Mercy Me

by Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters, Ronnie Earl

Overview

Mercy Me is guitarist Ronnie Earl's 28th album, and his 14th for Canada's Stony Plain. Earl is a consummate master of tone -- he has never used an effects pedal. Many blues guitarists are fine soloists, but Earl is more than that: he's a true stylist and improviser who has perhaps more in common with jazz musicians though he remains willfully bound to his vocation as a bluesman. He is backed by longtime band the Broadcasters -- Dave Limina (piano and B-3), Diane Blue (vocals), Forrest Padgett (drums), and Paul Kochanski (electric and upright bass). He enlisted guests for a 12-song set, almost evenly divided between covers and originals. They include pianist Anthony Geraci, saxophonists Mark Earley and Mario Perrett, guitarist Peter Ward, and vocalist Tess Ferraiolo. Earl pays a fingerpopping tribute to Muddy Waters in covering his "Blow Wind Blow." Using B-3 and piano as driving engines, he flies across his Stratocaster strings in full treble tone. Blue swings hard on the lyric. (She is one of the finest blues singers in the game.) He offers a surprise in reading John Coltrane's modal classic "Alabama" with assistance from his sax players. The arrangement is inventive, different, but equally profound. Earl reaches for each note solemnly; his arrangement directly equates the saxophonist's memorial for 1963's 16th Street Baptist Church bombing with the ongoing struggle against virulent, often violent racism. He picks up an acoustic to duet with Ward on "Blues for Ruthie Foster," playing lines that reflect the Delta influence of Robert Johnson and Robert Jr. Lockwood. He reprises the title cut from 1988's "Soul Searching" with horns added to his sparse, tasty, soloing atop Limina's gorgeous B-3. Earl and company deliver a fine version of Dave Mason's "Only You Know and I Know" in tribute to the inimitable Bonnie Bramlett. Blue's throaty contralto is perfectly suited to this R&B gem. "A Prayer for Tomorrow" is a soulful blues that simmers and flows with inventive soloing from Earl and Geraci. The guitarist's nearly 11-minute reading of Percy Mayfield's soul-blues classic "Please Send Me Someone to Love" is a set highlight. He offers the first verse and chorus instrumentally before Blue enters passionately, understating the lyric. "Coal Train Blues" is a straightforward rocking blues with wonderful exchanges between Earl, the piano, and B-3. "The Sun Shines Brightly," co-written by Blue, is a deep, sultry, Delta-inspired gospel blues. She wails and moans atop and around droning, sharp-edged guitar lines as piano and B-3 simmer underneath. The closing cover of Jackie Wilson's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" offers a gorgeous lead vocal from Ferraiolo, leaving listeners with a joyful expression of romantic and spiritual love. As a guitarist, Earl's technical facility is well documented. That said, his taste, generosity, and vision as a bandleader and interpreter of classic material is equal to his masterful playing. Mercy Me is both perfectly balanced and intensely honest; it underscores and expands on his stature as one of the world's greatest living bluesmen. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	08/05/2022
Label:	Stony Plain
UPC:	0772532144919

Tracks

1. Dave's Groove
2. Soul Searching
3. The Sun Shines Brightly
4. Blues for Duke Robillard
5. Only You and I Know
6. A Prayer for Tomorrow

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters   Primary Artist
Ronnie Earl   Primary Artist,Guitar
Anthony Geraci   Piano
Dave Limina   Piano
Mark Earley   Sax (Baritone)
Paul Kochanski   Bass,Vocals,Bass (Upright),Bass (Electric)
Peter Ward   Guitar
Forrest Padgett   Drums
Mario Perrett   Sax (Tenor)
Diane Blue   Vocals
Tess Ferraiolo   Vocals

Technical Credits

Carl Smith   Composer
John Coltrane   Composer
Huck Bennert   Engineer,Mixing Engineer
Percy Mayfield   Composer
Raynard Miner   Composer
Anthony Geraci   Composer
Gary Jackson   Composer
Holger Petersen   Executive Producer
Dave Limina   Group Member
Paul Kochanski   Group Member
Ronnie Earl   Composer,Producer,Liner Notes,Group Member
Dave Mason   Composer
Forrest Padgett   Group Member
Mark Donahue   Mastering
Debbie Blanchard   Management,Portrait Photography
Diane Blue   Composer,Group Member
Michael Dangelmaier   Design,Retouching
Mud Morganfield   Composer
Tom Hazeltine   Band Photo,Cover Photo
Dave Clark   Road Manager