Jessie Mae Hemphill – Run Get My Shotgun

Posted on January 3, 2020 by aaamc

Title: Run Get My Shotgun
Artist: Jessie Mae Hemphill
Label: Big Legal Mess
Format: CD, Vinyl, Digital
Release Date: December 6, 2019

Jessie Mae Hemphill (1923-2006) comes from a long line of legendary Mississippi blues musicians. Her great grandfather Dock Hemphill was a renowned fiddle player from Choctaw County and her grandfather Sid Hemphill was a fiddle player and bandleader who recorded for Alan Lomax and George Mitchell. Jessie Mae was a talented singer, songwriter, guitarist, and drummer whose first recordings were made with blues researcher George Mitchell and ethnomusicologist David Evans in the 1960s and ‘70s. This new release by Big Legal Mess, Run Get My Shotgun, is a collection of field recordings by the late musician from New Year’s Eve 1989, a few years prior to her retirement. Continue reading →

The Sensational Barnes Brothers – Nobody’s Fault But My Own

Posted on November 1, 2019 by aaamc

Title: Nobody’s Fault But My Own
Artist: The Sensational Barnes Brothers
Label: Bible & Tire/Big Legal Mess
Formats: CD, LP, Digital
Release date: September 20, 2019

Memphis natives Chris and Courtney Barnes grew up in a musical family steeped in gospel and soul music. Their mother Deborah was a former Raelette (Ray Charles’ background singers) and their father, Calvin “Duke” Barnes, was a local church musician. Together with their four children, the Barnes formed the musical group Joy, and more recently recorded and performed together as the Barnes Family. With this background the Barnes brothers were a perfect fit for producer Bruce Watson, of the newly launched Bible and Tire Recording Co., whose vision is to present contemporary artists performing in “the spirit and sound of the past.” After scouring the catalog of Designer Records, a Memphis-based gospel label now owned by parent company Big Legal Mess, they selected eleven songs from the early 1970s for the Sensational Barnes Brothers’ debut, Nobody’s Fault But My Own. Continue reading →

Theotis Taylor – Something Within Me

Posted on December 3, 2018 by aaamc

Title: Something Within Me
Artist: Theotis Taylor
Label: Big Legal Mess
Formats: LP, Digital
Release date: June 29, 2018

Gospel singer and pianist Theotis Taylor was born in 1920 in Fitzgerald, Georgia and grew up singing in the local Baptist church where his father was a deacon. In 1946 he joined the Georgia Harmoniers but went solo five years later, performing in churches throughout the South and cutting several singles for the Pitch label out of Savannah (he’s featured on the 2010 compilation, The Pitch/Gusman Records Story). In 1977, a representative of the American Folklife Center visited Taylor at his home in Fitzgerald to record a short interview for the South-Central Georgia Folklife Project, which also features an impromptu performance. Taylor was still in fine voice at this time, and it was just two years later that he recorded tracks for a debut album. Apparently, the project that was never commercially released and the master tapes were recently given to the Music Maker Relief Foundation and remastered for this album. Continue reading →

Bette Smith – Jetlagger

Posted on October 2, 2017 by aaamc

Title: Jetlagger

Artist: Bette Smith

Label: Big Legal Mess

Format: CD, MP3

Release date: September 29, 2017

“The Gospel According to Bette” is the most apt refrain one can give to Bette Smith’s debut album, Jetlagger. Showcasing a gritty, booming voice well fit for her pulpit of southern soul preachin’, Smith follows in the likeness of icons such as Etta James and Tina Turner, churning out message after emotional message in her razor-edged style.

A native of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Smith began her love of music at an early age, singing in her church choir at the tender age of 5. Her path to secular composition took her through music therapy classes as part of her curriculum within Colombia University School of Social Work, and into the 9-5 grind as she wrestled with her longing for musical performance outside of the clerical sphere. Her older brother Jimmy, who succumbed to kidney complications in 2013, gave his approval, offering final words of encouragement that resonated with Smith long after his passing. She formed her band slowly, but once complete she wouldn’t turn down any gig—“I’d play a senior center one day, a street fair the next.” Her perseverance paid off, and as a token to her brother’s memory, she proudly wears the color yellow on stage and in her music videos.

Smith begins her offering of soul-searching, lyrical melodies with “I Will Feed You,” which starts out with a choir of background voices slowly giving way to Smith’s musings of unrequited love. The next track, “Jetlagger,” not only allows Smith to growl her way into her listener’s hearts but also to prove her standing in the vintage soul-inspired world. “Durty Hustlin’” and “Shackle & Chain” are as diverse as their titles suggest. “Do Your Thing” makes use of strong horns, a driving bass and a winding tempo that allows Smith to do her own thing, in her own unique way. But it is her psalm “Manchild” that preaches to Smith’s audience most fervently, warning from its opening chords she “don’t want nobody tellin’ me what to do,” she “just want a manchild, I can teach my lovin’ to.”

Modern soul is Bette Smith’s gospel truth, proving when it comes to down-home, soul-searching tunes, nothing beats a classic sermon like Jetlagger.

Reviewed by Amy Aiyegbusi