Erin Harpe & The Delta Swingers have finally released their debut album, Love Whip Blues. On the Vizztone label, it has been worth the wait. These four local musicians have put their Boston delta sound down well on record. These tracks are brimming with something special, something that hearkens back to the original Mississippi Delta blues, back to when this music was new, fresh, exciting. With selective covers and startling originals, EH&TDS have succeeded in bringing that real down and dirty Delta sound home to their fans in New England.
Opening track “The Delta Swing” bops in with the funkiest back beat one could find in the early days of blues. Written by singer-guitarist Erin Harpe and harmonica virtuoso Rosy Rosenblatt, it waltzes its way forward with a punchy groove that even people who might not be into blues would dig. The guitar rhythms that Harpe picks are deliciously drenched in the old Mississippi grit, and the swaying lilt of Rosenblatt’s harmonica line is loaded with southern spiritual oomph.
The album’s title track “Love Whip Blues” is a nod to the Boston Afro-pop Ju Ju dancehall band LoveWhip that shares singer-guitarist Erin Harpe, bass player Jim Countryman, and drummer Bob Nisi with. Rosenblatt’s boogie blues harmonica line floats around the action like a sprightly angel, bits of greasy blues lines blowing over the top of the number. The groove makes the listener want to move his feet to an old fashioned dance pattern. Harpe’s vocal is in fine form here. Sultry, smooth, and fairly high pitched, she sings her lyrics with the naturalness of a songbird.
Harpe and her Swingers offer up even more Delta boogie on Willie Brown’s “Future Blues.” Its stomping groove has true country blues authority and Rosenblatt’s harmonica line jumps and jives as it artfully dances all over an old time count. This band could make the sausages sizzles at the county fair with this kind of dance number. An energetic vibe rings true in every instrument. You can feel the pushy muscle in the bass and drums. You can hear the sparks crackling in the harmonica flash. You can hear the smooth control Harpe maintains over her timbre, tone and dynamics in this racing to the end dance number.
“Good Luck, Baby” might be the only song on this album that blues purists would argue over whether it’s actually blues. While the measures are not strictly in the traditional blues format, what EH&TDS spice it with, deeply felt bass runs, peppy harmonica lines stretched into meaningful cries, and Harpe’s exuberant throaty rasp feel like blues when they come out of the stereo speakers with their soulfulness intact. Co-producer Dave Gross presses out edgier electric guitar notes that remind of the 1950s blues that the early country blues had turned into when Muddy started transitioning to electric.
Lucille Bogan’s “The M & O Blues” provides this Boston blues ensemble with the grist they need to create some real live Delta sparks. Guest guitarist Bob Margolin, a Muddy Waters alum, provides an edgy, chirpy slide guitar melody line that can’t be beat. It drills itself pleasantly into the song with a wide lasso of notes that could envelop all in its path, if Margolin had chosen to go down that road. It’s definitely cool how this song slowly marches forward with its huge swampy sound. Dave Gross plucks an upright bass to give off a thick dose of low end drive while Rosenblatt finesses his harmonica line into something thick and forceful, like a locomotive that is just starting to build up steam and intimidates with its potential. This cover is just a nice messy stew of blues.
“One Way Man,” a take on William Moore’s “One Way Gal.” offers a lot sultry coos, grooving’ harmonica gristle, and pulpy beats. Harpe sounds appropriately early 20th century in her vocal phrasing without ever sounding studied. She can take the listener back in time with her understated enthusiasm as Rosenblatt plays something on his harmonica that could have come off a “race record” in an earlier period in American recording.
Luke Jordan’s “Pick Poor Robin Clean” has always been a fun number for EH&THDS and their fans. A staple of their live shows, the Boston Delta gang infuse this one with personality while maintaining enough authenticity to make one feel he’s listening to something that might have been played on early radio. Its jaunty rhythms roll off of the bass and drums like something that has a mind of its own. Flinty electric guitar and knobby bass notes, both played by Dave Gross, keep this old time tune perfectly flavored in something Mississippi country blues, although its rolling, jaunty rhythms suggest it might have its origins in early circus and carnival themes.
“Virtual Booty Machine” is a LoveWhip dance number written by Erin Harpe and Jim Countryman but here it’s turned into a kind of juke joint number. Its sunny harmonica inflection, lilting acoustic guitar rhythm, and gloriously fun groove make this a happy song. You can dance to it or listen to it to raise your spirits on a dreary day. Dave Gross does some nice work on guitar and Wurlitzer, filling in the space with snappy six string notes and warm keyboard work. Harpe, being the icing on the cake, sings this one in a light, bouncy, spirited manner that fits the song like glove while adding even more life to the booty machine proceedings.
EH&TDS take Willie Brown’s “Mississippi Blues” and transform it into the “Charles River Delta Blues,” a dye in the wool blues number that lets Harpe sing the praises of the Boston blues style. She makes Mississippi feel as close as New Hampshire with her drawling vocals stretching over a muscular heft of electric guitar sizzle, harmonica boil, and a bossy groove that pushes this bus load of blues down Boylston Street.
EH&TDS close out their fine album with a fine, acoustic blues version of John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery,” one of the few versions that raise this bar band cliché above what we usually expect from it. Its intervals of acoustic guitar notes are tastefully expressive while the slide guitar work by Sonny Jim Clifford butters it in something cool. Harpe finesses Prine’s lyrics beautifully as she keeps pace with a lilting groove from a busy swinging rhythm section.
Erin Harpe & The Delta Swingers certainly have a lot to offer their fans with this fantastic debut blues album. They’re helping to bring blues music to a whole new generation by showing us how exciting this music was for people discovering it for the first time many years ago.
