Artist: Myles Goodwyn
Album: Friends of the Blues 2
Label: Linus Entertainment
Release Date: 10.25.2019
Myles Goodwyn is likely not a familiar name to most American blues fans. A Canadian who has spent most of his career fronting the multi-million selling rock band, April Wine, he is a 2010 inductee in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Throughout his esteemed career that began in the early ‘70s, Goodwyn has long been a blues fan and has been writing songs for years, saving them for an eventual blues album. His first was the JUNO nominated Myles Goodwyn and Friends of the Blues. Leveraging its success, this is the encore.
Goodwyn states “I wanted to write some good blues…I really appreciate great blues material because it is timeless…” Once again Goodwyn’s decision was to use only “real blues players” and so he picked several of the best Canadian blues musicians. There are so many credits—four different drummers for example—that we’ll spare the whole cast and instead call out some highlights. These are all Goodwyn’s originals, excepting a cool interpretation of Bobby and Shirley Womack’s “It’s All Over Now” and an update of “Speedo” (call it a semi-cover). The album has a jazzy tinge to it, brought on by the guests.
Goodwyn opens with “Hip, Hip” featuring extraordinary pianist Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne who, like Goodwyn, has multiple Juno award nominations and a win. Goodwyn, who is 71, still has great vocal chops and guitar skills in evidence before Wayne ventures into his own excursion. “Like A Dog Ain’t Had It’s Day” features keyboardist Ross Billard and Matt Anderson on acoustic guitar, the latter returning again on “You Got It Bad” with Dewy Reeds on harmonica. Standout track “Fish Tank Blues” has Will Van Hansolo joining on slide guitar.
Guitarist David Gogo takes the lead on “I Saw Someone That Wasn’t There (And It Was You).” Slide guitarist John Campbelljohn is featured on “Daddy Needs New Shoes” (paired with stellar fingerpicking guitarist Jack Semple). The former also appears on “All Over Now” which Goodwyn makes almost unrecognizable with his ska beat arrangement. “Speedo (Revisited),” inspired by the original Cadillacs version, has Jeff Mosher taking a vintage R&B sax solo. One of the most different-sounding tunes is delivered in duet with six-time Maple Blues Award winning vocalist Angel Forrest on “Being Good (Won’t Do Us Any Good Tonight).”The closer (a bonus track) also stands apart from the material as it is a country song, “Even Singing Cowboys Get The Blues,” a tribute dedicated to the memory of Goodwyn’s late friend the Song Man Ralph Murphy.
Goodwyn’s strong vocals, potent guest contributions, superior songwriting, and the variety of the material all combine to fulfill Goodwyn’s mission of “real deal” blues.
—Jim Hynes
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