Teeny Tucker - Voodoo to Do You (2013)

Being a Blues CD reviewer and Blues radio show co-host, I encounter hundreds of albums per year. Imagine the range that appears, from sadly amateurish to inspiringly great. In almost every case, what separates the exciting album from the mundane is the quality of the vocals. And, honestly, how many truly exceptional, contemporary vocalists are there? My radio partner and I have not found many!

Dayton, Ohio’s Teeny Tucker is the best female Blues vocalist on the scene today! Her singing has a tone that is just instantly pleasing, no matter what the subject matter of the song. Her voice has superior qualities in passion, timbre, pitch, range and volume that define modern Blues. Now, add to that Teeny’s songwriting, backup singers, loyal touring and studio band-mates, and musical director, co-writer, and guitarist Robert Hughes, and you have a stellar combination showcased wonderfully and most recently in Teeny’s third CD, “Voodoo to Do You.” Besides Hughes, complementing Tucker are David Gastel on harmonica and keyboards, Robert Blackburn on bass, Darrell Jumper on drums, Mary Lusco-Ashley and Paula Brown – background vocals, and Linda Dachtyl adds Hammond B3 and piano to four tracks.

Across the set, Teeny Tucker, daughter of Tommy “Hi Heel Sneakers” Tucker, knows just the right notes to cast a spell on listeners. Since the beginning of her professional singing career in 1996, Teeny has mesmerized genre aficionados with releases such as 2008’s award-nominated “Two Big M’s” and 2010’s “Keep the Blues Alive.” Each of the thirteen selections on “Voodoo…” (five originals and eight covers, including a stunning, masterpiece version of Reverend Gary Davis’ “Death Don‘t Have No Mercy”) centers on the tantalizing titular subject. All of them showcase Teeny’s vocals magnificently, especially the three original compositions featured below.

Track 03: “Love Spell”–Some blues melodies spontaneously combust into high-octane lyrics and roaring instrumental riffs, but “Love Spell” is a slow burner. As Teeny yearns for the delightful early days of a fizzled romance, Robert Hughes’ mid-song guitar solo and Linda Dachtyl’s Hammond B3 organ turn up the heat. “I wish things were the way they used to be,” our lovelorn narrator laments, followed by her demand: “Hey, I need you to reach inside and cast a love spell on me!” Perhaps more than any other track on this album, “Love Spell” captures the essence of Teeny’s potent musical voodoo.

Track 07: “Shoes”–This laugh-out-loud-funny song is an ode to fashionable footwear of all kinds, to which many female blues fans can relate! “I’ve got shoes in my closet, lined across the wall, strapped ones, flat ones, ones that make you tall. I got a pair that look nice, a pair that look cool, a pair when I want to cast a spell on you…” Mary Lusco-Ashley and Paula Brown join Tucker (harmonizing with herself) on saucy background vocals, as she sings: “I’m like the woman with so many children that she didn’t know what to do!”

Track 13: “Sun Room”–This previously-unissued track has a unique history. Says Teeny: “…We recorded [it] live at the world-renowned Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. We wrote it a few hours before recording the PBS series [“Sun Sessions”]. Listening to Robert [Hughes’] knowledge of the Sun history shaped the song’s lyrics for me. I was thrilled to have the Teeny Tucker Sun Sessions episode shown on PBS TV in every major market in the USA.” The song itself is a swinging celebration of this legendary studio, complete with guest background vocalist Jackie Tate and bassist Scott Keeler.

Blues fans: enjoy this vocalist and entertainer extraordinaire in her prime. Teeny has never been better, and the band is squeaky tight. And, if you are weary of cold weather and slate-colored skies, Teeny has some “Voodoo to Do You” and banish the winter blahs!

Reviewed by James "Skyy Dobro" Walker and Rainey Wetnight.