Rockin' Johnny Band - Man's Temptation (1999)

Johnny Burgin's second recording features his band alone, no special stars or guests, and they stand up quite well instrumentally and traditionally. Tinges of rockabilly, soul or pop may creep in, but they play Chicago style blues in a manner very similar to Paul Butterfield. They may be more like Butter, especially Johnny's vocals, than any band heard in the past thirty years and that's a good thing. Burgin sings and plays lead guitar, with help from Willie "Big Eyes" Smith's son Kenny on drums, solid electric bass guitarist Sho Komiya, veteran second guitarist Rick Kreher and Martin Lang, a very fine harmonicist who anchors many of these tunes with Johnny. Five of the thirteen cuts are written by Burgin, the soulful title track very much like Butter. "Down Here On The Ground" (not the standard) is most rockin', "My Heart Aches For You," a typical 12 bar blues, "Deal Me Some Love" is slower and could be a hit, while "In The Groove" is an upbeat instrumental. The obbligatory John Lee Hooker tune "This Is Hip" is not a boogie, but a swinging blues, "Midnight Special" a king snake swamp sneaky instrumental based on "Help Me," while "Catfish Blues" is more Hooker-ish. "Desperate," another potential hit, sounds like Robert Cray stylistically, while "Little Rain" is more out of Eric Clapton's bag. Johnny is hitting on several different types of blues, all successful and well done. Bets are that they're more energetic on stage, and perhaps that will be the next step in this bands recorded discogaphy. Recommended. ~Review by Michael G. Nastos