Description
Release Date: 2008
Label: Blind Pig Records
Track List
1. Let Life Flow 4:36
2. Blues, Leave Me Alone 5:01
3. You’ve Got To Hurt Before You Heal 5:12
4. Louisiana Stew 4:21
5. Starlight Diamond 3:14
6. Another Man’s Cologne 4:48
7. Broken Dreams 4:49
8. Bleeding Heart 4:02
9. Since I Met You Baby 4:53
10. Fly Away 4:36
11. It Don’t Make Sense You Can’t Make Peace 4:15
Personnel
- Kenny Neal – guitar, bass, harmonica, vocals
- Kenny Neal, Jr. – keys track 10, percussion programming tracks 1,2,4,6,7,11, bass tracks 3,11, horn track 3
- Darnell Neal – bass tracks 1,2,4,6
- Frederick Neal – keys tracks 2,4,6
- Bryan Morris – drums
- Lucky Peterson – piano and organ tracks 3,8,9
- Joe Campbell – trumpet tracks 1,2,3,4,6,7
- Leroy Harper – saxophone tracks 1,2,4,6,7
- Alfonso Guillory – saxophone track 3
- Boney Fields – trumpet track 8
- Nadege – saxophone track 8
- Pierre Chabrele – trombone track 8
- Robin Rogers, Shelly Magee – background vocals track 11
- Jimmy Adams – piano track 1
Review
Son of Louisiana bluesman Raful Neal, young Kenny had some big shoes to fill, but he’s been more than up to the task. He plays bass, guitar, trumpet, piano and guitar, and worked in Toronto with the Downchild Blues Band as well as with his siblings in the Neal Brothers Band before returning to Louisiana in 1987 to cut his debut, Bio on the Bayou. Since then Neal has continued to blend his swampy roots with soul and R&B to put his own contemporary spin on the blues. Let Life Flow finds the 50-year-old bluesman in fine voice delivering four originals and seven covers. Neal accents “Louisiana Stew” with a long, jaunty, country flavored harp solo, while on “Fly Away” he drops a bit of sage spiritual advice into the mix. His Memphis-style guitar fills accent the tune, but it’s his gospel drenched vocals that standout. The title track has a soulful ’70s feel, with Neal’s Al Green influenced vocal, and subtle horn accents from Joe Campbell’s trumpet and LeRoy Harper’s sax. “Since I Met You Baby,” the Ivory Joe Hunter chestnut gets taken back to its blues roots by Neal’s gritty delivery. His mellow guitar solo, full of slow bent notes and full round tones complement Lucky Peterson’s rolling piano work. “It Don’t Make Sense, You Can’t Make Peace,” a Willie Dixon tune, has a swampy groove with a slight Latin tinge, mournful backing vocals, and Neal’s sanctified lead vocal. “Another Man’s Cologne” tells a familiar story of infidelity. Neal’s sneering, slightly bemused vocal and stinging guitar tell the sad story to a funky backbeat. “You’ve Got to Hurt Before You Heal,” another simmering slow blues, lets Neal show off his soulful vocal style with Peterson supplying sanctified organ work. Neal is in fine voice throughout and his understated bluesy guitar works fine.
