Recording the new album was no easy task.
First Colin put together a list of 90 potential
tracks to record that was pared down to 20
with the help of co-producer Joe Hardy (ZZ
Top, Jeff Healy, Tom Cochrane). Next came
the actual task of recording. The plan was
to record all of the bed tracks live off the
floor which meant recording all 20 tracks
in just three days.
Joining Colin in Mushroom Studios were such
renowned players as drummer George Rains (Boz
Scaggs, Jimmy Vaughan) and saxophonist Greg
Piccolo from Room Full Of Blues. Kaz Kazanoff
flew into Vancouver from Austin to play baritone
and tenor sax, Reese Wynans travelled from
Tennessee to supply Hammond organ and piano
parts while John Wolf and Brian Casserly came
from St. Louis to contribute trombone and
trumpet respectively. It was an impressive
lineup of musicians that Colin says came together
naturally. "Over the years you kind of
connect with certain people. Greg I knew from
Roomful Of Blues. He brought in the guys from
St. Louis. I knew Reese from playing with
Stevie Ray Vaughan. The more you play and
work with other musicians the more you get
a feel for who can do what." Colin's
past touring stints are extensive, including
runs with Bonnie Raitt's band, Stevie Ray
Vaughan's Band, and even opening up for The
Rolling Stones. Joining the seasoned group
of out-of-towners for Little Big Band II were
Norm Fisher (bass), Eric Webster (Hammond
organ and piano) and Al Webster (drums). Vocals
and guitar overdubs were recorded later at
Colin's home studio.
Over the course of selecting the 14 songs
for the final track listing, Colin James mines
a rich cross section of the period and even
offers two cuts self-penned in the spirit
of the genre ("Rocket To The Moon"
and "Triple Shot"). It should come
as no surprise that the first single taken
from the album is Jackie Wilson's "Let's
Shout (Baby Work Out)" since Colin is
a self-professed Jackie Wilson fanatic. Wilson
scored a Top 5 hit with the song in 1963.
"When most people think of Jackie they
think of pop or R&B, but there was a time
where he did a lot of jump blues stuff. It
was a large part of his foundation."
Among the more familiar artists represented
on the album are tracks originally recorded
by Ray Charles ("Mary Anne"), Willie
Dixon ("You Know My Love") and Cab
Calloway ("C'mon With The C'mon").
It was, in fact, " C'mon With The C'mon"
that presented Colin with one of his biggest
challenges on the record. James'insistence
on authenticity led him to many musical nuggets
not heard for decades. Songs such as "Somethin's
Goin'On In My Room" (originally recorded
by Daddy Cleanhead), "I'm Lost Without
You" (from a recording by Memphis Slim)
and the album's opening cut, "Jumpin'
From Six To Six" (originally recorded
by Jimmy Wilson) are seeing the light of day
for the first time in decades.
The name Colin James entered the collective
consciousness in 1988 with the release of
his self-titled debut on Virgin Records. What
most people don't know is that Colin's career
actually started long before that day. He
grew up in a musical family in Regina, Saskatchewan
and began playing guitar at 8 years old. By
the time he was sixteen he had quit school
and left home, playing on street corners in
Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. By the age
of 20 he had hooked up with the legendary
Stevie Ray Vaughan who took Colin on the road
to open shows for him in Canada and the U.
S. A self-financed 12-inch single featuring
the songs "5 Long Years" and "Why'd
You Lie" was hand delivered to radio
stations across Canada garnering Colin his
first radio play and building a national reputation
which led to his first major label record
deal.
Since then his records have consistently
been best sellers in Canada. His second album,
Sudden Stop, included the Billboard hit "Just
Came Back." For his third album, Colin
recorded the aforementioned Colin James and
The Little Big Band album. In 1995, he made
his Warner Music Canada debut with Bad Habits.
The record was a return to his hard rocking
sound including guests like Mavis Staples,
Lenny Kravitz and Waddy Watchel. The album
showcased a much more confident and soulful
voice than had ever been displayed before.
For 1997_s National Steel, Colin pared it
down to record an album of Delta-blues classics
with his longtime friend Colin Linden. The
album turned out to be a critical smash and
won James numerous awards including the 1998
Juno Award for Best Blues Recording.
In the five years since James' almost single-handedly
revived the big band sound, groups like Royal
Crown Revue, Squirrel Nut Zippers and Cherry
Poppin' Daddies have garnered both critical
and commercial acclaim, proving that James
was no doubt ahead of his time. "I think
its recent popularity may be a reaction to
some of the early '90's nilhism. Music got
real introspective for awhile, and this is
a way to get out of your skin a little bit."
The singer likes to point to the diversity
of his repertoire, finding a common ground
in all of his musical explorations. "It's
all blues to me," he says. He also emphasizes
how important it is for the music to be heard
live. "The Little Big Band is something
you've got to see live to appreciate how big
something like this can be."
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