West Coast House Party | |
Type: | studio |
Artist: | Kid Ramos |
Cover: | West Coast House Party.jpg |
Released: | 2000 |
Recorded: | February 2000 |
Genre: | West Coast blues, jump blues |
Label: | Evidence |
Producer: | Kid Ramos |
Prev Title: | Kid Ramos |
Prev Year: | 1999 |
Next Title: | Greasy Kid Stuff |
Next Year: | 2001 |
West Coast House Party is an album by the American musician Kid Ramos, released in 2000.[1] [2] It was nominated for a W. C. Handy Award for best contemporary blues album.[3] Ramos's third solo album, West Coast House Party was released through Evidence Music.[4] Ramos supported it with a North American tour.[5]
The album was recorded over two days in February 2000.[6] Junior Watson, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Duke Robillard, and Charlie Baty were among the many guest musicians who contributed to the recording sessions.[6] Stephen Hodges played drums.[7] Janiva Magness contributed backing vocals; her husband wrote "Happy Hour".[8] Kim Wilson sang and played harmonica on "Real Gone Lover". "Love Don't Love Nobody" is a cover of the Roy Brown song. "House Party" was written by Amos Milburn. Ramos included a short history of jump blues in the album liner notes.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette praised the "swinging, danceable tracks that infuse new life into a classic blues style." The Austin Chronicle concluded that "everyone seems to be having a good time, playing and singing enthusiastically, and they're technically competent artists, but only the 76-year-old Brown is an original stylist." The Fort Worth Star-Telegram labeled the songs "danceable delights," and advised to "forget the new Brian Setzer and buy this instead."[9] The Philadelphia Inquirer deemed the album "a delicious slab of greasy, horn-drenched jump-blues and R&B." The Times noted the return to "jump blues and boogies."[10] The Virginian-Pilot said, "although no virtuoso, the Kid is adept at all styles, playing throughout the session with taste, economy and verve."[11]
AllMusic called the album "a consistently exciting and joyously well-performed disc of upbeat jump blues, played with a one-take intensity that's contagious."