Wikipedia

Roadhouse Rules

Roadhouse Rules is an album by the American musician Lonnie Brooks, released in 1996.[1][2] It was his seventh album for Alligator Records.[3] The album peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart.[4] Brooks supported it with a North American tour.[5]

Roadhouse Rules
Studio album by
Lonnie Brooks
Released1996
GenreBlues, R&B
LabelAlligator
ProducerJim Gaines
Lonnie Brooks chronology
Let’s Talk It Over
(1993) 		Roadhouse Rules
(1996) 		Deluxe Edition
(1997)

Production edit

Recorded mostly in Memphis with studio musicians, the album was produced by Jim Gaines.[6] Brooks wrote seven of its songs; he made a point of paying attention to what his blues contemporaries were doing on their albums.[1][7] It marked the first time that Brooks included an acoustic blues song on an album.[6] Brooks used a Gibson ES-355 on most of the tracks.[8] Sugar Blue played harmonica on "Roll of the Tumbling Dice".[9] The Memphis Horns played on "Too Little, Too Late".[10] "Hoodoo She Do" was written by Brooks's son Ronnie Baker Brooks, who also played guitar on Roadhouse Rules.[11]

Critical reception edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [9]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music     [12]
MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide     [13]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings    [14]
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette    [15]

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted the "tough rhythms, deep-from-the-gut singing and guitar riffs to burn, the smell of Chicago permeating the tracks."[16] The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said that, "blessed with a set of 62-year-old pipes full of finely aged soul and grit, Brooks moves easily from torchy ballads to the sharp edge of hard-rocking blues."[15] The Chicago Tribune wrote that "Brooks pours out a torrent of straight blues, funk, rock and soul rippling with unassailable chops and conviction."[17]

The Wisconsin State Journal called the album "a stirring statement that spans rocking guitar gumbo ('Hoodoo She Do'), soulfully gutty balladry ('Too Little, Too Late') and everything in between."[18] The Press of Atlantic City considered it one of the best blues albums of 1996, concluding that "Brooks moves from modern to retro modes with ease and smarts."[19] The Boston Globe determined that "too many songs fall into woman-done-me-wrong lingo."[20]

AllMusic wrote that "the music on Roadhouse Rules is generally unrelenting in its ferocity, blues-oriented but also quite open to the influences of Stax-type soul and rock."

Track listing edit

No.TitleLength
1."Hoodoo She Do" 
2."Backbone Man" 
3."Too Little, Too Late" 
4."Stranger in My House" 
5."I Need a Friend" 
6."Evil Twin" 
7."Roll of the Tumbling Dice" 
8."One Track Train" 
9."Before You Go" 
10."Get Through to You" 
11."It's Your World" 
12."Treat Me Like Your Dog" 
13."Stake My Claim" 
14."Rockin' Red Rooster" 

References edit

  1. ^ a b Sorensen, Karen (29 Aug 1996). "True Blues". Journal Star. Peoria. p. C1.
  2. ^ "Blues". The Des Moines Register. 15 Feb 1996. p. 13D.
  3. ^ Seigal, Buddy (22 Oct 1996). "Lonnie Brooks' 40-Year Blues Groove". Los Angeles Times. p. F2.
  4. ^ "Lonnie Brooks". Billboard. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  5. ^ Bruening, John C. (9 Sep 1996). "Guitarist Lonnie Brooks Keeps Blues in Family". The Plain Dealer. p. 8D.
  6. ^ a b Dahl, Bill (16 Aug 1996). "Long-Awaited Lonnie Brooks Album Contains a Few Surprises". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. 6.
  7. ^ Perry, Erin (10 Oct 1996). "Legacy of blues". Out & About. The Daily Sentinel. Grand Junction. p. 3.
  8. ^ Steinberg, David (25 Oct 1996). "Guitar opened up world". Albuquerque Journal. p. E19.
  9. ^ a b "Roadhouse Rules Review by Scott Yanow". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  10. ^ Andrews, Marke (31 Aug 1996). "Lonnie Brooks dresses like a black cowboy...". The Vancouver Sun. p. E14.
  11. ^ Prince, David (25 Oct 1996). "Lonnie Brooks Serves Up the Electric Blues 'Hoodoo She Do' at Alegria". Pasatiempo. The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. 22.
  12. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press.
  13. ^ MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. p. 46.
  14. ^ The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin. 2006. p. 68.
  15. ^ a b "Lonnie Brooks Roadhouse Rules". Arts & Entertainment. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 25 Oct 1996. p. 22.
  16. ^ Kuelker, Michael (12 Sep 1996). "Roadhouse Rules Lonnie Brooks". Get Out. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 10.
  17. ^ "Blues". Friday. Chicago Tribune. 29 Nov 1996. p. 31.
  18. ^ Thompson, Stephen (26 Dec 1996). "Red Hot Blues Fills Brooks' 'Roadhouse'". Rhythm. Wisconsin State Journal. p. 8.
  19. ^ Allen, Greg (4 Aug 1996). "Brooks scores a hit with 'Roadhouse Rules'". The Press of Atlantic City. p. C7.
  20. ^ Robicheau, Paul (12 Sep 1996). "Lonnie Brooks Roadhouse Rules". Calendar. The Boston Globe. p. 34.
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