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Merton Abbey Blues Festival - August 2007
The Incredible Blues Puppies were the closing act of the Merton Abbey Blues Festival, and The Colour House Theatre was sold out for this gig. The band consists of ex-Yardbirds1 Nine Below Zero harmonica player Alan Glen and hisBarcodes compatriot Dino Coccia, on drums, along with BluesEngineer John O'Reilly on lead1 slide guitar, and former Paul Lamb bassist Jim Mercer.
Introduced by festival organiser and former Fleetwood Mac bassist Bob Brunning, The Puppies began with the instrumental "Puppy Fat" (from their album of the same name), which smoothly slid into Little Walter's "Aww Baby" and was followed by a funky "Sugar Sweet". Alan sang "Man Down There", also from their album, and gave an interesting demonstration 'of first position harmonica playing. The band features three vocalists, Jim and John also sing, and they manage to imbue classic Chicago blues with a sound and style that is exciting and distinctly their own. Dino on drums with Jim on both upright and electric bass provided the perfect backdrop for Alan and John. I particulaiy appreciated the interplay between the slide guitar and. harmonica on Muddy Waters' "Can't Be Satisfied and Robert Johnson's "Come On In My Kitchen", both sung by John. Jim closed the set with a stonking "Mother in Law Blues", and the band encored with Alan's swinging harmonica instrumental "Zip Your Lip". It was a great ending for the night, and for the festival. -
Elaine Williams
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| THE OVAL TAVERN, East Croydon... 18/3/07
The Incredible Blues Puppies are a collective of equally talented musicians who have all worked with top-flight exponents of the blues. Their line up is Alan Glen on vocal, harmonica and guitar, John O'Reilly on vocal and guitar, Jim Mercer on vocal and upright and Fender basses, and Dino Coccia on drums. One winning function for this band is they have no less than three vocalists, which allows for a great variety in the delivery of their songs.
Alan started proceedings singing "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" with harmonica and guitar to the fore. John then sang on "Sugar Sweet" with more fine solo work, and then Jim sang on "Blues Hit Big Town". The next two songs "That's All Right" and "Man Down There" were sung by Alan who also played and soloed on guitar in tandem with John. On "Too Bad", Jim took the vocal reins while two guitars soloed. Alan then sang on "Last Night" and "Blues Puppy Boogie", the latter featuring harmonica and segueing into "On the Road Again". John then played slide guitar on "Can't Be Satisfied" and "Come On In My Kitchen" while Alan played harp on "Stone Fox Chase". The set finished with "Move Baby Move" featuring more fine harp.
The band opted to play a long second set with John starting with "Another Kinda Love", then Alan sang on the rumba based "Walkin' To My Baby", followed by the jump jive instrumental "T-Bone Jumps Again" featuring some great jazzy guitar from John. Jim sang on "Hoodoo Man Blues"; then guest vocalist Karmen Karr sang on "Rock Me", "Hound Dog" and "Everyday I Have The Blues". The band then once again switched vocalists with Alan singing on "No Time For You", "Sweet Lovin' Mama", "Bye Bye Bird" and "Too Late", John singing on "Seven Years Too Late", and "Hard Way To Suffer", and Jim singing on "61 Highway" and "Mother In Law Blues". They finished the gig with the instrumental "Zip Your Lip" which brought the house down and left a large crowd very happy.
The Incredible Blues Puppies are a great act, and with such versatility in their line up, have something for everybody. They are all excellent musicians who have a wealth of experience, and show their expertise in a relaxed and entertaining manner. -
Bill Smith
BLUES IN BRITAIN
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