Reviews of CD "Pacific Street"



Blue Suede News
#58 Spring 2002

Blue Mama/Pacific Street
PMR CD 201
Review by Gaby Maag-Bristol

Bluesy roots rock from Clemente, California. Blue Mama's spectrum of music
includes strong elements of Blues and early Rock n' Roll with a little bit
of Country and Pop though their delivery is current. There are piano rockers
like "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down" (with a Chuck Berry style guitar intro)
and New Orleans grooves with "Brass Rail Blues." Marty McPhee sounds pretty
much like Chris Isaak on "If Wishes Were Horses." "Long Long Ladder" is a
Country Blues with dobro, "Boy Crazy" a horn laden funky blues. I like their
laid back approach on "Drinkin' Rye Whiskey." Mostly originals, they chose
to include a strange, laid back version of the Beatles "Get Back" and Fred
McDowell's blues number "You Gotta Move." This 6-piece band has 4 different
singers, a plus and making this album almost seem like a well matched roots
and blues compilation with its 17 songs.
www.bluemama.com




Blues Access Magazine
Issue 48 Winter 2002

homebrew
by Dave Kirby

You can practically feel the floor getting sticky with Blue Mama's Pacific
Street spinning on the Victrola. This Orange County-based sextet moves
confidently from straight-forward blues-rock ("Different Brenda") to
liquor-lovin' acoustic ballads ("Drinkin' Rye Whiskey"), Georgia
Satellite-style blues boogie ("Nickels & Dimes") to Calexico-flavored
squeeze-box madness ("Brass Rail Blues"). Check out the sultry, slow-burn
read of "Get Back." We suspect these guys have day jobs, but who cares? Like
hundreds of other local blues acts, Blue Mama shuffles between solid
originals, roots and rock tunes programmed to keep a club bouncing and the
draft beer flowing.  Next time we're in Orange County and feel like tying one on, 
we'll check out the local listings for wherever these guys are playing.  
3 stars (out of possible 4)
Plastic Meltdown Records, P.O. Box 403, San Clemente, CA 92674,
www.bluemama.com



Orange County Weekly
October 12, 2001

by John Roos

BLUE MAMA
PACIFIC STREET (full-length CD) Plastic Meltdown Records

Roots music that goes down as easy as a shot of Black Label, Pacific Street is Blue Mama’s newest melding of rock, folk, R&B, country, and roadhouse blues (released on the band’s own label). Like Little Feat, the Grateful Dead and the Band—obvious points of reference—this South County-based sextet is boundless in sounds and styles. With each member contributing vocals, stellar chops and original material, they’re quite an aural democracy. Not only is the playing first-rate, but there’s also ample room for Tim Horrigan’s boogie-woogie piano solos, Marty "Cadillac" McPhee’s howling harmonica notes, and (full disclosure alert) Weekly folk listings god Dennis Roger Reed’s National steel-guitar playing to take the occasional spotlight. And while it’s easy to enjoy uptempo rockers like "Coffee Colored Cadillac" and "Boy Crazy," the Mamas are just as appealing on the ballads. Making a splendid recording even better are contributions from soul singer Sonia Hayes Chevallier on a sexually charged duet with Reed and Shade Tree Instruments’ Greg Mirken, whose striking mandolin and slide playing highlight Reed’s plaintive "If Wishes Were Horses." Is it any wonder Blue Mama is comfy with playing both to noisy bar crowds and the latte-sipping coffeehouse coterie?