(Modern Electric Blues) David Kimbrough Jr - Shell-Shocked - 2006, MP3, 320 kbps

David Kimbrough, Jr., the son of Junior Kimbrough, started a career following in his father's footsteps, but was derailed by addictions and incarceration for more than a decade before returning to action in 2006 with Shell-Shocked. The album reflects that life experience, as well as the musical heritage passed down from his father. There are also other musical influences. The smooth sound of Sam Cooke is apparent on the leadoff track, "Come Into My World," and "I Dreamed Pop Gigged with Us," while referring to Junior Kimbrough, actually sounds like an outtake from Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys album with its slow groove and wild electric guitar playing. By the time he gets to the title track, Kimbrough is spelling out his legal problems, and in the ten-minute "I Don't Do the Things I Used to Do," he is declaring himself free from the behavior that landed him in Parchman Farm for real. This makes the following song all the more unsettling. "Wild Turkey" runs 11 minutes, and all of them are devoted to the singer's love for the liquor that goes by that brand name. If the song is as autobiographical -- and as sincere -- as it sounds, someone needs to tell Kimbrough that he still has at least one more problem to overcome. ~Review by William Ruhlmann