Blues Revue gives 9 out of 10 stars for Shake Shake Mama
What they're saying about the CD
Ken Shankman - Elmore Magazine
" Last year, Toby Walker's 'Speechless... For Once' won the NY Music Award for Best Instrumental Album, with Toby finger-picking and sliding his guitar through virtually every musical genre imaginable.
Walker outdoes himself again on his new album, 'Shake Shake Mama.' It's authentic blues by the names you know: Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Leadbelly, Big Billy Broonzy, Blind Willie McTell, Mississippi Fred McDowell and more.
Walker is authentic from album cover art to physical CD. Using different guitars to get the right sound for each original tune,his finger-picking and slide work is beyond compare. If there is such a thing as "acoustic gearheads," Walker heads the list.
Blues traditionalists will know the tunes here, but Walker puts his original stamp on all of them, with masterful takes on favorites like "Keep on Trucking Mama," "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning'," "Midnight Special," "Crazy 'Bout an Automobile" and"She's 19 Years Old."
After listening to Shake Shake Mama, you'll understand what Walker is keeping the blues alive.
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Mark Gould - Soundwaves Magazine
"I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again; Toby Walker is the finest living guitarist in the country blues tradition we have playing today. Nobody, I’m sorry nobody, is even close.
Couple that with a razor-sharp sense of humor and storytelling with some of smartest influences around, and you have yet another spectacular recording from this absolutely stunning and important picker.
And, let me tell you, you better be damn good if you are going to cover, on the same record, Mance Lipscomb, Blind Willie McTell, Robert Johnson, Blind Boy Fuller, Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter, Big Bill Broonzy and Mississippi Fred McDowell.
Yet, it seems that, somewhere, all of those great artists are smiling down on Toby Walker, who is still carrying on the great blues tradition."
**** 1/2
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Gary Weeks - Blues Blast Magazine
"Another artist carrying on the traditions of acoustic blues and following in the footsteps of John Hammond, Rory Block and Paul Geremia is Toby Walker. For listeners who derive their pleasures in the sounds of the Delta, Walker’s Shake Shake Mama will be a valuable cd to add to their playlist.
It’s a minimalistic album with wife Carol adding stand-up bass to several of the tracks. On the inner sleeve of the cd jacket, Walker lists the guitars used on all the songs. The make of some of the guitars stretches to the early twentieth century. A perfect choice for capturing sounds that have their seeds in the Delta soil unearthed.
Justice is paid to the old masters ranging from Robert Johnson to Muddy Waters. Walker’s slide unleashes a nervous tension and sprays steely fire on strings that sound like they’re pulled taut over a metal garbage can. His attack on Johnson’s “Traveling Riverside Blues” can make him the candidate for journeying to the crossroads and striking his own deal with the devil.
It’s the kind of playing that draws rave reviews from folks like Bob Margolin, John Hammond and Jorma Kaukonen. Making appearances at guitar clinics and Blues In The Schools is indicative of a musician who wants to pass the torch to the upcoming generations.
While his vocals are not technically perfect doesn’t matter. Very few players can capture Huddie Ledbetter’s “Midnight Special” with a lightning in a bottle effect. The tune is familiar to fans of Creedance Clearwater Revival. Although the rock band’s rendition is favorable, it’s got nothing on Walker who bathes the song in whiskey with 12-string guitar back-porch jubilee.
Indeed it is a record that more than lives up to the title. There’s the homage to Big Bill Broonzy in the cheerful “Shuffle Rag.” But it’s in Muddy Waters’ “Can’t Be Satisfied” that Walker is in his element. Just in this song alone can Toby make folks spill out onto the dance floor. His slide is giddy with drink and it’s the next best thing to a top-down drive on Highway 61.
The CD is almost an hour in length. You’re more than listening to it. It’s receiving an education of where this music came from. Although no original material is found here, you simply won’t care. You’re just more than happy that Walker wraps Hickory Smoke around these tracks.
The idea that Walker used what was probably his entire guitar collection on the songs was a good choice. Collectors of old instruments can study Walker’s technique and find the best sounds which capture the moment.
If you check out Walker’s website, he has a DVD on the HomeSpun Video Series entitled Blues Fingerpicking Freedom. This would be right up the alley of aspiring guitarists who want to forsake playing with a band to concentrate and hone their chops on old school blues which for some is the real American treasure. Walker may make his home in New Jersey. But his traveling down South was the best teaching he could get. Now imparting his knowledge in classrooms across the country, perhaps there’s a youngster so enraptured with the meat and mysticism of the blues, that when they’re all grown up, they’ll take a long or short drive to the Delta. Or convince their parents to take them. And if Mom and Dad are blues fanatics, than their arms won’t be too hard to twist. In this regard, Toby Walker has already done his job.
A few listens to Shake Shake Mama might just make you gas up the car and head into that part of the South where the old ghosts roam. "
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John Vermilyea (Blues Underground Network)
When we think of songs like the Midnight Special and Travelling Riverside Blues, we tend to think of them being more associated with bands, such as, Creedance Clearwater Revival whom covered Midnight Special on their 4th album "Willy and the Poorboys", and Led Zepellin whom first recorded their version of the song Travelling Riverside Blues "at the BBC studios in Aeolian Hall on June 24, 1969". However, it was Blues Legends Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly) and Robert Johnson whom first brought these songs into the limelight and now thanks to Toby Walker and his amazing new release "Shake Shake Mama", we once again get a chance to hear those 2 great songs and many more, in perhaps their more originally intended sound.
Accolades and rave reviews have been a part of Toby Walker's life for many years now. Dubbed a 'Fingerpicking Guitar Wizard ', by the Legendary Happy Traum, and a recipient of the 2010 NY Music Award For Best Instrumental Album and the 2002 International Blues Challenge Award presented by The Blues Foundation, Toby Walker has been a very important mainstay of the American Roots and Blues, scene for many years. Toby Walker seeked out and learned his craft from the very best, which included, "Eugene Powell, James "Son" Thomas, Etta Baker, and R.L Burnside, among others." Throughout the years he has played at not only countless Venues, but also, with countless legends, such as, Richie Havens,Taj Mahal, John Mayall, Bo Diddley, John Hammond, James Cotton, Johnny Winter, Pete Seeger, Charlie Musselwhite, Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Vaughn, Robert Lockwood Junior, Lonnie Brooks, Savoy Brown, Sonny Landreth, John Sebastian, Eric Bibb, Rory Block, Duke Robillard, and J.J. Cale, to truly name just a very few. With "Shake Shake Mama", Toby Walker once again brings forth all his mastery of Piedmont, Ragtime, Delta, Texas, and Chicago Blues, to the forefront, as he pays homage to 11 Legendary Blues Masters from the past.
"Shake Shake Mama" consists of 16 great blues covers from the Golden Boys of the Blues, which included Mance Liscomb (Shake, Shake Mama), Blind Willie McTell (Mama Tain't Long For The Day/Broke Down Engine), Robert Johnson (Travelling Riverside Blues), Blind Boy Fuller (Keep On Truckin'/Meat Shakin' Woman), Blind Blake (Tootie Blues), Blind Willie Johnson (Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burnin'), Muddy Waters (I Got To Love Somebody/Can't Be Satisfied/She's 19 Years Old), Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly) (Midnight Special), Big Bill Broonzy (Shuffle Rag), Mississippi Fred McDowell (What's The Matter Now), and Bo' Carter (Cigarette Blues), as well as one Traditional song, "Crazy 'Bout an Automobile", of which was most notable covered by Ry Cooder.
There were a number of factors that added to the complete authenticity of the music on "Shake Shake Mama", with the first being the fact that there were only 2 performers on this album, Toby Walker, which of course was on all the Tracks, and his wife Carol Walker, whom played Upright Bass on 9 of the Tracks. Further authenticity was added by way of the many Guitars that Toby Walker used, which numbered an amazing 9 in all, most of them Vintage. Some of the Guitars featured on "Shake Shake Mama" included, a 1900 Columbia Parlour Guitar, a 1936 Gibson L-00, a 1960 Harmony Stratotone, which in the cover notes says "was plugged into a 1962 Sears Silvertone Amp", and a 1930 National Triolian, to name just 4 of the Guitars used. Some of the Guitars used were referred to by Toby Walker as "cosmetic train wrecks ."
It did not take long into the first Track, which is the title Track Mance Liscomb's (Shake, Shake Mama), to become aware that I was really listening to something special. Beautiful, Crisp Sounding, Old Time, Back Porch Blues, with the wonderful Vocals of Toby Walker, which sounded a bit like Steve Forbert, on the first Track. I am not sure how old Toby Walker is, but he sure has a youthful voice to him. Beyond the mastery that was Toby Walker, Carol Walker also did a top notch job on her Upright Bass, which is by far my most favorite kind of Bass to listen to.
Favorites for me were not easy to pick, because each song stood so firmly and uniquely on it's own, but Blind Willie McTell's "Mama Tain't Long For The Day", Muddy Waters' "I Got To Love Somebody", and Robert Johnson's "Travelling Riverside Blues", stood out slightly above the rest.
"Shake Shake Mama" is a real treasure trove of Old Time Blues, played and sang to perfection by one of the best Finger Pickers around.
For it's trueness to Styles and Sheer Enjoyment to listen to, I give "Shake Shake Mama" my Highest Rating of 5*****. "Shake Shake Mama" is a must have album for any lover, of not only the good Old Times Blues, but also for anyone that just loves great music."
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"I haven't stopped listening to the CD. The playing was stellar (no surprise there), I thought this was your strongest vocal CD yet. The use of the various vintage guitars was pure ear candy. The sound of that Gibson L-00 just blew me away. I thought Carol did a great job on the upright bass. If this CD doesn't get noticed there's something wrong with the music community"...Jeff
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Click this link to preview the tracks and decide if you'd like to purchase the CD or Download it.Shake Shake Mama Reviews
" Last year, Toby Walker's 'Speechless... For Once' won the NY Music Award for Best Instrumental Album, with Toby finger-picking and sliding his guitar through virtually every musical genre imaginable.
Walker outdoes himself again on his new album, 'Shake Shake Mama.' It's authentic blues by the names you know: Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Leadbelly, Big Billy Broonzy, Blind Willie McTell, Mississippi Fred McDowell and more.
Walker is authentic from album cover art to physical CD. Using different guitars to get the right sound for each original tune,his finger-picking and slide work is beyond compare. If there is such a thing as "acoustic gearheads," Walker heads the list.
Blues traditionalists will know the tunes here, but Walker puts his original stamp on all of them, with masterful takes on favorites like "Keep on Trucking Mama," "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning'," "Midnight Special," "Crazy 'Bout an Automobile" and"She's 19 Years Old."
After listening to Shake Shake Mama, you'll understand what Walker is keeping the blues alive.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Gould - Soundwaves Magazine
"I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again; Toby Walker is the finest living guitarist in the country blues tradition we have playing today. Nobody, I’m sorry nobody, is even close.
Couple that with a razor-sharp sense of humor and storytelling with some of smartest influences around, and you have yet another spectacular recording from this absolutely stunning and important picker.
And, let me tell you, you better be damn good if you are going to cover, on the same record, Mance Lipscomb, Blind Willie McTell, Robert Johnson, Blind Boy Fuller, Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter, Big Bill Broonzy and Mississippi Fred McDowell.
Yet, it seems that, somewhere, all of those great artists are smiling down on Toby Walker, who is still carrying on the great blues tradition."
**** 1/2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gary Weeks - Blues Blast Magazine
"Another artist carrying on the traditions of acoustic blues and following in the footsteps of John Hammond, Rory Block and Paul Geremia is Toby Walker. For listeners who derive their pleasures in the sounds of the Delta, Walker’s Shake Shake Mama will be a valuable cd to add to their playlist.
It’s a minimalistic album with wife Carol adding stand-up bass to several of the tracks. On the inner sleeve of the cd jacket, Walker lists the guitars used on all the songs. The make of some of the guitars stretches to the early twentieth century. A perfect choice for capturing sounds that have their seeds in the Delta soil unearthed.
Justice is paid to the old masters ranging from Robert Johnson to Muddy Waters. Walker’s slide unleashes a nervous tension and sprays steely fire on strings that sound like they’re pulled taut over a metal garbage can. His attack on Johnson’s “Traveling Riverside Blues” can make him the candidate for journeying to the crossroads and striking his own deal with the devil.
It’s the kind of playing that draws rave reviews from folks like Bob Margolin, John Hammond and Jorma Kaukonen. Making appearances at guitar clinics and Blues In The Schools is indicative of a musician who wants to pass the torch to the upcoming generations.
While his vocals are not technically perfect doesn’t matter. Very few players can capture Huddie Ledbetter’s “Midnight Special” with a lightning in a bottle effect. The tune is familiar to fans of Creedance Clearwater Revival. Although the rock band’s rendition is favorable, it’s got nothing on Walker who bathes the song in whiskey with 12-string guitar back-porch jubilee.
Indeed it is a record that more than lives up to the title. There’s the homage to Big Bill Broonzy in the cheerful “Shuffle Rag.” But it’s in Muddy Waters’ “Can’t Be Satisfied” that Walker is in his element. Just in this song alone can Toby make folks spill out onto the dance floor. His slide is giddy with drink and it’s the next best thing to a top-down drive on Highway 61.
The CD is almost an hour in length. You’re more than listening to it. It’s receiving an education of where this music came from. Although no original material is found here, you simply won’t care. You’re just more than happy that Walker wraps Hickory Smoke around these tracks.
The idea that Walker used what was probably his entire guitar collection on the songs was a good choice. Collectors of old instruments can study Walker’s technique and find the best sounds which capture the moment.
If you check out Walker’s website, he has a DVD on the HomeSpun Video Series entitled Blues Fingerpicking Freedom. This would be right up the alley of aspiring guitarists who want to forsake playing with a band to concentrate and hone their chops on old school blues which for some is the real American treasure. Walker may make his home in New Jersey. But his traveling down South was the best teaching he could get. Now imparting his knowledge in classrooms across the country, perhaps there’s a youngster so enraptured with the meat and mysticism of the blues, that when they’re all grown up, they’ll take a long or short drive to the Delta. Or convince their parents to take them. And if Mom and Dad are blues fanatics, than their arms won’t be too hard to twist. In this regard, Toby Walker has already done his job.
A few listens to Shake Shake Mama might just make you gas up the car and head into that part of the South where the old ghosts roam. "
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Vermilyea (Blues Underground Network)
When we think of songs like the Midnight Special and Travelling Riverside Blues, we tend to think of them being more associated with bands, such as, Creedance Clearwater Revival whom covered Midnight Special on their 4th album "Willy and the Poorboys", and Led Zepellin whom first recorded their version of the song Travelling Riverside Blues "at the BBC studios in Aeolian Hall on June 24, 1969". However, it was Blues Legends Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly) and Robert Johnson whom first brought these songs into the limelight and now thanks to Toby Walker and his amazing new release "Shake Shake Mama", we once again get a chance to hear those 2 great songs and many more, in perhaps their more originally intended sound.
Accolades and rave reviews have been a part of Toby Walker's life for many years now. Dubbed a 'Fingerpicking Guitar Wizard ', by the Legendary Happy Traum, and a recipient of the 2010 NY Music Award For Best Instrumental Album and the 2002 International Blues Challenge Award presented by The Blues Foundation, Toby Walker has been a very important mainstay of the American Roots and Blues, scene for many years. Toby Walker seeked out and learned his craft from the very best, which included, "Eugene Powell, James "Son" Thomas, Etta Baker, and R.L Burnside, among others." Throughout the years he has played at not only countless Venues, but also, with countless legends, such as, Richie Havens,Taj Mahal, John Mayall, Bo Diddley, John Hammond, James Cotton, Johnny Winter, Pete Seeger, Charlie Musselwhite, Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Vaughn, Robert Lockwood Junior, Lonnie Brooks, Savoy Brown, Sonny Landreth, John Sebastian, Eric Bibb, Rory Block, Duke Robillard, and J.J. Cale, to truly name just a very few. With "Shake Shake Mama", Toby Walker once again brings forth all his mastery of Piedmont, Ragtime, Delta, Texas, and Chicago Blues, to the forefront, as he pays homage to 11 Legendary Blues Masters from the past.
"Shake Shake Mama" consists of 16 great blues covers from the Golden Boys of the Blues, which included Mance Liscomb (Shake, Shake Mama), Blind Willie McTell (Mama Tain't Long For The Day/Broke Down Engine), Robert Johnson (Travelling Riverside Blues), Blind Boy Fuller (Keep On Truckin'/Meat Shakin' Woman), Blind Blake (Tootie Blues), Blind Willie Johnson (Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burnin'), Muddy Waters (I Got To Love Somebody/Can't Be Satisfied/She's 19 Years Old), Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly) (Midnight Special), Big Bill Broonzy (Shuffle Rag), Mississippi Fred McDowell (What's The Matter Now), and Bo' Carter (Cigarette Blues), as well as one Traditional song, "Crazy 'Bout an Automobile", of which was most notable covered by Ry Cooder.
There were a number of factors that added to the complete authenticity of the music on "Shake Shake Mama", with the first being the fact that there were only 2 performers on this album, Toby Walker, which of course was on all the Tracks, and his wife Carol Walker, whom played Upright Bass on 9 of the Tracks. Further authenticity was added by way of the many Guitars that Toby Walker used, which numbered an amazing 9 in all, most of them Vintage. Some of the Guitars featured on "Shake Shake Mama" included, a 1900 Columbia Parlour Guitar, a 1936 Gibson L-00, a 1960 Harmony Stratotone, which in the cover notes says "was plugged into a 1962 Sears Silvertone Amp", and a 1930 National Triolian, to name just 4 of the Guitars used. Some of the Guitars used were referred to by Toby Walker as "cosmetic train wrecks ."
It did not take long into the first Track, which is the title Track Mance Liscomb's (Shake, Shake Mama), to become aware that I was really listening to something special. Beautiful, Crisp Sounding, Old Time, Back Porch Blues, with the wonderful Vocals of Toby Walker, which sounded a bit like Steve Forbert, on the first Track. I am not sure how old Toby Walker is, but he sure has a youthful voice to him. Beyond the mastery that was Toby Walker, Carol Walker also did a top notch job on her Upright Bass, which is by far my most favorite kind of Bass to listen to.
Favorites for me were not easy to pick, because each song stood so firmly and uniquely on it's own, but Blind Willie McTell's "Mama Tain't Long For The Day", Muddy Waters' "I Got To Love Somebody", and Robert Johnson's "Travelling Riverside Blues", stood out slightly above the rest.
"Shake Shake Mama" is a real treasure trove of Old Time Blues, played and sang to perfection by one of the best Finger Pickers around.
For it's trueness to Styles and Sheer Enjoyment to listen to, I give "Shake Shake Mama" my Highest Rating of 5*****. "Shake Shake Mama" is a must have album for any lover, of not only the good Old Times Blues, but also for anyone that just loves great music."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I haven't stopped listening to the CD. The playing was stellar (no surprise there), I thought this was your strongest vocal CD yet. The use of the various vintage guitars was pure ear candy. The sound of that Gibson L-00 just blew me away. I thought Carol did a great job on the upright bass. If this CD doesn't get noticed there's something wrong with the music community"...Jeff
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click this link to preview the tracks and decide if you'd like to purchase the CD or Download it.Shake Shake Mama Reviews
