Biography

Mississippi Heat is a blues band concept. Since its founding in 1991, through various permutations of musicians, celebration, joy, death, disagreement, the recording of four albums, and thousands of gigs throughout North and South America and Europe, Mississippi Heat has strived for artistic collaboration where everyone contributes songs, ideas, solos and voices, and everyone gets a chance to share the spotlight. Like the best bands, Mississippi Heat is a cohesive unit where individual personalities are subservient to the masterful whole.

That having been said, this new Mississippi Heat album also is a show-case for bandleader Pierre Lacocque — both behind the scenes as songwriter and producer, and out in front as a powerful, melodic voice on harmonica.

The constant in Mississippi Heat is Pierre (and even further behind the scenes, his brother Michel, the band’s manager). The Chicago Reader said, “Lacocque is that rare younger generation harpist who’s absorbed the lessons of subtlety, silence and solo construction from the masters… as well as their raucous, hawk-like tonal power” Having arrived in Chicago from Belgium in 1969, Pierre has emerged as a sensitive and creative songwriter, a bandleader with vision, and a budding harmonica legend.

Handyman is Mississippi Heat’s fourth album. Like the three previous CDs —Straight From The Heart (1992), Learned The Hard Way (1994), and Thunder In My Heart (1995) — it is chock full of original blues songs performed by a first rate Chicago blues band. Listen closely, with your ears and your heart. The vibe is very “up,” very positive.

“One More Chance” is a blues lover’s dream: the legendary Billy Boy Arnold sings with hot-shot Carl Weathersby on guitar backed by an awesome supportive cast. Weathersby spent 15 years with Billy Branch’s Sons of Blues before stepping out on his own with 1996’s Don’t Lay Your Blues On Me. This tune combines a healthy midtempo stomp from the rhythm section, a strikingly sincere vocal from Billy Boy, and Weathersby’s spiky, Albert King influenced fills and solo. The man lied to his woman, now he wants to make it tight. Can he do it? Will she let him?

Katherine Davis’ confident, assured vocal drives “Excuse Me” almost as much as the band’s insistent, forwarding moving groove. Davis declares, “Trouble, why do you come my way? I try to treat you nice, trouble, but I just won’t let you stay.” “Handyman” has a hint of Cajun flavor (BAIVI!), with lots of horns. George Baze’s light hearted sexual boasting is set off by tasty harmonica and piano solos. (Note: George Baze, long-time member of Junior Wells’ hand and a well-loved Chicago blues musician, passed away on October 9, 1998, during the mixing of this album.)

“These Men Look Good To Me” has an attractively dark tone and another strong groove. Check out that choral backing! Take me to church! Barrelhousc Chucks touching and heartfelt “Tribute To SP Leary” leads right ioto his “Cornell Street Boogie,” a piano/harmonica duct. Leary, a skilled drummer who worked with many of Chicago’s greats, was the first real deal blues & shy;man Chuck played with in Chicago. Cornell Street was where barrelhouse piano man Little Brother Montgomery lived in Chicago’s Hyde Park section. Chuck wrote this song in Little Brother’s house. Montgomery himself added 12 bars in the center at Chuck’s request.

Billy Boy returns to the microphone for “Ghost Daddy,” with its bouncy rhumba rhythm and a quote from “St. Louis Blues” in the harp solo. This one tells the talc of a domineering patriarch, too busy for his wife and children. Baze’s signature tune, “Dog In My Backyard,” demonstrates the rugged beauty of traditional blues. “Don’t Cross Me” has another stinging solo from Weathersby. Davis shouts her independent woman’s shout: “Don’t you dare cross me, honey. I won’t take that at all.” It’s hard to believe that Pierre wrote this song fur her. Davis sings it like it was written on her birth certificate.

The slow and mournful “It Hurts To Be Lonesome” is the album’s first truly sad song. The structure and melody are similar to the blues classic, “Black Night.” Billy Boy describes the blues as a “war zone in your own home.” Pierre’s harmonica cries and subs along with the vocal. Chuck jumps in with a fleet—fingered piano solo.

“Payday Is My Day.” Now there’s a hit if I ever heard one. Everybody’s happy when the eagle flies. Closing out the album, guest vocalist Zora Young implores “Stay With Me” (and there’s that chorus again), then the band whips up a fast instrumental called “Johnny Boy.” Pierre gets to stretch out on harp, and there are wicked piano and guitar solos, too.

The Chicago Sun-Times declared, “Mississippi Heat proves that you can still write good blues tunes in the 90s.” Amen to that. And the 00s, and the 10s, and the 20s…

Mississippi Heat also shows, once again, that classic Chicago blues has the resiliency to incorporate contemporary elements while retaining energy, vitality and the ability to communicate honestly and directly.

– Niles Frantz, March 1999
Niles is the host of “Comin’ Home” on WBEZ 91.5 FM, Chicago. He has written for Living Blues, Blues Revue, Blues Access, and Blues & Rhythm (UK) magazines and the All Music Guide to the Blues.