Doghouse Daddies - Dig This (2008)

Tracklist

01. Messin With the Kid
02. Conjured
03. Black Diamond
04. Oh Baby
05. Fun to Visit
06. My Babe
07. Ain't No Rockin' No More
08. If the Sea Was Whiskey
09. Mo Blues

It's been well over a year and a half since my first encounter with these Daddies, and here they are - still in the doghouse. That's right, the DOGHOUSE DADDIES are back, and on their second CD "DIG THIS", it appears they're still dishin' out blues with a bite.

On "DIG THIS", the nucleus of the DOGHOUSE DADDIES, BILL MORLAN on upright bass & vocals and MARK ROLLINGS on guitar & vocals, are joined by newcomers NEIL NOLAN on saxophone & harmonica and JERRY RICCARDI on drums & vocals. And from the sounds of things, the two newcomers seem very comfortable in the doghouse.

On "MESSIN' WITH THE KID", the discs opening track, it doesn't take the new kids long to establish their credentials. The scorching 90 second solo NEIL performs on sax is surely this tracks - and possibly one of the discs highlights, and JERRY on the drums proves to be a admirable rhythm partner for BILL on the big bass. Good stuff on this very popular cover tune.

Although the band slows the pace down a bit on "CONJURED", that's the only thing that changes. Lots more great sax; softer, yet scintillating rhythm; mellow, yet masterful guitar work by MARK and soothing, soulful vocals by BILL make this another highly enjoyable track.

When's the last time you made someone say "OH BABY" for nearly seven minutes? That's OK, I can't remember either. Well, with "OH BABY" being one of the longest songs on the disc, what that means is you just get to hear that much more of what's been highlighting all the previous tracks.

This track rocks way too much to be called "AIN'T NO ROCKIN' NO MORE". And what's got it rockin' is MARK performing some of the discs best guitar work. This one also features all the dogs in the house on some harmonic howlin'.

I'm sure everyone will have fun adding their own lyrics behind the title of "IF THE SEA WERE WHISKY". Some of mine might be.....then I'd be a swimming fool". However, if you want to find out how it really goes, you'll just have to get the disc. This particular track was one of the bluesiest - and all of my readers know what that means - it was also my most favorite. BILL'S got the perfect voice for this song.....as a matter of fact, he may have just had a swim before recording it. Being a soft, slow and low down blues number means lots of great sultry sax and hot guitar licks - and that's always a good thing. The Doghouse Daddies nailed this one.

"MO BLUES", written by JERRY, is the discs only original track, and as you might expect, it's heavy on the rhythm.....very heavy. This eight minute, nearly all instrumental track, features the band in total jam mode often fed by hot drum leads. This one's a smoker.

Although there are only nine tracks on "DIG THIS", most of them are long and the disc features nearly an hour of rockin', sockin' music. Other tracks not mentioned are "BLACK DIAMOND", "FUN TO VISIT" and "MY BABE".

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