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Left Hook Music [Release date 01.12.22]
It’s 45 years since Gregg Wright the self proclaimed ‘King of the rockin Blues’ cut his debut solo album back in Louisiana called ‘Khamsin’.
Since then he’s established himself as an international rock blues artist known for his stellar guitar playing and evocative baritone vocal.
In between working with the likes of Michael Jackson, Mick Fleetwood, Spencer Davis, Berlin, Aynsley Dunbar and The Gap Band, he’s also picked up a “Living Legend” Blues Award in LA, as well as being a Louisiana Music Hall of Fame inductee and he even owns his own Fret-King Black Label Corona “GWR” guitar.
‘Big Dawg Barkin’ is a career update which spans all his influences from rock-a-boogie, blues and soul to gospel, funk, psychedelia and straight up hard rock.
The album is also something of a career update as it includes re-recordings of 4 of his best songs; the grinding groove and heavy duty shuffle ‘Fast One’, the self explanatory ‘Crank It Up’, the deep blues of ‘ …Or Die Tryin’ and the live ‘Driving To New Orleans’.
His own production skills illuminate a unity of purpose born of his impeccable chops, honey dripping voice and engaging songs.
The album didn’t see the light of day until late 2022, somehow contriving to miss the best of the year list, all the more reason to spotlight it now.
From the booming opening to the rough hewn finale, this is a great document of a versatile guitarist who is happiest fronting a power trio in whatever the immediate environment.
He sets his standards high on the opening ‘Help is on the Way’, complete with a familiar stop-time Billy Gibbons riff, a John lee Hooker growl and a psychedelic groove, in which he wraps his vocal husk round some scintillating riffs and shreds.
He’s consummate post-Hendrix disciple with a warm vibrato, a sumptuous array of tones and a keen sense of dynamics, in which he constantly builds a tension with outrageous note clusters over a carpet of layered sound.
His exclamatory “look out”, gives us advance notice of some intense guitar playing to come. And yet he remains a model of restraint, showing us glimpses of his nimble fingered brilliance, while still serving the song before a final exhilarating shred.
The track sets the template for a glossy and timeless guitar driven album which could adorn the rock-blues spectrum any time between the early 70’s and now.
He’s a restless, free flowing player who let his fingers express what his brain imagines, especially on ‘Don’t Talk To My Woman’ which is full of long near lines, a big tone and smoky Hendrix style vocals.
‘Hey Lil Girl’ is a heavier sludgy sledge-hammer blues, with an exaggerated intro with plenty of sustain, whammy bar, slide and double tracked vocals.
‘Crank It Up’ is much tighter arrangement, but is slightly more mixed back with double tracked vocals on a hard rocking outing which evokes the title.
The following acoustic-into-electric melodic ballad ‘Have You Ever Seen The Wind’ has an anthemic feel and could be early Guns N’ Roses with a big sing-along hook and resolving solo.
‘Fast One’ is archetypal Gregg Wright, being a killer dance floor friendly groove with a pulsating beat, full of judicious wah wah, tight rhythmic playing, superb vocals and a catchy hook.
It’s the anchor track to the album as a whole and perfectly distils his intense, but seemingly effortless rock-blues style, in which he makes every note in his solo count in the way an actor might deliver a dramatic speech. File under 21st Century Hendrix!
He also retains a Hendrix feel on the deep blues ballad ‘…or Die Trying’ which is all about the use of space, time, fluid soloing and emotive vocal phrasing.
It’s the sort of song in which you know exactly where it will go, but it’s the journey not the destination that is important.
The 45 second long ‘Pass the Plate’ instrumental is a sister track to the equally short ‘Moving Mountains’. Both gain their purchase from their role as a conduit linking piece, albeit the former has a subtle Peter Green feel, while the latter embodies the gritty crunch of Leslie West.
By contrast, ‘Thank You, Lord’ is a rock-blues gospel outing which owes much to Albert King with its long linear lines, and is embellished by suitable call and response bv’s from The Soulful Angels who include his daughter Cheyenne Wright.
‘Long Distance’ is an exuberant B.B. King styled instrumental shuffle, with an unexpected horns section. He initially uses a shriller tone, before fattening the sound by playing double lines with the horns. This leaves enough space for a mixed back B3 solo over supportive congas from Oogie Brown.
He works hard on ‘Ya Can’t Go Back’ to bring his guitar to the front of the mix, alongside an animated vocal and an eventual soaring solo which evokes the feeling of shrugging off the past.
The late night studio vibe of ‘You Just Evil’ underscores the linear feel of an album that flows from beginning to end, as he rocks out one final time on the live psychedelic whirlwind of ‘Drivin’ to New Orleans’, taken from his 2010 Maryport Blues Festival appearance the UK.
‘Big Dawg Barkin’ is a timely reminder of a hugely underrated talent. It’s master class in hard rocking intensity, flecked by deep blues and consistently inspired guitar playing, which is never more than one side-step away from a significant Hendrix influence.
Gregg Wright is THE ‘Big Dawg Barkin’ and his bark is as loud as his bite. *****
Review by Pete Feenstra
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