Review: Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps – The Bottom Line
Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps – The Bottom Line
Format: CD – Digital / Label: Blue Heart Records
Release: 2023
Tekst: Bert van Kessel
In the present upsurge of excellent female bluesrockers, L.A.’s singer/ keyboardist Teresa James may well be leader of the pack. This rerelease of her 2006 breakthrough album does confirm that status.
She is an amazing vocalist; Husband/bassist Terry Wilson is a superb songwriter and contributes to twelve of the thirteen tracks. Her Rhythm Tramps are the cream of the crops of California’s session musicians.
All tracks exude, besides craftsmanship, a whole lot of fun. The horns, led out by Jerry Peterson and Lee Thornburg, play a very dominant part in this party album par excellence. I particularly like the more rocking tracks Next Big Thang and In the Pink.
If Momma Don’t Dig It is a lovely bluesier number and so is the title track with Kenny Ball excelling on the harmonica. Billy Watts contributes some mean guitar in the seductive Put The Squeeze On Me. Undoubtedly the standout track is the beautiful ballad How Am I Gonna Stop Loving You, which fits Teresa’s vocals like a glove. Mike Finnigan performs miracles on the Hammond here.
The closing track is Stephen Bruton’s bar room ditty I Do My Drinkin’ on the Weekend. It is a fitting finish to this very enjoyable album that will set any party on fire. But I would have preferred a little less “big band” and a little more “blues band”.
Tracks:
01. All Time Low
02. Put The Squeeze On Me
03. If Momma Don’t Dig It
04. Whet My Appetite
05. Don’t Make A Habit Of It
06. I Know Handsome When I See It
07. Eieio
08. The Bottom Line
09. Next Big Thang
10. How Am I Gonna Stop Loving You
11. In The Pink
12. I Call Your Bluff
13. I Do My Drinkin’ On The Weekend
Website: https://teresajames.com/