Nola Blue Records
Frank Bey was born and raised in Millen, Georgia, and apart from being a brilliant Blues artist, he was also a great advocator of Peace. So, this eleven-song compilation album celebrating his remarkable career is fittingly called, Peace. Even though he had endured a long career in the Blues, he only ever released a total of eight solo albums.
Peace has managed to capture the true embodiment of Frank Bey, as a singer, and occasional writer. That’s What Love Will Make You Do is the first song on this musical trip down memory lane, written by Milton Campbell, it is a common Blues story of foreboding and sometimes making the wrong choices in life, a kind of blueprint for Blues tunes since the early 1920s. There are a couple of songs on the album that were written by very famous artists, most notably, City Boy, written and performed by Kevin Roosevelt Moore, aka, Keb’ Mo’.
This is such a sweet song, the original is done with heartfelt feelings, as is this version by Frank Bey. To cover a song by Keb’ Mo’ is not for the faint-hearted, but Bey tackles it superbly. Blues Comes Knockin’ has the amazing Jay Davidson on board playing the Harmonica as if his very life depended on it. Couple that with Bey’s cutting vocals and the guitar chops of long-time collaborator, Jeff Monjack, and what you have is a song that should by all rights be quoted as a Blues classic.
What I like about this album is the fact that, unlike some compilation stuff, there is a tendency to be a bit lazy, this, however, has been properly thought through, with attention to detail. It is very fitting that the final song on, Peace should be a Gospel-style version of a song that has become an anthem, Imagine, by John Lennon. I’m certain that Lennon is very happy with this recording, very happy indeed.
STEPHEN HARRISON
