Fire It Up

by Tinsley Ellis

Overview

With each successive album, Tinsley Ellis has moved further and further away from mainstream blues grooves and closer and closer to hard rock. While his guitar playing is as explosive as ever, it also remains unfocused, the end result being soloing that never reaches a musical climax, but is nonetheless played with an unrelenting energy that music fans who like their blues with rock muscles will appreciate. Tracks like "Diggin' My Own Grave," "One Sunny Day," "Soulful," "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)," and "I Walk Alone" sound like they could be on anybody's blues-rock or roots rock album, and even legendary producer Tom Dowd can't do much with Ellis' consistently flat and generally lifeless vocals. Only the slow blues "Are You Sorry?," the soul ballad "Change Your Mind," the Buddy Guy/Junior Wells-inspired "Break My Rule," and the laid-back set closer, "Everyday," reach for higher musical goals than the mundane. Someone special to look and listen for on this album is former Booker T. & the MG's bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn. Duck appears on seven of the 12 songs, contributing simple, unobtrusive lines that speak in their own quiet way and underpin the tracks with a groove that's beyond rock-solid. This is a well played, well produced -- if unexceptional -- set of modern blues-rock, and fans of the genre will find much here to celebrate. ~ Cub Koda

Product Details

Release Date:	05/27/1997
Label:	Alligator Records / Agogo
UPC:	0014551485223
Rank:	51125

Tracks

1. Diggin' My Own Grave
2. Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)
3. Standing on the Edge of Love
4. Soulful
5. Are You Sorry?
6. I Walk Alone
7. Change Your Mind
8. Break My Rule
9. One Sunny Day
10. If That's How He Loves You
11. Look What You Done
12. Everyday

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Tinsley Ellis   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Donald "Duck" Dunn   Bass
Scott Meeder   Drums,Percussion
Scott Koziol   Bass
Rob McNeely   Guitar
Tad Parker   Drums
Kennard Johnson   Drums
Kevin McKendree   Organ,Piano

Technical Credits

Bob DePugh   Composer
Fred James   Composer,Composer
Caram Costanzo   Mixing,Engineer,Recording
Fred Rose   Composer
Magic Sam   Composer
Tinsley Ellis   Composer
Mickey Newbury   Composer
Danny Kirwan   Composer
David Hidalgo   Composer
Samuel Maghett   Composer
Jerry Lynn Williams   Composer
Roy Acuff   Composer
Tom Dowd   Producer
Bruce Iglauer   Executive Producer
Matt Minde   Design
Paul Natkin   Cover Photo,Photography
Jason Rau   Mastering
Cleveland   Composer
Randi Anglin   Photography
Louie Perez   Composer
Ryan Williams   Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Michael Rothschild   Executive Producer
Newbury   Composer