James Yancey Jones, aka
the Tail Dragger, Arkansas born and Chicago based, is pushing 60 but shows no sign of slowing down. A
Howlin' Wolf devotee, he even apes the
Wolf's deep, gruff voice on occasion. But he has a distinctive, oak-solid voice of his own, singing and shouting his way through these 11 numbers, seven of which he wrote. Guitarists
Rockin' Johnny,
Johnny B. Moore, and
Jimmy Dawkins are on one cut, and harmonicists
Billy Branch and
Martin Lang, bassist
Aron Burton, and drummers
Baldhead Pete and
Rob Lorenz help out on others, all in tune with the
Dragger's feverish notions. Primarily a pleader asking forgiveness for mean mistreating, he has the ultimate blues experience talking about love won and lost, wondering why, and stating his case. Songs about "Bertha" and "Betty" are sweeter, clearly about women he's known, "You Gotta Go" is a typical 12-bar blues, with tenor saxophonist
Eddie Shaw's honking urging the woman out the door, and "Bought Me a New Home," another 12-bar, states "new house, new woman." At his most
Wolf-ish,
the Dragger's voice is lower pitched and more pronounced for the near-nine-minute endless vamp "My Woman Is Gone," with
Branch's searing harmonica, and twin guitarists
Moore and
Rockin' Johnny, and the rhythm section signifying the ramblin' juggernaut sound that was
the Wolf. "My Head Is Bald," with
Dawkins, is king-snake patient and delicious. A "Killin' Floor"-type version of
Wolf's "Ooh Baby" further examines
the Dragger's hero worship of
Wolf. There's also a fine take of
Sonny Boy Williamson's quick stop-and-go "Don't Start Me to Talkin'," with
Lang's fine harmonica exclamations. There's a deliberate
Eddie Taylor evergreen "Bad Boy," and a nice cover of the
Muddy Waters classic "Long Distance Call," where
the Dragger comes a bit out of his
Wolf shell. The title track is destined to be be a time capsule/historical novelty,
the Dragger singing about the Clinton-Lewinsky affair, taking the President's side, telling people to "forgive him, let him do his job." A pretty fine, pure blues recording from an underappreciated roots singer in the general scheme of things. Maybe he should cop more to
the Wolf. We all could use it in these troubled days. Recommended.