Play It ’Til Tomorrow

Blue Bella

Not since Taj Mahal put out his “Giant Step/De Ole Folks at Home” double LP in 1968 has there been a double blues album with one disc electric, one acoustic. In fact, he and Moss may be the genre’s only two artists to hold that distinction.

Come to think of it, that distinction may not be limited to just blues. Several pre-CD artists, including Miles Davis, Bob Dylan and Neil Young, have released long players that were acoustic on one side and electric on the other. Hot Tuna issued their first album in an acoustic configuration, followed by one as an electric ensemble. And the Grateful Dead, never a band to be upstaged, put out two consecutive double-album sets less than a half-year apart: the first acoustic, the second electric.

Moss and his Chicago-blues-purveying Flip Tops are to be commended for keeping this tradition alive. Obviously the plan was to architect such a release, because the dichotomy is so clean, so well thought out. And the group sounds like they had a ball when they recorded it.

And the material is original except for four songs. To its credit, the unplugged side — er, disc is nearly as rockin’ as the electric one; a listener doesn’t have to be in a mellow mood to play it. Indeed, the album’s title isn’t so much a command as a natural reaction.

Tracks

Disc 1 (electric)
1. Late Night Saint
2. You Make Me So Angry
3. Woman Don’t Lie
4. Mistakes From The Past
5. Bad Avenue
6. Lyin’ For Profit
7. Herman’s Holler
8. Grease Fire
9. Rising Wind
10. Tend To Your Business
11. My Love Is Like A Fire
12. Peculiar Feeling
13. Too Many Miles
14. Rump Bump

Disc 2 (acoustic)
1. You’ve Got The Devil Inside
2. I’ll Be Straight With You
3. Another Life Is Gone
4. Fill ‘Er Up
5. It’s Written In The Bible
6. Wild Imagination
7. You’ll Remember My Name
8. Crazy Mixed Up Baby ’07
9. Got My Mail Today
10. I Shall Not Be Moved
11. Slim’s Lament
12. Married Woman Blues
13. I’ll Be Straight With You (alternate take)
14. It’s Written In The Bible (alternate take)

Total time: 1:59:33

External links
artist’s site
Nick Moss Band shop