New Blues Release: Billy Cox | “Old School Blue Blues” (Avail Now)

Of course, Billy is best known as the musician who worked with Jimi Hendrix before the Jimi Hendrix Experience was conceived, after the Jimi Hendrix Experience disbanded as part of the Band of Gypsys and, thereafter, as part of the Jimi Hendrix Experience when it coalesced again for the last time. Billy might have been involved without interruption in light of the fact that Jimi had asked him to go with him to England after he was “discovered” by Chas Chandler in New York.  Billy simply wasn’t able to afford the fare to New York to meet up with Jimi.  When Jimi reached out to him again before The Band of Gypsys was formed, Billy’s financial circumstance had dramatically improved.  Though he had become more established and had his own office on Nashville’s music row, he dropped everything when Jimi asked him, yet again, to join him.

Of course, the blues roots that underpin Jimi’s music and have always been part of Billy’s are still the fundament of the music heard on Old School Blue Blues. The title song says it all as Billy notes,  “It’s about real feel.  The blues that we grew up with is a part of the fabric of our lives. This is a song about a people and the lives they lived on a day to day basis.” Billy’s dedication to integrity of expression, coupled with his ability to convey real human emotion through music, is what keeps him going after so many of his compatriots, colleagues and collaborators have fallen by the wayside.

Released on Billy’s Gypsy Sun imprint and available through CD Baby, Amazon, iTunes, bassistbillycox.com and jimihendrix.com, the new album follows 2009’s Last Gypsy Standing and the title song of that set is reprised on the new one, albeit with a fresh new mix. “I wanted to reiterate what it was all about,” says Cox who continues to live and work in Nashville.  It was in “Music City” that he and Hendrix found themselves encountering the top attractions of the ‘chitlin’ circuit’ back in the early 1960s.  While it’s logical to associate Nashville with country music, a confluence of historically African-American colleges and universities (Fisk, Tennessee State, Meharry Medical, etc.) attracted big name stars to perform in the market.  As part of the house band at The New Era Club, Billy found himself backing a who’s who of blues/soul/R&B including Nappy Brown, Charles Brown, Wilson Pickett, Mitty Collier, Johnnie Taylor and Little Johnny Taylor, Joe Henderson and many more.  Then there was that magical night at Club Baron when Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson showed up after an arena concert gig and jammed with the guys.  Yes, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Jimi Hendrix and Billy Cox shared the same stage.  It was a special time even though there were some low points, like when Billy’s pet monkey relieved itself on Bobby Blue Bland while Bobby was having his hair styled at a Nashville salon. Those were the days!
That old school feeling is imprinted in Billy’s DNA and it’s reflected in all of the tracks on Old School Blue Blues. Billy explains that ‘old school feel’ is engendered by skilled musicianship, the intimate relationship between musician and his instrument and lyrics that deal with reality and true emotional expression.  Not to cast aspersions, and Billy would be the last to do so, but the album is in sharp contrast to most of the automated contemporary drivel that passes itself off as music.  It’s what’s real versus the artificial.  There is a difference.

All of the songs on the album are originals, written by Billy and his wife and life partner Brenda Carnell.  The songs are personal, of course, but all within the blues/rock/R&B tradition.  Billy notes “We have ‘Rockin’ and Rolling On’ at the beginning.  It lets everyone know that I am still a hard rocking m***** *****r.  I keep saying it; that’s all Jimi Hendrix played. It was nothing but loud blues.  And besides, I have always been ahead of my time.  I am the one who discovered Jimi Hendrix.  Music has lost its way; we need to get back to the fundamentals so that music can move forward again.” The song is, in a way, Billy’s rallying call and mission statement and tells the story of his perseverance.  The whole album is, to borrow from the past, a true ‘experience’ and reflects a lifetime of a man.

Another standout is “I’mma Pilgrim” and, yes, the “southern spelling” is intentional. It’s a “juke the juke” kind of song based on a bass pattern that Billy had whipped up.
The album was recorded in just one month with backing very much in keeping with Billy’s basic blues/rock ethos: guitars, drums, a bit of keyboard and, of course, that rock-solid bass.  Most of the songs were nailed in just a few takes. Synthesizers?  Auto-tune? C’mon, this is Billy Cox, a musician’s musician if ever there was one.

By the way, the Fender Precision bass that Billy played on most of the album’s tracks and that’s seen in the packaging art is the very same one used for session work, including with Jimi, since 1963. That’s Billy – stay with what works for you. That’s the real Old School Blue Blues.