Blue Part of Town: Steve Hackett Revisits, Expands "Blues With A Feeling"

Blue Part of Town: Steve Hackett Revisits, Expands “Blues With A Feeling”

September 20, 2016 By Joe Marchese — No Comments

Steve Hackett, the lead guitarist of Genesis between 1970 and 1977, has recently revisited his 1994 solo album Blues with a Feeling for an expanded reissue on Cherry Red’s Esoteric Recordings imprint. This release follows up other Genesis-related releases from Esoteric drawing on the catalogues of Hackett (including a reissue of his 1986 supergroup album GTR with Steve Howe), Tony Banks and Anthony Phillips.

Hackett’s first solo album, Voyage of the Acolyte, arrived in 1975 while he was still playing with Genesis. Blues was eleventh in a string of diverse albums touching on rock, pop and world music. As the title would indicates, Blues with a Feeling allowed Hackett to explore the American blues idiom of which he’d had an affinity since his teenaged years.

The artist strapped on his guitar and harmonica for a set of mostly original compositions. Notable exceptions include the album’s storming opener, Nick Gravenites’ “Born in Chicago,” and Freddie King and Sonny Thompson’s “The Stumble.” To bring these selections to life, Hackett enlisted a band consisting of Julian Colbeck on keyboards, Doug Sinclair on bass and Hugo Degenhardt on drums. Guest musicians on the album include Dave “Taff” Ball on bass and a horn section consisting of Matt Dunkley, John Lee, Pete Long and John Chapman.

Esoteric’s 2016 reissue of the original Camino Records release has been remastered from the original tapes, and features two songs newly recorded by Hackett specifically for this project. “On Cemetery Road” and “Patch of Blue” were recorded in 2016 with Hackett on guitar and harmonica joined by Roger King on keyboards. The reissue also features a brief essay by Hackett. Melding classic blues stylings with modern production techniques, Blues with a Feeling showcases another side of the legendary rock guitarist. It’s available now from Esoteric/Cherry Red at the links below!

Steve Hackett, Blues with a Feeling (Camino Records, 1994 – reissued Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2553, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Born in Chicago
The Stumble
Love of Another Kind
Way Down South
A Blue Part of Town
Footloose
Tombstone Roller
Blues with a Feeling
Big Dallas Sky
The 13th Floor
So Many Roads
Solid Ground
On Cemetery Road
Patch of Blue

Categories:

News

Formats:

Genres:

Blues, Rock

Tags:

Genesis, Steve Hackett

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.