense Dennis Gruenling turned me on to Sandy Mack about a year ago. I’ve wanted to do a show on Sandy Mack unfortunately his last record That’s What I’m Talkin’ About came out in 2001. In trying to do shows on newer records I waited and hoped he would come out with another record soon. Of course Sandy teased me about this because the record I used for the Dennis Gruenling show was a year older than Sandy’s last record. Up All Night is a Dennis Gruenling record that featured Sandy Mack on vocals. If after you hear this show and would like to listen to why I liked Sandy so much on Up All Night, click on this to hear that show.
Sandy Mack’s new record Still Going Strong surisingly starts off with a slow grove called “Drunken”. Now, you and I know you never start a record off with a slow song. You start it off with a bang. Someone at Blue Leaf Records must have thought if you start it off with a really strong slow grove you can save your hard hitters for latter. They were absolutely right! “Drunken” is a wonderful song. Sandy said they had the song recorded when Kid Ramos showed up at the studio to add in his part on guitar. The Kid said just play the song and he added his part flawlessly. Sandy, who likes to have a good time, added some humorous lines that make “Drunken” seem a bit drunken. That is the first track and the first reason to buy this record, the second reason is the next track “Never Enuff Rockin”. You’ll hear that in the show. “Let’s Work” is an old cover of a song by tenor sax player Big Jay McNeely, with some fine piano work by John Pittas. It’s a good uplifting song. “It’s My Life, Baby” is the same song Junior Wells did on his second solo record. It’s well done, but the Little Walter song “Shake Dancer” is even better. Sandy on harp and Ron Rauso on guitar really makes Sandy’s song “Turn My Luck Around” sparkle. Again, Sandy adds some of his humor into this song about turning his luck around after seeing some infomercials. This is a really cool song and one more reason you need to buy this record, in fact you can add in all the songs played in the show as good reasons why you will want to own this record. The record ends with another Sandy Mack song called “Love Explosion”. This is the type of song most records would start off with, but hey it’s nice to end on a real high note.
Sandy told me he feels he is just an ok singer, harp player, and songwriter, and that his real strength is his ears in hearing how the songs should sound. While I think he is much better than he gives himself credit for he is probably right about knowing what sounds right in a song. There is no real band here Sandy has pulled different musicians to play on the songs he felt they would work best on and has done a very good job of this. The real strength of Still Going Strong is the incredible musicianship and music. Some of the artists play on only a few songs while others play on most of the songs. Below is a list of some of the artists that made Still Going Strong so wonderful.
Sandy Mack – lead vocals and harmonica
Ira Kaye – drums
Kid Ramos – guitar
Andy Reidel – guitar (was also on the CD Up All Night)
Rod Rauso – guitar
John Pittas – piano
Jumpin’ Jack Strobel – organ
Dave Post – bass
Angelo Mancuso – bass
Wilbo Wright – bass
Jason Ricci says of Sandy Mack : “Sandy’s a great player and a super guy he’s responsible for not only playing some of the best blues in New Jersey but also nurturing local talent and bringing in the best Nationals.”
Songs played this week:
“Never Enuff Rockin’”
“Life Boat”
“Get Right”
“Ghost Stories”
“That’s Not Right”
Buy Sandy Mack’s Still Going Strong at Amazon.Com
Check out other blues records like Albert Castiglia, Todd Wolfe, Nicole Hart, Anni Piper, Steve Guyger, and our friend Jon Paris at Blues Leaf Records
Thanks to Sandy Mack for such a fun time in our interview.
Thanks to Rick Lusher for setting everything up.
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Blues Music and Interviews
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by A1 Mark