Scotty Anderson: Classic Scotty

Classic Scotty twangs to life with a back porch, sittin' and pickin' take on the traditional "Going Down and Feeling Bad," with a couple of classic guitar pickers, Scotty Anderson and Harold Kennedy sounding like good old country boys kickin' back and relaxing; and it's a fitting opening for a set that shifts back and forth between back country sounds and gritty hard driving blues and blues-inflected rock. Indeed, the second cut, "La Grange," slinks in on a crawlin' kingsnake/boogie chillin groove. Bring in the harmonica (Rick Marksbury) and Bill Wood growling out a deep blues vocal, with classic Scotty Anderson wailing on guitar, and John Lee Hooker is grinning in his grave. Classic. An aptly-named disc.

In keeping with the country/blues alternation, next up is Hank Williams' "Cold Cold Heart," with Anderson sounding relaxed and, well, precise. Precision ï" clean, sharp lines, whatever the style ï" seems to be Anderson's stock in trade. A stinging, ringing, country tone here on the classic Williams tune.

"We Gotta Get Outa this Place," originally an Eric Burdon and the Animals vehicle (when it was just The Animals) is up next, featuring P. Ann Everson-Price's soulful, Tina Turner-like vocal, with Scotty and bassist Michael Sherle rocking hard and solid as it gets.

Stevie Wonder's "Boogie On Reggae Woman" wraps itself around Scotty clean guitar lines and Eugene Goss's sandpaper, James Cotton-esque vocal. A great groove song.

As a reviewer, I've been known to grouse about CDs that mix stylesa ; but Scotty Anderson does it with an ease and aplomb, and somehow never loses the necessary continuity of sound. A helluva guitar outing from a premier country/blues/rock guitarist.

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