Luxury Experience - Elvin Bishop

The blues, along with some funk and Zydeco, have never been in better hands than that of Elvin Bishop and his 1959 Gibson Stereo ES 345 Guitar, on the release Elvin Bishop - Red Dog Speaks. The release contains Elvin's cutting wit, powerful blues grooves, and an all-star cast of musicians.

Red Dog Speaks: Red Dog Speaks; Neighbor Neighbor; Fat & Sassy; Barbecue Boogie; Many Rives to Cross; Blues Cruise; Doo-Wop Medley; Get Your Hand Out of My Pocket; His Eye is On the Sparrow; Clean Livin'; Midnight Hour Blues

Personnel: Elvin Bishop: Vocals, Guitar; John Németh: Vocals, Harmonica; Roy Gaines: Vocals, Guitar; Tommy Castro: Guitar; Ronnie Baker Brooks: Vocals, Guitar; Stanley "Buckwheat Zydeco" Dural: Accordion; Kid Andersen: Guitar; Mike Schemer: Rhythm Guitar; Bob Welsh: Piano; Ruth Davies: Bass; June Core: Drums; Bobby Cochrane: Drums; Ed Earley: Trombone, Vocals; Snakebite: Tenor Saxophone; Sir Reginald Master Dural: Rubboard; Tom Poole: Trumpet; R. C. Carrier: Rubboard; Terry Hanck: Tenor Saxophone

Elvin Bishop - Red Dog Speaks was produced by Elvin Bishop and Steve Savage and released on the Delta Groove Music label. Elvin Bishop has traveled many miles since his smash 1976 hit Fooled Around and Fell in Love, and he has accumulated stories, wisdom, and a cutting sense of humor that he expresses through his '59 Gibson Stereo ES 345 Guitar, lovingly named Red Dog. A blues veteran of 45 years, he is the epitome of someone who truly loves what he is doing. He uses "Red Dog" as a ventriloquist would use his puppet, sometimes you are not sure who is really talking.

The opening track Red Dog Speaks is a sassy slide guitar at its best with Red Dog whimpering some hot licks while Elvin introduces us to his alter ego. The track is full of playful lyrics smothered with a sultry groove and demonstrates that Elvin Bishop and Red Dog are one in the same. John Németh carries the lyrics on the track Neighbor Neighbor, which has a funky beat with a brash horn section.

Opening the door to the cutting wit of Elvin Bishop is the track Fat & Sassy where Elvin sings about his love of food, his testiness with doctors who warn about "eating bad," and his desire to enjoy life to its fullest, now. The track contains blazing guitar riffs and a fat and sassy horn section that complements a pounding piano and drum bass line. The track Barbecue Boggie is pure boogie-woogie and will have you nodding your head in time with the song. The band lays a deep blues sound to the cover track Many Rivers to Cross, and John Németh's vocals are edgy and emotional as they play off the raw blues arrangement. The track Blues Cruise, recorded live during a Blues Cruise, is carried by the Zydeco sound of Stanley Dural along with some blazing guitar riffs from Tommy Castro and Ronnie Baker Brooks, and a bluesy harmonica by John Németh.

Other tracks include Doo-Wop Medley, a look back at the sound of the 50's with Elvin leaning on the slide guitar fashioning a catchy groove; Get Your Hand Out of My Pocket, a tight arrangement that brings the band together in a rousing rendition that is the highlight of the release; His Eye is On the Sparrow, featuring more of the exemplary slide guitar work from Elvin; Clean Livin' covered solo by Elvin on vocals and guitar that includes that signature Elvin wit in the lyrics "it wasn't clean livin', that is one thing I know;" and the release closes with the track Midnight Hour Blues, a slow blues arrangement that lets the listener down gently after a joy ride through the blues with Elvin and Red Dog.