52 Ford by Steve Gannon Band

with Sonny Rhodes and Lady Bianca and has played many festival and concert-hall dates with both Jimmy McCracklin and Sugar Pie DeSanto (including this years' San Francisco Blues Festival).

For the last four years he has been a member of the Craig Horton Blues Band with whom he has recorded and toured extensively in the U.S.A. and Europe.

Recording credits include albums by Jimmy McCracklin, Sonny Rhodes, Sugar Pie DeSanto, J.J.Malone, Craig Horton, Jimi Mamou and Freddie Hughes as well as two albums under his own name, 'Oaktown' and '52 Ford'.

Liner Notes for '52 Ford' Album

Twenty years is a long time so it is appropriate that the release of this album should celebrate the anniversary of guitarist Steve Gannon's arrival in Oakland Ca in 1982. Having spent the previous ten years mastering the fundamentals of his chosen instrument Steve took a bold step and left his native London, England to learn how to really play the blues and what place better could he have chosen to settle than the east side of the San Francisco bay. Anyone who knows the music will tell you that along with Chicago, Oakland is a Mecca for post war blues lovers. So to come and successfully work as a regular band member for artists of the caliber of Jimmy McCracklin, Sugar Pie Desanto, Sonny Rhodes, J.J. Malone etc. etc. and appear on their recordings should be enough to tell you that he has had a schooling which is hard to equal these days. For many years he was the house guitarist at Troyce Key's legendary Eli's Mile High Club and as such he was required to accompany a multitude of visiting artists including Lowell Fulson, Buddy Ace , Charlie Musselwhite, Jimmy Mamou, Cool Papa, Beverly Stovall among many others. In addition to all this he has had a twelve year stint running the weekly jam session at Blakes on Telegraph Avenue in Berkley. Recently he has accompanied artists at the prestigious Utrecht Festival in Holland and is currently working with the highly rated Craig Horton. Unlike so many of his contemporaries he has learnt that ear busting high pitched excesses is not what the blues calls for and he knows how to lay the table in a far more subtle manner. Having witnessed the respect in which he is held by so many real blues performers I can confidently tell you that this guy knows what he is doing. So relax, listen and enjoy.

Dave Williams

Juke Blues Magazine

Reviews of '52 Ford'

English lad Steve left these shores 20 years ago to take up residence in Oakland, CA, and since then has been a mainstay in the bands of Jimmy McCracklin, Sugar pie DeSanto, Sonny Rhodes and Craig Horton, to name but a few. His guitar playing is a delight, bold and delicate in turns, changing tempos and moods at the drop of a plectrum. He turns in a nice slide piece, by way of a tribute to Rhodes, and there is an acoustic number with Indian-style percussion - a case of keep ' taking the tablas ?' His voice has a laid-back, late-night feel, and the excellent band keeps things loose, without ever losing their grip. Pure enjoyment from start to finish.

Alan Empson - Juke Blues Magazine - spring/summer 2003.

London-born guitarist Steve Gannon has been a highly valued player on the Oakland scene for over two decades, noted for his firm rhythm patterns and incisive leads with such vets as Jimmy McCracklin and Sugar Pie DeSanto. He's also a first-rate songwriter and an inviting vocalist whose down-home drawl recalls Mose Allison. Drummer Kelvin Dixon's brushes, Willie Riser's slapped upright bass, and Chris Burns' barrelhouse piano give much of the material a delightfully old-time feel. Gannon turns the vocal mike over to Dixon and Ms. Dee for one tune each and switches to slide for an instrumental salute to Sonny Rhodes that's the strongest track on this superb disc.

Lee Hildebrand - Living Blues Magazine - March/June 2004.

Average Customer Review: 3