Blues Stop Knockin
Lazy Lester's laid-back, swamp-blues groove requires more patience than most raised-on-rock musicians can muster. Fortunately, the Louisiana bluesman has found a second home at Austin's Antone's, where house producer-guitarist Derek O'Brien and a couple of formerFabulous Thunderbirds--guitaristJimmie Vaughanand drummer Mike Buck--help lovingly renew the sound that Lester and Excello labelmateSlim Harpoforged during the 1960s. (The T-Birds helped revive interest in Lester when they covered his "Sugar Coated Love.") Highlights range from Harpo's salacious "I'm Your Breadmaker, Baby" (a close cousin to his "Baby, Scratch My Back") to the definitive shuffle of "Gonna Stick to You Baby" to the simmering "Sad City Blues," withSue Foleyon guest guitar. "No Special Rider" presents Lester as an acoustic one-man-band, while "Ya Ya" romps throughLee Dorsey's New Orleans classic. Lester makes his harmonica chirp, whistle, and wheeze, but his laconic vocals never break a sweat.--Don McLeese