Here is another great album from John Earl Walker.  The first version of John Earl’s band were formed out of the ashes of Capitol recording artists Plum Nelly who broke up in 1976 after relocating from new York to LA.  This latest album “Come Over Here” has caught the attention. of many blues fans.  It is a truly great album which has been released through John Earl Walker’s own Walkright Records. For those who are unaware of John Earl’s previous recordings here they are;

“I’m Leavin’ You” Orchard 2003

 “Little Miss Perfect”, Orchard 2005

“People Are Talkin”, Orchard 2005

and now

“Come Over Here”  Walkright Records  2008

John Earl Walker is not an unfamiliar name in America.  He has been making music since turning professional in the mid 60’s and he and his band have a wealth of experience.  Guitar fans will love this album for the clean and exciting guitar passages and steady grooves.

I think that many radio presenters will simply love this album! Fans also will be amazed at how good it is. I couldn’t hide my own enthusiasm! On “Come Over Here” John Earl sounds exactly as we all want him to, strong’ exciting and unique! The band really have their own sound throughout but the two instrumentals are really inspired and highlight the talents of all the musicians.

Here’s the list of musicians who recorded this excellent album:

John Earl Walker  lead guitar, vocals,

Slinky Tremelo  Rhythm guitar

Peter `The Whale’ Harris , bass, backing vocals

Bobby Infante  Drums

Gene Cordew  Hammond B3 organ

Tommy Keys  Piano

Essie The Blues Lady  Vocal duet on track 4

This album should bring John Earl Walker the status and recognition he deserves.  It sounds even more powerful and energetic than John Earl’s previous album “People Are Talkin”  The album is easy to appreciate and the band are very tight throughout..  John Earl Walker mixes rock’n roll influences with rhythm and blues and pure blues.

John Earl is a complete musician, a vocalist, guitarist and composer bringing new energy to the blues. The artwork for the album is very appealing too.

Perhaps better than any recommendations are the quotes expressed by some of the best known blues masters:

`What part of the South are you from?  B B king

`Just keep on playing the way you do’  Buddy Guy

Thanks for keepin’ them blues alive  Big Jack Johnson.

as well as guitar wizard Jimi Hendrix who said `Man, that kid can really play!

The liner notes by Tess Coleman sum it up well:

“Come Over Here” is the fourth album from John Earl Walker and in my opinion the best. John and the band have served up ten scorchin’ original tunes.  The styles range from hard hitting rockers to slow blues, classic rock and funk. I definitely recommend this album!

Mladen Loncar

RADIO/KRIZEVCI 96,60 MHz

Croatia

www.soundguardian.com/blues

There's a lot to like about John Earl Walker's new album Come Over Here!. To my mind it's his best yet.  Ten original tracks with a good balance of material on the CD, both fast, slow and a couple of instrumentals as well.  A part of an artist being able to distinguish themselves from the crowd is to develop his/her own sound. John Earl Walker has gone a long way to achieve this on this CD. ….

Geoff Pegler  5EFM, Victor Harbour S. Australia

With  no exception - the albums made by John Earl Walker are lively, with catchy songs  and appealing to both rock- and blueslovers. With his recognizable guitar sound combined with talking vocals you can easily pick him out. So, he's a regular on the Blue Ears Blues playlists. 
JC Hans / Blue Ears Radio, the Netherlands

On my show I play mostly kick ass blues and mo from around the world. John Earl Walker fits into my show perfectly and my listeners love him too…a magnificent compilation of everything from throwdown to lowdown in-yo-face blues baby! Buy it! You will not be disappointed!

Nita T, Cygnus Radio, Tupelo, MS

This fourth album of John Earl Walkers is, in my opinion his best yet.  Throughout the whole album it is clear that his band enjoy what they do and they do it well.  The clever song writing exceptionally portrays contemporary blues in its modern form, yet manages to deliver the untimely message of love, heartbreak and despair.  A must buy album to add to you collection.

Dave of Dave's Blues Mix on Star FM Community Radio, St Helens, Tasmania

Come Over Here! (Walkright Productions) is John Earl Walker’s fourth studio album and his best yet.  The veteran performer serves up a powerful set of strong rockers and smooth blues that pick up where his previous effort, People Are Talkin’, left off.  Come Over Here! includes ten powerhouse tracks, all penned by Walker.

Highlights include “Tess’s Shuffle,” an instrumental which features some great Texas-based guitar from Walker .  “The Showdown” is a hard rocker with an infectious groove, and the title cut benefits from Walker ’s guitar work and Gene Cordew’s Hammond B3, while “Airport Blues” is a terrific slow blues about a long distance love affair.

“Backdoor Romance” cleverly updates a familiar blues theme, and “Pretty Pretty Baby” sounds like a long-lost 50’s tune.  The subject matter to “Poor Boy Blues” hits especially close to home for everyone, given the current tough financial times.  The closing instrumental, “Nightwalker,” is four minutes of guitar heaven.

Walker’s regular band (Joey Tremelo – rhythm guitar, Peter Harris – bass, Bobby Infante –drums, Gene Cordew – Hammond B3, along with Tommy Keys on piano, and Essie the Blues Lady, who duets with Walker on “My Last Goodbye”) adds stellar backing on these tracks.  Most of them have been playing together for years and there’s a strong sense of camaraderie. 

It all adds up to another winner for John Earl Walker, who continues to dazzle and impress with every release.

Graham Clarke

Blues Bytes

People Are Talkin' sees the John Earl Walker band coming home to the blues while still keeping the faith to the rock and roll influences that lay at the bands heart. It also mixes in a much wider blend of musical genres than their previous effort Little Miss Perfect.

This is an astonishingly well written, produced and performed album, a winner from the raspy intro of People Are Talkin' to the last note of Welcome Back Mr. Blues.

The title track opens pretty much in the same fashion Little Miss Perfect left off, blues rock, hard and direct driven home by a relentless riff and guitar/harp crossfire. This is classic John Earl Walker. The straight ahead blues of It's All Up To You follows. A gritty heavy roller that again features the guitar work of Walker and harp mastery of Johnny Byrne dominating the song and exposing the bands more rootsy underbelly. No doubt about it this band does some good rock n roll but they do great blues.

John Earl Walker in particular really leans into his playing on this disc and turns out his best recorded work to date. He is simply all over this record. The decision to record this effort with the same full band as on Little Miss Perfect proves to be the right decision. Walker has the security blanket of a rock steady rhythm section behind him here allowing the guitar wizard to completely run amok. Rocker Introductory Plan and the shuffle Lyin' And Cheatin' are both good examples. Using a mellower approach on I Got A Feeling' adds a key element to this record. The power of a potential single that could reach beyond just the devoted blues consumer. It could also provide some valuable insight to any "big" label that is looking for some well rounded talent. The best was yet to come with the second half of the record, starting off with the slow lumbering Too Sad Too Weep, which could have easily belonged in the Rolling Stones catalog during their "Some Girls" period. It's catchy lyrics and sing along melody make it another song that cry's single. Just a great song. Switching gears again, Pretty Baby is 100% country, John Earl Walker style. The best vocals on the CD are on this track with the singer falling easily into a mode where he seems most comfortable.

"I've got my guitar, I'm gonna play it,

right down by the railroad tracks,

cos my baby, she's on that train,
and this time, she ain't coming back"



With ease of effort, switching from blues to rock to country and being able to do it convincingly makes this record unique and inspired. It's all about chemistry and there is a truck load of it on this disc. For those of you that like groove oriented blues, I Still Got It Bad is just for you. This one burns. Down home & dirty, sunglasses at midnight music.

While People Are Talkin' has surpassed all other John Earl Walker releases there is one element missing. Solo wise, keyboard ace Gene Cordew is relatively absent on this disc and is relegated more toward a supporting role. His explosive playing on Little Miss Perfect (check out Follow My Heart) added so much to the intensity of that album, and I feel would have done the same thing here. There's more fire in the belly on Little Girl an up tempo boogie woogie again with impressive harmonica and lead taking center stage. Riveting as "People" was to this point, the final track qualifies as a masterpiece in comparison. Welcome Back Mr. Blues stamps in granite the undeniable fact that the John Earl Walker Band is a blues band at it's core. They may use rock and roll as a vehicle but the blues is it's transport authority. The opening thirty seconds on this track will leave you nothing less than awe struck at the sheer ferocity at which Walker can unleash when he so desires. The song, over seven minutes in length never wilts for a moment, a blues blitzkrieg and shows the whole band at their very best. It pushes the whole album to a 10.

This is required listening to any follower out there that likes their blues with a harder edge. I know one thing, with this review over, People Are Talkin' goes from my review file to my personal CD stand.


Steve Landy, 11/21/05

The John Earl Walker Band’s latest release, People Are Talking (Walkright Music), features more of the same of their hard-edged blues/rock sound, but this time there’s more of a blues edge to the proceedings. Walker, who has toiled for many years on the New York music scene, seems to have found the right combination on this release. His guitar work is just outstanding, particularly on selections like “It’s All Up To You,” and “Introductory Plan”, and his gruff vocals are what the doctor ordered on tracks like the title cut, “Introductory Plan,” “Lyin’ and Cheatin’,” and “Too Sad To Weep.”

The band, including Peter Harris on bass, Bobby Infante on drums, Joey Tremelo on guitar, Johnny Byrne on harmonica, and Gene Cordew on keyboards provide steady and dependable backing for Walker. Although all the tracks have their merits, Walker saved the best for last with “Welcome Back Mr. Blues,” a nearly seven minute blues tour de force with plenty of powerful blues guitar that you hate to hear come to an end. Fans of blues/rock will really love this one.

--- Graham Clarke ---

The John-Earl Walker Band is a blues/rock band that features John-Earl Walker, who’s been playing guitar since the ’60s, most notably with the band Plum Nelly, who recorded for Capitol in the ’70s. After Plum Nelly’s breakup in the mid ’70s, Walker has toiled in relative obscurity, but still playing, writing songs, and singing around the New York area. He resurfaced in 2002 with the self-released album, Little Miss Perfect which features 12 original compositions and some scorching guitar at times reminiscent of Stevie Ray Vaughan, but also shows traces of some of his guitar heroes including Freddie King, Albert King, Magic Sam, and T-Bone Walker. Walker is also an effective singer and the band provides rock-solid support. Standout tracks on Little Miss Perfect include “Hurricane,” “You Let Me Down,” “Last Time Out,” and the title track. Walker subsequently released I’m Leavin’ You, which features fewer band members, but doesn't lose any of the band’s muscular sound in the process.  Walker’s outstanding fretwork is still the catalyst, but there are some pretty good songs on this disc as well, including the title track, “My First Guitar,” “Second Hand Man,” “I Put You First,“ and “The Last Time.”  Fans of blues/rock in the Hendrix/SRV vein will want to give these two fine discs a listen.

--- Graham Clarke

They say that there is no substitute for experience, and being of the Half-Century Club myself, I would certainly concur with that statement. There is a huge number of young guns on the blues and blues/rock scene these days, perhaps more now that ever. They are fast, brash, and confident but inexperienced nonetheless. Paying ones dues is not a popular practice these days and quite frankly, a lot of the blues community is unwilling to embrace a lot of these artists who get a big label push without first developing and nurturing a local, then regional fan base and building their reputation and career from the ground up.

New York guitarist John Earl Walker has been playing professionally since 1965. His lengthy resume includes a stint with a major label as a founding member of the Capitol Recording band Plum Nelly from 1970-1976. Since the band's breakup, Walker has continued to write, play, and sing, as do so many great artists in this genre, in relative obscurity. He has paid his dues and then some.

Walker has re-surfaced in 2002 with a vengeance on his latest recording "Little Miss Perfect" from his current John Earl Walker Band. The band, which includes a talented lineup of veterans Joey Tremelo on second guitar, Bobby Infante on drums, Peter Harris on bass, and Gene Cordew on keyboards, really pumps up the energy on this latest set of 12 John Earl Walker originals. The band sounds a bit like what might have happened several years ago if Dire Straits had determined to become more of a British type blues band. They also remind me some of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, though the band has a more raw, edgier sound. Walker's guitar work is aggressive and his tone nasty. This is definitely a recording that you will want to play at window shaking volume level.

This is some very excellent rockin' blues and another recording that all you ax-aholics will want to own. I particularly enjoyed "She Looks At Me", the very hot title track, "Hurricane", which may be my favorite on the set, and "Last Time Out", which also includes some great harp from special guest Johnny Byrne.

Visit Tom Branson's Bluesrockers

for news and views on Blues!

by Dave King, 
Blues Harp House Party

Setting a guitar on fire on stage is purely theatrics that may pre-date Hendrix,  done to shock and awe the audience.  John Earl Walker doesn't  have to resort to such theatrics.  He has to  be careful not to catch any house he plays on fire.   The fire that flies from his fingertips would leave any venue he plays a pile of smoldering ash.   He is incendiary, pure fire...  His band ( not to be forgotten)   equally so....

Cross Harp Chronicles

by David Shutte
Damn Right I Got Blues

My favorite part about this album is how you can smell the smoke, feel the heat, and hear the amp. buzz as if I was there with you live at my  favorite Blues Joint.  It is hard to capture that live experience on a recording, and you have done it.  Hats off!

Damn Right I Got Blues :: Where The Blues Never Die

The John Earl Walker Band
I'm Leaving You

On the first listen to this disc I liked the guitar playing, but I wasn't getting with the vocals. However, on the second listen I suddenly got it. Mr. Earl sounds like "Lou Reed meets SRV".

The more I listen to it, the more I dig it. John Earl Walker's guitar has a low down natural sound. (No extra whistles and bells) and a vocal style all his own. John Murphy on bass and Bobby Infante on drums lay down a solid base for Mr. Walker to work his magic on. I can clearly see why this band is so popular in the local clubs.Walker's songwriting and guitar playing both have a good sense of humor mixed with some very tasty licks. This is the kind of band I love to see live. My absolute favorite is "I Turn To You". Great lyrics and smokin' guitar. "Second Hand Man" has a nice funky groove. I'm sure this one gets the crowd up on the dance floor. The album ends on a rockin' note with "My Baby's Got Plans". Nice blend of guitar and harp licks. If I were you I would find out where these guys are playing and go see them live. While you're there, buy a copy of this new CD. A nice addition to your Blues library.
- Jim Tillerman

INET
The John Earl Walker Band

The John Earl Walker Band hit's a Crisp & Frosty Stride on this CD. Deep fried & Served up steaming, this CD is almost too cold to hold, but guarenteed to burn anything in listening distance. alker Band hit's a Crisp & Frosty Stride on this CD. Deep fried & Served up steaming, k to g

The seasoned and accomplished singer/ guitarist Walker has a superior blues-rock disc here with the snarling "Gonna Miss Me" setting the tone. Walker's growl and fiery licks are perfectly calibrated for this material. "I'm Leaving You" echoes Stevie Ray Vaughan. "I Put You First" ("but you put me last") is less powerful vocally than the others, but serves up a Los Lobos-like vibe that we like. Walker and company paint with all shades of the blues-rock spectrum.

Artist: The John Earl Walker Band
I'm Leavin'You

Home: New York

Style: Blues/Blues-Rock

Quote: "This is perfect, smoky, bar room blues."

John Earl Walker is no newcomer to the music game, having been a professional guitar player since the mid 60’s. This experience certainly shines through on the The John Earl Walker Band’s new release I’m Leavin’ You.

This is perfect, smoky, bar room blues. All the songs feature highly driving guitar riffs with excellent solo work that ranges from soft textured blues licks to wailing rock tones. Walker’s powerful guitar is backed up by fantastic rhythm from John Murphy on bass and Bobby Infante on the drums. This album develops a great mood and is the perfect soundtrack for a night of drinking whiskey and playing pool at the local watering hole.

My favorite track had to be “The Last Time”. Not only the longest on the album, but a standout in subject matter. Few artists can effectively take the subject of murder and put a delightfully hilarious spin on it as Walker and his cohorts were able to. Some of the other highlight tracks are “My First Guitar” and “Sad Sad Day”.

The John Earl Walker Band delivers a solid collection of ten blues rock tunes that beg for a repeated listen and would make a great addition to any jukebox.

As difficult as it is for a band to create an excellent recording, it is generally much more of a challenge for them to record a follow-up CD of equal or better quality. Some call this the "sophomore jinx" which can be attributed to numerous reasons, ranging from insufficient creative spark to the apathy sometimes brought on by success. It is not a problem, however, evident in the New York based John Earl Walker Band. Their current release "I'm Leavin' You" comes on the heels of their critically acclaimed "Little Miss Perfect" and is in no case a creative step backwards. Quite the contrary, the CD is another collection of excellent Walker original tunes, all laced with his hard driving guitar, and accompanied by a truly outstanding rhythm section of John Murphy on bass and Bobby Infante on drums. The end result is one of the better 3 piece blues/rockbands going and one of my personal favorites. Imagine Dire Straights as a blues/rock band and you have an idea how this band sounds.

With "I'm Leavin' You", the band stays with and actually improves on their formula for success with "Little Miss Perfect". The 10 tracks are mostly mid and down tempo, hard driving, blues/rock tunes guaranteed to make you drive above the speed limit. While other young men his age were studying the 3 R's of high school, John Earl Walker was no doubt majoring in the 3 T's of guitar: tone, taste, and TNT. His work evidences somewhat of a Hendrix feel, but is the case of most veteran guitarists, there are multiple influences present.

As was the case with "Little Miss Perfect", this recording is solid from start to finish. I have thoroughly enjoyed this entire CD, especially the title track, "My First Guitar", "Sad Sad Day", and "The Last Time".

If you are into guitar driven blues/rock music with an attitude, you are certainly going to want to add ANY and EVERY of John Earl Walker's CDs to your wish list.