2014-10-26
After a 15 year gig with the Northern Virginia based Nighthawks and a brief detour into horn-driven R & B with the Assassins, guitarist Jimmy Thackery formed the hard-hitting Drivers. This disc features 13 cuts drawn from three out of print discs from his early years on the Blind Pig label, Empty Arms Motel, Wild Night Out and Switching Gears. While there are a couple of covers here including a great live take on B.B. King's "You Upset Me Baby", George Butler's "Lickin' Gravy" and the Lowell Fulsom classic, "Honey Hush", most of the material is original and features Thackery's hot-wired guitar work leading his three piece crew through the paces. The first solo release, 1992s, Empty Arms Motel, set the stage for the terrific solo career he has crafted since then. With an immediacy that makes even the studio work sound live and raw Thackery's guitar work is spellbinding with its use of tone, dynamics and his ever inventive phrasing. He's also a fine vocalist with a gruff, take-no-prisoners approach that is as confident as his guitar work. If you missed these releases the first time around this is a good chance to catch a rocket on the way up! SmittyHANS THEESSINK & TERRY EVANS featuring RY COODER
DELTA TIME
RONNIE EARL AND THE BROADCASTERS
MAXWELL STREET
JOHNNY RAWLS
WAITING FOR THE TRAIN
DICKY JAMES AND THE BLUE FLAMES
Hard Rain
BETTE SMITH
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE BETTE
REVEREND RAVEN AND THE CHAIN SMOKIN' ALTER BOYS
SHAKE YOUR BOOGIE
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