Dave Riley and Bob Corritore
Hush Your Fuss!
Vizztone Label Group
Hush Your Fuss is guitarist/singer Dave Riley and harmonica-whailing Bob Corritore’s third album, and it’s just the ticket for blues fans. From the Fabulous Thunderbirds-style “Baby Please Come Home” to the back alley Chicago blues of “Snuff Drippin’ Woman,” Riley and Corritore are masters of the real, down home blues that stays true to the roots. No over-amped rave ups, no beats, just 12 tracks of “bonafide” blues that sound as if they were recorded at Chess Studios fifty years ago.
Dave Riley was born in Mississippi, and you can certainly hear the hill country influences of his home shining throughout. “Mississippi Po Boy” is an apt example, with a grinding guitar line that brings to mind such fellow Mississippians as R.L. Burnside. Corritore is a Chicago native, and the harp magic he brings to Hush Your Fuss! recalls great players from the Windy City such as Paul Butterfield or James Cotton, with his overdriven, stinging attack that echoes Riley’s guitar lines. On cuts such as “Go Ahead and Blame Me,” his harp is a mournful call, just as blue as can be. The pair can even be topical with “Oil Spill Blues,” but methinks Riley is speaking of drilling something other than oil. Hush Your Fuss! is a welcome release for those of us who never get tired of the real blues sound, which Dave Riley and Bob Corritore have in spades. Great playing and juke joint singing…who’d wanna hush this fuss?
