December 2001

Guilty of Love (33rd Street Records)
Tommy Castro Band

Tommy Castro's debut CD on 33rd Street Records is one of his best. Guilty of Love features 11 cuts of full-throttle blues that don't let up from the opening "Guilty of Love," through one of my favorite songs done by Delbert McClinton, "Somebody to Love You" and the slow, easy blues of the set's closer, "Dirt Road Blues." The funky instrumental "Naugahyde" lets Castro get more than a little bit funky, and the title cut features the final recording session made by the late, great John Lee Hooker before he passed away on June 21, 2001. If you like your blues a little tinged with rockabilly like I do, check out "Shakin' The Hard Times Loose," which features a rollicking piano by sax man Keith Crossan and the powerful rhythm section of drummer Billy Lee Lewis and bassist Randy McDonald laying a strong foundation for Castro's muscular band of guitar-driven blues. Guilty of Love is one of the best blues releases of 2001, and continues Tommy Castro's fine recording career as one of America's top contemporary bluesmen.

Eric Steiner

Cosmik Debris