Have you any idea how much your face gnawingly aches if you unwittingly maintain a smile for almost fifty-three minutes? I do, now that I’ve listened through this masterful blues album. From the opening bars and chuggin’ guitars of title track ‘Fired-Up & Ready,’ I was transported from a fickle and sometimes false modern-day music world to a simpler but ultimately more fulfilling time. (Well, that’s maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but before the first two minutes of this album had passed, I was certainly given a reminder of my personal early musical influences. By the time the CD player track-counter had registered the number three and Mike started out on an excellent cover of (my ultimate hero) Rory Gallagher’s ‘Going To My Home Town,’ I was a confirmed Mike Whellans fan.)
This is old-time blues plain and simple. It’s not the wailing type of Blues that can often be off-putting to virgin Blues ears. It’s more the stomping, hand-clapping, head-nodding, sing-a-long type. And it’s delivered straight from The Deep South, y’all. That’s the Deep South of Scotland – the Borders area, actually, though the listener would be hard-pushed to tell until well into the fifteen tracks.
Mike Whellans was, way back, a member of the Scottish / Irish folk trad- band, The Boys Of The Lough, who were celebrated extensively by John Peel. However, he turned to the Blues and after living and touring on mainland Europe for many years, returned to Scotland where he performs in the old Blues tradition of the ‘one-man band.’ (Check out the video footage at the end of this text for a taster.) However, for recording this album, the assistance of fellow musicians was enlisted, and a couple of tracks were recorded ‘live’ in one studio-take.
This album is a mix of covers of old-time blues artists – but with Mike’s own slant very apparent – and also songs written by Mike himself. It is testimony his talent that both merge and blend so well. Following ‘Fire-Up & Ready,’ is another of Mike’s own compositions, ‘The Boogie Man,’ which is a kind of tribute to the magical John Lee Hooker. Then, following the Rory Gallagher cover, there is actually a John Lee Hooker song, ‘I Want To Hug You,’ and as with all the songs on this album, the harmonica playing is of the highest standard.
There is the slow-boogie of the classic ‘Early In The Morning,’ and the gruff vocals on ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine,’ which gives it a feel of an Alabama 3 song – though really I guess the comparison should be the other way around. Chicken and egg, and all that! And then, the final track before the two ‘live,’ bonus tracks is another of Mike’s own compositions, ‘Pinetop Moon,’ which merges seamlessly into a well-known Scottish Pipe Reel, with bagpipes playing over the top of the harmonica. It actually works!
Whether you are an aficionado of the Blues, or merely hit on Mike’s My Space page out of curiosity there is no denying that this album truly rocks …. in a sort of laid-back way, of course. ‘Fired-Up & Ready,’ will have you tapping your feet, of that there is no doubt … unless of course you had them surgically removed and replaced with castors for ease and economy of movement.