Mike Morgan & The Crawl - The Road (1998/2009)

Mike Morgan and The Crawl's seventh Black Top album marks the welcome return of Lee McBee after a three-year hiatus. McBee spent his time pursuing a solo career, but he returns to the Crawl with his harp and vocal chops intact and he takes his rightful place as one of America's premier frontman. The "Road" of the title suggests many things to many people. It's the main artery in to the heart and soul of American roots music: the blues wellspring where soul, rockabilly and jazz all flow together from the same source. There is a great varity within each genre's traditional contexts. These shades of blue blend together in a seamless flow of styles from first song to last. The blues are well covered with plenty of Lee McBee's slashing, Little Walter-styled harp and Mike Morgan's biting guitar licks. The musical road that Mike Morgan and The Crawl travel is long, hard and timeless. One does not embark on it unless he understands that such a road goes on forever. This album is an aural road map that delineates the source points with passion and authority.