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Singer “Long John” Baldry can be considered one of the founding fathers of the British blues scene. As influential in his way as Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies were, Baldry was a contemporary of, rather than an elder to, the blues and rock stars of England during the 1960s and ‘70s. Baldry had been a member of both Korner’s Blues Incorporated and Davies’ R&B All Stars before striking out on his own with bands like Long John Baldry and His Hoochie Coochie Me, which featured a young Rod Stewart on the microphone, and Bluesology, which included future pop star Elton John on piano.

Baldry is best known in the United States for a pair of early 1970s albums – It Ain’t Easy (1971), which yielded a minor hit in “Don’t Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie On The King of Rock & Roll,” and Everything Stops For Tea (1972), which charted on the strength of its cover of Bo Diddley’s “You Can’t Judge A Book (By The Cover).” Both albums were produced by Baldry’s friends Stewart and John, each of whom took a side and worked their studio magic. By the late 1970s, however, Baldry was experiencing diminishing commercial returns and, after living in both New York City and Los Angeles, he relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia where he would later become a Canadian blues music icon.

Long John Baldry’s The Best of the Stony Plain Years

Baldry hooked up with Holger Petersen’s esteemed Stony Plain Records label in 1991, releasing his acclaimed It Still Ain’t Easy album that year. His relationship with the label would continue until his death in 2005, resulting in a handful of well-received recordings, including 1997’s Right To Sing The Blues, which earned the singer a coveted Juno Award (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy®) as “Blues Album of the Year.” Baldry’s association with Stony Plain was fruitful for both himself and the label, so it should come as no surprise that he would be one of the first artists to be honored as part of Stony Plain’s new “best of” series of compilation albums, Baldry’s The Best of the Stony Plain Years featuring eleven tracks from across the artist’s decade-plus tenure with the label.

Even if you think that you’ve heard everything there is to hear from Long John Baldry, The Best of the Stony Plain Years still manages to surprise. The album opens with “Good Morning Blues,” which includes a scrap of the singer’s first recording, circa 1958. The original recording itself is primitive, but the sentiment is not, as Baldry clearly displays as the song evolves into his contemporary take of the Leadbelly gem. Delivered with a jazzy swagger and some nice harpwork courtesy of Butch Coulter, the performance is understated but sizzling with energy. Also from Baldry’s 2001 album Remembering Leadbelly, the traditional “Midnight Special” is provided an appropriately upbeat performance with jaunty, gruff vocals and a lively big band arrangement that includes honking tuba and clarinet.

Right To Sing The Blues

Baldry plucks one more treasure from the Leadbelly songbook, taking on the often-difficult “Gallows Pole” and providing it with a strident, fast-paced arrangement that takes the song back to its folk-blues roots but manages to add a contemporary edge via its busy instrumentation. Three songs from Baldry’s 1996 album Right To Sing The Blues are included here, the best of which is his smoky take on Leroy Carr’s classic “Midnight Hour Blues.” Eric Webster provides some tinkling piano, and Rusty Reed delivers some tasty harp, but it’s Baldry’s passionate vocals that fuel the performance.

If Carr’s song is a late-night sort of tune, Baldry’s cover of Rudy Toombs’ R&B joint “I’m Shakin’” is an electrifying early-evening jam, when the party is still rockin’ and people are still dancing. Above an infectious syncopated rhythm, Baldry’s choppy, growling vocals rise above Webster’s spry piano and Papa John King’s jump ‘n’ jive fretwork, the singer referencing Howlin’ Wolf and Koko Taylor both stylistically and lyrically. “Easy Street,” by contrast, is a jazzy throwback kind of song with plenty of piano, drummer Al Webster’s subtle brushwork, and softer, swinging vocals.

It Still Ain’t Easy

Only two tracks here were culled from Baldry’s label debut, 1991’s It Still Ain’t Easy, but they’re good ‘uns nonetheless! The little-known Willie Dixon tune “Insane Asylum” is vintage Chicago-styled blues, Baldry’s sandpaper vocals contrasted by singer Kathi McDonald’s brassy tones. McDonald toured with Baldry for years, providing her dynamic backing vocals to a lot of his material, but here she takes center stage alongside the artist, belting out the words with force as Coulter’s harmonica rages and Teddy Borowiecki slaps away at the piano. “Midnight In New Orleans” is less bombastic, perhaps, but no less quality a performance, with the talented Amos Garrett adding some elegant fretwork and Daryl Bennett layering in some blasts of sax beneath Baldry’s soulful vocals and McDonald’s distinctive harmonies.

The Best of the Stony Plain Years includes a handful of rare or unreleased tracks, including an incredible performance of John Lee Hooker’s “Dimples” that was recorded live at the Edmonton Folk Festival in 1988. Leading a minimal band with his deep basso vocals, Baldry is accompanied by guitarist King and harpslinger Coulter, both of whom spice up the song with their livewire contributions. Baldry’s take on the traditional “Black Girl” comes from a previous promotional sampler, a duet with McDonald that brings out the best in both singers as they wrangle the lyrics with joyous aplomb above a ramshackle soundtrack led by Baldry’s engaging 12-string guitar. The highlight here, though, has to be the live performance of “Time’s Getting’ Tougher Than Tough” with singer Jimmy Witherspoon and guitarist Duke Robillard. Baldry duets with the R&B legend, swapping verses; both are having a grand old time while Duke and his outfit provide an appropriately swinging soundtrack.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

While I would have liked to have seen a couple of songs from It Ain’t Easy and Everything Stops For Tea included here – after all, although originally released by Warner Brothers in the 1970s, both albums were reissued by Stony Plain in 2012, so they would technically fit here – I can’t really quibble with the eleven songs offered by The Best of the Stony Plain Years. The collection nicely illustrates Baldry’s skills as a unique interpreter and arranger of classic blues, jazz, and R&B material, showcasing his frequently inelegant but impassionate and never boring vocals. A uniquely British artist who found a home as part of the Canadian blues community, The Best of the Stony Plain Years is a solid collection and a great way to discover the extensive charms of Long John Baldry. (Stony Plain Records, released June 17, 2014)



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