King Biscuit Boy

• King Biscuit Boy [Epic, 1974] B+

Consumer Guide Reviews:

King Biscuit Boy [Epic, 1974]
King Biscuit Boy/Richard Newell is a Canadian Paul Butterfield, which I mean as a compliment, and when he sings lead with producer Allen Toussaint doing backups it's the ultimate white blues fantasy. In reality, though, Newell's high-strung earnestness and virtuoso harmonica can't take this album away from Toussaint, and like so many of Toussaint's albums it's only half great. But since it divides neatly into a side of Toussaint songs (great) and a side of Newell's (passable), this time you can't blame that on the auteur. B+