Biography

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Linsey Alexander – Two Cats
Delmark DE 851

A review of Linsey Alexander’s previous album Come Back Baby (Delmark 838) in Living Blues magazine called it “a can’t-miss release for any lover of no-nonsense Chicago blues”. The “Hoochie Man” is back with all original material including the new smash Two Cats! “My woman got two cats, one in the front, the other in the back!” From the searing “Where Did You Take Your Clothes Off Last Night” to the tender “Til I Kissed You”, from the comedic “Facebook Woman” to the political “Comb Over Blues” Linsey weaves his colorful stories throughout this album of blues, soul, R&B and funk. It’s great fun and serious music at the same time. ‘Cause the blues don’t mess around and neither does Linsey. Notes by Justin O’Brien enclosed.

1. I’m Not Your Problem 4:09
2. Where Did You Take Your Clothes Off Last Night 5:08
3. That Ain’t Right 4:47
4. Why I Sing The Blues 4:13
5. Two Cats 3:57
6. Facebook Woman 7:59
7. User 3:17
8. I’m In Love With A Woman 3:47
9. ‘Til I Kissed You 4:09
10. How Could You Do Me Like You Done Me? 6:06
11. Reefer And Blow 3:42
12. Thinking About Me 2:57
13. Starting Monday 3:46
14. Comb Over Blues 3:46
15. Kiss Revisited 4:53

Linsey Alexander, vocals, guitar
Roosevelt Purifoy, B3 organ, piano, Rhodes
Anthony Palmer, guitar
Breezy Rodio, guitar (5,14)
E.G. McDaniel, bass
Bryant ‘T’ Parker, drums
Jaymo ‘Pocketmasta’ Wilson, drums (5,14)
Paul Hanover, harmonica (2,4,10)
Kenny Anderson, trumpet (1,3,5,7,8,12) and horn
arrangements (1,3,5)
Hank Ford, tenor sax (1,3,5,7,8,12)
Norman Palm, trombone (1,3,5)
J Parker, rap (15)


All songs written by Linsey Alexander, Hoochieman Music, BMI except 9 & 14 by Alexander/Williams, Hoochieman Music/Wagadelic Music, BMI; 13 by Alexander/Williams/Tao/Purifoy, Hoochieman Music/Wagadelic Music/17th Hand Music/Rowe Man Music, BMI.

Produced by Linsey Alexander and Steve Wagner
Album Production and Supervision: Robert G. Koester
Recorded at Riverside Studio Chicago on January 30, 31 and February 9, 2017 by Steve Wagner
Photos by Art Voytovich
Design by Noah Adetunji


The ongoing narrative of the blues is peopled with memorable characters such as Tail Dragger, Barkin’ Bill, Junior Wells, Big Time Sarah...and Linsey Alexander, “The Hoochie Man.” Linsey Alexander is a bona fide blues character. He loves cats, for example, and believes every woman should have two. As any true blues lover knows, an appreciation of originality and eccentricity are as essential to the experience of the blues as the music itself. Yep, guitarist, singer, songwriter Linsey Alexander is a blues musician who’s a bit out there. Two cats. My, my.
Linsey has written or co-written every track on Two Cats, and each one is marked with his unmistakably offbeat view of the world. To give some insight to Alexander’s background, he’s a full-time, south-side Chicago blues musician, happily retired from the work-a-day world. As a young man he came to Chicago on a Greyhound bus from Holly Springs, Mississippi by way of Memphis, Tennessee. Steeped in blues, soul, R&B and funk, he has now been a steadfast member of the Chicago club scene for many years and has toured both here and abroad. He views himself as a traditionalist, albeit in the modern urban vein of blues traditionalism, and—though it hardly goes without saying—he has his own unique take on things. Two Cats is now his third Delmark release, following Been There Done That and Come Back Baby, which were both very well-received.
Before landing with Delmark, Alexander issued four CDs on his own for bandstand sales—an important segment of nearly every blues performer’s financial portfolio today. Co-producer Steve Wagner has resurrected a few numbers from this cache and given them a fresh look and re-orchestration on Two Cats.
I’m Not Your Problem opens the set with a surprisingly slick, countrified musical base, but with an assuredly inner-city blues guitar break, and tells a tale of a dysfunctional conversation started in a bar—a theme that would be at home in many musical genres.
The lush, church-time underlayment of Facebook Woman belies a storyline that is cleverly salted with puns on some of the catchwords of social and electronic media.
A sexy, lightly funky dance drive accompanies lyrics full of the absurdist logic of a lover desperate for words to express himself on the surprising ‘Til I Kissed You. And speaking of absurd, Reefer and Blow is about a man whose girlfriend’s drug use apparently lands him in jail; he then calls her mean, but nonetheless asks her for bail.
Starting Monday is the tale of a man who faces up to his shortcomings and decides to reform—next week! While Comb Over Blues is a bit of thinly veiled political commentary about a certain national figure obsessed with executive orders and the Mexican border.
Thinking About Me presents a fascinating, self-deprecating story of selfishness. Why I Sing the Blues (not the B.B. King opus) sees the narrator retrieving his car from his girlfriend’s new suitor only to be told, “take your lawn mower, too.”
Alexander’s songs might be called Flash Fiction Blues: many of his verses are stories and punchlines all by themselves. He frequently ‘talks’ his blues, or lilts the lyrics with his sly and unpretentious delivery. He wants to make sure you get the picture. His woman is runnin’ around with a one-legged guy. He talked to her ‘til he’s “red, white and blue.” And he’s in love with a woman, but she got a woman, too. Man! Used and abused! And funny! Now you’ve got the picture. And then there’s his obsession with cats...
Lyrical imagination and humor have a long history in the blues. Linsey Alexander, “The Hoochie Man,” is certainly doing his part to continue this tradition.
And those cats....Oh, my!
—Justin O’Brien, March 2017

Other Delmark albums of interest:
Linsey Alexander, Come Back Baby (838)
Been There Done That (822)
Junior Wells, Hoodoo Man Blues (612) with Buddy Guy
Magic Sam, West Side Soul (615)
Toronzo Cannon, John The Conquer Root (831)
Mike Wheeler, Turn Up!! (845)
Dave Specter, Message In Blue (836) with Otis Clay
Syl Johnson, Back In The Game (674) with Hi Rhythm
Robert Ward, New Role Soul (741)
The Big DooWopper, All In The Joy (742)
Sharon Lewis, Grown **** Woman (849) with Sugar Blue
Corey Dennison Band (844)

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