Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
You could be forgiven for thinking that the world turns on the presence of time and the grasping hands of those for whom money is all consuming; and whilst as we steam roller into possible extinction, while we seem to ignore lessons learned and put our fingers in our ears to drown out the sound of truth and reality, what we should finally realise is that the planet, each one us, runs on love, basic but beautiful, love.
Whether it is for love of country, family or that one person who you can say with certainty has always been Deep In My Soul, the tenderness shown and the feeling of not wanting to be without them is the reason why the world still spins against the bleakness, the void of space and possible destruction, nothing it seems that can compare to an empty heart.
Big Daddy Wilson journey into love is one that comes from relishing returning to the American south, a spell to which we have all fallen for, whether in a person or a place and time. A spell, a conjuring of emotions that gets under the skin, perhaps more noticeably with age and to journey back to where you might have been born and the first tentative steps into your chosen specialist field took hold.
Deep in My Soul is about love, the very mystery of it, the surprise return home or the woman adept at capturing a man’s heart as if possessed with the symbolism of black magic, of mysticism, and for Big Daddy Wilson it is an area which positively overflows with gracious pronouncements and possibilities as songs such as Mississippi Me, Hold On To Our Love, Crazy World, Redhead Stepchild, Voodoo, Couldn’t Keep It To Myself and the album title track of Deep In My Soul all gather in homage to the Blues but also in dedication to honest and open feelings in hope that each one is powerful in its own right to measure up to the rigours in which the 21st Century Blues is now held in esteem.
Big Daddy Wilson’s hope is our realisation, the heartfelt expressions and vibe is immersed in home, the one place you can go to and they take you in, for the fans that pleasure of opening the door and finding a master of the art standing there with open hands is one to which understand that being deep in anyone’s soul is a measure of their respect for you.
Deep In My Soul is an immensely authoritative album and one that brings Big Daddy Wilson back full circle and dominating with care the musical imagination of the Blues lover.
Big Daddy Wilson’s Deep In My Soul is out now via Ruf Records.
Ian D. Hall