Recorded on an off night during a European tour in 1991, this is a warts and all, no overdubs, unplugged session that captures the father and son duo at their most uninhibited. Basically, Carey and Lurrie Bell sat down in a studio in Kouvola, Finland, let the tapes roll for three hours, and this is the result. Why the finished product languished for 14 years in tour manager/co-producer Chip Covington's closet is unclear, but Alligator's long delayed yet welcome 2004 release shows the timeless quality of this deep Delta blues. The songs are sung by both guitarist son Lurrie and harpist dad Carey, and range from well-worn standards such as "Rock Me" (featuring a stunning acoustic guitar solo), "Key to the Highway," and "Five Long Years," to originals that follow established blues patterns…

This brilliant effort by Carey Bell and his son Lurrie Bell, both of whom are blues legends, almost did not take place. Carey suffered a minor stroke and broke his hip, spending four months in the hospital. Three days after he left the hospital, he was on his way to Chicago to perform at a concert with Lurrie. Although still in a wheelchair, Carey is heard throughout at the peak of his powers, taking powerful and inventive harmonica solos along with most of the vocals. Lurrie's guitar work is excellent and he sings on "Baby Please Don't Go." There are two live sessions with a rhythm section, three numbers that were recorded at Lurrie's home as intimate duets between father and son, and a solo "Stand by Me" by Lurrie Bell for his wife. This is a classic and memorable program that is highly recommended to fans of Chicago blues and Carey and Lurrie Bell.

Alligator Records shows a different side of its house-rocking face on this 13-cut collection of acoustic blues. While Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and Bukka White don't appear here, other performers – some of whom one normally associates with overdriven electricity – are. Buddy Guy is present, as is Stevie Ray Vaughan. Koko Taylor's "The Man Next Door" is here and it's one of her greatest performances on record. In addition, Johnny Winter, who was no stranger to a National Steel string bottleneck earlier in his career, returns to give it another go, and the true roots doctor Corey Harris is here with "God Don't Ever Change," and Carey and Lurrie Bell with "Stop Running Around." Guy's "Hi Heel Sneakers" is terrific as is Winter's "Evil on My Mind." But it's those that are normally associated with the acoustic blues like Harris, Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women, Cephas & Wiggins, John Jackson and the legendary Sonny Terry who come off best, bringing the true rhythm and mystery with them into their songs.

The blues of Lurrie Bell comes from a turbulent place, but there's no denying the man can play. This album brings together tracks from three different sessions, the bulk being held in 1997. Supported by a spartan rhythm section, Bell sprays kamikaze guitar licks over a bevy of old standards like "Five Long Years," "Who Do You Love," "Mean Old Frisco," and "You're the One." The last four songs on the album are the real treat; cut in 1995 at the Mercurial Son sessions, this is just Lurrie and his electric guitar running through raw, soulful, and sometimes whacked-out versions of everything from "Rollin' and Tumblin'" to "If I Had a Hammer." If you've wondered what all the fuss is about, grab this CD and turn on to the blues world of Lurrie Bell.

Lurrie Bell returns with this CD he’s telling people is his best. It showcases all the passion, depth, rawness, and uniqueness that keeps Lurrie at the top of many Real Deal Chicago Blues lists. His ace working band and frequent collaborator Matthew Skoller (on harp) provide the drive and the safety net while Lurrie walks the tightrope vocally and instrumentally. Motivated by his 2013 Blues Music Award for “Song Of The Year” for the title track from Blues In My Soul, Lurrie had a hand in writing five of the thirteen tracks. “Driftin'”, “One Eyed Woman”, “Hold Me Tight”, “Sinner’s Prayer”, “Do You Hear”, “Born With The Blues”, “Hidden Charms” and more.

Lurrie’s 1995 Delmark release Mercurial Son was one of the most talked about and widely acclaimed CDs of the year. 700 Blues showcases new facets of Lurrie’s talent, including his skills at smooth-swinging T-Bone-esque guitar.
Lurrie Bell was born on December 13, 1958, in Chicago. His famous father, harpist Carey Bell, had him working out on guitar as a wee lad. By 1977, he was recording with his dad and playing behind a variety of established stars, tabbed by many observers at the time as a sure star on the rise. But personal problems took their toll on his great potential; Bell's recorded output and live performances were inconsistent in the '80s and early '90s…

A promising guitarist whose personal troubles have perhaps kept him from realizing his full potential, Lurrie Bell rebounded from an early-'90s nadir with the intense and sometimes bizarre Mercurial Son, almost like a Chicago blues version of Skip Spence's Oar. The following 700 Blues was considerably more polished, but 1998's Kiss of Sweet Blues finds a workable middle ground between the two extremes. The songs, mostly by producer/rhythm guitarist Dave Specter and bassist Harlan Terson with Bell contributing only a pair of riff-based instrumentals, aren't as challenging as those on Mercurial Son, but they're entirely credible; "Blues and Black Coffee" and "Hiding in the Spotlight" have the hard-earned intensity to put themselves over even if they lack the earlier album's knife-edge immediacy and sometimes peculiar phrasing…

These are from the first and only recordings that brought the entire, legendary, Bell family together into the recording studio. Carey Bell is justly renowned today as the best blues harmonica man around and is of course father of all the other bells here. Not just genetically though, musically too because his style of bard, "50s" blues has been brought down to one more generation. Lurrie Bell is a stunning blues guitarist who would be a star if it was a fair world. Steve Bell is a maturing but definitely inventive blues harp player and Carey’s younger sons, Tyson and James, are a supremely powerful and well oiled rhythm section. The music on this CD defines the best of recent Chicago Blues.

Mercurial Son, Lurrie Bell's intense second album, is a searing, passionate collection of urban blues laced with the rhythmic fury of vintage '50s R&B and rock & roll. In particular, Bell works the classic Bo Diddley shuffle a number of times, tapping into the scary, menacing undertones of Diddley's primal beats. Not only is his guitar playing white hot, his vocals are gutsy and impassioned - he makes even the weaker numbers on the album sound convincing. And the songs on Mercurial Son are varied and intriguing, ranging from rollicking rockers and dense, funky boogie to heartfelt ballads and even an a cappella track. The variety is what makes the album stand out from the pack of contemporary blues releases - it's one of the more compelling recent blues records.

Another quality L&R Records production that has been saved by a reissue on Evidence Music. Originally recorded in 1982, Chicago's Young Blues Generation features the raw, frantic work of guitarist Lurrie Bell and harp blower Billy Branch, who remain the closest the blues scene has to a modern-day Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. Back in 1982, Bell and Branch were still carving out a sound of their own - an amalgam of Rice Miller, the West Side guitar slingers (namely Guy and Magic Sam), and the funkier Stax and Hi Records hitmakers. This album consists entirely of reworked blues and R&B covers, each one drawn out by lengthy, tag-team soloing - sometimes derivative, but more often wildly inspired and unpredictable…