01-01-10  ::  NEW CD! DEEP IN AMERICA
Available from: Deltagroove Productions

The Hollywood Blue Flames is the synergy of stunning talents honed over decades to create music so true to tradition yet superbly original that it will grab hold of you and never let you go.
They have been hailed as the true torch bearers of classic blues in the modern age. Deep In America follows true to the formula of the band’s previous two-disc set, Road To Rio, once again throwing open the vaults and treating fans to a virtual treasure trove of classic archival material obtained from two different eras of the band.

Deep in America gathers together a collection of recordings by The Hollywood Blue Flames, featuring stellar support from guitarists Kirk Fletcher and Junior Watson. It is drawn from studio sessions over the years with previously unreleased material that includes outtakes, alternates and some newly recorded songs.

Larger Than Life, Volume Two contains more vintage live recordings taken from a variety of source materials by the original Hollywood Fats Band, showcasing the amazing talent of Hollywood Fats. The international accolades for guitarist Michael “Hollywood Fats” Mann and the band were nonexistent when the tracks on The Hollywood Fats Band, “Larger Than Life, Volume Two” were recorded in 1980 at The White House, a small club in Laguna Beach, California. Discouraged and unable to find work in an age of disco and glam rock, the band split up shortly after these live recordings were made. The Hollywood Fats Band tapes languished in storage until the new millennium, when bassist Larry Taylor discovered them in a box while cleaning out his garage.

The tracks on both discs often embrace a complex and soul-stirring marriage of sweetness and low-down qualities sometimes found in older recordings, but uncommon in blues today. This union of opposites lures you in with its tenderness, then reveals its gritty edge. You’ll find all the longing, joyous boogie, pain, deep spirituality and good-time raunchiness that you can handle: the humanity and honesty of great blues.

A more nuanced version of Freddy King’s “Hide Away” than Hollywood Fats’s isn’t out there. The controlled insanity of “Nit Wit” celebrates the time when big band music was morphing into rock ‘n’ roll, and a single guitar might replace an entire horn section. “Jalopy to Drive” showcases the band’s ability to interpret a great Sonny Boy Williamson I recording. “Hush Puppy” is Fred Kaplan’s rocking homage to pianist Roosevelt Sykes. And you could swear that Al Blake’s acoustic country blues “Music Man,” “Leavin’ California” and “Hip-Hoppin’ Toad” hail from the pre-war era. In addition to Richard Innes’s inspired drumming, the last four cuts on “Larger Than Life” feature Al Duncan, session drummer for Chess/Checker and VeeJay Records, and house drummer for the Regal Theater (Chicago’s equivalent of the Apollo Theater) for eleven years. He was also a songwriter and author of Little Walter’s “Ain’t No Need to Go No Further, Brother.”

The Hollywood Fats Band/Hollywood Blue Flames hold high a torch that illuminates the many paths of blues that run deep in America, and it will light your way on a musical journey that you will want to take again and again.

-----------------------------------------------------
10-28-09  ::  New website Hollywood Blue Flames/Hollywood Fats band
The website is online, now we're busy to fill in all the information we have.

Reviews here!