"Just heard "Pack Your Bags" and "Last Night", from the new cd, great songs, this is going to be one of  the best cd's-records Johnny's ever made!..."


"I think that the new cd is fantastic, on many different levels. My favourite songs (so far) are "Cheatin Blues", "I Smell Smoke", "Lone Wolf", "That Wouldn't Satisfy", "Sugar Coated Love"... ah, hell -- all of them! Johnny's playing is terrific -- new licks, surprising twists, and that TONE just slays me. The playing on this disc reminds me of some of the playing that he did on the cds that he produced for Muddy -- less emphasis on speed, and perhaps a bit more on feel. His singing is also very strong. Not nearly as strong as the early days of course, buy much stronger than the '97 Live release. (I've seen Johnny twice in the past two years and his vocals in the more recent concert were much stronger than before. Given that this record was recorded over a span of two or more years, it would be interesting to know which were the most recently recorded songs.) But, to me, the most impressive thing about this record is the confidence that Johnny had in making it. This is not a reworking of blues standards or a tribute cd to one of the blues greats -- perhaps something that would have been a "safer" record to make. This is mostly new music, written for this record or for Johnny himself. And you can tell that Johnny is using musicians that he feels comfortable with. Johnny also explores many different musical styles, including a couple of terrific soulful blues numbers that reminded me of Robert Cray at his best (I smell smoke). This is not a "comeback" cd. This is a "moving forward" cd, and I love it..."

"...Picked it up at noon and listened to most of it in the car. I like it! ...All the signature licks are there, slowed down a bit (maybe now I can figure them out!) and the tone and vibrato are vintage Johnny.  The acoustic slide tune is cool ("That Wouldn't satisfy" and the whole cd is definitely A LOT more listenable than Live in NYC (definitely my least favourite JW release, legit or otherwise). Johnny should be proud to put his name on this one and I'll be playing it frequently for quite some time."

"...Amazing how many different styles are on this record. The feel of this cd is so different from the old days that it would be shocking to some but its really refreshing to me to hear Johnny playing such a laid back groove like some of these songs have.  He's always played with such an intense fury. These songs seem much more passionate than most anything from the past, more like traditional blues in that sense. Man, I'm just loving this.  Johnny's voice sounds GREAT!!!  Well, I'm on the last song now and I think I'll do just what it suggests and Start All Over Again."