Mike Whellans - Almost 42nd Street

(July 2003) 14 tracks: Jammin The Blues * Strange Love * Ragtime Joe * No Baby No * Am I Wrong * When The Curfew Blows * Meet Me At The Bottom * Jumping In The Neighbourhood * Hip Shakin * Warm It Up To Me * Ready Steady Freddie * Baby What Do You Want Me To Do? * Im In The Mood (live) * Smile On Your Face.

Mike Whellans, the one-man blues whirlwind from the Scottish Borders bops and boogies through some old-style blues and boogie woogie.

His one-man band is augmented for a couple of numbers by the New Orleans barrelhouse piano of Graham Scott * other than that, Mike plays guitar, drums, harmonica and sings.

Mike will be familiar to those who remember him teaming up with Aly Bain and Boys of The Lough in the 1960s. Since then he has been pursuing his own solo career and earning himself a reputation as one of the best live acts around.

This new album, principally recorded live with very few overdubs, succesfully captures the the energy and soul of his live act.

Featuring tracks from the likes of John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, Willie Dixon, Slim Harpo, Hudson Whittaker (Tampa Red), Keb Mo, Woody Guthrie, J B Hutto, Willie McTell plus five Whellans originals.

"These rough-hewn classics and originals about shakin' hips and blowin' curfews sound more Maxwell Street, Chicago, than Main Street, Lauder, and his vocal percussion solo Smile On Your Face will deliver exactly what it says" (Glasgow Herald)