Paul Jones and Dave Kelly; Blues don’t come better than this
Paul Jones and Dave Kelly
at Arlington Arts, Snelsmore
on Friday, September 5
Review by BRIAN HARRINGTON
PAUL Jones and Dave Kelly must be considered as two of the best and most experienced exponents of the blues in Britain. Both first rose to prominence in the 1960s and were co-founders of the Blues Band in 1979.
Dave Kelly had been a member of the John Dummer Blues Band, while Paul Jones fronted Manfred Mann and went on to host a highly successful blues show on BBC Radio 2.
They are both incredibly knowledgeable about the history of the blues and have played and recorded with many of the icons of the genre.
Tonight’s audience knew they were in for a treat and they were not disappointed. Dave’s guitar and slide guitar playing was superb, as was Paul’s harmonica playing, and they both still have great vocals.
They held the full attention of the audience with a mixture of information and anecdotes between songs as they shared presentation and lead vocal duties between them.
Opening with their version of the Jesse Fuller track San Francisco Bay Blues, a song which has been covered by Eric Clapton among many others, followed by If You Love Me Like You Say, a Little Johnny Taylor song.
Their set included some great surprises too. Without You for example, a track written by Paul Jones which was part of Manfred Mann’s audition session at Abbey Road studios and became the B-side of their debut 45.
Dave Kelly’s take on Georgia On My Mind was brilliant, as was his re-working of Dock Of The Bay.
Tuxedo Junction as a sensational harmonica solo piece was wonderful, with Paul Jones pointing out that his take on it owed more to the Erskine Hawkins original than to the more widely known Glenn Miller cover.
They concluded with the Blues Band track It’s Got To Be The Blues and, as a well-earned encore, the Muddy Waters song I Can’t Be Satisfied, something I’m sure not echoed by the crowd, who were more than satisfied with tonight's brilliant show.
Absolutely wonderful.
