Amazon.co.uk Review
No bluesman so successfully segues from the secular to the sacred as singer and guitarist Joe Louis Walker, one of the genre's most complete artists.
In the Morning continues the Walker tradition of providing a comprehensive catalogue of blues styles and attitudes, from historic roots to contemporary innovations. Walker does some first-class soul-shouting while unleashing a succession of electrifying guitar lines on the propulsive, percussion-driven opener "You're Just About To Lose Your Clown". He closes the album with "Strangers In Our House", a dark acoustic showcase about love gone cold that is the album's most extended selection, as well as its most compelling demonstration of the rich emotional resonance of his voice. The eight songs in between include everything from the bouncy "Joe's Jump" to the instant R&B classic "Leave That Girl Alone" to some soul-stirring gospel on "Where Jesus Leads". The guitar work, both electric and acoustic, is uniformly excellent in all contexts, including the esoteric Stones instrumental "2120 South Michigan Avenue" (the address of the legendary Chess Records studio). Walker's gospel background colours everything he sings and his expansive guitar supplies emphasis without overwhelming the songs.
--Michael Point
Album Description
Reissue of a 2002 session by the West Coast bluesman Joe Louis Walker. Walker fuses electric and acoustic blues, R&B, soul, gospel and funk into a whole that's broad enough to appeal to blues traditionalists and progressives alike.
Personnel:
Joe Louis Walker - (guitars and vocals), G.E. Smith - (guitar), Andrea Re - (backing vocals, percussion), T-Bone Wolk - (bass), Steve Holley - (drums), David Maxwell - (keyboards)