Album Notes

This new release from Big Daddy Lee and the Kingbees features Sean Hopper, keyboardist for Huey Lewis and the News, on B3, and piano, and Chris Bank, on saxophone. It was recorded live in the Great Divide Studio in Aspen Colorado.



Review published in Aspen Times, February 16, 2007
by Stewart Oksenhorn.

Big Daddy Lee & the Kingbees, "Early in the Morning"
produced by Michael Jude.

"No, you don't have to live in the Mississippi Delta to play the blues. Nor do you have to come from Chicago to play the electrified blues.

Lee Hollowell lives in an idyllic spot along the Crystal River a few miles outside of Carbondale. His band, the Kingbees, are from points all through the Roaring Fork Valley. But on their debut recording "Early in the Morning," singer-guitarist Hollowell and band - harmonica player Mike Stahl, bassist Larry Gruber and drummer Rob Leventhal - show that the blues can get inside of anyone. Hollowell blasts his way through familiar material ("Turn on Your Lovelight," "96 Tears," "Baby Please Don't Go") and his own tune, "The Premonition," and give it all an original twist on straightahead Chicago. Hollowell's voice sounds unforced, and has a way of transporting listeners to an older time, especially on "Don't Turn Around," a shot of bluesy, '50s-style rock. And if you doubt the local guys can slug it out with the very best, check out the guitar and harmonica work on "Lovelight." No apologies necessary."