With the death of Tony Joe White, the Swamp Rock baton sounds like it’s been passed to Johnny Ray Jones, who has the growl of Tony Joe on this greasy Memphis BBQ dry rub collection of tunes.
Jones is backed by a core team of Johnny Lee Schell/g, Mike Finnigan/key, James Hutchinson/b, Lenny Castro/perc and a mix and match horn section along with a few cameo guests. With the stripped down members, Finnegan’s organ oozes through the Strat guitars and boogie-ing shuffle as Jones growls through “Steamy Windows” while theres a slinky and tasty “You Don’t Care” that glistens like a Texas sunset. A dash of ZZ Top and Creedence Clearwater give a bayou blues to the gritty “Motel” while Jones bares his soul on “Nothing Takes The Place of You”. With the STAXY horns, Jones kicks the cockroaches on the foot stomping “Don’t Burn Down The Bridge” and gives a Dr. John shout out on the New Orleans gumbo of the title piece, blowing smoke rings on the low ceiling’d juke joint of “I Got The Will”.
If you see this guy at a club, just check your hub caps before you drive off; I’m sure he plays at places that are on that side of the tracks.