Eddie C. Campbell - Tear This World Up - Delmark Records 2009

The album starts out with "Makin' Popcorn," firing on all cylinders with a great groove, some understated guitar, and a really enjoyable vocal sound from Campbell. The follow up, "Big World," is a great showcase for Campbell's humorous side, with a fun lyrical twist.

Campbell lays down two Magic Sam covers on Tear This World Up, paying tribute to his personal friend with the tunes. The first, "Easy Baby" hosts a great solo from Campbell and an organ track provided by Karl Outten that is just low key enough to be hypnotizing.

Speaking of hypnotizing, "Voodoo" is a trance-like tune that is appropriately titled, and one that stayed in my head for days after I played it on the show. Campbell's guitar playing isn't overdramatic like most Blues Rockers today. It's well organized, almost seeming mapped out.

"Love Me With A Feeling" is the second Magic Sam cover, which starts with Dick Dale style surf rock guitar picking. Campbell recorded six covers in all for Tear This World Up, providing his takes on Howlin Wolf ("My Last Affair"), Buddy Johnson ("I'm Just Your Fool"), and more, including George Gershwin's "Summertime," which kicks off with some beautiful, Spanish style guitar work.

Eddie C. Campbell keeps great company on the disc, too, allowing Mark Cihlar to step to the forefront on harp on "Vibrations In the Air," an opportunity Cihlar doesn't waste. There's also the aforementioned organ by Karl Outten on "Easy Baby," and some stellar organ work by Marty Sammon on "It's So Easy," which is the first of Tear This World Up's two instrumentals. The other instrumental track, "All Nite," is a re-recording of one of Campbell's earliest 45's.

There's also "Care," a track I really enjoy for the lyrics more than anything else, but doesn't let down in the musical department either. Campbell also nicely shows off his falsetto on the tune.

The 14 song disc wraps up with the acoustic closer "Bluesman," in which the newly 70-year-old Campbell runs down the list of legends he's played with, or as he puts it, "...they played with me." It's a fitting end to a great disc by Campbell, and as I said before, a great first impression on someone who was previously uneducated about this terrific Bluesman.

Standout Tracks: All of them, most notably "Voodoo," "Care," and "Big World"

Click on the Slideshow to view this CD at Amazon.com, where you can listen to song clips.