Review: Tommy Castro & The Painkillers – Closer To The Bone
Tommy Castro & The Painkillers – Closer To The Bone
Format: CD – Vinyl LP – Digital / Label: Alligator Records
Release: 2025
Text: Bert van Kessel
Californian Tommy Castro is a multitalented veteran excelling in various areas of Americana with several blues awards under his belt.
This time he and his trusted Painkillers chose to record a pure blues album, paying homage to his inspirations, the icons from the fifties; hence the album title. He hand-picked and recorded some of his favourite blues classics, adding a few self-penned originals in the same vein, thus creating an energetic and dynamic true blues album which features loads of his flexible, soulful voice and searing fretwork. He is backed up by a unit that is about as tight as they come and helped out by a bunch of talented friends.
Opener Can’t Catch A Break breathes fun and joy with funky horns provided by the Sons of Soul Revivers. It is followed by The Way You Do, a classic track by by Jimmmy Nolens. The grooving One More Night written by Johnny Nitro contains a fiercely rocking riff and features Tommy as a superb soloist. A true highlight is the self-penned slow blues Crazy Woman Blues.
She Moves Me by Johnny “Guitar Watson features Tommy’s fiancee Deanna Bogart on vocals and she does a fine job. On the self-penned Ain’t Worth The Heartache Billy Branch excels on harmonica. Tommy’s slide on Freight Train (Let Me Ride) is truly impressive. The infectious boogie Everywhere I Go (written and sung by bass player Randy McDonald) is characterised by drive and energy.
Rick Estrin’s harmonica takes Eddie Taylor’s Stroll Out West to great heights. The album’s closing track is Brownie McGhee’s solemn Hole In The Wall, which makes for a beautiful conclusion to a mighty fine album.
And up above the blues masters smile in approval of this sincere and convincing tribute.
Tracks:
01. Can’t Catch A Break
02. The Way You Do
03. One More Night
04. Crazy Woman Blues
05. Woke Up And Smelled The Coffee
06. Keep Your Dog Inside
07. She Moves Me
08. Ain’t Worth The Heartache
09. A Fool For You
10. Freight Train (Let Me Ride)
11. Everywhere I Go
12. Bloodshot Eyes
13. Stroll Out West
14. Hole In The Wall
Website: https://www.tommycastro.com/