This is Beautiful Bobby's second CD. He gained many new blues fans from his 2002 "I'm Dialin 911" CD.(Check it out at www.cdbaby.com/bbb). He has a fan base in Florida and the tourists that visit from other countries are making more people around the world aware of this relatively new bluesman with the "sit back and let me entertain you" attitude.
Beautiful Bobby's new CD, Travelin' Home, release date was January 1, 2005. This CD is the closest to being at a live blues show. Beautiful Bobby gathered together his current working musicians and they did not hold back on their performances. He delivers on some soulful guitar solos and vocals and it will be the CD that you will play over and over again. He dug down deep in his Texas soul to give you some new blues songs that will excite your appetite for something new in 2005.
Check out his light rockish/blues solos on "I Don't Know But I Gotta Go" and "The Bluest Blues". Then he takes you to blues church on "Feels Like Rain" and "It Ain't Easy" and it's been a long time since someone has laid down this kind of moanin & groanin style of singing on a blues CD.
He brings out his Texas roots in a blues shuffle, "I Been Down So Long". His "If Mama Ain't Happy" will have the ladies saying that they can identify with this song so fellows beware. On to some good old funky southern soul-blues with "I'm Gonna Dedicate The Blues", "I Had A Dream Last Night" and "Sin City". If you lost your blues groove you will get it back on these songs. Let's not leave out "Tip-Toeing" and "Turn Me On Or Turn Me Off" and he smoothes it out with "Movin In The Wrong Direction".
Beautiful Bobby writes, plays and sings from the heart. It's nice to have an artist who can give you various styles of the blues. It's your choice to sit and listen or you can get up and dance when you hear the music. This CD could be the surprise blues CD of the year. Listen to the sound samples and get hooked on the new bluesman that will soon be recognized as one of the best hidden unsigned blues talents around.
Beautiful Bobby was one of the headliners on the November 2004 Riverwalk Blues Festival in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl and shared the stage with the likes of: Buddy Guy, Kenny Neal, Jimmy Thackery, Tab Benoit, Billy Branch, James Cotton, Marcia Ball, etc.
Performance Review: Riverwalk Blues Festival NOV' 2004:
As far as I am concerned, the next act I saw, a relative unknown outside the southeastern part of the country, was the festival's highlight. When the Blues world finally discovers Beautiful Bobby Blackmon, it will be a better world. Bobby's story is similar to that of Jody Williams. Like Jody, Bobby worked at a white-collar corporate job for many years. It was not until he retired from that environment that he was able to dedicate his full attention to the music. Well, let me tell you, he is catching up fast. Remember that you read it hear first when I tell you that Beautiful Bobby Blackmon is the next Buddy Guy. He's got it all going, the stage presence, the personality, the smile, and the talent. Damn can he play!
--PETER "BLEWZZMAN" LAURO is a contributing editor at BluesWax.
January 2005 - Bobby jammed on The Passenger Star Search segment of Warren Hill's Smooth Jazz Cruise and turned a lot of those fans onto the blues. They will never be the same.
February 2005-CD Review-Blues Bytes Magazine:
This has been a good month for new releases, and this new one from Beautiful Bobby Blackmon, Travelin' Home (B3 Records), is right there among the top ones. It's a bluesy Southern guitar and vocal outing, and one that I've listened to many times since it arrived. The opening track, "I Don't Know But I Gotta Go," is an immediate catcher and sets the tone for the 11 great tracks that follow it. Think of Little Milton doing "Walkin' The Back Streets And Crying" and you'll get the feel of this first track, and it only gets better. John Hiatt's "Feels Like Rain" is given a tremendous effort here, perhaps the best I have heard of this Hiatt classic. The humorous "If Mama Ain't Happy" is a good storytelling song somewhat reminiscent of the type of songs Larry Garner writes, and the fabulous "The Bluest Blues," an Alvin Lee tune that lets Blackmon's guitar playing and vocals shine, are both great inclusions here. Another standout track is "It Ain't Easy," a slow blues with a fine spoken intro that immediately catches your attention. I could go through each track and expound on it's merits, but you need to check this CD out for yourself. It is independent efforts like this that we in the blues community should support, so pick up a copy of this great new CD and then email Bobby at B3Comm@aol.com and let him know how much you enjoyed his newest CD.
--- Alan Shutro
CD - Review
Twelve Bar Rag
Suncoast Blues Society
March/April 2005 Issue
Beautiful Bobby Blackmon,Travelin' Home, B3 Records:
From his independent label, B3, Bobby has released his new recording titled, Travelin' Home. There are twelve tunes here that were all penned by Blackmon with the exception of the John Hiatt song "Feels Like Rain" and Alvin Lee's "Bluest Blues". Not only does Beautiful Bobby have the vocal and guitar delivery, but he is a talented songwriter. He opens with a soulful number called "I Don't Know But I Gotta Go" that sets the stage for a good hour's worth of blues. The number three cut, "I Been Down So Long," allows all the Texas influence to come through with this straight ahead blues song. It is the number four song that has been playing on my head since I got this CD a few days ago. It revolves around a blues man in trouble with his woman. The title "If Momma Ain't Happy" tells the whole story. "If Momma ain't happy there ain't gonna be nobody happy tonight." Then of course the fifth song, "I'm Gonna Dedicate The Blues To You" is a toe tapper that will stick in your memory as well.
Beautiful Bobby slips right on into other songs that allow him to express his take on the blues with numbers like, " I Had A Dream Last Night" and Tip-Toeing." The following songs, "It Ain't Easy," "Sin City," and "Turn Me On or Turn Me Off," showcases Bobby's vocals and some excellent guitar work. The bass playing of Chuck Newcomb, drums of Darnel Kelly and keyboard of Jack Bumgarner follow Bobby's lead very well here. The closing song called, "Movin In The Wrong Direction" is a lament over love gone wrong, and delivered so well that you will find yourself hitting replay to go through the number another time.
If he keeps making music like the songs found on Travelin Home we stand to lose him to a national audience. So get out and see him when he comes to town.
---Tim Graham
June 2005 - CD Review - Blues In Britain Magazine:
Beautiful Bobby Blackmon served his apprenticeship in Houston, Texas, backing artists like Barbara Lynn, James and Bobby Purify, Buddy Ace and T-Bone Walker, bringing all of those influences to bear on "Travellin' Home", his second CD, a soulful, often funky slab of Texas blues.
Blackmon opens in style with the beautiful "I Don't Know But I Gotta Go", his wistful vocals underpinned by deeply soulful guitar and organ (Jack Bumgarner), before moving on to John Hiatt's "Feels Like Rain", the deep timbre of his tender and poignant vocals echoed by his guitar. Blackmon's soul blues credentials are further enhanced by his heartrending vocals on "The Bluest Blues", where you can literally feel his pain; "It Ain't Easy" finds his guitar literally weeping in sympathy with his vocals; whilst on "Movin' In The Long Direction", a moving tale of infidelity, his guitar echoes the pain and resignation in his vocals, jazz inflected piano enhancing the melancholy that permeates the song.
Many of Blackmon's blues mine a funky groove, Otis Redding coming to mind on "I Had A Dream Last Night"; Bobby Rush's influence, both in style and subject matter, permeating the churning "Tip-Toeing", whilst the Stax feel on "Sin City" is achieved by synthesized horns, which, fortunately, due to the quality of Blackmon's vocals are rendered fairly unobtrusive.
This leaves "I Been Down So Long", a shuffle with gritty vocals that remind me of a fusion of BB King, Jimmy Johnson and Long John Hunter; the mention of Hunter being quite apt, as the photo on the cover of this set could easily be mistaken for one of the Texas giant.
Blackmon is blessed with an abundance of talent that deserves wider exposure.
---Mick Rainsford
June 2005 CD Review - Living Blues Magazine
Guitarist Bobby Blackmon...this is his second CD.
Blackmon is a deft wordsmith, capable of couching intense emotionality in casual language. .....He packs multi-syllabic words into off-meter patterns, and otherwise tweaks expected norms of musical syntax in a way that makes even his most carefully crafted creations sound streetsy.
Blackmon's guitar style reflects the way he craft his lyrics. He fires off eccentrically placed phrases, shot through with passion and sweet-toned emotionality, each note carefully articulated.................neo-funk song Tip-Toeing..Blackmon sounds as he's wailing his tale from a dark corner in a whiskey-scented juke.
The best urban blues can combime pop-influenced sophistication with an unadorned rootsiness that recalls the music's vernacular origins. That's the kind of sound Bobby Blackmon specializes in, and it's a sound we need more of in our increasingly commodified and homogenized world.
- David Whiteis
September - 2005 Review - Headliner for the Ft. Pierce Jazz/Blues Society "Street Party" - Ft. Pierce, Fl.....
"Following "THE SHAKERS", which was not an enviable task, was the events headliner - "BEAUTIFUL BOBBY BLACKMON". As BBB was taking the stage, it was pointed out to me by Vern Melvin, one of our band selection committee members, that "BOBBY had better have his A game with him having to follow that", as Vern referred to the hot set "THE SHAKERS" had just put on. As it turned out, "BEAUTIFUL BOBBY BLACKMON had his A+ game with him. BBB confidently took the stage and did what he always does - he tore the place up. His vocals were sharp, his guitar playing was blistering and his stage presence was energetic. BOBBY had the 500 or so people that were still present all on their feet and shaking in the street. Had BOBBY not put a 30 year white collar career ahead of his music, the two top names in the blues today may very well read like this... B.B. and B.B.B. Joining BOBBY on vocals and lead guitar were the rest of the "B3 BLUES BAND" - His longtime friend and band mate JACK BUMGARNER on piano, JOHN CHARCARA on bass, and JAMES "CADILLAC" CARDARELLI on drums".
As BEAUTIFUL BOBBY BLACKMON'S set, and the whole night came to an end, it was apparent that this end was also a beginning - the beginning of THE FT. PIERCE JAZZ AND BLUES SOCIETY.....
--PETER "BLEWZZMAN" LAURO is a contributing editor at BluesWax.
November - 2005 - Opening for Delta Moon - Gainesville Downtown Blues Festival, Gainesville, Fl
November - 2005 - Headliner - sharing the stage with James Peterson, Lucky Peterson, Shaun Rounds, Little Charlie & the Nightcats, Sarasota Slim and Smokin Torps - Orlando 2nd Annual Blues Festival, Orlando, Fl
June - 2006 - Opening for Buddy Guy - HOB, Orlando, Fl
July - 2006 - Headliner for Suncoast Blues Society
Sept - 2006 - Co-Headliner with Deborah Coleman for Ft. Pierce Jazz/Blues Society
February - 2007 - Headliner for Leesburg Mardi Gras
April - 2007 - WLOQ - Mall at Millenia - Headliner, Orlando,Fl
April - 2007 - Headliner for Leesburg Bikefest
May - 2007 - Pre-show for Jim Belushi - Hard Rock Cafe
August - 2007 - Headliner for Helen Stairs Concert - 600 attendees - Sanford, Fl
August - 2007 - Guest Artist - Hammnond B3s Blues vs Jazz Concert - 1000 attendees - St. Pete, Fl
January 2008 - First local blues band to appear at the new BB King's Club in Orlando, Fl
March 2008 - Great Atlantic Seafood Fest-Jax Beach, Fl
July 2008 - Cape Fear Blues Fest - Wilmington, NC
March 2008 - BB King's Club, Orlando, Fl, regular on Sunday & Monday nights
Reviews are appreciated. Customers have purchased this CD in these countries: China, Japan, Norway, UK, Germany, Canada, France, Poland, Sweden, Belguim, Switzerland, Finland, Spain and Ireland.
Beautiful Bobby Blackmon & The B3 Band:
Bobby's current working/traveling band consist of three of the best musicians in Orlando; Mike Simms (Bass),Jack Bumgarner(Keys)and Curtis Nutall(Drums)
2009 - Band Schedule -All Gigs with band unless noted SOLO.
November 20 - Nancy Lopez Country Club - Lady Lake, Fl - SOLO - 6 P.M.
November 22, 23, 29, 30 - BB King's Club - Orlando, Fl - 7:30 P.M.
November 28 - Backroom Blues Bar - Boca Roton, Fl - 9 P.M.
December 6,7,13,14,20,21,27,28 - BB Kings Club - Orlando, Fl - 7:30 P.m.
December 4 - J C Cravers - Palm Harbor, Fl - 8 P.M.
December 5 - Dexters-Winter Park, Fl - 8:30 P.M.
December 11 - Private Party - SOLO - The Villages, Fl, 7 P.M.
December 12 - Private Party - Mt. Dora, Fl - 6 P.M.
December 13 - Lakeridge Winery - Clermont, Fl - 2 P.M.
December 18-19 - Jeremiah/McGregor - Mt. Dora, Fl - 9:30 P.M.
2010
January 23 - Dexters-Winter Park, Fl - 8:30 P.M.
February 13 - Private Party - Maitland, Fl
February 27 - Dexters-Winter Park, Fl - 8:30 P.M.
March 20 - Wedding Reception - Leesburg, Fl - 6 P.M.
March 27 - Dexters-Winter Park, Fl - 8:30 P.M.
Send Bobby an e-mail to inquire about his complete music schedule (group & solo) or just to say hello.
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