Sue Foley: Live in Austin Vol. 1 Review

Sue Foley released her new live album Sue Foley Live in Austin, Vol. 1 on October 27 on Guitar Woman Records. She’s a legend in Canada A.K.A. the “Ice Queen” and released her first album in 1992 on “Antone’s” record label. Since then she’s released 16 studio albums and appeared on another 20 as the primary artist or as a guest musician. She’s won multiple Blues Music Awards. The album was produced by Mike Flanigin and features Foley on vocals and lead guitar. Derek O’Brien plays 2^nd guitar, with Jon Penner on bass, Corey Keller on drums and background vocals by Lauren Cervantes and Angela Miller who also plays Tambourine. The live release contains a mix of 4 original tunes and 6 covers of blues classics executed with precision and respect to the original recording from two generations earlier.

The first cut on Sue Foley’s Live in Austin vol. 1 is an original title song that first appeared on New Used Car her 10^th studio album produced in 2006 by the German blues record label Ruf Records. It’s a driving rocking out performance with Foley’s sultry vocals soaring alongside her guitar licks.

“I wanna be your, love mobile

Come on baby tell me how good it feels”

“Walkin’ Home” was co-written by Foley and Robert Grant and was recorded for her 1996 album Walk in the Sun. It was the 4^th and last album to be released on Austin, Texas’ “Antone’s” record label. The cut has a rockabilly “Grateful Dead” sounding beat with driving drums and throbbing rhythm guitars accompanying Foley’s vocals. “Highwayside” is another Sue Foley composition that appears on Without a Warning her 2^nd album released on the “Antone’s” record label. It’s a country sounding tune with a driving beat and harmonious sultry vocals that includes twangy guitar riffs that bursts into sonic peals and affirmations that explain –

“When your heart’s a roadside attraction

You’re gonna break down on the highwayside again”

The next cut is “Howlin’ For My Darlin’,” a cover written by blues legends Willie Dixon and Chester Burnett A.K.A. Howlin’ Wolf. The song is a Chicago blues classic with both Burnett’s unforgettable voice and Guitar legend Hubert Sumlin’s crowning touch on the original 1960 Chess recording. Foley’s cover uses the same syncopation and covers the song without too much deviation other than embellishing the guitar riffs. “Queenbee” is another blues classic that was originally written and recorded by James Moore A.K.A. Slim Harpo in 1957. It’s been covered by everyone from the Rolling Stones to the Grateful Dead. Joan Osborne was the one who first changed the lyric from “Kingbee” to “Queenbee” when she performed it with “The Dead.” Foley’s interpretation captures the energy of the live recording with two searing guitar solos.

“Hooked On Love A.K.A. Lucky Lou” was written and recorded in 1957 by Chicago blues artist Jodi Williams. It has been called an early example of what later became known as surf music. Williams plays multiple guitar styles and Foley follows his example. “Positively 4th Street” is a Bob Dylan cover from that period in his life that he was on the streets first trying to make it. Later after folk success, he transitioned his musical style from completely acoustic traditional folk to the new electrified folk called folk rock. Folk purists at that time called him Judas and even booed him on some occasions and he fought back with his songs. Foley sings it with an easy passion and the dripping sarcasm of the original. My favorite line from the song has always been:

“When you know just as well as me, you’d rather see me paralyzed

Why don’t you just come out once and scream it?

“Me and My Chauffeur Blues” was co-written by blues guitarist Ernest Lawler and his wife Lizzie Douglas A.K.A. “Memphis Minnie.” Lawler and Minnie recorded it in 1941 on the Okeh record label and Foley plays it in the same style with some slight modifications on the lyrics. Foley then sings “Better,” an original composition in a sultry voice to a pulsating rhythm that accelerates until the guitar peals begin and ascend. Her concluding powerful vocals are accompanied by a stinging guitar outro. It first appeared on Change, her first release on the German blues Ruf Records in 2004. “High Roller” is the final song and is a “Cheap Trick” composition that first appeared on their album Heaven Tonight in 1978. The song was originally inspired by an encounter while in college with a Lake Geneva, Wisconsin drug dealer who bragged

“What I buy is mine, and I always get the things that I choose

My, my, my, I’m a High Roller”

Foley’s version is slightly toned down compared to the original “Cheap Trick” recording but it still rocks in her own distinct style that she makes her own. The album is an excellent introduction to Sue Foley for those not familiar with her. The songs included cover her career from beginning to now including her interpretations of classic blues songs by many of her influences.

The Review 8.5/10

– Walkin’ Home
– Howlin’ For My Darlin’
– Queen Bee
– Hooked On Love (aka Lucky Lou)
– Better

The Big Hit

– Better

Buy the album: Amazon