Published on Jun 27, 1997
One good thing about packing up the Pierce Memorial Archives for
the big move is that I’ve redicsovered some titles I forgot about
for a long time. They’re not bad titles, they’re just some that
have been pushed from my attention due to some new toys I’ve
added.
One of these was an album by the blues group Little Charlie
& The Nightcats from 1989,
The Big Break. Their third release on Alligator, this was
the first album I listened to as blues coordinator of the college
radio station. (It’s also one of the albums that left with me when
I left radio.) And while the band has unfairly continued to
struggle on the bar circuit, listening to this album again showed
me why I got interested in the blues in college.
The core of the band is guitarist “Little” Charlie Baty and, on
harmonica and vocals, Rick Estrin – but the secret to their
popularity isn’t their musicianship. It’s the sense of humor they
put into their music. On “Don’t Do It,” Estrin puts into song the
frustration we’ve all faced when our family doctor has told us to
cut out of our lives things we enjoy – only in Estrin’s case, the
list doesn’t stop. In a small way, it makes us feel like we don’t
have it as bad as Estrin’s character, and we’re able to laugh at
his misfortunes.
The title track is another example, though the humor is a little
more subtle. The preparations for an escape from jail are peppered
with the background on how our hero got himself into such deep
doo-doo in the first place. Nevertheless, one ends up hoping he
makes it – though the song is a little vague on whether Estrin and
his buddy “Snake” do indeed escape.
Other songs on this one are quite pleasurable – “Dump That
Chump,” “Side Stuff” and “Hurry Up And Wait” come to mind. Others,
like “I Beg Your Pardon” and “That’s O.K.” fall flat.
And on the weak moments, it may have helped if Baty was a little
stronger of a guitarist. He is more of a groove guitarist – able to
rip off some tasty licks when the rhythm is right, but by no means
a technical player.Bassist Jay Peterson and drummer Dobie Strange
help pull the band into a tight groove at the right times – the
band is more of a shuffle blues group than hardcore blues.
Maybe Little Charlie & The Nightcats isn’t on the same level
as, say, B.B.King, but
The Big Break is an enjoyable album to put on the old CD
player from time to time – especially when I need something to
smile about. Glad I had a chance to re-discover it before I crammed
it into a cardboard box for a few days.