The Beat Daddys - Five Moons (2006)

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The Beat Daddys - Five Moons (2006)

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The Beat Daddys' new bump and grind CD, "Five Moons" makes you want to, well . . . . . bump and grind. The duo has called Malaco Records of Jackson, Mississippi home, since 1990. Drummers and bass players come and go, but the core of the Beat Daddys has remained Larry Grisham on lead vocals and Britt Meacham on lead guitar for 20 years. Larry says that they are the few, possibly, only white players signed by Malaco. Paul Scott is the band's drummer and they are actively seeking a full-time bassist.
All tracks of the new album were written by Grisham who lives in a FEMA trailer in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. His 6'5". frame doesn't fit into the "queen-sized" bed so he sleeps diagonally, and his feet still hang over the end, and his head hits the wall behind him. It's parked in the middle of a cow pasture which turns to mush at the first sign of rain. "But it's a place to stay, anyway. Getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night is an experience." He spends most of his days on the road, sleeping in motel and hotel rooms, spreading the wealth of the Beat Daddys experience. His parents lived on the bay in Bay St. Louis and lost everything to Katrina. They now live in Newburgh, Indiana.
Meacham is no stranger to hurricanes either, living in Mobile with his wife Cheryl and their 16-year old cat, Lucy. He is a seasoned sessions player and can be heard on dozens of recordings, including "Old Time Rock and Roll" by Bob Seger. Born and raised in Memphis, he toured and recorded with Capitol Records and Blues Hall of Famer Little Milton. Just as tales of legendary gunslingers lured wannabes in the Old West, so does Meacham's reputation. Skeptical guitar players come from near and far to hear his licks and have literally bowed in awe at the master's Dean Flying V. His other faithful companion is a 1981
Gibson 335. He also has several others that he keeps for studio work. Meacham co–wrote "Common Ground." "Pale White Circle" was co-written with Tommy Stillwell. "We wrote it years ago, but Malaco wouldn't publish it for some reason, but it was worth doing so I reworked it until they were happy with it," says Grisham. He calls his inspiration "the circle of life-getting up and getting dressed everyday, putting one foot in front of the other-it's called 'living.'" He and Meacham do more than that. They set down the boundaries of the blues, validating their name-The Beat Daddys, with each and every song, whether it's live or recorded. The haunting title song show Grishams's versatility as a singer and writer. Some songs, such as "Everybody Needs Some," come out as a gutteral growl
Back" have a swaggering beat. He channels his strife into songs like "Bad Streak." Some are religious experiences, calling for
congregational "testifying" to the blue devils, which is the derivation of the word "blues." "Lonely Road " reflects his life traveling between Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama-some more growling. Grisham isn't singing about Popeye's Chicken in "Big Thighs" a light-hearted, but intense, recounting of what Grisham likes about full-figured women. "I like women with big thighs-meat on their bones, and I tried to put it down in lyrics." He certainly did that, giving hope to women that not all men go for the emaciated look. "Common Ground" does a great job of defining the blues. Grammy-nominated Johnny Neel shines as
boogie-woogie piano master and organ grinder as the only keyboardist on the album. He is a former member of the Allman Brothers Band. Grisham shows his voice range with whispered sentimentality and emphatic anguish, both found in "Five Moons." The haunting lyrics of "She Goes Down" is the story of a woman's "life on a one-way street" in her own resigned hell. Visit www.beatdaddys.com for ordering information, tour schedule and track clips. The group's next festival is the Eureka Springs (Arkansas) Blues Fest June 3. They are regular players at the Ameristar Casinos in St. Charles, Missouri, and Vicksburg, Mississippi, each scheduled for a week in July. The Beat Daddys are blues buttkickers with a twist. I first heard them at the Natchez Blues Fest many years ago and was hooked. If you like the Radiators or the Bluebirds, you'll love the Beat Daddys.

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The Beat Daddys - Five Moons (2006)

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Biography by Richard Skelly
An amalgamation of blues and Southern rock, the Beat Daddys are comprised of Lewis Ross (drums), Brill Morris (bass and vocals), Larry Grisham (guitar, harp and vocals), and Britt Meacham (guitar and vocals). Meacham, from Mobile, Alabama, was a member of Jackson Highway, a group that recorded for Capitol Records, and also toured with soul-blues man Little Milton Campbell. Bassist Morris was part of Mercury Records' David and the Giants and performed in a popular regional Gulf Coast band, Magik. Drummer Ross, also from Mobile, was a founding member of Wet Willie, and he was involved in co-writing the band's hits "Keep on Smilin'," "Red Hot Chicken" and "Macon Hambone Blues."
The Beat Daddys formed in Evansville, Indiana in the mid-1980s and released their own self-produced album before signing with Malaco Records. Their two mid-1990s Malaco/Waldoxy releases, No, We Ain't From Clarksdale and South to Mississippi, are not straight-ahead blues, to be sure, but fans of blues, roots-rock and Southern rock can find much to appreciate in either of them.