Back On The Scene

According to the liner notes -- which offer a reasonable and lengthy biography of Walker, but only one paragraph about the music on this disc -- these tracks, recorded in Texas in 1966, were released by Jet Stream as an album titled Home Cooking. Walkers post-50s recordings dont get much attention, but these are pretty good tunes, with Walker in decent instrumental and vocal shape, offering some admirably slashing guitar licks. The recording fidelity isnt so hot, with a hollow, echoed quality, though actually that lends an atmospheric touch thats not displeasing. After all, at least its not too slick. The sidemen arent well-known (and, in fact, the drummer is listed as unknown), but they swing okay, even if theyre on the raw side. This is a little more R&B/rock-tinged than Walker records from previous decades (occasionally an organ is heard), but he doesnt sound ill at ease with that approach. Theres a good mixture of upbeat, rollicking numbers and slower, more morose ones (such as Please Come Back to Me) less indebted to his jump blues roots. So its not at all a bad addition to the library if youre a Walker fan, even if its imperfect. ~ Richie Unterberger