Reviews from these publications are listed below in chronological order. Scroll to see all reviews.
ABS Magazine (France)
Back To The Roots (Belgium)
BITS (Australia)
Blues Blast Magazine
Blues Bytes
Blues Matters
Blues Music Magazine
Blues News (Finland)
Blues Notes And Conversations
Blues Powr Blog
Blues Roadhouse
BluesTown Music (Netherlands)
Bman’s Blues Report
Chicago Blues Guide
Cultura Blues
The Freedom Principle
The Groove (Crossroads Blues Society Newsletter)
IL Blues (Italy)
Jefferson Magazine (Sweden)
La Hora Del Blues (Spain)
Making A Scene
Musoscribe
Paris-Move (France)
PhillyCheeze’s Rock & Blues Reviews
Poprock (Croatia)
Rock Doctor
Soul Bag Magazine (France)
Making A Scene (May 27, 2025)
William Crawford a.k.a. Willie Buck was born in Houston, Mississippi. Buck relocated to Chicago in 1953. Though just a teenager an older relative snuck him in to see Muddy Waters when Muddy was still in his prime. The sound of that classic band had such an impact on Buck that he still performs in the style he heard that day. In fact, Buck is considered the standard torch bearer of the old school Blues. Buck’s self-produced debut “It’s Alright” was released in 1982. The band at the time included the Meyers Brothers and a young rhythm guitarist by the name of John Primer. That album was later re-released as “The Life I Love” on Delmark in 2010. The following year Buck released “Songs For Muddy, The Madrid Session” with Venezuelan guitarist Jose Luis Pardo and harp player Quique Gomez. In 2012 Buck followed with Delmark’s “Cell Phone Man” and it received accolades “his vocals are sinewy and expressive and he demonstrates a powerful upper range”. Buck has also been featured in the 2011 comic strip “The Secret History of Chicago Music” by the illustrator Steve Krakow a.k.a. Plastic Crimewave”. There is also a Chicago Street “Willie Buck Way” named in his honor.
Bob Corritore was born in Chicago and got hooked on blues harmonica when he was twelve. He studied and received playing tips from Carey Bell, Big Walter Horton, Junior Wells, and others. At the age of twenty-five Corritore moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Ten years later he opened The Rhythm Room. With his house band The Rhythm Room All-Stars, he backed musicians when they came to town. Since 2017 Corritore has been nominated for a least six Blues Music Awards winning in 2011 for “Historical Album of The Year”. He won again in 2025 for “Traditional Album of The Year”, “Crawlin’ Kingsnake” recorded with John Primer. This is Corritore’s 31st album although he appears on over seventy-five others.
Many of Corritore’s recordings are released as a series he calls “From The Vaults”. Willie Buck and Bob Corritore are true ambassadors of the classic Chicago blues sound and their relationship began in the late 1970’s. This new album “Oh Yeah” exemplifies their shared mission of delivering old school Chicago blues. The album is co-produced by Corritore, Clarke Rigsby, Kid Andersen, and John Wroble. It is recorded by Rigsby at Tempest Recording in Tempe, Arizona.
The core band includes Buck, vocals; Corritore, harmonica; guitarists Bob Margolin, Jimi “Primetime” Smith, and Billy Flynn; pianists Anthony Geraci and Ben Levin; bassist Bob Stroger; and drummer Wes Starr. Additional musicians appear on some tracks.
The lead off track was written by Ellis McDaniel a.k.a. Bo Diddley in 1958, as Buck sings “someday I just wanna’ love you soon, Oh Yeah, wanna’ love you in the morning, wanna’ love you in the afternoon”. “She’s Alright” with Margolin on guitar, was written by Muddy Waters in 1968, “well I went to my baby’s house she said everything alright… well I give her all my money…well, I love my baby, tell the world I do, my baby she’s alright”.
“That Ain’t Enough” is the first of seven originals, featuring guitarists Margolin and Smith, and Corritore on harmonica as Buck chimes “seen times I thought I didn’t want you, but now I know I do…you know I’ll see if we can come together, I know that ain’t enough”. “Brand New Cell Phone” with Anthony Geraci, piano; and more great harp from Corritore as Buck chants “Hey baby, I got a brand new phone, hey, baby, do you want me to get you one, if you want one all you gotta’ do is tell me”.
“Money Can’t Buy Everything” includes guitarist Billy Flynn and Ben Levin on piano as Buck belts out “I might be crazy but money can’t buy everything, if I had a bundle of money, I wouldn’t be here today, money can’t buy everything, I might win a million dollars on the lottery but I know money can’t buy everything”. “Went Home This Morning” features Troy Sandow, bass; and Brian Fahey, drums; while Corritore hits those high notes, as Buck cries “went home this morning found my baby gone… got to find my baby, see what she had to say, make sure everything’s alright”.
“She Turned Me Down” once again features Geraci on piano, “I see this woman and I asked her to marry me, know what she did man ? she turned me down, I thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, man, she turned me down”. “Baby Please Don’t Go” is the Muddy Waters classic “baby, please don’t go, baby please don’t go to New Orleans ’cause I love you so…turn your lamps down low…baby please don’t go, your man done gone to the county farm, baby please don’t go”.
“Me and My Baby”, “me and my baby we had a disagreement last night, she said I don’t wanta’ listen, me and my baby, had an argument last night, she said I don’t wanta’ listen…she said I’m a woman and I’m much smarter than you”. On the closer, the lowdown “Let Me Find Out Your Name”, again with Levin on piano, as Buck croons “baby, let me tell you what I’d do if you let me find out your name…let me tell you what my name is, my name is Johnny B. Goode…well I don’t know your name but baby I’d sure like to know your name, baby, I’m not trying to buy you, but I’d like you to give me a chance…baby, I seen you when you walking, baby you shake like jelly…if you let me baby, I’ll give you things that you’ve never seen”, as Corritore plays a Chromatic harp.
Together with the backing of the All-Stars, Willie Buck and Bob Corritore deliver the goods. Guitarist Margolin is brilliant throughout the recording. This is Chicago blues, tough, pure and joyful”.
– Richard Ludmerer
Concert Monkey (Belgium) (June 19, 2025)
Bob Corritore is een Amerikaans mondharmonicaspeler, die op 27 september 1956 in Chicago werd geboren. Zijn leven veranderde voorgoed wanneer hij op twaalfjarige leeftijd voor het eerst Muddy Waters hoorde op de radio. In minder dan één jaar leerde hij mondharmonica spelen. Bob zocht contact met de grote harpspelers, zoals Big Walter Horton, Little Mack Simmons, Louis Myers, Junior Wells, Big John Wrencher en Carey Bell. Van hen kreeg hij veel mondharmonica tips en aanmoedigingen. In 1981 verhuisde Bob naar Phoenix, Arizona, waar hij in 1986 begon samen te werken met voormalig Howlin’ Wolf drummer Chico Chism. Die samenwerking duurde twintig jaar, tot Chico in 2007 overleed. In 1991 opende Bob de inmiddels beroemde blues & roots club, The Rhythm Room en in 1999 bracht hij zijn debuutalbum ‘All-Star Blues Sessions’ uit. In 2005 bracht Bob de Rhythm Room All-Stars, met Big Pete Pearson, naar het Marco Fiume Blues Passions Festival in Italië. Hierdoor kwam er heel wat Europese interesse voor het vurig mondharmonica spel van Bob Corritore. In 2007 ontving Bob een Keeping The Blues Alive Award van de Blues Foundation. In datzelfde jaar werd ‘Travelin’ The Dirt Road’, een samenwerking met Dave Riley, genomineerd voor een Blues Music Award. In 2011 won het album ‘Harmonica Blues’ van Bob Corritore & Friends een Blues Music Award voor Best Historical Blues Release. In 2013 werd ‘Ain’t Nothing You Can Do’, de schitterende samenwerking met John Primer, gekozen tot Best Blues Album Of 2013 door het Duitse Blues News Magazine. Een jaar later kreeg Corritore ook een Blues 411 Jimi Award als Beste Mondharmonicaspeler. In mei 2020 verscheen ‘The Gypsy Woman Told Me’, de derde samenwerking tussen Bob Corritore en John Primer. In het najaar van 2020 verschenen nog drie albums van Bob Corritore in de reeks ‘From The Vault Series’. Voor zijn album ‘Spider In My Stew’ uit 2021 nodigde Bob Corritore weer een hele reeks gasten uit. In 2022 bracht Bob Corritore, met Bob Corritore’s ‘From The Vaults’ ‘Tell Me ‘Bout It’ van Louisiana Red en Bob Corritore, ‘Down Home Blues Revue’ en ‘You Shocked Me’ beiden in de reeks van Bob Corritore & Friends. Op 26 mei 2023 brachten Bob Corritore en zijn vrienden ‘High Rise Blues’ uit en vier maanden later was hij daar al opnieuw met ‘Somebody Put Bad Luck On Me’. Op 12 januari 2024 verscheen er in de reeks ‘From The Vaults’ weer een nieuw album van Bob Corritore & Friends, ditmaal met opnames met blueszangers uit Phoenix, Arizona, sinds 1981 de thuisbasis van Bob Corritore. Er staan twaalf songs op het album en de opnames gebeurden tussen 1987 en 2016. Het blijft een onuitputtelijke reeks want op 27 februari 2025 verscheen met ‘Doin’ The Shout!’ weer een nieuw album van Bob Corritore And Friends. Bob Corritore blijft maar albums uitbrengen. Op 20 juni verschijnt ‘Oh Yeah!’, een album dat Bob opnam met Willie Buck als zanger. William Crawford, ook bekend als Willie Buck, werd geboren in Houston, Mississippi. Buck verhuisde in 1953 naar Chicago. Willie Buck is één van de laatste vaandeldragers van de old school Chicago Blues stijl, die met iedereen heeft opgetreden en die iedereen in de scene kent. Willie Buck is inmiddels tweeëntachtig jaar. ‘Oh Yeah’ bevat tien songsen is net als andere releases van “From the Vaults” een compilatie van opnames die Corritore heeft gemaakt van de studiosessies die hij plant wanneer deze legendarische artiesten naar de stad komen.
Het album opent met de titeltrack ‘Oh Yeah!’, een nummer dat in 1958 geschreven werd door Ellis McDaniel, beter bekend als bluesicoon Bo Diddley. Het is een typisch Chicago bluesnummer met in de instrumentale hoofdrollen Bob Corritore op mondharmonica, Billy Flynn op gitaar en Ben Levin op piano. Wie Chicago blues zegt kan niet om Muddy Waters heen en dat weten Bob Corritore en Willie Buck zeer goed. Ze zijn beiden fans van Muddy en dat hoor je ook in de Muddy Waters cover ‘It’s Allright’. Drummer Wes Star en bassist Bob Stroger zorgen voor de knap stuwende groove. Willie Buck legt in dit liefdeslied heel zijn hart en ziel in zijn vocale vertolking. ‘That Ain’t Enough’ is één van de zes originele nummers die door Willie Buck werden geschreven. Bob Margolin op gitaar en Bob Corritore op mondharmonica zorgen voor de instrumentale hoogstandjes. Een ander eigen nummer van Willie Buck is het heel aantrekkelijke ‘Brand New Cell Phone’, waarmee Willie een meisje wil verleiden. Anthony Geraci schittert op de piano en Bob Corritore kleurt het nummer met een heel knappe solo op de mondharmonica.
William Flynn schreef ‘Money Can’t Buy Everything’. Hij speelt zelf gitaar op het nummer en Willie zingt het nummer met veel gevoel. Na deze cover is het voor Willie Burk weer tijd voor eigen werk met ‘Went Home This Morning’ en ‘She Turned Me Down’. Voor ‘Went Home This Morning’ gebruiken Bob en Willie een hele andere ritmesectie. Brian Fahey en Troy Sandow spelen drums en bas op het emotionele ‘Went Home This Morning’, waarin het hoofdpersonage s’morgens als hij thuiskomt vaststelt dat zijn geliefde niet meer thuis is. We horen hier weer een grootse Bob Corritore die heel hoge noten uit zijn mondharmonica tovert. Anthony Geraci zit achter de klavieren in het piano gedreven bluesnummer ‘She Turned Me Down’. Bob Margolin haalt hier uit met een knappe en snedige gitaarsolo. ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’ is een traditioneel bluesnummer dat in 1935 werd gepopulariseerd door Delta bluesmuzikant Big Joe Williams. In 1953 nam Muddy Waters het nummer op en maakte er een Chicago blues nummer van uitgevoerd door een elektrische band. Het is deze versie die Willie Buck en Bob Corritore als voorbeeld namen voor de opname van hun versie op dit album.
Willie Buck & Bob Corritore sluiten het album af met twee originele Willie Buck songs. ‘Me And My Baby’ gaat over een ruzie dat het hoofdpersonage had met zijn vrouw. Het is een loom swingend nummer met een weergaloze Bob Corritore op de mondharmonica en een schitterende Bob Margolin op de gitaar. ‘Let Me Find Out Your Name’ is een bijna acht minuten durende slowblues, waarin Bob Corritore de chromatische mondharmonica bespeelt. ‘Oh Yeah!’ is een ode aan de pure, rauwe stijl van Chicago blues. De tweeëntachtigjarige Willie Buck staat bekend als een fervent aanhanger van de klassieke Muddy Waters school en op dit album bewijst hij waarom. Bob Corritore’s kenmerkende harmonica voegt een authentieke, bijna spontane energie toe. ‘Oh Yeah!’ is een eerlijke, zorgvuldig gemaakte trip terug naar de wortels van de Chicago blues. Willie Buck bewijst met verve en overtuiging dat leeftijd geen barrière is voor muzikale vitaliteit. Met een stevigeen toonaangevende bijdrage van Bob Margolin, is dit album een aanradert voor de fans van traditionele blues. ‘Oh Yeah’ is pure, tijdloze Chicago blues, gespeeld met vakmanschap en vanuit het hart. (8/10)
Chicago Blues Guide (June 20, 2025)
Blues man Willie Buck might be pushing 88, but the former auto mechanic still has plenty of musical mojo left in the tank. In fact, with another stellar album on the horizon, it looks like Buck is shifting into high gear this year.
Hot on the heels of his 2024 Delmark release, Willie Buck and the Delmark All-Stars, Live at Buddy Guy’s, Buck has teamed up with harmonica ace, Bob Corritore and a host of other highly regarded musicians on Oh Yeah, which pays homage to the traditional Chicago blues vocal style that the Mississippi-born Buck has been belting out for decades.
Oh Yeah represents the latest release coming out of Corritore’s “From the Vaults” collection, as he continues his mission to boost the profile of old-school musicians like Buck. It’s also a payback of sorts since Buck signed Corritore on to play in his band in the late seventies, which gave Corritore the opportunity to perform with many of his early Chicago blues heroes. The band often included Louis and Dave Myers, Big Moose Walker, Odie Payne and Byther Smith. Corritore moved to Arizona in the early eighties, but the two men remained close with Buck making frequent stops at Corritore’s Rhythm Room in Phoenix.
Like other “From the Vaults,” releases, Oh Yeah is a compilation of recordings that Corritore has captured from the studio sessions he schedules when these legendary artists come to town. In a recent phone interview, Corritore said that they did “three really powerful sessions” while Buck was in Phoenix and had more than enough to put together a record that he likens to “a downhome Muddy Waters record for the year 2025.”
But the buck doesn’t stop with Willie Buck, Corritore also brought on some of today’s top practitioners of traditional Chicago blues on Oh Yeah. The list of luminaries includes Bob Margolin, Jimi “Primetime” Smith, and Billy Flynn on guitar, Bob Stroger on bass, Anthony Geraci and Ben Levin on keys with Wes Starr on drums. One track, “Went Home this Morning” was recorded in 2010 and features Mojo Mark Cihlar and Jon Atkinson on guitar, Troy Sandow on bass and drummer Brian Fahey. Corritore noted that Buck’s “got game” so it was the right move to have a deep bench of talented blues artists back him up.
And make no mistake, Oh Yeah is pure unfiltered Chicago blues with Buck’s powerful vocals front and center. Several of Buck’s compositions are also featured on Oh Yeah. Corritore said that Buck’s songs are “all these streams of consciousness sort of things, which I really enjoy because there’s some real honesty to everything that he sings about. They’re thematic and they’re storytelling and they all feature Willie’s wonderful Mississippi to Chicago voice.”
That voice takes us back to the golden age of Chicago blues starting with the opening track, “Oh Yeah” (written by Bo Diddley and recorded by Muddy Waters) conjuring up the flavor of those old South Side clubs that Buck used to hit up. The work of another wily veteran, 94-year-old, bassist Bob Stroger, is also key to achieving the goal of delivering straight-up Chicago blues on Oh Yeah. Corritore said that these two elder statesmen “got to honor the Muddy Waters sound together and it’s spectacular.”
This mood is also apparent on Oh Yeah’s song selection with Waters’ “She’s Alright” and “Baby Please Don’t Go” included on this masterful 10-track mix of music. Corritore said that one of the reasons they took on Waters’ covers was because “Willie Buck was always the guy who kept the Muddy Waters style alive in the South Side neighborhoods.”
In another nod to Waters’ influence, his former guitar player, Bob Margolin is on board to add even more authenticity. Margolin showcases his skills and Muddy-approved stylings on the Waters’ covers as well as several other songs. But he’s not the only axe master on this album. You’ve also got the prolific Jimi “Primetime” Smith killing it on rhythms with Chicago favorite Billy Flynn coming on to contribute some mighty-fine slide guitar. Flynn also penned “Money Can’t Buy Everything” which is another stand-out on Oh Yeah. Corritore said that Flynn brought the song into the session and Buck delivered by “singing it with such distinction.”
Buck also holds the distinction of having some major “game” going on which is manifested in the songs he has penned on Oh Yeah. Whether he’s cajoling a gal with a “Brand New Cell Phone” or expressing dismay at “the most goodest man” being rejected on “She Turned Me Down,” Buck lays it all on the line in his own unflappable fashion.
Buck certainly wraps things up with a swagger. On the final track, his “Let Me Find Out Your Name,” Buck does everything from calling himself “Johnny B. Goode” to letting the lady know that “I don’t want to buy you, I just want to share my wealth.” At the end, he proclaims that “I don’t think I can do it again” but he’s already done making his presence known.
Tying it all together is the omnipresent Corritore. Although he has over thirty releases to his credit, it’s obvious that he’s in his comfort zone playing traditional Chicago blues. He noted that he enjoyed being in “that bag” and added that “it’s going home when I play that stuff with Willie. I think people will like my harmonica offerings on this. So unforced, so flowing and so Chicago.”
Oh Yeah drops on June 20th and Corritore along with Arizona sidekick, Jimi “Primetime” Smith will be coming to the Chicago area to do a trifecta of CD release shows with Buck. They play at the Nordlof Center in Rockford on Friday, June 20th with Billy Flynn, Bob Stroger and Steve Bass. The action moves over to Rosa’s Lounge on Saturday, June 21st with Corritore, Flynn, Smith, Harlan Terson and Steve Bass. They close out their CD release weekend on Sunday, June 22nd at SPACE in Evanston with an all-star cast that includes Corritore, Flynn, Smith, and Bob Stroger with drummer Kenny Smith.
Corritore is looking forward to coming home for these shows and demonstrating Buck and the band’s “heavy dedication to the traditional blues sound.” He added that “Willie plays around Chicago a lot, but he doesn’t play in Chicago with this combination of people.”
So, whether you’re catching one of the CD release shows or playing Oh Yeah in your car on repeat, you’re in for a treat. Oh Yeah is straight-up, no frills Chicago blues that features an incredible band behind the man who has been consistently on the money since he came to Chicago in 1953. Hats off to Mr. Willie Buck and thanks to Bob Corritore and friends for making this CD happen.
– Robin Zimmerman
Paris Move (France) (June 22, 2025)
On ne présente plus dans ces colonnes l’harmoniciste émérite Bob Corritore (multi-chroniqué ICI, ICI, ICI, ICI, ICI, ICI, ICI, ICI, ICI, ICI, ICI et ICI), mais il n’est peut-être pas inutile de le faire pour Willie Buck. Né le 26 novembre 1937 à Houston (bourgade du Missisippi, sans relation avec le cœur stratégique de l’industrie aérospatiale américaine, situé au Texas), et de son vrai nom William Robert Crawford, ce dernier s’est établi à Chicago en 1954. Bien qu’ayant frayé tout jeune parmi les clubs de la ville, où il côtoya la crème locale d’alors (de Muddy Waters à Little Walter, en passant par Buddy Guy & Junior Wells), Willie ne considéra longtemps la musique que comme un loisir (étant marié et en charge de famille, il exerçait en effet le métier de mécanicien automobile). En dépit d’un premier album en 1982 (alternativement connu sous les titres de “I Wanna Ve Loved” et “It’s Alright”, sur le label confidentiel Bar-Bare Records), il lui fallut attendre près de trois décennies pour connaître la faveur de récidiver. C’est d’autant plus regrettable que cette première livraison s’avérait des plus prometteuses, avec un casting regroupant alors Johnny “Big Moose” Walker, les frères Myers, John Primer et Little Mack Simmons. Delmark finit par le rééditer en 2010 sous le titre “The Life I Love” (augmenté de cinq bonus live)… En 2012, son “Cell Phone Man” (sur le même prestigieux label) rencontra enfin un certain succès, et Delmark publia l’an dernier un “Live at Buddy Guy’s Legends”, le présentant entouré des Delmark All-Stars (Billy Flynn et Thaddeus Krolicki aux guitares, Scott Dirks à l’harmonica, Johnny Iguana au piano, Melvin Smith à la basse, et le cruellement regretté Willie Hayes derrière les fûts). Buck et Corritore (lui-même natif de Chicago) sont amis depuis le plus jeune âge de ce dernier, quand Willie lui proposa de se joindre à son propre band. Fidèle en amitié (et l’inverse d’un ingrat), Bob n’a jamais manqué d’inviter Willie à se produire dans le club qu’il a ouvert à Phoenix (Arizona) à l’orée des eighties, le fameux Rhythm Room. Captées lors de trois sessions distinctes (de 2021 à 2023, à l’exception d’un titre datant de 2010), ces dix plages dévoilent un personnel n’ayant guère à envier à celui de son live de l’an dernier. Outre Bob, on y reconnaît en effet aux guitares rien moins que le légendaire Bob Margolin (band leader historique de Muddy Waters) sur six titres, Billy Flynn sur trois autres, Big Jon Atkinson et Mojo Mark Cilhar sur une plage chacun, et Jimi “Primetime” Smith (chroniqué ICI) sur pratiquement toutes. La section rythmique se compose de l’impérial Bob Stroger à la basse, et de l’impeccable Wes Starr aux baguettes (supplantés en 2010 par Troy Sandow et Brian Fahey, par ailleurs membre intermittent des Paladins, aux côtés de Dave Gonzalez et Thomas Yearsley). Ultimes cerises sur le cake, ce sont les excellents Antony Geraci et Ben Levin qui se répartissent les parties de piano. Constituée à 70% d’originaux signés Willie, la set list s’augmente de trois standards (dont le “Baby Please Don’t Go” de Big Joe Williams, erronément attribué ici à Muddy Waters, mais aussi le “She’s Alright” de ce dernier, ainsi que la plage titulaire, due à Bo Diddley). Vocaliste puissant (chez qui l’on reconnaît sans peine les influences prégnantes de Muddy Waters et de Junior Wells), Willie ravive sans effort les effets et sensations du Chicago blues classique des fifties et sixties, comme le démontre d’entrée de jeu la plage titulaire (où Corritore se glisse tout aussi aisément dans les mocassins des deux plus grands Walter à s’être distingués sur son instrument, tandis que Billy Flynn y ravive le souvenir de Sammy Lawhorn et Jimmy Rogers, et que le jeune prodige Ben Levin en fait autant avec Sunnyland Slim et Pinetop Perkins). Après un “She’s Alright” où s’illustre forcément Margolin, Willie émarge encore à la Société des Droits d’Auteurs avec un “That Ain’t Enough” qui eût néanmoins pu lui valoir quelques contestations, tant celui-ci s’inspire du “She’s Nineteen Years Old” de son modèle (dont les slide licks caractéristiques sont parfaitement restituées par un Margolin tout aussi imprégné de l’art du Maître). On pourra certes ergoter les mêmes reproches à “Money Can’t Buy Everything” (sensiblement démarqué de “I’m Ready”), tandis que “Brand New Cell Phone” adresse un clin d’œil appuyé à son propre hit de 2012, et que “Went Home This Morning”(capté en 2010) vaut pour sa part son pesant de Jimmy Reed (Corritore y réalisant une convaincante incarnation croisée de Lazy Lester et Slim Harmo). “She Turned Me Down” n’est qu’une nouvelle démarque du “Nine Below Zero” de Rice Miller, et ce ne sont ni la version présente de “Baby Please Don’t Go” (avec un Margolin forcément d’astreinte), ni “Me And My Baby”, ni le “Let Me Find Out Your Name” conclusif (déjà paru il y a deux ans sur “Somebody Put Back Luck On Me”, chroniqué ICI, avec un Corritore impérial au chromatique) qui démentiront l’empreinte manifeste de McKinley Morganfield sur ces sessions.
Comme me le déclara un jour le regretté Big George Jackson, “how do you modernize perfection, anyway?“… Amateurs de vintage Chicago Blues bon teint, a splendid time’s guaranteed for all!
– Patrick Dallongeville
Rock Doctor (June 22, 2025)
This is the latest installment in Bob Corritore’s legendary “From The Vaults” series. Oh Yeah! Features Willie Buck on vocals for some delicious old-school blues. Recorded during 3 sessions between 2021 and 2023, plus a cut from 2010 and featuring a dizzying list of contributing guests, Corritore has hit another one over the left field fence without breaking a sweat.
Oh Yeah! Is real tough sounding Chicago blues, no doubt because Muddy’s guitar player Bob Margolin plays on most of the album. I count 11 other contributors on the back of the cd cover Anthony Geraci, Bob Stroger, Ben Levin and Jimi Prime Time Smith among them. The disc is impeccably produced (of course) by Corritore, Clarke Rigsby, Kid Andersen and John Wroble. Willie Buck is a classic blues singer, sounds a lot like Muddy, and Bob’s tasty harp work is a spice in the recipe that really makes you sit up and take notice. This is old school Chicago blues as it is meant to be played and heard.
Willie Buck and Bob Corritore’s musical relationship dates back to the late 70’s when Willie invited Bob to join his band. Even though Bob relocated to Phoenix in the 80’s the two have remained close friends and get together often to perform. The all-star backing bands on Oh Yeah! make it sound easy as the grooves they lay down for Willie & Bob to play over are locked in and righteous. There are a couple of Muddy Waters songs here (She’s Alright, Baby Please Don’t Go) with the rest of the stuff here fitting that vibe and feel.
I’m a huge fan of Bob Corritore’s “From The Vault” series of releases and this is one of the best, most inspired albums yet.
HOT TRACKS: Baby Please Don’t Go, Let Me Find Out Your Name,Money Can’t Buy Everything
– John The Rock Doctor
PhillyCheeze’s Rock & Blues Reviews (June 22, 2025)
I would be hard-pressed to name a more definitive series of blues recordings than Bob Corritore’s ‘From the Vaults’ series. I’m always excited when a new one is issued. The most recent in this series is Willie Buck & Bob Corritore’ s Oh Yeah!, and one couldn’t ask for a better current-day representation of classic Chicago Blues. William Crawford aka Willie Buck and Corritore have a history of playing together that goes back over forty-five years, and certainly is heard through their music. The album features Willie Buck on vocals, Bob Corritore on harmonica, Bob Margolin on guitar for six tracks, Jimi Primetime Smith on guitar for nine tracks, Anthony Geraci on piano for three tracks, Ben Levin on piano for six tracks. Bob Stroger appears on bass, and Wes Starr on drums for nine of the tracks. The recording also includes Billy Flynn, Mojo Mark Cihlar, Jon Atkinson,Troy Sandow, and Brian Fahley.
The title-track “Oh Yeah!” rolls out first. Buck’s whiskey-soaked vocals are splendidly joined with Corritore’s searing harmonica. With both Flynn and Smith on guitar, the song makes for a very strong opener. A cover of Muddy Water’s “She’s Alright” swiftly follows next, fueled with an intoxicating rhythm. The song quickly puts a grin on my face. I love how Buck spins a moment of appreciation and solid act of generosity into song with “Brand New Cell Phone”. With Atkinson and Mojo Mark on guitars, Sando on bass, and Fahley on drums, Buck and Corritore deliver the wonderful original “Went Home This Morning”. The song, timeless in both theme and performance, is a real treat. I never tire of hearing the blues classic “Baby Please Don’t Go”. This is such a great song, and these guys play it to a riveting perfection.
I highly recommend Oh Yeah! as well as all previous releases in the ‘From the Vault’ series that Corritore has been curating. The record is ‘grade A’ Chicago Blues in its purest form.
– Phillip Smith
Musoscribe (June 27, 2025)
Band leader, harmonica player and archivist Bob Corritore continues his highly regarded “From the Vaults” series of releases with Oh Yeah!, a collaboration with blues vocalist Willie Buck. Culled primarily from three recording sessions that took place in Tempe, Arizona between 2021 and 2023, Oh Yeah! features an all-star roster of support players.
But the presence of those big names – co-producer Kid Andersen, Bob Margolin, Anthony Geraci and other of note – doesn’t take the spotlight away from Willie Buck. The bluesman who earned his fame in Chicago in the ‘50s and beyond is front and center on this collection of ten tunes. A live in the studio vibe pervades the proceedings, equal parts loose-limbed and rock-solid.
Five of the ten cuts are Willie Buck originals; scattered throughout the track list, they for the sturdy core of this top-flight album. “That Ain’t Enough” is a seething, lumbering blues rocker with stinging lead guitar work and wailing harp. On one hand, it’s the kind of song and arrangement that helped light the British blues boom of the ‘60s, turning a generation of white kids onto the blues. On the other hand, it drips with authenticity, the sincere work of a man who has spent a life in the blues.
From its title, it’s clear that “Brand New Cell Phone” is no blues chestnut. In fact it’s another Buck original. But everything beyond the subject matter is classic blues, serving up a perfect mix of old and new in timeless fashion. Buck sounds assured and right at home fronting the spirited instrumental work.
“Went Home This Morning” lays down a stomping, distorted rhythm upon which Buck slides effortlessly into blues shouter mode. Everything about the recording suggests that Buck and his sidemen were having the time of their lives cutting the track. “She Turned Me Down” starts with a familiar structure, sticks to it and reminds listeners why that form has endured. The band plays looser here, suiting and serving the character of the song.
The upbeat “Me and My Baby” is a playful and sassy story-blues. The album’s lengthiest track, “Let Me Find Out Your Name” slows the tempo way down, giving the players ample opportunity to stretch out. The song’s production values – cavernous echo, spare effects – remind younger listeners where groups like Led Zeppelin and Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac got some of their best ideas. A master of the blues, Willie Buck is the real deal.
Guitarist Billy Flynn penned “Money Can’t Buy Everything”; the tune feels custom-written for Buck’s formidable set of skills. The album’s other tracks – a reading of Bo Diddley’s “Oh Yeah,” Muddy Waters’ “She’s Alright” and “Baby Please Don’t Go” – are excellent as well, but their inclusion serves mainly to highlight the depth of Willie Buck’s own songwriting artistry: a listener new to the songs might not be able to discern which are Buck originals and which are blues classics.
– Bill Kopp
Blues Bytes (June 2025)
Willie Buck & Bob Corritore’s musical paths crossed in the late ’70s, when Buck invited Corritore to join his band. They remained friends even after Corritore relocated to Phoenix in the ’80s, performing together at least once a year.
Oh Yeah! (VizzTone Label Group) is another outstanding collection from Corritore’s wonderful “From The Vault” series that gathers ten tracks the pair recorded in four sessions between 2010 and 2023.
Buck handles vocals and Corritore harmonica with backing from guitarists Bob Margolin, Jimi “Primetime” Smith, Billy Flynn, Mojo Mark Cihlar, and Jon Atkinson, with Anthony Geraci and Ben Levin sharing piano duties, bassist Bob Stroger and Troy Sandow, and drummers Wes Starr and Brian Fahey. The set list (six written by Buck with four covers) is an old school Chicago blues fan’s dream.
The exuberant title track, penned by Bo Diddley, and Muddy Waters’ “She’s Alright” open the album , a snug fit with the Chicago blues vibe that permeates throughout. The next two songs, the smoldering blues “That Ain’t Enough,” with slide guitar from Margolin, and “Brand New Cell Phone,” a contemporary blues topic given a traditional musical theme, are Buck originals that provide an ideal showcase for his songwriting skills.
Guitarist Flynn wrote the swinging “Money Can’t Buy Everything,” but it sounds like an ideal vehicle for Buck. Two more Buck compositions follow, with the lively “Went Home This Morning” (from the 2010 session with Cihlar and Atkinson on guitars, Sandow on bass, and Fahey on drums) and “She Turned Me Down,” a slow burner with more sizzling slide guitar work.
Another Muddy Waters standard, “Baby, Please Don’t Go,” gets a faithful treatment from Buck and Corritore before the album wraps with two more Buck originals — “Me and My Baby,” an upbeat sauntering blues, and the superb “Let Me Find Out Your Name,” an extended slow blues with great guitar work from Flynn and Smith that proves Willie Buck is still a top notch Chicago blues master.
Corritore is also at the top of his game on these tracks, and the rest of the supporting musicians are marvelous as well. Chicago blues fans will do themselves well by picking up this excellent outing from two of the genre’s key artists.
– Graham Clarke
The Groove (Crossroads Blues Society Newsletter) (May / June 2025)
Another new release from Bob Corritore is always welcome. His treasure trove of recordings in a wealth of fine
tunes for blues lovers to savor. Here Corritore and Willie Buck pay homage to their friend Tail Dragger with this set of songs recorded in three sessions between 2021 and 2023, except one, which is from 2010. Corritore recorded all the tunes while artists were in town playing at his Phoenix, AZ club, The Rhythm Room.
Buck and Corritore appear on all tracks. Jimi Primetime Smith is on guitar, Bob Stroger is on bass and Wes Starr is on drums for all tracks except “Went Home This Morning.”
Things start with the title track. Buck is in good voice here and throughout, Corritore’s harp is slick, Flynn’s and Jimi’s guitars are great and Ben Levin shines on piano. “She’s Alright” is next.
Bob Margolin is on guitar here and the next two cuts. Levin is on piano for a romping good time. The original “That Ain’t Enough” is next and Willie sings with passion as Corritore blows wicked harp. Buck’s “Brand New Cell Phone” continues the prior crew except Anthony Geraci is shining on piano; it’s a pretty, greasy shuffle blues.
Fynn’s “Money Can’t Buy Everything” follows. The guitar is gritty and cool, the harp is equally so and Buck sings with aban-don. “Went Home This Morning” is the lone session cut with Mojo Mark Cihlar and John Atkinson are on guitar, Troy Sandow on bass and Brian Fahey on drums. Buck howls out the lead and Corritore squeaks out some pretty harp here in this cool shuffle.
“She Turned Me Down” is the same crew as the cell phone cut.
Margolin offers up some picking on his guitar that sounds like Muddy Waters Band. Geraci and Corritore are bright spots in this nice, slow blues.
Other than swapping Levin for Geraci, The same folks from the prior track play “Baby Please Don’t Go” next, a throwback to Muddy. It’s a classic and the players are up to it as they are in the next track “Me And My Baby,” one of Willie’s songs. Both are big, slick cuts and offer the blues fan some good listening. Here Levin Great stuff! The final number is Wilie’s “Let Me Find Out Your Name.” Flynn and Levin appear here and it is a very slow, deliberate and cool slow blues. The guitar rings, the harp is excellent, the piano is cool and the whole thing together is just some of the coolest slow blues you can find!
Corritore has paired up guitar players in these tracks beautifully.
Flynn/Smith, Margolin/Smith, and Cihlar/Atkinson are formidable axe men who all do a superb job. Levin and Geraci swap off for 9 of the 10 cuts and their playing is outstanding. The back-lines are tight and drive the cuts with passion. Buck and Corritore are the stars of the show, but they don’t step on anyone’s toes and deliver 10 fine performances of classic and classy Chicago Blues. It is always great to see and hear what Bob Corritore serves up from the storied musical vaults from his club. I’ve never heard anything bad come out of them and this one continues the unbroken chain of great music.
Buck has made some great albums but I think this one is his best.
The great players Corritore has assembled make this an amazing effort. I loved it and blues fans will listen and ask for more when it’s done. This is real deal amazing Chicago blues!
– Steve Jones
La Hora Del Blues (Spain) (July 1, 2025)
What a pleasure to listen to this authentic Chicago blues album by two great musicians: Bob Corritore and Willie Buck! This album takes us back to the golden age of Chicago blues in the 1950s and 1960s, thanks to two consummate masters of the genre.
A tireless worker, a blues enthusiast, and an institution in the world of this genre, Bob Corritore never ceases to amaze us with impressive albums that are true gems for fans. This time, he does so alongside Willie Buck, one of the last old-school singers who for over forty years has been one of the greats of the city’s music scene, leading his band that has featured names like Louis Myers, Eddie Taylor, Sammy Lawhorn, Magic Slim, Byther Smith, Johnny “Big Moose” Walker, and Big Leon Brooks.
Bob and Willie met in the late 1970s when Willie invited Bob to join his band. They worked together for a few years and when Bob moved to Phoenix, Arizona, in the 1980s, their friendship continued, and they have reunited at least once a year to play together and record. This album is a magnificent example of the feeling that develops between the two musicians when they come together to make their own old Chicago blues songs that convey the essence, substance, and character of songs that touch the depths of your soul.
Ten stunning blues songs make up this album, part of Bob Corritore’s extensive collection and recorded in three sessions between 2021 and 2023, except for one track recorded in 2010. The album features top-notch musicians such as Bob Stroger on bass, Bob Margolin on guitar on six tracks, guitarists Jimi Primetime Smith, Billy Flynn, Mojo Mark, and Jon Atkinson, pianists Anthony Geraci and Ben Levin, drummers Wes Starr and Brian Fahey, and finally Troy Sandow on bass on one track.
Nowadays, when innovation, refined technique, and experimentation in new fields and sounds prevail in the blues, coming across an album like this is pure delight and proves that the blues doesn’t need grand flourishes but rather authenticity to convey that feeling that only the masters of the genre know how to communicate with just a few notes. Bob Corritore hasn’t come to innovate, but rather the opposite; he’s here to perpetuate, and in these times, this is something very necessary.
– Vicente Zumel
Cultura Blues (July 1, 2025)
Muchas de las grabaciones de Bob Corritore se publican en una serie que él llama «From the Vaults» -Desde las Bóvedas-. Willie Buck y Bob Corritore son verdaderos embajadores del sonido clásico del blues de Chicago y su relación comenzó a finales de los 70. Este nuevo álbum Oh Yeah!, ejemplifica su misión compartida de ofrecer blues de la vieja escuela de Chicago.
El álbum está coproducido por el propio Bob, Clarke Rigsby, Kid Andersen y John Wroble. Fue grabado por Rigsby en Tempest Recording en Tempe, Arizona. Con el acompañamiento de los All-Stars, Willie Buck y Bob Corritore lo dan todo. Por cierto, el guitarrista Bob Margolin está brillante durante toda la grabación. «Esto es blues de Chicago: duro, puro y alegre«. Antes de hablar de la grabación, repasemos un poco quienes son los protagonistas de la obra…
William Crawford, o bien Willie Buck, nació en Houston, Mississippi. Se mudó a Chicago en 1953. Aunque era apenas un adolescente, un pariente mayor lo llevó a escondidas a ver a Muddy Waters cuando estaba en su mejor momento. El sonido de esa banda clásica tuvo tal impacto en Buck que todavía toca con el estilo que escuchó ese día. De hecho, Buck es considerado el abanderado del blues de la vieja escuela. Su álbum debut It’s Alright, fue lanzado en 1982. La banda en ese momento incluía a los Meyers Brothers y a un joven guitarrista rítmico llamado John Primer. Ese álbum fue reeditado posteriormente como The Life I Love en Delmark Records en 2010.
Al año siguiente, Buck lanzó Songs For Muddy, The Madrid Session, con el guitarrista venezolano José Luis Pardo y el armonicista español Quique Gómez. En 2012, Buck siguió con Cell Phone Man, de Delmark Records y recibió elogios: “su voz es vigorosa y expresiva y demuestra un rango superior poderoso”. Buck también apareció en la tira cómica de 2011 «La Historia Secreta de la Música de Chicago», del ilustrador Steve Krakow, también conocido como Plastic Crimewave. Existe también una calle de Chicago, «Willie Buck Way», nombrada en su honor. En 2019 publicó Willie Buck Way, y en 2023 Live at Buddy Guy’s Legends, 2023, Chicago; ambas obras para Delmark Records.
Bob Corritore nació en Chicago y se enganchó a la armónica de blues a los doce años. Estudió y recibió consejos de Carey Bell, Big Walter Horton, Junior Wells y otros. A los veinticinco años, Corritore se mudó a Phoenix, Arizona. Diez años después, abrió el local The Rhythm Room.
Con su banda, The Rhythm Room All-Stars, ha acompañado a los músicos que visitan la ciudad. Desde 2017, Corritore ha sido nominado a al menos seis premios de la música blues, ganando en 2011 el premio al «Álbum Histórico del Año». Volvió a ganar apenas en este 2025 el premio al «Álbum Tradicional del Año» con «Crawlin’ Kingsnake», grabado con John Primer. Este disco actual es el vigésimo álbum de Corritore, aunque aparece en otros setenta y cinco más.
En Yeah! la banda principal incluye a Willie Buck (voz); Bob Corritore (armónica); los guitarristas Bob Margolin, Jimi «Primetime» Smith y Billy Flynn; los pianistas Anthony Geraci y Ben Levin; el bajista Bob Stroger; y el baterista Wes Starr. Otros músicos invitados aparecen en algunos temas: 01. Oh Yeah; 02. She’s Alright; 03. That Ain’t Enough; 04. Brand New Cell Phone; 05. Money Can’t Buy Everything; 06. Went Home This Morning; 07. She Turned Me Down; 08. Baby Please Don’t Go; 09. Me and My Baby; 10. Let Me Find Out Your Name.
El tema principal e inicial del álbum Oh Yeah, fue escrito por Bo Diddley en 1958. She’s Alright, con Bob Margolin en la guitarra, fue escrita por Muddy Waters en 1968. That Ain’t Enough, es la primera de siete canciones originales, con los guitarristas Bob Margolin y Jimi «Primetime» Smith, además de Corritore en la armónica. En Brand New Cell Phone, aparece Anthony Geraci al piano; y desde luego más armónica de Corritore. Money Can’t Buy Everything, incluye al estupendo guitarrista Billy Flynn, al maravilloso joven Ben Levin al piano mientras Buck canta a todo pulmón.
La pieza Went Home This Morning, cuenta con Troy Sandow en el bajo y Brian Fahey en la batería; mientras Corritore alcanza varias notas altas, y Buck solloza la letra de la canción. She Turned Me Down, cuenta una vez más con Geraci al piano. La tradicional Baby Please Don’t Go, clásica de Muddy Waters, aquí suena sensacional. Me and My Baby, otra de las originales, tiene una interpretación genial por parte de toda la banda. Para cerrar la obra, aparece Let Me Find Out Your Name, de nuevo con Levin al piano, mientras Buck canta con mucho sentimiento y Corritore toca la armónica cromática.
Calificación: 9.0 Excelente
– José Luis García Fernández
Blues Powr Blog (July 7, 2025)
New album from Willie Buck and Bob Corritore will have you, too, saying Oh Yeah!
We’re keeping things focused on Chicago with a look at the latest collaboration from harmonica ace Bob Corritore, who, although he’s called Phoenix, Arizona, (where he owns and frequently plays at the legendary Rhythm Room blues club) his home since the early 1980s, originally hailed from and got his start in the Windy City before relocating to the warmer climate of the desert, and this time out teams with longtime Chicago bluesman Willie Buck (who moved to the big city from his birthplace of Mississippi before his 20th birthday). From his arrival in Chicago, Buck was strongly influenced by Muddy Waters, something you’ll notice immediately here on the stellar Oh Yeah! (VizzTone Records), not simply because of the two Waters songs that kick off the album, and/or backing by former Waters guitarist Bob Margolin on a majority of the tracks (including two of the three Waters covers), but because that’s so much a part of Buck’s overall style and sound, something we appreciate more with each new recording we hear from Buck, particularly with Muddy having been gone so long now.
An enthusiastic take on Waters’ “Oh Yeah” opens the album, featuring especially fiery vocals from Buck on the chorus. Some of that fire also carries over to the gritty “She’s Alright” that follows, the first number to feature Margolin on guitar, with other highlights such as the shuffling original “Went Home This Morning” and third Waters song “Baby Please Don’t Go” — with the gruff-vocaled Buck sounding a lot like a more uptempo version of David “Honeyboy” Edwards — also showing some great energy from the 86-year-old Buck, while the gritty, creeping closer “Let Me Find Out Your Name” is another track well worth checking out, featuring some fantastic guitar from Billy Flynn and Jimi “Primetime” Smith.
In addition to Margolin, Flynn and Smith sharing duties on guitar, Buck and Corritore are backed throughout most of the project (with the exception of “Went Home This Morning”, which finds Mojo Mark and Jon Atkinson on guitar, Troy Sandow on bass, and Brian Fahey on drums) by Bob Stroger on bass and Wes Starr on drums, with Anthony Geraci and Ben Levin taking turns on piano. With that lineup, you can rest assured there’s not a bad track in the bunch, so if you’re asking yourself if this is an album you need to add to your collection, the answer is a resounding “Oh Yeah!” (and “thank you” to Corritore for continuing to make these tracks from his from vault available for the rest of us to be able to hear!)
– Mike
Poprock (Croatia) (July 7, 2025)
English translation:
Those of us who follow what Bob does know very well that many of Corritore’s recordings have been released as a series he calls From The Vault . Willie Buck and Bob Corritore are true ambassadors of classic Chicago blues, and their relationship began in the late 1970s. This new Oh Yeah album exemplifies their shared mission of delivering old Chicago blues. The album was co-produced by Corritore, Clarke Rigsby, Kid Andersen and John Wroble, while Rigsby recorded it at Tempest Recording in Tempe, Arizona.
The nucleus of the band includes Willie Buck (vocals), Bob Corritore (harmonica), guitarists Bob Margolin, Jimi “Primetime” Smith and Billy Flynn, pianists Anthony Geraci and Ben Levin, bassist Bob Stroger and drummer Wes Starr. There are also other musicians who appear on some songs. At the end of the text you have everything – complete info on who plays where. And all together they bring us an incredible bluesy magic that will simply wrap you up and pull you in, and give you lots of NEW reasons to keep going, no matter what! Especially in this crazy time of today! The undeniable power of the musicians who collide in these individual musical stories will simply fascinate and leave you speechless!
I will definitely write that in 2025 Robert “Bob” Stroger was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame andwon the prestigious BMA award as the best bassist, and in addition, Delmark Records released his second solo album Bob Is Back . I will not mention all those other awards and recognitions… because, the story would be WAY too long because of that. Finally, my dears – Mr. Stroger is “only” 94 years old.
Recommendation
Is this an album for those who are new to the blues? Of course not! This is, no matter what, still a difficult read for them – or material, as you like. However, if you are a true blues connoisseur, the Oh Yeah album will be a truly delicious treat, after which you will just ask for more and more!
My dear blues lovers , don’t hesitate and get your copy of the album as soon as possible, which will literally soar you into the blue sky of traditional Chicago blues.
The great Henry Gray always claimed without any hesitation:
“Every person who’s ever been through anything, they’ve gotten the blues.”
Personally, I know that you are part of that story and therefore, my dear blues lovers , go ahead… you have something very good, high-quality and special in front of you. In front of you is the powerful album Oh Yeah, which brings you recordings from the collaboration of true blues masters – and they are the inimitable Willie Buck and Bob Corritore. You have the move!
Here’s how others hear it:
“Together with the backing of the All-Stars, Willie Buck and Bob Corritore deliver the goods. Guitarist Margolin is brilliant throughout the recording. This is Chicago blues, tough, pure and joyful.”
– Richard Ludmerer (editor of Making A Scene )
The Freedom Principle (July 12, 2025)
Oh Yeah!, the latest collaboration between veteran Chicago bluesman Willie Buck and harmonica player Bob Corritore, delivers a no-frills, live-in-the-room sound rooted firmly in the post-war electric blues tradition of the American Midwest. With Buck’s gruff, deliberate phrasing and Corritore’s unvarnished harp work, the album taps into the lineage of South Side clubs where amplified blues was both social force and nightly ritual. The band—guitar, upright piano, bass, drums—keeps arrangements tight and functional, allowing the interplay between voice and harmonica to carry emotional weight. What distinguishes this recording isn’t reinvention, but fidelity: Oh Yeah! affirms its commitment to the unhurried pace and tonal rawness of the Chicago sound without relying on nostalgia. The music speaks plainly, but behind it lies the African American migration story—Delta phrasing sharpened by urban grit—a continuum that jazz has often paralleled in its own evolution. Buck and Corritore don’t so much revive the blues as remind us it’s still speaking in its native tongue, in a city that gave it electricity and permanence.
Blues Roadhouse (July 21, 2025)
This splendid album of traditional, old-school Chicago blues is yet another release from Bob Corritore’s masterful “From the Vaults” series, featuring artists he’s recorded over the years as they visited his Phoenix Rhythm Room club.
This album features the ageless voice of Chicago blues powerhoue Willie Buck, now 88 and still slinging the blues. Corritore’s relationship with Buck goes back to the late 1970s, when Buck invited him to join his Chicago band. Buck has since made regular visits to Corritore’s sweet home Phoenix, and recorded music like this. The tracks here come mainly from three Arizona sessions from 2021 to 2023.
The tough-enough blues aggregation backing Buck’s gritty pipes includes former Muddy Waters guitarist Bob Margolin, Corritore regular Jimi “Primetime” Smith, Chicago’s Billy Flynn, pianists Anthony Geraci and Ben Levin, veteran bassist Bob Stroger and drummer Wes Starr, plus assorted guests. And of course, Corritore’s harp soars throughout.
Together, this blues-driven band and Buck bring some great old music, including songs by Waters and Buck, whose songwriting chops carry their own considerable weight.
For the opener, though, they reach back nearly 70 years to 1958 for the churning title track, “Oh Yeah,” by Bo Diddley. It’s deep blues driven hard by ferocious guitar and blazing harp, with Buck rolling out the lyrics. Waters’ 1968 hypnotic “She’s Alright” roars in next, with an especially tough Buck vocal. “That Ain’t Enough,” with Margolin and Smith dazzling on guitar, is the first of Buck’s originals.
“Brand New Cell Phone” shuffles in with Geraci’s rock-steady piano backing and Corritore’s razor-sharp harp. “Money Can’t Buy Everything” is a Flynn contribution, with a whimsical lyric, easily captured by Buck’s vocal prowess. “Went Home This Morning” features piercing Corritore harp throughout, swirling around Buck’s tough vocal, decorated by some great guitar.
Scorching slide guitar permeates Buck’s torchy “She Turned Me Down,” a deeply felt slow blues built for belt-polishing close dancing. “Baby Please Don’t Go” is a Waters’ classic rocked hard by Buck and the band. “Me And My Baby” features Flynn on wicked slide guitar.
The closer is the slow-blues scorcher, “Let Me Find Out Your Name,” with the band cranking out a fierce blues concerto behind Buck’s steamy vocals. It’s a breathtaking masterpiece, which Buck seems to realize as it all wraps up, happily proclaiming: “Let’s leave it like that … I don’t think I could do it again.”
You can do it again, though, by giving this album a well-deserved spot on your old-school curriculum.
“Oh Yeah” is Chicago blues at its glorious best. Blessings on Corritore for doing his best to keep this classical American music alive and well. Very well, indeed!
– Jim White
Bluestown Music (Netherlands) (July 30, 2025)
Harmonica ace Bob Corritore has certainly earned his spurs in the American Blues Scene, In his hometown of Phoenix Arizona he has been running a record label, a studio and a blues club for many years now. He has received numerous awards for his contributions to the blues.
Also for quite a few years this blues-jack-of-all-trades has been inviting legendary blue masters to his blues club . He invariably invites these blues icons into his studio and this way he has created a great series called “From The Vaults”; this wonderful album with renowned vocalist Willie Buck is the latest instalment in this series .At the respectable age of 87 Willie still belts out his vocals with passion and conviction, just as he did in the fifties working with Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. Willie Buck and Bob Corritore have collaborated on and off for nearly five decades now; they are true ambassadors of the classic Chicago blues sound. The album was recorded and co-produced by Clarke Rigsby at Tempest Recording in Tempe, Arizona. The star-studded core band includes Willie Buck on vocals; Bob Corritore on harmonica; guitarists Bob Margolin, Jimi ”Primetime” Smith and Billy Flynn, plus excelling pianists Anthony Geraciand Ben Levin. Willie Buck penned five of the ten tracks himself and they fit seamlessly among the other classics.
The opener and title track track was written by Bo Diddley and takes us straight into a classic Chicago blues club. it is followed by Muddy Waters’ She’s Alright with Margolin excelling on guitar.
The slowly rocking That Ain’t Enough” is the first self-penned track, it is hot-blooded, with searing lead guitar work and wailing harp. This is definitely classic Chicago blues, with Willie Buck singing full throttle confidently. The spirited backing band really lets loose on this one.
Brand New Cell Phone is not a blues classic as you might have inferred from its title . It is a Willie Buck original ánd a classic in the making. Went Home This Mornin features Bob Corritore impressively hitting some mighty fine high notes. Baby Please Don’t Go is the Muddy Waters classic and gets an exceptionally lively rendition.
The lowdown Me And My Baby, is another masterful specimen of true Chicago blues, tough, pure and joyful. It lays down an exciting, stomping rhythm with Willie Buck blossoming out as a true blues shouter.
The album’s closer and longest track, Let Me Find Out Your Name slows the tempo way down, giving the players ample opportunity to demonstrate their skills on their respective instruments. This buoyant track makes clear that Buck and the players were having a great time recording these tunes.
When it comes to authentic Chicago blues with drive and passion, this fine album is the real deal.
– Bert van Kessel
Blues Matters (July 2025)
Absolutely right up my street, this new collaboration is straightforward Chicago Blues at its very best. Willie and his vocals are accompanied throughout by Bob’s wailing harp fills and a really class collective of musicians making up the band. A mere “dis-appointing” ten tracks comprises this collection. I say disappointing as I wanted more, more, more. Six originals, two Muddy Waters, Ellis McDaniel (Bo Diddley’s wee boy) and local lad Billy Flynn are the musical sources and what a stomping album it is! Nothing complicated about the arrangements just a bunch of guys sitting in a studio having fun making music together. Now I should point out that, whilst this a new al-bum, the cuts are drawn from sessions ranging from 2010 up until 2023. However they sound as fresh as new mown grass. There is not a weak track throughout and, if pushed, I would say that my personal top picks are as follows. The opener and title cut Oh Yeah, Went Home This Morning, She Turned Me Down and the slow Blues of Let Me Find Out Your Name and the rolling shuffle of Brand New Cell Phone.
Hell that is half the album, he he! Truly though, please seek this out, sit back and simply smile throughout. You will be very well satisfied
– Graeme Scott
Blues Blast Magazine (July 31, 2025)
Chicago blues legend Willie Buck teams up with harmonica heavyweight Bob Corritore to bring new excitement to those blues classics that once emanated from inside clubs and on the streets of Chicago, Illinois. Oh Yeah! is the latest release from Corritore’s “From the Vaults” series, described as “Historic blues recordings from Bob’s vast archives!”
According to the album’s one-pager, Buck and Corritore are true ambassadors of (that) classic Chicago blues sound. Their musical relationship began in the late 1970s when Buck invited Corritore to join his band. They’ve remained close friends and perform together each year. Oh Yeah! exemplifies their shared mission of delivering old school Chicago blues as it’s meant to be played.
Willie Buck (William Crawford) was born and raised in Mississippi and drawn to the blues after hearing B.B. King and Muddy Waters. He moved to Chicago in the early 1950s and became a part of the Maxwell Street blues scene and remains a mainstay of Windy City blues to this day. According to his online bio, Buck is known for his powerful vocals delivered with raw, gut-wrenching intensity.
While Buck still lives in Chicago, Bob Corritore relocated to Arizona years ago, where—according to his website—he formed the Southwest Musical Arts Foundation (in 2000), hosts the popular radio show “Those Lowdown Blues,” owns the Rhythm Room (in Phoenix), and is both a Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) award recipient and Blues Music Award (BMA) winner (2011), along with receiving many other awards and professional recognition.
Buck’s passionately gritty vocals combined with Corritore’s savvy no nonsense harmonica style are an absolute joy on Oh Yeah!
Joining Buck and Corritore on this album are a Who’s Who of blues musicians, including: Bob Margolin on guitar, Jimi “Primetime” Smith (guitar), Billy Flynn (guitar), Mojo Mark Cihlar (guitar), Jon Atkinson (guitar), Anthony Geraci (piano), Ben Levin (piano), living legend Bob Stroger (bass), Troy Sandow (bass), Wes Starr(drums), and Brian Fahey (drums).
Oh Yeah! was produced by Corritore, Clarke Rigsby, Kid Andersen, and John Wroble at Tempest Recording in Tempe, Arizona, where Rigsby handled the recording while Wroble did all post-production work at Porcupine Productions in nearby Chandler, Arizona.
The album kicks off with the title track, an old Bo Diddley hit, and Buck and Corritore get right to it with Corritore’s dynamic harp playing and Buck’s commanding vocals. “She’s Alright” by Muddy Waters clearly highlights that “classic Chicago blues sound” made famous by Waters and many others. Buck’s gritty “That Ain’t Enough” features amazing guitar licks from Margolin and “Primetime” Smith. Another Buck original, “Brand New Cell Phone,” is timely with that traditional blues backbeat and toe-tapping rhythm.
“She Turned Me Down” features Geraci’s barrelhouse piano and smooth soulful slide play. Waters’ classic “Baby Please Don’t Go” gets an up tempo makeover that’s sure to have blues aficionados asking for more. “Let Me Find Out Your Name” is Willie Buck at his best and gives new meaning to belting out the blues.
The guitar work of Cihlar and Atkinson shines on Buck’s “Went Home This Morning,” while Billy Flynn’s “Money Can’t Buy Everything” rounds out a masterclass on downhome Chicago blues.
As their one-pager states, “if tough, pure Chicago blues is your pleasure, then this album is sure to bring you great joy.”
Absolutely.
– Ken Billett
BITS (Australia) (August 2025)
Willie Buck (87) was born in Mississippi but moved to Chicago as a teenager in the 1950s where he heard the Muddy Waters Band and was so impressed that he has played in that style ever since. Willie and Bob met up in Chicago in the 1970s and now Willie is backed here by Bob and his Rhythm Room All-Stars for an album recorded at Tempest Recording in Tempe, Arizona and Bob CORRITORE’S “FROM THE VAULTS” Series produced by Bob, Clarke Rigsby, Kid Andersen and John Wroble. The record kicks off with the title track, a Bo Diddley song but in the style of the Waters band with Bob’s wailing harp out front and ‘She’s Alright’ is a Muddy tune with ex-Waters sideman Bob Margolin on guitar but ‘That Ain’t Enough’ is one of seven originals, again in the Chicago blues style of Muddy, with that characteristic slide guitar.
However, with ‘Went Home This Morning’ we get some up-tempo Jimmy Reed-style blues with Bob’s high register harp and ‘She Turned Me Down’ is a slow blues with Willie’s authentic vocals over a fine performance by the band, especially Anthony Geraci on rolling piano. Muddy’s band regularly played Big Joe Williams’ ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ and this version is similar to their swinging version and that same drive continues on ‘Me and My Baby’. Finally, we get another distinctive slow blues ‘Let Me Find Out Your Name’ with Bob on chromatic harmonica and Ben Levin on dramatic piano. I’m with Willie in my admiration for the Muddy Waters Band and the combination of Willie’s authentic voice, Bob’s always wonderful harp and the excellent band, which combines veterans like Bob Stroger (bass) and Bob Margolin with younger players like Ben Levin, makes for a very enjoyable album.
– Graham Harrison
IL Blues (Italy) (September 3, 2025)
Per alimentare la splendida serie “From The Vaults”, Bob Corritore attinge, nel corso del tempo, da un favoloso archivio che contiene veri e propri gioielli. È appena uscito l’album del grande Willie Buck che Bob Corritore mette in primo piano sull’etichetta Vizztone, seguendo l’esempio degli artisti che l’armonicista di Phoenix (AZ) ha registrato nel corso degli anni durante i loro passaggi nel suo famoso club il “Rhythm Room”. Mentre Bob Corritore, armonicista e instancabile giramondo e vero leader dei promotori del blues da diversi decenni, non ha più bisogno di presentazioni, può essere utile soffermarsi sul caso di Willie Buck.
Il suo vero nome è William Robert Crawford, questo vivace ottantenne è, a 88 anni, un veterano del Chicago Blues. Nato a Houston, non la città spaziale del Texas ma una piccola città del Mississippi a sud di Tupelo, il 26 novembre 1937, Willie si è stabilito nella città dei venti nel 1954. Come altri, ha frequentato il gotha della scena locale dell’epoca (da Muddy Waters a Little Walter, passando per Buddy Guy & Junior Wells).
Per molto tempo Willie ha considerato la musica solo un hobby (era sposato e lavorava come meccanico di auto). Nonostante un promettente primo album, “It’s Alright”, pubblicato nel 1982 dall’oscura etichetta Bar-Bare Records e registrato con Johnny “Big Moose” Walker, i fratelli Dave e Louis Myers, John Primer e Little Mack Simmons, dovrà aspettare quasi trent’anni per riemergere inaspettatamente sulla scena di Chicago. Nel frattempo, nel 2010, la Delmark finì per ristampare il suo primo album con il titolo “The Life I Love” (arricchito da cinque bonus live).
Nel 2012, “Cell Phone Man” (sulla stessa etichetta di Bob Koester) riscosse un discreto successo di critica. Poi, nell’agosto 2024, la Delmark pubblicò “Live at Buddy Guy’s Legends”, registrato il 28 agosto 2023, che lo vedeva accompagnato dai Delmark All-Stars (Billy Flynn e Thaddeus Krolicki alle chitarre, Scott Dirks all’armonica, Johnny Iguana al pianoforte, Melvin Smith al basso e alla batteria il compianto Willie “The Touch” Hayes, scomparso pochi mesi dopo, il 5 novembre 2023
Bob e Willie sono amici dalla fine degli anni ’70. Poi Willie gli propose di unirsi alla sua band. Bob, amico fedele, non mancò di ricambiare il favore e lo invitò a esibirsi più volte nel suo club aperto all’inizio degli anni ’80, il famoso Rhythm Room di Phoenix. I 10 brani di “Oh Yeah” sono stati registrati in due sessioni nel 2021 e nel 2023, oltre a un brano registrato nel 2010. Oltre a Bob, troviamo immancabilmente Bob Margolin (il chitarrista storico e ufficiale di Muddy Waters) in sei brani, Billy Flynn alla chitarra in altri tre, Big Jon Atkinson e Mojo Mark Cilhar ciascuno in un brano, e l’onnipresente Jimi “Primetime” Smith.
La sezione ritmica è composta dal leggendario Bob Stroger al basso e dall’impeccabile Wes Starr alla batteria. Si sono uniti a loro il meglio dei pianisti Antony Geraci e il giovane e brillante Ben Levin. L’album è prodotto da Kid Andersen, Clarke Rigsby e John Wroble ed è stato registrato allo studio Tempest Recording di Tempe, in Arizona. Due terzi dei brani sono firmati da Willie Buck, ai quali si aggiungono tre standard (tra cui il famoso “Baby Please Don’t Go” di Big Joe Williams, qui erroneamente attribuito a Muddy Waters), “She’s Alright” e “Oh Yeah” di Bo Diddley. L’album è permeato dal classico blues di Chicago degli anni ’50-’60, come “Oh Yeah” del 1958. Willie Buck, la cui voce è ben posizionata anche se leggermente velata dal passare del tempo, colpisce sempre nel segno.
La cromatica di Bob soffia con precisione come ai bei vecchi tempi di Little Walter, mentre la chitarra di Billy Flynn evoca quella di Sammy Lawhorn o Jimmy Rogers e il pianoforte aereo di Ben Levin si inserisce nel boogie di Pinetop Perkins o Sunnyland Slim. Segue l’ipnotica “She’s Alright” di Muddy Waters, uscita nel 1968, con la voce particolarmente potente di Buck e l’incisiva chitarra slide dell’instancabile Margolin. Con una band particolarmente affiatata, in cui gli strumenti si rispondono sottilmente, si assapora qui la perfetta illustrazione del suono del classico Chicago Blues.
“That Ain’t Enough”, che ricorda molto “She’s Nineteen Years Old” del Maestro Muddy Waters, permette a Margolin di mostrare tutta la sua abilità con la slide, mentre “Brand New Cell Phone”, con il suo tradizionale backbeat blues, rimanda al suo successo del 2012. Se vogliamo essere pignoli, possiamo anche trovare evidenti somiglianze tra “Money Can’t Buy Everything” e “I’m Ready” di Willie Dixon. Ma poco importa, perché la qualità prevale sulle facili critiche.
Ascoltate l’armonica cromatica di Bob che fa meraviglie su questo tempo medio-veloce. Registrato nel 2010, “Went Home This Morning” si inserisce nella tradizione di Jimmy Reed, arricchita da una pozione magica degna dei grandi nomi dello Swamp blues Lazy Lester e Slim Harpo. “She Turned Me Down” è un clone di “Nine Below Zero” di Rice Miller, sublimato dal fluido pianoforte barrelhouse di Anthony Geraci.
Gli ultimi tre brani, “Baby Please Don’t Go” con un tempo rinnovato, “Me an My Baby” e “Let Me Find Out Your Name” (da apprezzare il superbo mano a mano dei due Bob) sembrano essere stati aggiunti per permettere a Willie Buck di brillare in eco a McKinley Morganfield, la cui ombra e aura sono onnipresenti in tutto questo album. Con Willie Buck, il classico blues di Chicago bussa alla vostra porta, fatelo entrare nel vostro salotto e mettetelo sul giradischi… È giunto il momento di assaporarne la quintessenza! Indispensabile.
– Philippe Prétet
ABS Magazine (France) (September 7, 2025)
Sorti en juin dernier, cet album s’inscrit dans la série «From the Vaults » de Bob Corritore, une collection d’enregistrements remarquables capturées et soigneusement archivées par l’harmoniciste, afin de mettre en valeur les grands du blues qu’il a côtoyés tout au long de sa carrière. Les deux amis se connaissent depuis de nombreuses années, Willie Buck avait d’ailleurs invité Corritore à rejoindre son groupe à Chicago au milieu des années 70, et depuis, ils n’ont cessé de collaborer. Enregistrée entre 2021 et 2023 avec une véritable équipe de rêve comprenant Bob Margolin, Billy Flynn, Jimi “Primetime” Smith, Ben Levin, ou encore Bob Stroger, cette session est une réussite de bout en bout. Le répertoire alterne compositions originales à l’image de That Ain’t Enough, Brand New Cell Phone, ou encore Me and My Baby, et reprises inspirées de standards appartenant à Bo Diddley (Oh Yeah !), Muddy Waters (She’s Alright) ou encore Big Joe Williams (Baby Please Don’t Go). Chaque titre respire le son de la Windy City, la voix de Buck, toujours habitée malgré le poids des ans, se mêle à l’harmonica incisif de Corritore, qui maitrise son art à la perfection. Oh Yeah! est plus qu’un album : c’est un formidable témoignage. On y entend l’écho des grands maîtres, mais aussi la preuve que le Chicago Blues, dans les mains de ses héritiers, reste une force vive, qui n’a pas fini de nous émouvoir. Une fois encore, Bob Corritore impressionne, en puisant dans ses précieuses archives, il signe une série qui, avec éclat et sincérité, témoigne de sa passion inépuisable qui le pousse à faire vivre le Blues.Vivement recommandé.
– Jean-Luc Vabres
English Translation:
Released last June, this album is part of Bob Corritore’s “From the Vaults” series, a collection of remarkable recordings captured and carefully archived by the harmonica player, to highlight the blues greats he has worked with throughout his career. The two friends have known each other for many years; Willie Buck invited Corritore to join his band in Chicago in the mid-1970s, and they have continued to collaborate ever since. Recorded between 2021 and 2023 with a true dream team including Bob Margolin, Billy Flynn, Jimi “Primetime” Smith, Ben Levin, and Bob Stroger, this session is a success from start to finish. The repertoire alternates between original compositions like That Ain’t Enough, Brand New Cell Phone, and Me and My Baby, and covers inspired by standards by Bo Diddley (Oh Yeah!), Muddy Waters (She’s Alright) and Big Joe Williams (Baby Please Don’t Go). Each track breathes the sound of the Windy City, Buck’s voice, still inhabited despite the weight of years, blends with the incisive harmonica of Corritore, who masters his art to perfection. Oh Yeah! is more than an album: it’s a wonderful testimony. We hear the echo of the great masters, but also proof that Chicago Blues, in the hands of its heirs, remains a living force, which has not finished moving us. Once again, Bob Corritore impresses, drawing from his precious archives, he signs a series which, with brilliance and sincerity, testifies to his inexhaustible passion which drives him to keep the Blues alive. Highly recommended.
– Jean-Luc Vabres
Bman’s Blues Report (September 15, 2025)
I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, OH Yeah!, from Willie Buck & Bob Corritore and it’s rich Chicago infused blues. Opening with title track, Oh Yeah, Bob Corritore and Willie Buck have a hot one here. Buck on lead vocal really has the stuff on vocal and Corritore really knows how to conjure the Chicago mojo on harmonica. Featuring Jimi Primetime Smith on guitar, Billy Flynn on guitar, Ben Levin on piano, Bob Stroger on bass and Wes Starr on drums, this is a super opener. On William Crawford’s That Ain’t Enough, Buck’s vocals are particularly gritty and Bob Margolin really digs in with Muddy Waters style slide. Playing with Waters for 7 years, Margolin plays this like it’s second nature. Corritore’s style on harmonica is perfect on this traffic. Corritore has the mic on Went Home This Morning and he wails. Mojo Mark Cihlar and Jon Atkinson join on guitar lays out some terrific riffs and Troy Sandow on bass and Brian Fahey on drums round out the band making this one of my favorites on the release. Morganfield’s Baby Please Don’t Go follows original arrangement and Buck is really in the groove. This track is always a easy sell and Corritore and Buck sail high. Wrapping the release is Let Me Find Out Your Name with Levin on piano, and featuring Billy Flynn on guitar. A slow deep groove gives Buck plenty of space for his vocals to breathe and Flynn’s tone is terrific. Corritore closes out the track with some lower octave blowing really giving it guts. Strong closer.
Blues News (Finland) (September 22, 2025)
English Translation
The new Willie Buck & Bob Corritore joint album could be started with the same kind of praise as the previous John Primer. In this case, Bob Corritore has been praised in Blues News, deservedly, and quite rightly, and so here too. To start, I took a look at the Blues News index to satisfy my curiosity and refresh my memory (which is often necessary these days) and to see that Corritore’s own and his friends’ albums have been released in BN over the past five years, no less than 17. Hardly a single one of them has been criticized. I have participated in the praises myself 10 times.
Now, in Bob Corritore’s vault, ten recordings have been found with the easygoing vocalist Willie Buck, who has visited Finland a couple of times and systematically plays at Chicago’s blues clubs. Three of the recording sessions date back to 2021-23. The only exception is the unique blues jaunt Went Home This Morning, recorded in 2010 and placed halfway through the CD, composed by Buck himself. Corritore’s song sounds more like the Lazy Lester-Slim Harpo school than Chicago. The song also has a completely different backing band than the other nine tracks on the CD. The album’s main backing band includes Bob Margolin, who mainly focuses on slide on six tracks, and top guitarist Billy Flynn on three tracks. The rest of the band consists of iconic bassist Bob Stroger, drummer Wes Starr, and Anthony Geraci and Ben Levin, who alternate on piano. So there is a lot of quality.
The album’s opening title track Oh Yeah is borrowed from Bo Diddley himself, and then She’s Alright is offered from Muddy Waters. Baby Please Don’t Go is not originally Muddy’s, although the cover claims so. The band’s interpretation is, however, very “muddy-like”. Buck himself has written six songs, all of them calmly traditional Chicago blues, to which his gentle, flowing but at the same time catchy singing voice fits perfectly.
Let’s repeat again just to be sure that the album is specifically about Chicago blues in all its glory. During Buck’s singing, Corritore is perhaps the most central accompanist and also strongly present with his solos, as the name of the album would certainly suggest. One could suggest the adjectives “primitive*, “scratchy” or even “snotty” for Margolin’s slide guitar playing. At least if we take as a comparison Billy Flynn’s completely different, beautifully painted, and vividly reminiscent of Earl Hooker’s gliding on the album’s nearly 8-minute slow closing blues Let Me Find Out Your Name. Corritore’s melodically growling chromatic harp hits this slow narrative like its famous nose on the head. Bob Corritore, the harmonica player, producer wizard and archival treasure hunter, has succeeded this time too. In the same breath, it must be noted that the CD’s running time is only a sweaty 39 minutes, which suggests that the vaults are empty. Go and find out, the near future will tell. In any case, the fact that the previous John Primer’s new album is both stylistically pure, in execution and production, is a country-like album of the frighteningly disappearing resource called traditional Chicago blues.
– Pertti Nurmi
Back To The Roots (Belgium) (September 2025)
Willie Buck has been a household name in the Chicago blues scene for decades as a stand-up singer, but he only made his recording debut in 1982. A few years earlier,
he had recruited harmonica player Bob Corritore to his band, and the two still regularly work together today. Buck now has four Delmark CDs to his name, but during related performances at Bob Corritore’s club The Rhythm Room in Phoenix, Arizona, he regularly made recordings for and with the now brilliant Corritore.
The title printed prominently on the cover has a double meaning. Not only is ‘Oh Yeah’ the title of the Bo Diddley cover that opens this disc, it is also the opening line of Muddy Waters’ song ‘Mannish Boy’. ‘Oh, yeah, Oh yeah! Everything gonna be alright this morning’. Muddy’s spirit hovers over this album. Buck covers ‘She’s All Right’ and ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ in the Muddy versions, but Waters’ former sidekick Bob Margolin also appears on six tracks. The seven new tracks, six by Buck and one by guitarist Billy Flynn, are rooted in unadulterated, straightforward Chicago blues, stripped bare and devoid of effects pedals. A rare gem within a virtually extinct blues style.
– Rien Wisse
Blues Music Magazine (Fall 2025)
After hearing Oh Yeah! somebody please cal Geraldo Rivera and tell him that real treasures lare contained in Bob Corritore’s musical vaults, not Al Capone’s. Corritore did three sessions to create Oh Yeah! with William Crawford, aka Willie Buck, when Buck was 73 and between ages 84-86. However, Buck’s vocals are timeless and sound just as sprightly as when these songs were originally written.
Originally from Mississippi, Buck worked on his singing by performing locally and moved to Chicago in the ’50s to perform there in the Windy City’s burgeoning blues scene. He also did some tours in Europe and his hard work paid off as he was included in the Blues Hall of Fame in 2004.
The backing band is a flawless accompaniment to Buck’s vocals. Corritore’s harp playing is skillful as he hits all the right notes in the right places on each tune. Guitarists include Bob
Margolin and Jimi “Prime Time” Smith on most tracks with Billy Flynn on three with Bob Stroger and Wes Starr offering the backbeat of bass and drums as Ben Levin caresses the piano keys. Anthony Geraci also is on piano on three tracks. The cut,
“Went Home This Morning,” has Mojo Mark Cihlar and Jon Atkinson playing guitar, Troy Shadow on bass, and Brian Fahey on drums. Although Corritore’s Hohner harps are customized by Joe Filisko, the sounds that he produces are created by his mastery of this humble blues instrument and are the highlight of these recordings.
Buck wrote six of the ten tunes while he sings two by Muddy Waters, “She’s Alright” and “Baby Please Don’t Go.” Opening the disc with Bo Diddley’s “Oh, Yeah,” Buck, Corritore, and the band set the atmosphere for an authentic blues concert that could have come from Maxwell Street in the ’60s. Stand out track is Buck’s six-minute rendition of his tune “That Ain’t Enough” with Margolin’s slide and guitar driving the song as if he were back in Muddy’s band. Levin’s piano work grows on you with each succeeding tune, not that it is in the forefront, but it is both tuneful and supportive of each song.
Buck’s “Let Me Find Sit Ys Name” ends Oh Yoah! with just shy of eight minutes of slow sexy blues with Flynn and Smith showing off their guitar/slide skills to provide the lead ins and fills that make this one of the most powerful tracks of the ten.
If you relish the realm of great Chicago blues from days gone by, Oh Yeah! belongs in your CD library. Also, let’s hope that Corritore will release more of his blues treasures from his vaults for us all to enjoy.
– Pete Sardon
Soul Bag Magazine (France) (Fall 2025)
English Translation
4 and half stars
Wherever you go during the Chicago Blues Festival, you’ll run into Willie Buck carrying his CD bag and taking the stage in the clubs: you can’t miss him and Mary Lane! The “usual suspects” (Billy Flynn, Johnny Burgin, Kenny Smith, and company) then switch into “Willie Buck mode,” holding their own with his turbulent vocals. In short, it’s Chicago blues so retro 50s that only the setting reminds you of the present. And it works! Bob Corritore has gone even further here: the breathtaking harmonica player has delved into his rich and unfathomable archives (2010 and 2021-23), when William Crawford, aka Willie Buck, was accompanied by the cream of the crop: Bob Margolin, Flynn, Anthony Geraci, Ben Levin, Wes Starr, Jimi “Primetime” Smith… It’s too good! I wish I could stop pinching myself. The best Willie Buck on the market.
– Andre Hobus
Blues Notes And Conversations (November 20, 2025)
Another exciting release from the cavernous vaults of Bob Corritore-harp player extraordinaire- this time around featuring the Blues Hall of Famer, Willie Buck. For those who aren’t familiar with William Crawford – the name his mama gave him, Willie was one of the original group of Maxwell Street musicians and singers in the early 50’s. As Buddy Guy has told club audiences when he and Willie appear together, “When I started playing in Chicago, Willie was one of the guys that was already here.”
“OH YEAH!” is the latest release “From The Vaults” series of historic blues recordings from Bob Corritore’s vast and seemingly endless archives. Taken from “three really powerful sessions” while Willie Buck was visiting Phoenix, Arizona, and recorded by Clarke Rigsby at Tempest Recording, Bob Corritore has said that there was enough material recorded to pull together “a downhome Muddy Waters record for the year 2025.” The ageless voice of this Chicago powerhouse is featured front and center, framed with Bob Corritore’s soulful, fiery and inspired harp work, with some outstanding contributions from many influential musicians whose names you might just recognize.
Bob is certainly at home playing traditional Chicago blues. Willie Buck asked Bob Corritore to join his band back in the late 1970’s and they have been friends ever since. In fact, Bob performing in the Willie Buck Chicago band gave Bob the opportunity to perform with many of his early Chicago blues heroes. As Bob Corritore has said, “it’s going home when I play that stuff with Willie. I think people will like my harmonica offerings on this.So unforced, so flowing and so Chicago.”
The A-list of luminaries is impressive enough – Bob Margolin, Jimi “Primetime” Smith, Billy Flynn, Mojo Mark Cihlar, Jon Atkinson, Anthony Geraci, Ben Levin, Troy Sandow, Wes Starr, and Brian Fahey taking us back to the golden age of Chicago blues. There are also interesting surprises along the way.
Willie Buck and 94-year-old bassist Bob Stroger are together on the title track,”OH YEAH!”, the two elder statesmen “get to honor the Muddy Waters sound together and it’s spectacular.” (Bob Corritore).
Bob Corritore has said that Willie Buck’s compositions featured throughout these sessions are “all these stream of consciousness sort of things, which I really enjoy because there’s some real honesty to everything that he writes about. They’re thematic and they’re storytelling and they all feature Willie’s wonderful Mississippi to Chicago voice.” (Bob Corritore)
Two of Muddy’s songs are covered here – “She’s Alright” and “Baby Please Don’t Go” – performing them because “Willie Buck was always the guy who kept the Muddy Waters style alive in the South Side neighborhood.”
“Money Can’t Buy Everything”, penned by guitarist Billy Flynn , was brought into the studio where Willie Buck delivered the goods by “singing with such distinction”.
“Went Home This Morning” was recorded in 2010 and features Mojo Mark Clark and Jon Atkinson on guitars,Troy Sandow on bass,and drummer Brian Fahey..
Willie Buck – born William Crawford in 1937 – He became one of regulars of Chicago’s legendary Maxwell Street scene,gradually working his way into the club circuit. Willie Buck who was a bass player along with singing until he broke his wrist in 1964,owned his own club for 4 years and then owned a towing and auto service. Yes, the same man who cut the song “Disco Blues” for Chicago’s International Recording Company (IRC) in 1975,a funky and danceable tune that became somewhat of a hit , an innovative track that confounded the blues community and blew the minds of music fans everywhere. Willie Buck, hwho dared once again to poke fun and reflect on the world-wide obsession with the latest technology on the song,”Cell Phone man” in 2012. Inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame in 2004 as well as being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. The same man who has been around the world more than 30 times and is highly regarded as-
Willie is one of the last “storytellers” on the scene,a tradition that goes back to Muddy Waters and even to the pre-war era,as far back as Big Bill Broonzy and other pioneers of the Chicago urban blues tradition.” -Delmark A & R man Elbio Barilari.
Bob Corritore has always demonstrated his ability to work with musicians on a personal and musical level. These riveting “OH YEAH!” sessions recreate those special Chess Records sounds, a unique studio environment that fostered a collaborative and authentic sound, musicians who came together in the studio,on stage,and as label mates recording one anothers songs,performing in each other’s bands. These performances are timeless, musical snapshots forever captured, music made to not only shake your soul but also to rattle your bones. Every track is as electrifying as the music itself. These are recordings that will stand the test of time. Afterall,you just can’t replace the originals!!
Bob Corritore – Blues harmonica player, record producer, blues radio show host, and the owner of The Rhythm Room, a legendary music venue in Phoenix,Arizona.
– John Muller
Jefferson Magazine (Sweden) (November 30, 2025)
English Translation:
Wille Buck (born 1937) has been active as a singer in Chicago since the early 1950s. He has not reached a wider audience, even though he has deserved it. However, he has had many of the city’s better musicians in his bands over the years. He already has three CDs on Delmark; “The Life I Love” (DE 805), with recordings from the early 1980s, “Cell Phone” (DE 825) from 2012 and “Willie Buck Way” (DE 857) from 2019. All three are worth having, especially the first one.
Here we hear Buck with recordings from the years 2021 – 2023 (one song, however, comes from 2010) where he, in addition to Bob Corritore on harmonica, is backed by, among others, Bob Margolin, Billy Flynn, Jimi “Prime Time” Smith, Anthony Gerachi, Bob Stroger and Wes Starr. In other words, among the best that can be found in Chicago today.
That Muddy Waters is Wille Buck’s main source of inspiration is clear, both in terms of the singing style and the choice of music. This is also reinforced by Bob Corritore’s exquisite harmonica, which brings to mind Chicago from just over 60 years ago. What better fit than Bob Margolin filling in in the same spirit? But it’s not about trying to imitate Muddy, but about the music being in the same vein. But you can also imagine comparisons with 1950s recordings with Snooky Pryor, Floyd Jones and others, so you know what I mean.
Much of the strength of the album lies in the excellent accompaniment where, in addition to Corritores’ lovely “meaty” harmonica and Margolin’s slide playing, Billy Flynn in particular should be highlighted. He is one of the best blues guitarists to emerge from Chicago, and that is saying a lot. The accompaniment is flexible and stable and makes just as much noise as it should, no more and no less. The song selection is just right. Anyone who likes traditional Chicago blues should be able to enjoy the album.
– Leif Gäverth
Bob Corritore - Official Website 