Twist It, Babe! by Catfish Keith

"Every time I go on stage, I feel like a tightrope walker, 'cause I do tend to play close to the edge," Keith says. "I like the view better out there."

His sixth recording, Twist It, Babe!, featuring Keith on guitars, vocals and feet, and Marty Christensen on acoustic bass, has just been released on Fish Tail Records. Considering that two of his first five recordings were nominated for the W. C. Handy Award for Best Acoustic Blues Album and that all five have reached No. 1 on independent radio station playlists, this is something to get excited about. Twist It, Babe! was released in America just days before a two-month-long European tour, his 14th since 1992.

All the songs on this recording are traditional, songs that Keith says he fell in love with 20 years ago and has been playing ever since. He describes this collection as "an American treasure trove of the deepest diamonds in the rough." Keith's great love and delight in this music make Twist It, Babe! completely irresistible. "I was voracious as a youngster," he recalls, "playing and learning entire repertoires of country blues, jazz, gospel, and island music. I'd listen to a song till it was preying on my mind, and then I would commence to make my own arrangement. So these songs aren't covers so much as re-creations."

The title track was written by Bo Carter, whom Keith describes as the "master of double-, single-, and even half-entendre." It's a charming but warped arrangement, played with gusto and sung with a crooked smile. The haunting "Long-Haired Doney" is a hypnotic one-chord blues by Do-Boy Diamond in which Keith practically sings a duet with himself, alternating between a raspy baritone and a sweet falsetto.

The two masterpieces of the set are Jessie Mae Hemphill's "Eagle Bird" and the timeless, traditional, deep-Delta slide-and-moan, "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground." "Eagle Bird" soars and wails, showcasing Keith's stunning harp harmonics and power string bends, made all the more challenging and impressive by his use of "big, fat strings" (see Gearbox, page 102). This is quintessential Delta blues, and Keith swims deep in the tradition. "What inspires me about truly transcendent blues artists is their ability to spontaneously improvise entire songs," Keith says. "When Bukka White was asked where he got his songs, he said, 'I just pull 'em out of the sky.' I love that."

At the other end of the spectrum, there are foot-stomping party pieces like "Your Biscuits Are Big Enough for Me," "Walk Across the Ocean," and "Jack, I'm Mellow." "Back in Nagasaki," attributed to the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, is a rousing close to this collection of gems.

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A BRIEF CATFISH KEITH BIOGRAPHY:

Blues singer, songwriter and bottleneck slide guitarist Catfish Keith has established himself as one of the most exciting country blues performers of our time. Catfish's innovative style of foot-stomping, deep delta blues and American roots music has spellbound audiences the world over.

A two-time W. C. Handy Award nominee for BEST ACOUSTIC BLUES ALBUM, Catfish has ten NUMBER ONE independent radio chart-topping albums to his credit, and packs houses from coast-to-coast with his dynamic stage show. The 25-year veteran has toured the U.K. and Europe dozens of times to wide acclaim, headlining major music festivals, and appearing with legends John Lee Hooker, Ray Charles, Robert Cray, Koko Taylor, Taj Mahal , Leo Kottke, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Johnny Shines and many, many others.

A FEW PRESS QUOTES:

"Known to work his audiences to the bone, Catfish Keith is the real acoustic blues king!" -Rock 'n' Reel

"Breaking New Ground for Blues, Catfish Keith is a solo revelation." -The Guardian

"Raging slide guitar, intricate fingerpicking and infectious vocals." -Living Blues

"Catfish bends entire chords as well as the neck and body of his guitar to wrench emotion from his songs. Knock yourself out!" -Guitar Player

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