Memphis Monday Morning

Age is no hindrance to Bobby "Blue" Bland doing what he does best — recording and entertaining. The husky-throated blues singer, who was close to 70 when this CD dropped, still has that growl that makes body hair stand on end, and he forges on stronger than ever without any noticeable quality drops — not recording-wise, anyway. Still strutting and profiling, Memphis Monday Morning commences with a taste of braggadocio à la "I'm Bobby B"; the warning to all, "I Don't Want Nobody Kicking in My Stall"; and the "I'm letting you know (that I know what you've been doing)" "There's a Rat Loose in My House." It gets even better with chilling performances of "Memphis Monday Morning" and "I Hate Missing You." The titles are interesting in themselves, and when you add Bland's Jim Beam vocals; the best musicians in Mississippi; Quanda Brooks, Thomisene Anderson, and Jewel Bass' backing vocals; and production by Tommy Couch and Wolf Stephens, you have a high-quality, potent blues grenade on your hands.