SOMETHINGS GOTTA BLOW WHEN JOAN ARMATRADING GETS INTO THE BLUES

 

With JOAN ARMATRADING, I could have chosen the easy way out, and picked on one of her hugely popular singles in the early 80`s to write about, like ME MYSELF I or DROP THE PILOT, which dont get me wrong, I think are absolutely fantastic soul laced melodic rock songs. 

With a career spanning over 40 years and 17 albums to her name, the only easy target for me to write about would be a handful of hit singles which gave Armatrading a fleeting dose of commercial exposure during the 80`s, but being a lover of obscure blues music, I thought the best thing I could do to put in a plug for this highly overlooked West Indian born R&B soft rocker would be to showcase a song off her critically acclaimed blues album in 2006 titled INTO THE BLUES. 

Although many songs on the album come across as being a little unconvincing, like she is feeling her way more than having found her way playing the blues, Armatrading got away with it because you know her heart was in the right place, even if the delivery was marginally contrived. 

My favourite song is the title track, the 8 minute long SOMETHINGS GOTTA BLOW comes in a very close second.