Calling All Soul and Blues Fans: Be On the Lookout For Billy Price's "Person of Interest"

Billy Price's remarkable new album "Person of Interest" on Little Village Foundation Records is the kind of well-crafted, gem of a record that only someone with Price's vast experience and connections in the music industry could make. The veteran blue-eyed soul singer-songwriter first came to national prominence in the mid 1970's as the singer in legendary guitarist Roy Buchanan's band.  Price appeared on two of Buchanan's albums, "That' What I'm Here For" and the wonderful live set "Livestock".  Price's RnB vocals perfectly complimented Buchanan's incendiary guitar work.  

 After parting ways with Buchanan, Price returned to Pittsburgh fronting his own bands, Billy Price and the Keystone Rhythm Band and later the Bill Price Band.  For over thirty years Price and his bands of top-notch musicians earned a reputation up and down the East coast as one of the best soul and blues outfits.   

Much like his good friends, the Nighthawks, Price and his bandmates were musician's musicians producing some of the best albums, bar none, but for lesser-known independent labels.  Consequently, they never received the wide spread recognition their immense talents deserved.  That is until now.

 For "Person of Interest" Price surrounded himself with the crem de la crem of music industry

professionals.  The material is top notch and all original.  This is one sweet sounding record.  Huge props go out to producer/drummer/songwriter Tony Braunagel.  Braunagel, perhaps best known as leader/drummer of the Phantom Blues Band, but is also a grammy winning producer separate and apart from his famed association with the great Taj Mahal.  Braunagel not only produces and plays drums but collaborated on the writing as well.  I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge one of the big reasons this record sounds so great and that is the multi-faceted job done by fellow Phantom Blues Band member and guitarist, the great Johnny Lee Schell.  Mr. Schell was a jack of all trades, engineering, recording and mixing this record. Johnny Lee somehow also found the time to add his potent guitar work.  Normally you would think that spreading one's talent so thin would diminish the end result.  Not in this case though.  

 

Whatever Billy is doing he should bottle it and sell it as an elixir because he sounds the best he has in several years. His voice and performances are strong and confident, yet relaxed.  And who wouldn't sound great fronting this band.  The incredible line-up reads like a musician's musicians Hall of Fame:  Jim Pugh on keyboards, no less than 3, count 'em 3 legendary bassists:  Larry Fulcher, Reggie McBride and Hutch Hutchinson; producer Tony Braunagel on drums, the dream horn section of Eric Spaulding, Mark Pender and Ron Dziubla, Tower of Power percussionist Lenny Castro and three great journeymen guitarists in Shane Theriot, Josh Sklair and the afore mentioned Johnny Lee Schell.   As every sports fan knows, having the best talent doesn't always guarantee a championship team but in this case, the results exceed one's expectations.  

 On "Person of Interest" the music literally jumps off the record and grabs you!  From the funky drum beats and crisp horns on the lp's opener, "Inside That Box" to the closing strains of the slow burner "Damage Control", there is not a clinker in the bunch.  The material is so good you could swear you have heard every track before.  Never stale, just great.  Careful attention was paid to the order of the tracks, which flow so seamlessly, the record flies by.  A sign of a truly great album.  This is a return to the kind of records you want to play through, from beginning to end.  The timing of this record's release should fit perfectly with the resurging interest in vinyl records and I for one cannot wait to get my hands on a vinyl version.  

 As I write this, I am giddy, tapping my foot and grinning from ear to ear as I listen to "She Checks All the Boxes".  This track is so so sweet it sounds like it could have come off of an Eddie Floyd Stax masterpiece.  Yet it's all original.  "She Checks All the Boxes" along with "Damage Control" is one of two tracks written by Price, long time co-writing partner and keyboardist Jim Britton and producer Braunagel.  While Price and Britton get the majority of the writing credits, there are several other noteworthy songwriting collaborations on "Person of Interest".  

Price collaborates with his old friend, French guitar great Fred Chapellier and producer Braunagel on the album's second track "Song I Never Heard Before".  Price and Chapellier did an album and DVD project together back in 2009.    

The album then downshifts to a ballad,  "Mercy", and the album quiets down to just Pugh's piano and beautiful guitar before it explodes with horns and Hammond B3.  Eric Spaulding's perfect sax solo also takes the song out.  It is at this point you start to realize that this is one special record.  "Mercy" was an unfinished track from his last recording session with his old group, the Keystone Rhythym Band, that Price had completely forgetten about.  It wasn't until a fan gave him a recording of a live version of it they had began working into their live shows around that time that Price realized this one was too good to get away.

Perhaps the most intriguing collaboration on "Person of Interest" is the one with Nashville songwriting legends Jon Tiven and Sally Young.  Now when I think of Billy Price, country music doesn’t really come to mind.  But just like Austin, Nashville is not a one genre music town anymore and good songwriting is good songwriting.  Price collaborates with Tevin & Young on two songs, "They Knew" and "A Certain Something".   Both are strong contributions to the album.  The Latin tinged and aptly named "A Certain Something” is the change-up pitch, that certain something, the album needed.  

 

Now to the elephant in the room.   I had assumed that the Price/Britton track "Change My Mind" was written as a nod to his most popular and recognizable work, the cover of Tyron Davis’s "Can I Change My Mind" that Price sang on Roy Buchanan's Livestock album. In fact, Price and Britton did not start out intending "Change My Mind" to be some calculated tribute to Roy.  Quite the contrary,  Price told me through his publicist that "After we recorded 'Change My Mind', I noted that it reminded me of some of the songs I had done with Roy Buchanan, especially 'Please Don't Turn Me Away'  from the 'That's What I am Here For' album." It was then, only after the song had been recorded that Price"...suggested to Tony Braunagel that we could get some hotshot guitar player who was a Buchanan fan to do a Buchanan style solo on the song..."

 

Okay, now that I got that straight, the next question is who do you get?  The dyed in the wool Buchanan fans are not going to like whoever you choose and what guitarist is going to want to try and fill those shoes?  When I posed this question to Price's publicist, the ever helpful Kevin Johnson of Proud Poppa Promotions & Publicity, Price credited producer Braunagel with suggesting Joe Bonamassa stating "...Tony is a friend of Joe's and has played with him." adding "Of course it was a perfect choice and Bonamassa is indeed a big Buchanan fan."

I too think Price and Braunagel came up with the perfect solution in choosing Joe Bonamassa.  As someone who grew up in the DC MD VA area, the home to so many great guitarists, including Buchanan and Gatton, we are extremely spoiled when it comes to guitarists and fiercely loyal to our local heroes. While I can be unfairly dismissive of the younger generation of guitar players, I have always respected Bonamassa’s humility, how he acknowledged his mentors and encouraged his audience to explore the history of the music and artists. Bonamassa rises to the challenge and perfectly captures Buchanan's trademark tone, sustained note holding followed by blistering fast riffs.  Yet where some guitarists would be tempted to show off and try to out Buchanan Buchanan, Joe shows his maturity and good taste delivering a restrained but passionate performance fitting for a homage.

"Change of Mind" is followed perfectly by the two Tevin & Young collaborations. "They Know" is a great song with a haunting melody punctuated by punching horn riffs accented by great stinging guitar and organ notes.  It has that classic Memphis soul sound  of Stax or Willie Mitchell's Royal Studio.  Even too much of a good thing can get monotanous though so they brilliantly follow up with "A Certain Something", a song completely different.  "A Certain Something" serves two purposes.  It shows just what a consummate artist Price is, that he can master any style and secondly, it refreshes you for what is yet to come.

The album closes out with four, that's right, 4 strong songs back to back.  "The Gift" displays just how good the song writing team of Price and Britton have become.  Jim Pugh's tasteful organ carries right into the next song, the album's highlight "Crying at the Stoplight".  If this doesn't get Price radio play and his first hit record, there is no justice.  You cannot help but move when listening to "Crying at the Stoplight" with it's rolling beat.  

Just when you think this can't get any better, Price and Britton dig deep into their confectionary bag and pull out something so sweet you become borderline diabetic.  "I Lose It" is an adult contemporary piece of ear candy that reminds me of Allen Toussaint's "When the Party's Over".  What I mean by that is, it is the kind of song that no matter what kind of day your having, it transforms you and your troubles float away to that peaceful place, leaving you totally relaxed and with a smile on your face.

The album closes with "Damage Control". Another Britton and Price number that is so strong I'm surprised it wasn't picked as the title track.  On second thought, it is wise they didn't use it for the name of the record.  Although it is a completely different song, it shares the name with the title track of Curtis Salgado's great album a few years back.  Price and Salgado are such great singers, people and friends, there is plenty of room for each of them.  Like so many of the songs on this album, it is such a perfectly crafted song it will have you scratching your head wondering "Where have I heard this one before?".

But what is most striking and why I am gushing over this record , besides that it is all original material, are the horns.  Horn lovers pay attention, this is how horns were meant to be used.  

Not seeing a credit for who arranged the horns I again reached out to Del Ray "Oh you don't have to call me" Johnson who was kind enough to pester his client one last time for me. Price responded with the following:  

 

"The horn arrangements are largely by Jim Britton, my keyboard player, and they stuck pretty close to the demos that Jim and I made to give to the players on the album. I’m sure there were some tweaks here and there but for the most part the horn players played from charts that Jim and the guys in my horn section in Pittsburgh sent for them to read. Some of the horn parts may also have been arranged by those guys, Joe Herndon and Eric Spaulding."

On "Person of Interest" the three man horn section consists of Mark Pender on trumpet and saxophonists Ron Dziubla and Eric Spaulding.

 Mark Pender may be the most recognizable name of the three, owing to his work on the Conan O'Brien show, but I have been an admirer of Pender dating back to the late 1970's when he played in the Jukes and Miami Horns. 

 But the saxophone work on this record are what steal the show.  Braunagel had the clout to land stellar saxophonist Ron Dziubla for the project and oh what a difference one man can make.  Rounding out the horn section, last but certainly not least, is Pittsburgh's Eric Spaulding.  Spaulding, was the resident saxophonist at Kid Anderson's Greaseland Studios for 6 years playing on countless recordings.  If you like Eric's sax work check out his solo project where he is backed by the Greaseland Allstars and Junior Watson.

Okay, okay...I'll stop but not before I say I am not related to anyone associated with the record nor being paid for my opinion.  It simply is what it is:  the masterpiece we always knew Price had in him.  And I for one, couldn't feel more blessed.  William, thank you for making me feel like I am hearing music for the first time.  (Eat your heart out Jon Landau!)  Strong review to follow. 😀

 

All kidding aside, Billy Price's new album "Person of Interest" on Little Village Foundation Records is a fantastic record that should be in every music lover's collection. 

 If you are unfamiliar with Price's catalog, I strongly encourage you to discover some of the finest blues and soul performances you ever heard.  Even more astonishing is that they made those great sounding records on an independent label budget.  The very essence of a labor of love.  Check out his store at:

https://billy-price.square.site/