|
|
Born in Southampton England November 25, 1946, Bob Pearce began singing in local R&B bands in 1962, at the age of 16. A year later he took up the harmonica after hearing Sonny Boy Williamson's (Rice Miller) "Lonesome Cabin" in a record store, and that's where the story begins…
Although the harmonica was Bob's first instrument, he found it difficult to convey the right feel and tempos to his musicians, so the move to the guitar was a natural progression. A friend showed him how to play in "open tuning", and that's the way he's played ever since! Plucking away and absorbing any American blues that would reach him, Bob played all the venues around his hometown and eventually landed a residency at The Onslow, which lasted 18 (!) years.
Working alongside numerous visiting American bluesmen since 1970 has been an invaluable and beneficial experience for Bob. "Bob Pearce is your man as far as the blues is concerned" expressed BBC radio & TV (vocalist, harp-virtuosos and blues connoisseur) legend Paul Jones. Supporting that statement, American
Bluesmen such as Louisiana Red, Lefty Dizz, Carey Bell, Wild Child Butler and John "Pee Wee" Calvin, to name a few who have worked with Bob, all agree that Bob Pearce is "the real thing". Acceptance and praise from a different culture and ethnic group across the waters as "one of us" is the highest form of "knighthood" for a bluesman from Southampton England.
Like many other blues artists, Bob takes his blues on the road. He has toured England, Ireland, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy, and the Falkland Islands and in 1996 Bob fulfilled a lifelong dream by taking his blues "back home" to the American South. A string of dates was played in Louisiana and Texas, where he also recorded Southern Style Homecooked Blues & Side Dishes, a "travelog" filled with a variety of blues and southern soul styles near and dear to Bob's heart. A live-in-the-studio version of "Lonesome Cabin", the song that started it all, was cut in one take.
As a songwriter Bob Pearce is able to capture the life experiences his audiences can relate to, and perform them in a sincere soulful way that reaches everyone on some level. As a seasoned professional performer he is always on time, in tune and well dressed. Bob tells stories that you can understand and sometimes delivers them in a subtle down-home way, but he can also rock out with the best.
Bob Pearce has worked with: Johnny Shines, Dr. Ross, Lowell Fulson, Carey Bell, Byther Smith, Lefty Dizz, Little Willie Littlefield, Louisiana Red, Phil Guy, Wild Child Butler, Robert Lockwood, Baby Boy Warren, Boogie Woogie Red, Jimmy Dawkins, Eddie C. Campbell, Mojo Buford, Gene Conners, Henry Gray, Sunnyland Slim, Tabby Thomas, Big Joe Louis, John "Pee Wee" Calvin, Bryan Lee, Kathy & The Kilowatts, Top Topham, Jive Alive, El Fish, Sonny Rhodes and many more.
Bob Pearce has appeared on: The Paul Jones Show (BBC Radio2), The Mary Costello Show (Greater London Radio), Jazz Sounds (BBC Radio Solent), BBC TV's "South Today", Burnley Blues Festival, Basingstoke Blues Festival, Handzame Blues Festival-Belgium, Portsmouth Blues Festival, Gloucester Blues Festival, Monaghan Blues Festival-Ireland and many more.
Bob Pearce reviews and articles in: Due South, Texas Blues, Blues Life Journal, Blues In The South, Blues & Rhythm, British Blues Review, Jazz News, British Blues On Record, Vox magazine, Folk Roots, Blueprint, Highly Strung, Now Dig This, Blues News, Rock 'n' Reel plus endless European magazines.
Some of us have waited a long time for this one (and for this review too). Was it worth the wait? The answer has to be a resounding yes.
From the solo, down-home Everybody Pleasin’ Man; to the strutting almost trad band-like feel given to local guitarist Dave Taylor’s Checkbook Charlie; and the soulful, horn-driven – and radio-worthy – duet, Think Of Someone Who Loves You, written by Bruce Roberts, incidentally, and featuring Austin’s "undiscovered" John "Pee Wee" Calvin, Mr. Pearce demonstrates once again his taste in selecting interesting and noteworthy songs.
With a nod to Hans Alehag for his production and instrumental contributions, what is really outstanding about this CD is the new songs Bob has written for the project. As I think I’ve read somewhere, he’s lucky to have the talent to write songs based upon his own circumstances that have relevance for others.
The timely and philosophical What’s Wrong With The World and the thought provoking Fifteen Minutes; the emotive It’s Up To You To Make The Change which, if you’ve ever had any dealings with adolescents and the young, will immediately strike a resonance; and the ballad I’ll Be Coming Home, perfectly encapsulating feelings of absence and loss, are among the many songs here – which space limitations prevent me from considering in full – where Bob Pearce demonstrates his feel for lyrically expressing the concerns of many of his listeners.
More autobiographically, Confused neatly expresses Bob’s feelings at being set down on a waterbed in Texas! That Was Then This Is Now, about the way things were, obviously, is a Chuck Berry-like rocker, much in the vein of The French Car & The Ford and Some Things Never Change from his previous albums.
One criticism I’ve heard is that the CD has an "AOR sound suitable for widespread airplay", but can that be a bad thing? It’s about time Bob Pearce became more widely known than to just us the cognoscenti. It’s time for his Fifteen Minutes to begin!
Rob Weill
Blues in the South
BOB PEARCE – SOUTHERN STYLE HOMECOOKED BLUES & SIDE DISHES
Bob Pearce has been quietly plugging away with the blues, down in Southampton, since the mid-60s, but it has only been over the last five years or so that he has been recognised as one of the UK’s best blues talents. Maybe it is because, although he can play excellent guitar and harmonica (as he does here), his primary concern is for the vocal. It’s no coincidence that he has a passion for southern soul, also represented on this album.
For this set he went to Austin, Texas and worked with producer and all-around musician Hans Alehag, and the results are impressive, from the solo pieces to classic New Orleans sounds (some great horn work) and out-and-out rockers – but all tightly controlled; Bob has always been subtle.
"Think Of Someone Who Loves You" is a duet with Austin’s little-known juke-joint bluesman John "Pee Wee" Calvin, and whilst it is good to note that most of the material is original (and thought-provoking), it’s also nice to report that Bob has included a version of Sonny Boy Willimason’s "Lonesome Cabin", the song that started him on his blues odyssey all those years ago. In short, a blues set well worth checking out – unless you’re still worshipping guitar heroes.
Norman Darwen
ROCK 'N' REEL
Thankfully Bob Pearce is never boring. Recorded Stateside, this could have been titled 'From Southampton to South Texas' as Bob cooks up a good-humoured Southern stew of warm, laid-back blues - even the sad songs exude a joie de vivre. Best enjoyed in your globally-warmed garden over a Lone Star beer.
Alan Empson
JUKE BLUES MAGAZINE (issue # 41)
Bob Pearce - Southern Style Homecooked Blues
This CD, recorded in 1996, sees England's premier Southern bluesman recording
in Austin, Texas with local musicians and producer/multi instrumentalist Hans
Alehag. Pearce wrote ten of the sixteen tracks, including "Confused", which
tells the story of the trip; the covers include Rice Miller's "Lonesome Cabin"
- the song that introduced young Bob to the blues all those years ago. The
settings range from solo on two tracks to a horn augmented band on five
numbers, while the repertoire is varied. Those requiring uptempo house-rocking
sounds will have to look elsewhere, but if a laid back, relaxed set sounds
attractive, this will satisfy.
Rating: 8 - Jon Taylor
BLUEPRINT
(September 98)