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Edsel has continued its ongoing Bill Wyman Recording Archive series with a fourth and final volume dedicated to the classic Rolling Stones bassist’s Rhythm Kings.  The Kings of Rhythm Volume Four: Race with the Devil is a 3-DVD/1-CD set preserving live performances from Wyman’s spirited band of Rhythm Kings as recorded between 1999 and 2004.  Two of these concerts are previously unreleased.  With the Rhythm Kings, Wyman tapped into his own blues and rock-and-roll roots and proved the endurance of these classic songs.  (Read about past volumes here!)

The CD component of this set, Rocking the Roots, draws on a performance from January 25, 2004 at The Lowry, Salford Quays, in Salford, Greater Manchester.  This gig is also presented on DVD.  The concert featured bandleader/bassist Wyman joined by an all-star ensemble including Albert Lee and Georgie Fame as well as guitarist Terry Taylor, vocalist Beverly Skeete, pianist Mike Sanchez, drummer Graham Broad, and saxophonists Frank Mead and Nick Payn.  The R&B revue tackled such song as Ray Charles’ “I Got a Woman,” Willie Dixon’s “Down in the Bottom,” Bob Dorough and Ben Tucker’s “Comin’ Home Baby” (popularized by Mel Tormé), Jackie Wilson’s “Baby Workout,” and Louis Prima’s “Jump, Jive and Wail” – the latter an anthem for the late-1990s swing revival.  On one DVD, this concert has been joined by a show from three nights earlier, on January 22 at Bournemouth’s Pavilion.  This entirely different setlist has the freewheeling group injecting energy and zest into Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell,” Percy Mayfield’s “Hit the Road, Jack” (another Ray Charles favorite), Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You,” Berry Gordy’s “I’ll Be Satisifed” (a hit for Jackie Wilson) and Gene Vincent’s “Race with the Devil.”  (Both of these shows were released on DVD in 2004.)

Two more DVDs each present a previously unreleased performance.  Live at the Embassy Rooms, Mayfair takes viewers back to June 24, 1999 and a similar Rhythm Kings line-up anchored by Wyman, Fame, Lee, Taylor, Skeete, Broad, Mead and Payn plus pianist/singer Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, Martin Taylor on guitar, and background vocalists Janice Hoyte and Keeley Coburn.  The party feel is emphasized by the inclusion of “Let the Good Times Roll” and a medley of “Land of 1,000 Dances/Tequila/La Bamba,” while the setlist also heads into the latter 1960s and 1970s with covers of The Classics IV’s “Spooky,” John Fogerty’s “Green River,” J.J. Cale’s “Anyway the Wind Blows,” and even the Stones’ “Melody.”  This DVD boasts a host of bonus features such a promo film with Wyman, Fame and Skeete interviews and performances of “Tell You a Secret” and The Young Rascals’ “Groovin’,” plus Wyman’s own camcorder footage of the tour.

The DVD Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival was filmed at that venerable venue on July 7, 2001 with an identical line-up to that of the 2004 show plus Janice Hoyte.  There are blues classics a-plenty here including “I Put a Spell on You,” and John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom” as well as Wyman and Taylor’s originals like “Hole in the Wall” and “Jitterbug Boogie” plus singer-songwriter Dan Hicks’ “Walking One and Only.”

These lively and eclectic performances from Wyman’s swinging big band are housed in individual paper sleeves within a compact clamshell case.  A 24-page color booklet boasts a new essay from Tony Rounce as well as full credits and artwork for each concert.  The Kings of Rhythm Volume 4: Race with the Devil is available now from Edsel at the links below!

Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings, The Kings of Rhythm Volume 4: Race with the Devil (Edsel EDSB 4032, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD: Rocking the Roots (The Lowry, Salford Quays, in Salford, Greater Manchester – January 25, 2004)

1. I Got a Woman
2. Jitterbug Boogie
3. Jump, Jive and Wail
4. Baby Workout
5. Kiddio
6. Down in the Bottom
7. Comin’ Home Baby
8. Flatfoot Sam
9. Real Wild Child
10. Lights Out
11. Tear It Up

DVD 1: Live at the Embassy Rooms, Mayfair (June 24, 1999)

1. Let the Good Times Roll
2. Walking One and Only
3. Too Late
4. Motorvatin’ Mama
5. Walkin’ on My Own
6. Melody
7. Jump, Jive and Wail
8. Green River
9. Spooky
10. Anyway the Wind Blows
11. Comin’ Home Baby
12. Baby You Got What It Takes
13. Bad to Be Alone
14. Mystery Train
15. I’ll Be Satisfied
16. Tear It Up
17. Georgia/I Wish I Was in Dixie
18. Baby Workout
19. Medley: Land of 1,000 Dances/Tequila/La Bamba

Bonus Features:

Groovin’ Album Promo Film

• Interviews with Bill, Georgie Fame and Beverly Skeete
• Groovin’ (Live in the Studio)
• Tell You a Secret (Live in the Studio)

Rhythm Kings on Tour 1999: Bill’s Camcorder Memories

DVD 2: Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival (July 7, 2001)

1. Let the Good Times Roll
2. Jitterbug Boogie
3. Walking One and Only
4. Jump, Jive and Wail
5. Baby Workout
6. Chicken Shack Boogie
7. Boom Boom
8. Melody
9. I Put a Spell on You
10. Tell You a Secret
11. Mystery Train
12. Tear It Up
13. Hole in the Wall

DVD 3: Let the Good Times Roll

Rocking the Roots (The Lowry, Salford Quays, in Salford, Greater Manchester – January 25, 2004)

1. I Got a Woman
2. Jitterbug Boogie
3. Jump, Jive and Wail
4. Baby Workout
5. Kiddio
6. Down in the Bottom
7. Comin’ Home Baby
8. Flatfoot Sam
9. Real Wild Child
10. Lights Out
11. Tear It Up

Let the Good Times Roll (The Pavilion, Bournemouth – January 22, 2004)

1. You Never Can Tell
2. Muleskinner Blues
3. Days Like This
4. Jump Back
5. I’ll Be Satisfied
6. Race with the Devil
7. Hit the Road, Jack
8. Pink Champagne
9. I Put a Spell on You
10. Tell You a Secret / Band Introductions
11. Chicken Shack Boogie

Bonus Feature:  On the Road with the Band on Tour