Alright Again!

Personnel: Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (vocals, guitar, violin); Bill "Foots" Samuel (alto & tenor saxophones); Alvin "Red" Tyler (tenor saxophone); Joe "Champanski" Sunseri (baritone saxophone); Stanton Davis, Jr. (trumpet); Jim McMillen (trombone); David "Fingers" Fender (piano, organ); Larry Sieberth (piano); Red Lane, Myron Dove (bass); Lloyd Herman (drums).
Recorded at Studio In The Country, Bogalusa, Louisiana from June 2-8, 1981. Includes liner notes by Yorke Corbin.
ALRIGHT AGAIN! won the 1982 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Recording.
ALRIGHT AGAIN! is one of roots music wizard Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's finest moments. The 1982 Grammy-winning album finds Brown honing his particular melange of traditional blues, swing, jump, jazz, and country flavors to a punchy, sophisticated edge with the help of a 10-piece R&B big band. Impeccably tight, hard driving arrangements are propelled by a powerhouse rhythm section, while the cadre of five horns lends thick punctuation to Brown's throaty, no nonsense vocals, slashing guitar leads, and wild violin, notably on "Baby Take it Easy."
As usual, there's equal emphasis on originals and covers, as the album kicks off with tasty jump blues nods to two of Brown's kindred spirits, Albert Collins ("Frosty") and T Bone Walker ("Strollin' With Bones"). Elsewhere, Junior Parker's "I Feel Alright Again" is given a swinging treatment, and Percy Mayfield's "Give Me Time to Explain" is laid down with an uptempo walking groove. Brown's own songs, including the languid slow blues "Sometimes I Slip" and the funky "Dollar Got the Blues" display plenty of his six-string mastery, and the band sounds fresh and vital. ALRIGHT AGAIN! is a definitive document of American music performed by one of its most talented and versatile exponents.