The story of “Gambling on the Blues”

          “Gambling on the Blues” is the 15th release on Mick Martin’s Blues Rock Records. It is unique in that it is the only CD that covers 30-plus years of his blues recordings, ranging from 1975 to 2006. This 2-CD set features 28 tunes, most of them originals. “These are the songs that have received the most praise and requests to be performed from audience members over the years,” Martin says. “At first, I had the songs in chronological order, then engineer Robin Farrell and I began to see a way to “program” the music and –volia! – we ended up with a highly listenable music project rather than just some kind of historic document.”
          Included are Martin’s versions of Randy Newman’s “Guilty” and Bettye Crutcher’s “It’s Hard Going Up.” Both songs were recorded in the mid-70s when Martin was fronting The Orion Express. The band had two self-released vinyl albums (an unusually bold move in that era) that mixed originals and blues covers. “That’s been our approach to music for the last three decades. I must admit I get a laugh from someone asks, ‘Who is the guest vocalist?’ I have to explain to them that it’s me at the age of 26!”
          “Call My Job” was written by Detroit Junior, Howlin’ Wolf’s keyboardist of many years. “It has become as identified with the Blues Rockers as much as any of our originals, so we had to include it.” Likewise, Bob Dylan’s “Lonesome Day Blues” brought Martin rave reviews when it was released by DIG Music as part of the live Dylan tribute, “Positively 12th & K,” while “It’s Breaking Me Up,” was the song most singled out by reviewers praising “Tip of the Hat,” a tribute to British blues pioneers also nationally distributed by DIG.
           Otherwise, “Gambling on the Blues” is comprised of Martin’s originals. Sometimes humorous in intent (“Let’s Get Nasty,” “There’s the Door”), romantic (“What Is It About You,” “Shining Star”) or even political (“The Way of the World,” “I Believe in You”), the songs combine thoughtful lyrics with foot-tapping grooves played by the finest musicians in the Northern California music scene.
          Tim Barnes’ rip-roaring guitar dominates much of the CD, but on disc two, he trades riffs with Harvey Mandel on songs 8-14. “I gotta tell you, those were some amazing live shows with me standing between two of my guitar heroes as they tore it up!” says Martin. Their energy is captured on these recordings, along with the high-powered drumming of Steve Price (Pablo Cruise) and the late Joe Murazzo, with Steve Schofer or Donna Proctor holding it together on bass. There are also guest appearances by a number of talented musicians, including the aforementioned Jackie Greene and blues legend Johnny Heartsman.
          “I’m always surprised by how the songs come out and the reaction to them. I hadn’t listened to ‘I Believe in You’ since we recorded it in 1995, but it was still relevant today. As I explain in ‘The Way of the World,’ I’m no politician, but I do miss the ‘code of honor’ that once defined the way people treated each other. Whenever possible, I do business with a handshake because that’s the kind of world I prefer to live in.”
          “What Is It About You” provided another kind of surprise. “A number of people have used it as a wedding song – who would have thunk it?”  Not that this is uncommon. The same “honor” has been bestowed upon “I’ll Always Be There for You,” “Shining Star,” “Heartbreaker,” and other Martin originals.
          “I guess you could say this 2-CD is a kind of thank you to all of the people who have supported us over the years. We’ve kept the price very low, as it was kind of a gift to us, too.” Martin says. “Although it was kind of born out of necessity, it has become a force unto itself and I’m grateful for the wonderful response it has been getting.”    

It has become a tradition that, every year when the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee is held on Memorial Day weekend, Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers put out a new CD. By 2008, both the group dynamic and the music business had changed radically; personnel changes in the band and an international move from the time-honored “record” release (in CD, LP or cassette form) to downloads made it unlikely that a new collection of music could be created in time to meet the usual deadline.
          One of the band’s more popular releases over the years had been 2000’s “Blues Rock USA,” a 2-CD retrospective of their original material covering tracks from the CDs, “Doin’ the Backseat Boogie,” “Blues Plate Special,” “Got to Play the Blues,” “Blues All Night,” “Good Reaction” (an internationally released British CD that “borrowed” songs from “Got to Play the Blues”) and “Winning Hand.” Covering the years 1991-1999, “Blues Rock USA” sold as well as the band’s innovative, new release that year, “In One Ear.”
          Given the circumstances, it seemed logical for the Blues Rockers to do a variation on the retrospective theme with “Gambling on the Blues.” It was, in fact, a statement of purpose. Since the critically acclaimed “Way Down South” was released in 2006, the Blues Rockers had become more of a “variety show,” and the blues was only part of the band’s repertoire. This was a natural outgrowth of the various backgrounds of the band members and a desire on their part to “stretch out” musically. “More and more, I became disenchanted with what we were doing,” Martin says.
          The band’s live set list, once devoted exclusively to original compositions, tributes to blues greats and obscure blues songs, had become augmented by recognizable rock hits. “I couldn’t start doing cover material after devoting my life to promoting and celebrating the blues,” Martin says, “so I left my own band!”
          The fact is that the other members had already moved away from Martin with a band called “Mr. December,” and a New Year’s Eve show featured both bands. Drummer Bruce Pressley and Martin agreed that it would be a good time to move back into the music that had served the Blues Rockers so well over the years, they recruited explosive singer-guitarist Jimmy Pailer, the Old Blues Dude (singer-guitarist from Sacramento’s long-running The Blues Exciters) and welcomed back founding member Donna Proctor on bass and vocals. “People keep telling me this is the best band I’ve ever had and that haven’t seen me smile so much on stage in years, so I guess its working. I know I’m having the time of my life.”

Gambling On The Blues - Interview with Pete Sargeant

Mick Martin is a writer and critic, a music radio DJ ( KXJZ out of Sacramento, each Saturday and on the Internet) and also a songwriter/musician/bandleader..but perhaps best known as a harmonica stylist, at least to live show audiences. Some of our site’s review material is kindly supplied or suggested by Mick. His new retrospective compilation double-CD is out now and your scribe has contributed the liner notes touching on Martin performing with us when he last came to England – so let’s just put a few questions to the artist and leave you to check out the band and record :

Q : What’s your personal feeling when you hear these cuts back-to-back ? And what impressions would you hope for from a first-time listener ?

A : Originally, the CD was to be in chronological order, starting with ‘It’s Hard Going Up’ (recorded in 1976) and ‘Guilty’ (1978) and then going on from there. But, after listening to the CD in that sequence a couple of times, it just didn’t seem ‘musical’ or ‘thematic’ enough, so engineer Robin Farrell and I started off with two message songs ‘I Believe In You’ (recorded in 1996 but even more relevant today as we question the impartiality of the new media and the honesty of politicians) and ‘The Way Of The World’ (which, simply put, about the lack of old-fashioned values like sticking to the truth, keeping your word and being honourable).Mostly however, we hope people enjoy the way the music has been put together to flow and be enjoyable to the ears, whether they are ‘lyric’ or ‘music’ people. (One of the huge revelations to me in the last few years is just how few people actually listen to the words in a song)

Q : Your voice in distinctive to the point that your biggest influences might not be too apparent to the listener, which singers meant the most to you as you developed a singing style and why ?

A : That’s a funny question in a way, as some people have asked me ‘who the young guy is’ singing ‘It’s Hard..’ and ‘Guilty’. They’re usually surprised when I say it’s me – but 30 years ago. As for singing mentors, I took the same approach as I did with the harmonica - I just wanted to sound as competent as I could and not copy anyone else deliberately. I’ll never sound like Ray Charles,so I figured the best way to go was to find my own voice

Q: What tracks on the retrospective album best demonstrate your Anglophile leanings ?

A : I’d say one in particular is definitely representative of that – ‘It’s Breaking Me Up’, the Jethro Tull song from their one blues release ‘This Was’. That song was part of the ‘Tip Of The Hat’ album, our tribute to British blues. It was cited in every on-line review as one of the best songs on that CD. So we let the public pick their favorite from that CD. That said, the concept of the Blues Rockers was to pretend that Albert King, Peter Green, Otis Spann. Jimmy Smith, Muddy Waters, Johnny B Gayden, Willie Dixon, Junior Wells and Sonny Boy Williams were ‘playing’ us like puppets. ‘One Foot In Front Of The Other’ was influenced by Jon Amor and ‘In One Ear’ was kind of an amalgam of two songs from The Sopranos series (by A3 and R L Burnside)

Q : With your current BluesRockers lineup, what elements are coming to the fore, when you perform ?

A : A commitment to the blues, which was absent from the ‘all-star revue’ CDs (’Way Down South’ and ‘Jumpin’ at Jack’s’) that caused me to re-think the direction we were taking. I was always let down when a favorite band - Fleetwood Mac, Savoy Brown or Manfred Mann, for example – went for the mainstream rather than keeping blues in the mix. Not everything on ‘Gambling On The Blues’ is a straight-ahead blues, but as a songwriter, I try to stay firmly rooted in the genre. In the current band we mix the originals with the blues, but the players Obie Dee, Donna Proctor and Jimmy Pailer were chosen by Bruce Pressley and myself to bring a ‘blues feel’ to whatever we play

Q : The reason I asked you to include ‘Freeflow’ the instrumental with guest Harvey Mandel at a live show is that I think it shows off the lineup’s cohesive playing, especially Tim Barnes’ own guitar lines – what do you remember of that show ?

A : Yes, we went with that. As for the concert, it was magic – one of the best shows I was ever part of AND we didn’t know that one of Harvey Mandel’s fans was recording it ! So it became a CD that I can still listen to and enjoy for the playing of band members (as I’m not much on listening to myself). I always said it was a thrill to have Harvey on one side and Tim on the other, two of my favorite guitarists, ripping it up

Pete Sargeant www.fairhearing.co.uk

To buy this and other Mick Martin and The Blues Rockers CD's direct, click here...

Use the links below to see more interviews and reviews

• Album Reviews:
  
• Gambling on the Blues
• One Foot in Front of the Other
  
• Winning Hand
  
• Rare and Unissued
  
• Live at Sutter Street
  
• Blues Plate Special
  
• Blues All Night