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Lil Ed & The Blues Imperials


NewMusicForOldFolks says …

I've always been of the opinion that no man should own more than one fez. Lil' Ed Williams is the exception that proves that rule. There are no pictures of the guy on the internet when he's not wearing a fez and, as far as I can tell, he never wears the same one twice. He must have dozens. But regardless of his hat choices, Lil' Ed and his band, The Blues Imperials, can rock the house. Their brand of high-energy, jumpin' Blues is a party from beginning to end. You can't go wrong with a band that has an album called Chicken, Gravy and Biscuits. There's a song on that album called "Icicles in My Meatloaf." These guys are fun.

Artist's Info

See them live: Tour dates

Record company: Alligator Records

Genre: Blues, Roots, Latin

Bio (from the artist's website)

In Chicago, a city overflowing with unrivaled blues talent, world-renowned Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials have been standing tall for over 30 years. The band’s big sound, fueled by Lil’ Ed’s gloriously rollicking slide work and deep blues string bending, along with his rough-edged, soulful vocals, is as real and hard-hitting as Chicago blues gets. The Chicago Sun-Times says, “Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials are the hottest purveyors of bottleneck boogie to come out of Chicago since Hound Dog Taylor.” (more)

Spotify sampler

Recordings

Most Recent

JUMP START (2014): The band's wildly energetic and seriously soulful new CD Jump Start is jam-packed with Lil' Ed's incendiary slide playing and rough, passionate singing, as the ragged-but-right Blues Imperials cook like mad alongside him. Produced by Lil Ed Williams and Alligator president Bruce Iglauer, it is a tour-de-force of untamed slide guitar, rock solid rhythms, heartrending ballads and authentic deep blues vocals. Williams wrote or co-wrote 13 of the album's 14 songs, ranging from the non-stop boogie blast of ''If You Were Mine'' to the heart-on-his-sleeve honesty of ''Life Is A Journey'' to the bouncing and jazzy ''Jump Right In'' to the swaggering, autobiographical ''Musical Mechanical Electrical Man.'' The album overflows with the band s full throttle drive and is fueled by Lil' Ed's love of both serious blues and good time fun. Jump Start reveals a band firing on all cylinders and ready to spread the genuine houserockin' fever to their biggest audience yet. ''It's all blues, really,'' says Lil' Ed. ''Some of it will make you dance, some will ease your soul. Through my music, I want people to feel what I feel.''

Others

  • Roughhousin' (1986)

  • Chicken, Gravy and Biscuits (1989)

  • What You See is What You Get (1992)

  • Get Wild (1999)

  • Heads Up (2002)

  • Rattleshake (2006)

  • Full Tilt (2008)

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