BIG SOUND BLUES
by Harvey Pekar
Blue Lunch is one of Cleveland’s most long-lived bands; it was founded in 1984. However, the outfit didn’t begin gaining its present identity until 1995, when Bob Frank joined it as vocalist, guitarist and, eventually, de facto music director. Frank had mostly worked with the bluegrass band Hotfoot Quartet in the twenty years previous to his joining Blue Lunch. He was informed by band members when he came in that they were looking to create a combo similar to the jump blues and r&b groups that were characteristic of the California music scene in the late 1940s and early 50s.
Over the next several years he and other members of the band worked together toward that end, and today they’ve achieved their goal. They produce buoyant performances, but also display a good deal of discipline within the context of their music.
Every couple of years Blue Lunch cuts a CD. Their latest, their fourth, is impressive, a testament to their work not only as musicians but musical scholars.
It opens with IC Boogie, an infectious selection about a Southern musician who vows to leave chilly Chicago and return to his Southern roots on the IC (Illinois Central) Railroad. Solid solos are contributed here by pianist Mike Sands, harmonica player Pete London, and tenor saxman Norman Tischler. There’s a nice, enthusiastic vocal here by Frank. Alligator Meat was part of Johnny Otis’s book, a humorous novelty tune with raucous gator-growl trombone soloing by Bob Michael to add to the fun. You Got to Dance the Cha Cha With Me is about a woman who will only make love to a truck driver if he dances the cha cha with her. There’s an interpolation from Revel’s Bolero to add to the Hispanic quality of the track.
Cleveland, Ohio Blues, another Frank original, has him protesting to his wife or girl friend that he refuses to leave Cleveland to settle in Los Angeles. (“I just wanna stay here and suffer/In Cleveland, O-hi-o). His stubborn loyalty will be appreciated by like-minded Northeast Ohioans.
Raymond De Forest, bass singer and the band’s bassist, handles the lead vocal on Billy Ward’s Chicken Blues, which also contains Frank’s tasty guitar soloing. I’m Not Ashamed, associated with Bobby Bland, has another well-thought-out guitar solo by Frank as well as some intense singing by him.
Pete London wrote the boppish blues The Fidget, a feature for his harmonica work. A track that’ll get your foot tapping, it’s one of two instrumentals on the album. I Do, I Do, I Do was cut by the Five Royals, one of Blue Lunch’s favorite vocal groups, and sung by the ensemble. New Place to Hang My Hat has a defiant vocal by Frank, who’s “found a new home and a new place to hang (his) hat.” On this track his guitar work shows the influence of BB King. London takes the lead on Teardrops from My Eyes. Note here during Tischler’s solo how each of his phrases sets up the next one.
Little Boy Blue, written by Cleveland’s Robert Lockwood, has Frank, like Lockwood, playing acoustic slide guitar on his version of the tune. A humorous song about an ugly woman that the vocalist can’t put down (like Caldonia), Honey Chile has robust solos by Michael and Tischler. T Bone Walker’s Vida Lee has a good vocal and nice, understated guitar work by Frank.
Bill Doggett’s Quaker City, another instrumental, contains vigorous spots by Frank and Tischler. London has the vocal on Willie Mabon’s Poison Ivy, done over a shuffle beat. There’s a fresh piano solo by Sands on it, who also plays well on If it Ain’t Me. Good solo and obbligato harmonica work on the latter by London. Hank Ballard’s Thrill on the Hill contains some interesting fourpart harmony ensemble singing. The tune itself combines blues and gospel influences. I should also note the rock-solid drumming by Mike Janowitz on all cuts.
It isn’t easy to keep an eight piece band together. Blue Lunch doesn’t tour often because some of its members have day gigs going. The fact that Blue Lunch has lasted so long gives you some idea how good it is.
I know what a pleasant surprise their music was for me when I initially heard it. Necessity has made it a “local band,” but what Blue Lunch does, it does really well, by national standards.
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