Ronnie Earl/Duke Robillard - The Duke Meets the Earl

Genre blues Publisher Stony Plain Records External Links Ronnie Earl Duke Robillard Stone Pony Records

All blues album are great; all blues albums are boring. The Duke Meets the Earl is no exception. Eight tracks spread over seventy-two minutes here. Covers of songs by B. B. King, Magic Sam, T-Bone Walker, Eddie Taylor. A couple of originals by the guitarists. Mighty Sam McClain sings one; Jimmy McGriff plays organ. Duke and Earl play quite well. They're masters of the blues guitar and therefore masters of cliché. And that's not a putdown, exactly -- that's a fact.

I've always found the obsession with blues guitar a bit amusing. Such a legacy of the '60s and all those people trying to figure out Albert King licks. I regard blues as a vocal music; sure, guitar playing is worthwhile. But the level of same-old here is very high. One has to have a high tolerance for boredom to sit through this whole thing without a drink, a break. However, put this on at an outdoor gathering at your pad in Baton Rouge or Memphis or El Cerrito, fry some oysters and shrimp and get out some day-old Italian bread and lemons and coleslaw, make up some oyster and shrimp loaf (or my favorite, half-and-half, which means you get shrimp and oysters both), pop open your favorite beer (Turbodog would be a good choice, or Abita Amber, or go cheap if you must), and this works wonderfully well. Party music that doesn't require much thought. Hell, you might find yourself at home with someone new and that's always a mind-blowing experience.

What I'm saying is that this is a good record of its type and totally impervious to criticism or analysis of any kind. Duke solos, Ronnie solos, occasionally someone sings or whatever. Make sure your speakers are hooked up correctly, because Ronnie is coming out of the left and Duke out of the right. Well, Duke is not an especially good singer, as on "Lookin for Trouble." Competent, sort of, but again, vocals ain't the point. Merely a stopover on the way to more soloing. And that said, I quite groove on "What Have I Done Wrong," very nice. And at 6:42 it's one of the shorter songs.

In the end, the problem here (I got the blues and I look for problems, why not?), is simply one of repertoire. I'd reckon there are two hundred not-exactly-blues songs these guys could've done--you know, add some content to this whole guitar thing. Ted Taylor, Johnnie Taylor, Johnny Taylor, Swamp Dogg, Eddie Floyd, Rufus Thomas, Ornettte Coleman--I could think of a lot more. I love Magic Sam, B. B. King and T-Bone Walker, but I am awaiting the big Saunders King revival, and these guys could be on the vanguard. What? You don't know Saunders's '40s classic "S.K. Blues"? Mighty fine, and see, his songs didn't run fifteen minutes. Something to think about, bluesniks.