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3,251,435 satisfied buyers
MP3 Blue Plate Special © - Can You Dig It !
14 MP3 Songs
BLUES: Electric Blues, BLUES: Blues Vocals
Details:
You Guys are a DREAM BAND !!!
Reviewer: Andy Grigg -- Music Editor/ Real Blues Magazine
I Listened to your CD Last night with total focus and I was blown away !! You guys are a DREAM BAND!!! Many attempt to fuse Blues and Rock but almost all fail...You guys have such an honest, urgent, raw, powerhouse sound that it literaly lifted me off my chair and had me yelling "Yeah !! That''s It !! They''ve Got It!!". There are Good, Excellent and Hall of Fame Levels... You guys are in the Top 10%. We''re putting you in our Top 100 CD''s Chart!!
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Biography
"In a time when musical groups come and go as quickly as the rapid-fire images on MTV, three Chicago area men have stayed true to their blues roots for over thirty years."
"Blue Plate Special has grown older and wiser but what hasn''t changed is their friendship, collaboration and passion for the Blues."
These two quotes, written by Darlene Ostrowski of the Glen Ellyn News and Lynn Van Matre of the Chicago Tribune respectively, acknowledge Blue Plate Special''s long time devotion to the Blues.
This Chicago based trio''s sheer enjoyment in performing together shines through in their intuitive abilities to play off each other. This leads to constantly evolving live versions of their original material.
Blue Plate Specials main influences from early on were artists Freddie King, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Willie Dixon, Albert King and Muddy Waters.
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The three members of Blue Plate Special and their own personal histories are:
R.P. Michaels
Songwriter, vocals, bass and keyboards.
Reviewer Bob Gabrella of In The Mix magazine described R.P. as a performer who "wrings the gamut of emotion from a powerful set of vocal pipes and at the same time lays down a furious range of bass licks." Ed Ivey of Blues Review said "Michaels is a great singer with gruff roadhouse vocals." Outside of his work with Blue Plate, R.P. played as an on call bassist for Muddy Waters and also Sam Lay back in 1971-72. During this time, R.P. was aided by Muddy, Willie Dixon, Charlie Musselwhite, and Cary Baker which led to gigs (Peppers, High Chaparral, Kingston Mines) and other industry contacts. Muddy and Willie''s biggest influence was to advise R.P. to concentrate on his original songwriting.
Harry Binford on guitar:
In The Mix magazine said "Harry''s searing guitar gouges at the bare walls for every last scrap of pain and heartache." Big City Blues calls his playing "Truly powerful Fender guitar." Harry has also done side work in the past, most noteworthy was with Lavelle White. Harry is everything you could want in a guitarist. Sonic Voodoo is what''s happening here. He''s influenced by the greats, but what comes out in his playing is always his own. The music industry''s next true guitar hero is here.
Kevin Johnston on drums:
In The Mix said our drummer "kicks up a really crisp and solid boogie and plays with the utmost precision and class." Kevin was previously the drummer with Buddy Guys band. Kevin joined Blue Plate Special two years ago, and his ability to get people dancing fit right in with our jammin'' blues style.
Can You Dig It! ... I knew that you could.
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Album Notes:
Four years had passed since "The Blues Ain''t Pretty" and Gary Maier, our original band partner and drummer, was retiring. Harry and I were fortunate to find Kevin Johnston (formerly with Buddy Guy), a great drummer I could totally lock in with, as it was all those years with Gary. Don Griffin, another well respected guitarist in Chicago, contacted me about his career change to Producer-Engineer at his company STUDIO VMR in Brookfield. Things seemed to be taking a new direction and we felt it was time to record again.
"Can You Dig It!"
The first song "Hard Enuff" is a hard driven musicians tune about tryin'' your best and still comin'' up short in someone''s opinion. "Can You Dig It" has a great early Savoy Brown Boogie feel to it. I miss Chris Youlden, his top hat-mink coat-cigar and cool voice. "Workin'' on Love" has a cool funk drive to it, some really explosive guitar from Harry and talks about how some folks don''t put enough effort in when it comes to Love. "Rocket In You Pocket" is based on a cliche I heard from a bartender back in ''78 when it seemed like every club we played was on Route 6 between Joliet,IL. and South Bend Ind. I love that Driving guitar figure over the thumping bass. "She''s Got My Number" has what I call an Albert Collins feel to it and features Kevin. "I Like It Like That" is a Chris Kenner tune I heard Jimmy Vaughan do years ago. Later he recorded it much differently, we kept that roadhouse feel to it. "Right Now" is where I wanna be. We tried for a Magic Sam Maghet feel on this and rolled in some growling organ. "Feel so Good" was the first song we put together for this CD. We have an inside joke about Blue Plate music giving folks Happy Feet. We took a different approach here as an Organ trio to give it a Jazzy feel. "Dark clouds may roll, but that don''t worry me--I got Happy Feet"!! This song should have made it into the Warner Bros. "Happy Feet" movie. I can just see the penguins dancing and singing along! "Luck Runs Out" is a heavy keyboard song with some scorchin'' guitar. This song is about the "Humpty Dumpty" syndrome, nobody but you can put you back together again."Yer Bad Behind" is a funky little stomp with a message -- want you to heed it well, as Bob Hite of Canned Heat used to say. Some folks out there been "Suckin'' up all the good vibes". "Baby''s Been on My Mind" has a B.B. feel to it and is simply dedicated to the one I https://www.tradebit.com, My, My.
"Don''t Lose the Spirit" was already musically finished and waiting for vocals when Katrina hit. I took a little time and came back with this dedication to the folks down in New Orleans. The Preacher says "Long is the struggle, Hard is the fight". Leave the politics out of it and bring back the spirit !! My prayers and wishes are with you." Have a Little Faith" is a great John Hiatt song that begged for a full band version, and fits so well after Spirit. "Unchain My Heart" what can I say--Ray was the man. The backup vocals here help to give it a Louis Prima tone. Who was Louis Prima? The man who rocked before rock learned to roll!! I hope you check this CD out, pick it up and Dig on it!!-------I knew you could !
R.P. Michaels
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Hats off to Andy Grigg of Real Blues magazine for the fantastic comments on this CD (at top of page) and the upcoming review in Real Blues. Check out the magazine, they cover it all!
Thank you to all you Blues fans who voted us to the #1` position for 2 months straight on ElectricBlues Radio 56 and 16 the #1 Reporting Internet Blues Station in the world. You folks are the reason we make music, to share.
Thanks to Clarence Stevens, John Bowles and KoKo Taylor at WGVE 88.7 fm South Chicago Radio for the airplay and great review (see below).
Thank you also to Paul and all his listeners at Midnight Special Blues Radio for keeping Luck Runs Out, Hard Enuff, Workin'' On Love, Yer'' Bad Behind in the Top 20 since Feb. /06.
Thank you also to DJ Smilestir and the listeners at BlueIcewater Radio. You have all played an important role in this success. Blue Icewater has played the most songs from Can You Dig It of all stations involved and I can only say this must be due to her exceptional taste in music.
Also thank you to Tom Edwards and his listeners at Bluebird Radio in the UK. This Celebration involves and is because of all. It''s a long journey for an Independent band and your company is a pleasure !!!!!
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Check out our other 2 CD''s available at CDBaby
The Blues Ain''t Pretty
and
No Place To Fade
Both on Prime Entertainment Records (Independent)
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When you purchase a Blue Plate Special CD you help us further our efforts to keep the blues alive. CD albums will still be enjoyable long after single song downloads are accidently erased and I-pods have gone the way of the 8-Track. We Thank you for your support!
So far as of 8/17/06 all 14 songs from Can You Dig It are being played worldwide including:
Hard Enuff- hit #1, Workin'' on Love hit #1,
I Like It Like That- hit #1, Luck Runs Out-hit #6,
Yer'' Bad Behind- hit #1, Baby''s Been On My Mind- hit #18
Blue Plate Special would also like to thank the following fm and am radio stations and shows for adding "Can You Dig It" to their playlists:
WRCT 88.3fm Pittsburgh,Pa.
WNTI 91.9fm New Jersey
WRSW 107.3 fm Warsaw,IN.
The Blues Cafe w/ Pat Gervais
KUNV 91.5fm Las Vegas, NV.
Nothin'' but the Blues w/ Brian(the Blues Dr.) Spencer
Back Alley Blues @ RadioAmerica-ITunes
w/Richard Mulcahey
CKRLfm-Quebec,Michel Dubois;
WWOZ 90.7fm New Orleans W/ Big D
WLUP 97.9fm Chicago
WXRT 93.5fm Chicago
KJLU fm -88.9fm - Missouri
WGVE fm -88.7fm - Gary, https://www.tradebit.com South Chicago, IL.
WBEZ fm -91.5fm - Chicago, IL.
Extensions w/Sarah Toulouse
WDCB fm 90.9 fm -Hambone''s Blues Hour
WDCB 90.9fm-Chicago,Blues Edition w/Greg Freerikson
WNJC 1360am-Philadelphia,
https://www.tradebit.com''s Blues Show;
Good Time Blues Radio fm
in Buenos Aires-Gustavo Rosenberg.
Rootstime Radio-- Belgium
UIC Radio - John Rose- Chicago,IL.
Triad Radio (formerly WXFM) Chicago
Thank You for celebrating the independents of the Blues!
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Blue Plate Special-- Can You Dig It !
Recorded at: Studio VMR- Brookfield,IL.
Engineered by : Don Griffin
for Vital Music Recording
Produced by: Don Griffin & R.P. Michaels
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Club owners and Booking Agents interested in bringing Blue Plate Special to your area ,go to https://www.tradebit.com for a printable EPK
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