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One of the Best Guitar Players You Never Heard Of ...Road Tested and Approved
Index Richard Norton - I Can Stand A Little Rain
Nortunes
Independent Artist
Review Published Oct 1, 1998 www.electric blues.com
For CD info contact Richard Norton
Track Listing
1 - I Can Stand
A Little Rain
2 - Watch Your Step
3 - Tombstone Sunset
4 - Welcome To The
Real World
5 - My Old Pal
(The Blues)
6 - The Gangster's
Back In Town
7 - Pay Day Rag
8 - My Wicked Ways
9 - I'm Guilty
EB Rating - 4.0
Southern California guitarist Richard Norton wrote all
the songs and co-produced his independent release I Can
Stand A Little Rain. The blues and blues/rock style
guitar playing on this CD is excellent, as good as much
of what can be found on numerous small blues labels. For most
songs, the band consists of guitar, bass and drums.
Three songs include keyboard.
There are several different elements on this CD. Of the
blues-rock tunes, I Can Stand a Little Rain and Welcome
to the Real World are most notable. The later features
some nice slide guitar. Tombstone Sunset and Pay Day Rag
are solo acoustic instrumentals. My Old Pal (The Blues)
and I'm Guilty fill the straight blues category, and
both are excellent. My Wicked Ways is a Texas shuffle
variation, and my personal favorite from the CD, The
Gangster's Back In Town, is an up-tempo, wah-wah driven,
SRV style instrumental.
All in all, I think this is a very good effort. I Can
Stand A Little Rain is the best independent CD I've
heard so far. Five of the songs are in the very good to
excellent category, with the rest of the songs rating OK
to good. There are no truly poor songs.
ElectricBlues
Reviewer/ Mick Rainsford for
Blueprint(the official magazine for the British Blues Connection)
If your tastes encompass Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughn
then "I Can Stand A Little Rain" by Richard Norton is going
to fit nicely into your particular blues bag, as he echos
Stevies style on the tittle track, and flows with beautifully
understated guitar on the low key blues of "My Old Pal (The Blues)'"
which also pays tribute to Albert King, both in the guitar style
and the songs resemblance to "As the Years go Passing By".
"Welcome To The Real World" "My Wicked Ways" and "I'm Guilty"
would all sit easily on any Johnny Winter record, being intense
performances liberally laced with with cutting slide, while the funky
"Watch Your Step" exhibits a distinctive Hendrix feel. To round things
out, Norton proves he is not confined to the blues/rock idiom with
two fine acoustic performances, using his slide on "Tombstone Sunset"
and picking in the traditional style on "Pay Day
Rag."
(c)Richard Norton Nortunes BMI 2003