MISSISSIPPI HEAT
''LET'S LIVE IT UP!''
2010
60:03
1/Let's Live It Up!
Pierre Lacocque/3:53
2/Steadfast, Loyal and True
Pierre Lacocque/4:50
3/Jumpin' in Chi-Town feat. Chicago Horns
Pierre Lacocque/3:20
4/She Died from a Broken Heart
Christopher Cameron / Inetta Visor/6:06
5/Betty Sue
Pierre Lacocque/4:42
6/Another Sleepless Night feat. Chicago Horns
Pierre Lacocque/4:20
7/Peace Train
Pierre Lacocque/3:25
8/Been Good to You
Pierre Lacocque/5:25
9/I Want to Know feat. Chicago Horns
Badger / Geddins/3:54
10/Enlighten Me
Pierre Lacocque/4:46
11/Daggers & Spears
Pierre Lacocque/4:56
12/Don't Cry for Me feat. Chicago Horns
Pierre Lacocque/3:38
13/I Got Some News Today
John Primer/4:25
14/Until We Meet Again (Au Revoir et a Bientot)
Pierre Lacocque/2:23
Ruben Alvarez/Percussion
Sam Burkhardt/Sax (Alto)
Christopher Cameron/Clavinet, Composer, Hammond B3, Piano
Giles Corey/Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Soloist
Hank Ford/Sax (Tenor)
Vanessa Holmes/Vocals (Background)
Mae Koen/Vocals (Background)
Pierre Lacocque/Harp
Bill McFarland/Trombone
Rhonda Preston/Vocals
John Primer/Guitar, Soloist, Vocals
Kay Reed/Vocal Arrangement, Vocals (Background)
Inetta Visor/Vocals
Carl Weathersby/Guitar, Soloist
REVIEW
by Alex Henderson
Followers of Mississippi Heat have a pretty good idea what to expect when Pierre Lacocque's Chicago-based band comes out with a new album, but that doesn't mean that they know exactly what to expect. Although fans know that electric Chicago blues is going to be the main course, they also know that Lacocque might offer some tasty side dishes -- and on Let's Live It Up!, those side dishes range from gospel to jump blues. True to form, Lacocque (whose vocalists this time include Inetta Visor, John Primer, and Rhonda Preston) provides more electric Chicago blues than anything; in fact, the album gets off to a very Chicago-sounding start with Lacocque's "Wang Dang Doodle"-ish title song. "Wang Dang Doodle," of course, is a Willie Dixon standard that was made famous by Koko Taylor and Howlin' Wolf, and Lacocque's tune paints a similar picture of a wild, rowdy blues party in the Windy City (even though the melody is different and the tempo is faster). Plenty of equally Chicago-sounding material comes after that, but Lacocque throws listeners a curve ball on "Peace Train" (a lively gospel offering that shouldn't be confused with Cat Stevens' 1971 hit). "Daggers and Spears" employs both gospel imagery and blues imagery, and "Jumpin' in Chi-Town" is pure jump blues. Then there are the hints of jazz on "Until We Meet Again" and the tunes that are soul-influenced. So even though Let's Live It Up! has a Chicago blues orientation, it is also an album that benefits from Lacocque's awareness of gospel, soul, and jazz. Let's Live It Up! is faithful to Mississippi Heat's history, but the pleasant surprises that Lacocque offers here and there are a definite plus.
BIOGRAPHY
by Jason Ankeny
A contemporary blues combo resurrecting the vintage Chicago sound of the 1950s, Mississippi Heat was formed in the Windy City in 1992 by vocalist/drummer Robert Covington, harpist Pierre Lacocque, guitarists Billy Flynn and James Wheeler, and bassist Bob Stroger. While remaining a fixture of the local club circuit, the band's lineup remained in flux in the years to follow; Covington exited in 1993, and was replaced by vocalist Deitra Farr and drummer Allen Kirk in time to record their debut LP Straight From the Heart. Learned the Hard Way followed in 1994, with Thunder in My Heart appearing a year later; both Farr and Kirk exited in 1996, and in 1997 Mississippi Heat welcomed vocalists Mary Lane and Zora Young, pianist Barrelhouse Chuck and drummer Kenny Smith. The group's initial albums were released by Van der Linden Recordings, including 1993's Straight From the Heart, 1994's Learned the Hard Way, 1995's Thunder in My Heart and 1999's Handyman, after which they switched to Crosscut Records, issuing 2002's Footprints on the Ceiling and 2005's Glad You're Mine before moving on to Delmark Records for 2005's One Eye Open and 2008's Hattiesburg Blues.
DoWnLoAd
''LET'S LIVE IT UP!''
2010
60:03
1/Let's Live It Up!
Pierre Lacocque/3:53
2/Steadfast, Loyal and True
Pierre Lacocque/4:50
3/Jumpin' in Chi-Town feat. Chicago Horns
Pierre Lacocque/3:20
4/She Died from a Broken Heart
Christopher Cameron / Inetta Visor/6:06
5/Betty Sue
Pierre Lacocque/4:42
6/Another Sleepless Night feat. Chicago Horns
Pierre Lacocque/4:20
7/Peace Train
Pierre Lacocque/3:25
8/Been Good to You
Pierre Lacocque/5:25
9/I Want to Know feat. Chicago Horns
Badger / Geddins/3:54
10/Enlighten Me
Pierre Lacocque/4:46
11/Daggers & Spears
Pierre Lacocque/4:56
12/Don't Cry for Me feat. Chicago Horns
Pierre Lacocque/3:38
13/I Got Some News Today
John Primer/4:25
14/Until We Meet Again (Au Revoir et a Bientot)
Pierre Lacocque/2:23
Ruben Alvarez/Percussion
Sam Burkhardt/Sax (Alto)
Christopher Cameron/Clavinet, Composer, Hammond B3, Piano
Giles Corey/Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Soloist
Hank Ford/Sax (Tenor)
Vanessa Holmes/Vocals (Background)
Mae Koen/Vocals (Background)
Pierre Lacocque/Harp
Bill McFarland/Trombone
Rhonda Preston/Vocals
John Primer/Guitar, Soloist, Vocals
Kay Reed/Vocal Arrangement, Vocals (Background)
Inetta Visor/Vocals
Carl Weathersby/Guitar, Soloist
REVIEW
by Alex Henderson
Followers of Mississippi Heat have a pretty good idea what to expect when Pierre Lacocque's Chicago-based band comes out with a new album, but that doesn't mean that they know exactly what to expect. Although fans know that electric Chicago blues is going to be the main course, they also know that Lacocque might offer some tasty side dishes -- and on Let's Live It Up!, those side dishes range from gospel to jump blues. True to form, Lacocque (whose vocalists this time include Inetta Visor, John Primer, and Rhonda Preston) provides more electric Chicago blues than anything; in fact, the album gets off to a very Chicago-sounding start with Lacocque's "Wang Dang Doodle"-ish title song. "Wang Dang Doodle," of course, is a Willie Dixon standard that was made famous by Koko Taylor and Howlin' Wolf, and Lacocque's tune paints a similar picture of a wild, rowdy blues party in the Windy City (even though the melody is different and the tempo is faster). Plenty of equally Chicago-sounding material comes after that, but Lacocque throws listeners a curve ball on "Peace Train" (a lively gospel offering that shouldn't be confused with Cat Stevens' 1971 hit). "Daggers and Spears" employs both gospel imagery and blues imagery, and "Jumpin' in Chi-Town" is pure jump blues. Then there are the hints of jazz on "Until We Meet Again" and the tunes that are soul-influenced. So even though Let's Live It Up! has a Chicago blues orientation, it is also an album that benefits from Lacocque's awareness of gospel, soul, and jazz. Let's Live It Up! is faithful to Mississippi Heat's history, but the pleasant surprises that Lacocque offers here and there are a definite plus.
BIOGRAPHY
by Jason Ankeny
A contemporary blues combo resurrecting the vintage Chicago sound of the 1950s, Mississippi Heat was formed in the Windy City in 1992 by vocalist/drummer Robert Covington, harpist Pierre Lacocque, guitarists Billy Flynn and James Wheeler, and bassist Bob Stroger. While remaining a fixture of the local club circuit, the band's lineup remained in flux in the years to follow; Covington exited in 1993, and was replaced by vocalist Deitra Farr and drummer Allen Kirk in time to record their debut LP Straight From the Heart. Learned the Hard Way followed in 1994, with Thunder in My Heart appearing a year later; both Farr and Kirk exited in 1996, and in 1997 Mississippi Heat welcomed vocalists Mary Lane and Zora Young, pianist Barrelhouse Chuck and drummer Kenny Smith. The group's initial albums were released by Van der Linden Recordings, including 1993's Straight From the Heart, 1994's Learned the Hard Way, 1995's Thunder in My Heart and 1999's Handyman, after which they switched to Crosscut Records, issuing 2002's Footprints on the Ceiling and 2005's Glad You're Mine before moving on to Delmark Records for 2005's One Eye Open and 2008's Hattiesburg Blues.
DoWnLoAd