Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Granvil Poynter – Another Day Singing the Blues

Good day!

This CD review was originally published in the August 22, 2013 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at thebluesblast.com

Granvil Poynter – Another Day Singing the Blues

Self Release

http://granvilpoynter.com/

14 tracks / 45:16

Granvil Poynter is an old-school blues rocker, having learned his craft in the roadhouses of his native Arkansas, and continuously honing his skills in the bars and juke joints of the Lone Star State. His gateway to the blues was the incredible work of popular artists Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn, and once he got a taste oft of this he dug deeper and discovered the marvel of the old school masters, including (among others) Muddy Waters, Albert King, and John Lee Hooker. Granvil has worked hard over the past three decades and relentlessly keeps at the trade, gigging around the San Antonio / Austin area of Texas with his four-piece group and never losing contact with fans of the genre.

After this long in the business Poynter’s debut CD, Another Day Singing the Blues, is long overdue. It has 14 tracks, 6 of which were penned by him, as well as a nice cross-section of covers from the greats, including John Prine (one of my favorites), B.B. King and Bo Diddley. Granvil takes care of most of the vocal and guitar chores, and he is joined by a bevy of fine artists, including his usual band of Gilbert "Big Daddy" Gonzales on drums, Bobby "The Monster" Cook on bass and Benny Harp on harmonica. There are also quite a few guest artists, all of whom are quite capable musicians in their own right.

This disc starts off with the original track, “Black,” and right away we get to see what Mr. Poynter is all about. His voice is a hybrid of Lou Reed and Johnny Cash, and he writes vocals that are not terribly deep, but certainly get straight to the point. This swamp rock tune features some nice harmonica work from Harp, as well as Keith Harter on guitars, and his sons Josh and Jon Harter on bass and drums.

By the way, I must note that Keith Harter produced this album and it was recorded at his studio, Harter Music, in San Antonio. The Harter crew did a first-rate job of recording and mixing all of the tracks on Another Day Singing the Blues and you will have a hard time finding anything to criticize in the production of this disc.

“Rock Me, Rock Me” is next track in the queue, and this original track is a short dose of Chuck Berry-style 1960s rock with an uptempo melody that is quite catchy. From there they jump into a cover of Eddie Boyd’s 1968 classic blues tune, “3rd Degree,” which had renewed popularity in the mid 1990s after Eric Clapton recorded his own version of it. At this point we finally get to hear what Poynter can do with the guitar, and he proves to be a consummate bluesman. He is able to produce a nice thick tone, and obviously has a good feel for the instrument. Scott Burns’ organ is featured on this track, and his presence adds a cool vibe to the tune, not to mention a killer break midway through.

Keeping with the Slowhand theme, Poynter’s song “All the Way” is a re-do of “We’re All the Way,” which was originally laid down as a country song by Don Williams, and later covered by Clapton in the late 1970s. This is not all of the Clapton material on this CD, either: E.C. also covered Willie Dixon/Elmore James’ “Can’t Hold Out” in 1974, and, “Rock Me” is a song that was originally penned by BB King, and later re-recorded by King and Clapton as a duet. I guess Granvil is a big fan!

His cover of John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery” is a complete remodel of the 1971 original. For starters, he rewrote the lyrics to come from a masculine point of view, which gave me a lot to think about. He also gave the song a gospel feel with the inclusion of Burn’s B3 organ and hearty background vocals from Valerie Fernandez and Andrea Sanderson. It worked out really well, and this is my favorite track from this release.

Granvil also covered one of his own songs: “It’s All Black,” which is a slicker version of “Black,” the first track on this album. I liked the addition of the organ part on this tune, but when this song is viewed in the context of all of the other cover tunes on Another Day Singing the Blues, there is just not enough original material to be found. As I said before, all of the tracks are very well done, but after all those years of performing I would have hoped to have heard more of Poynter’s own writing on his debut CD. Fortunately, the album finishes off with one last original, the title track.

Another Day Singing the Blues is a good first effort; Granvil Poynter and the great musicians that were gathered together for this project should be proud of the work they have done. This is a very nice blues-inspired disc, and I hope you get the chance to give it a listen.

Mahalo!