Although
McCracklin
had already been recording for a few years, his association with
Modern
marked his first reasonably long tenure with an established label. This 25-track disc covers his first stay with the company, covering a half dozen singles, three songs that first showed up on the 1981
Ace
album
And His Blues Blasters
, and ten demos, outtakes, and alternate takes that were previously unissued. It's solid small-combo West Coast jump blues, sometimes embellished by the tenor saxophone of
Maxwell Davis
. It's more interesting on the speedy, jumpy numbers, although
was competent at setting an after-hours vibe on the slower ones. The drums-piano-guitar trio, especially guitarist
Robert Kelton
, gets into a real frenetic groove on the 1948 instrumental
"Blues Blasters' Shuffle"
;
"Hamburger Joint"
is a silly novelty whose spoken repartee verges on sleaziness. In a more serious mood are two previously unissued
solo piano demos,
"Mistreating Me"
and
"Bad Health Blues."
~ Richie Unterberger