Electric Blues
Rick Carroll & Wicked Blue - Semi Automatic Slim
TRACErecords 1998
Independent Artist
 
Review Published Nov 15, 1998
Rick Carroll & Wicked Blue Official Website
CD available at Amazon.com Website


Sound Clips, Discography
Track Listing
1 - Come On In
My Kitchen

2 - Got My Eye On You
3 - Little Bird
4 - Bye Bye Baby
5 - Working Girl
6 - Bad Need
7 - Can't Find The
The Reason Why

8 - I'm Your Hoochie
Coochie Man

9 - I Just Want To Make
Love To You

10 - Goin Home

EB Rating - 4.0
New England area locals Rick Carroll & Wicked Blue crank out 7 originals and 3 classics on Semi Automatic Slim. Rick Carroll is lead guitarist and singer. Rick's voice, sounding like an angry growl with a bad attitude, is distinctive, though not exceptionally musical.
The guitar playing is what I enjoy about this CD. Rick plays raunchy, emotional leads with power and authority. But traditional blues fans and the weak of heart take heed. This music goes far beyond blues or even blues/rock. This is heavy blues, and would fit in quite nicely over at the Blues Bureau division of Shrapnel Records. Most of the songs are built on a basic blues foundation, but Rick's guitar playing and delivery of the music has a prominent hard rock/metal edge.
Of the original tunes, I found the up-tempo Got My Eye On You and the melodic instrumental Can't Find The Reason Why to be most notable. Little Bird, a heavy blues ballad of sorts, is also interesting.
Rick apply's his own styling to three cover tunes. By far my favorite song on the CD is I Just Want To Make Love To You.
Rick's aggressive playing and snarling vocals work really well with this song. Come On In My Kitchen is also very good. But I found I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man to be too far removed from the original, or perhaps I should say it's too far removed from the other blues/rock versions I've heard.
You'll definitely need to be a fan of heavy blues for this music to catch your interest. If that's the case, then I'd say chances are good. There's plenty of guitar, and enough good songs to make this an interesting CD.