As I listened to "WALKING UNDERWATER", by DAVE WALKER, I found myself thinking that what I was listening to was such good stuff and I couldn't believe that I had never heard of this artist before.  Wondering why, I just had to find out if there were more of his music that I might be able to get my hands on.  As it turned out, having done stints with Savoy Brown, Black Sabbath and Fleetwood Mac, and having recorded several dozen discs, I've probably heard DAVE more times than I could imagine.

 

    On DAVE WALKERS newest release - "WALKING UNDERWATER" - DAVE, on vocals, guitar and writer of most tracks, is joined by: ROBERT BRITTEN on piano, organ and guitars; MIKE GILLAN on drums; CRAIG HALL on bass; SHEAMUS CONLEY on lead guitar; JIM LEWIS on lead and slide guitar.  

 

    On the opening track, "LITTLE SUSIE & MR. TIGHT", it just took the opening guitar chord by JIM for me to decide I was going to like this disc.  Then, DAVE started singing and my decision was reaffirmed.  He's got one of those very articulate, attention commanding, yet melodic voices, that were made for singing. 

 

    For reasons I'm finding difficult to explain, this is one of the more interesting discs I've listened to in many a year.  The conviction with which some of the songs are sung brought back memories of the way RICHARD HARRIS presented "MACARTHUR PARK", and the chills I'd get from hearing PROCOL HARUM do "A WHITER SHADE OF PALE".  Meanwhile, instrumentally, MIKE OLDFIELD'S "TUBULAR BELLS" occasionally came to mind. 

 

    I can see I've got my work cut out here.  Choosing just a few tracks to comment on is going to be a challenge.  "I CAN MAKE IT ON MY OWN", the next track, is a good place to start.  Nothing fancy here and nothing fancy needed.....just five minutes of DAVE intriguing me with his vocals, while JIM works his magic on guitar with the rhythm section getting my fingers snappin' and my foot tappin'.  Great stuff!

 

    Phenomenal would be the word I'd pick, if only given one, to describe the title track - "WALKING UNDERWATER".  This is one of the songs I had in mind when I made my earlier references.  With this year's Blues Music Awards still several months away, I've already got one of my nominations for the following years "Song of the Year".   ROBERT on piano, SHEAMUS on guitar, MIKE on drums and DAVE on vocals are astounding.

 

    "BLACK STEEL BLUES" takes it up a few notches.  This one's three and a half minutes of smoke caused by wailing guitar (SHEAMUS), thunderous rhythm (JIM & CRAIG) and fierce piano and organ (ROBERT).  And yes, DAVE had something to do with it as well.  This one easily reached 7-8 replays.

 

    At just under three minutes, "RABBITS FOOT CHARM" is an all too short - but oh so very sweet shuffle. With a smooth, soft rhythm going on behind them, DAVE on vocals and ROBERT on piano run with this one.  Once again, the replay button came into play.

 

    "CRAZY BABY", "WEEP NO MORE", "BLUES FROM THE BOTTOM", "GIRL TROUBLE" and "HARD HEADED WOMAN" make up the rest of the tracks - which if I had the space, I could sit here and talk about all night long - on "WALKING UNDERWATER".

 

    I can't see how, but if I haven't made myself perfectly clear yet, let me just come right out and say it - ya gotta get this disc.  I've just got done picking the winner of the 2007 BLEWZZY AWARD - which will be announced soon - and here I am, three weeks into `08 and thinking "WALKING UNDERWATER" may very well be this year's disc to beat.

 

    Check DAVE out at http://www.aboutdavewalker.com/.  From there, you know the drill.....You tell him the Blewzzman sent ya and you're here to buy the disc.