Peter Green’s inspiring but shaky late-90s return to stage and studio with Splinter Group dissolved in acrimony in 2004. Now one more album, recorded in 2001 but left unreleased, comes to the surface: a collection of well-worn blues standards from the likes of BB, Albert, Jimmy Reed, Wolf, John Lee and Muddy.
The band deliver little more than the basics and Green seems more interested in playing harmonica than guitar, but his singing (he leads on all but two tracks) is marvellously affecting and little short of gorgeous: as soulful as white guys ever get. (And the harp’s pretty good, too.)
His and Nigel Watson’s guitar work, however, is only slightly more than serviceable, and the repertoire could have been copied from the set-list of any semi-pro pub blues band.
Green’s exquisite vocals aside, if you already own a version of any of these songs, you probably own a better one.
