Music / Interview
Interview: Big Boy Bloater
Big Boy Bloater & the LiMiTs have been busy of late, standing in for the ailing Chas & Dave at Ramblin’ Man Fair, touring in the own right and a lorry load of support slots. Oh, and they’ve also fund time to record and release a new LP Pills, a follow up to 2016’s Luxury Hobo. They’re bringing their fiery blues to Mr Wolfs on September 24th but meanwhile BBB submitted to B24/7’s Vinyl Enquirer, find out what floats his boat below, and sort out your tickets to the gig here.
What record do you stick on the deck to sooth your soul?
These days I tend to put playlists together rather than listening to albums but you can be sure there’d be some George Harrison in there along with Stevie Wonder, The Kinks, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Sam Cooke… the list is endless really!
Have you bought a record on the basis of a great single and then been disappointed by the rest of the album? If so, tell us all about it…
Ha ha yeah all the time! I’m into a lot of obscure 50’s blues and R&B and I’d often hear DJs playing some killer track or other by such & such but they never seemed to play anything else by that artist. So I’d spend hours flicking through albums on second hand record stalls and occasionally I’d come across one of these “one hit wonder” artists. So I’d take the plunge and buy the album and eagerly slap it on the deck when I got home, hoping to hear more of what I’d already heard but being bitterly disappointed! Now I know why the DJs only played that one track! I’m not going to name names because I ended up working with some of them!
What record do you turn up to maximum to get in to that party mood?
That’s an easy one! Since You’ve Been Gone by Rainbow! Every time it comes on in our house or in the van the volume goes up! Mrs Bloater and I love it! It’s always on our playlists!
If we had the ability to land you at the recording of one classic LP so you could witness the whole recording process, what would you choose and why?
Can you do that? Because I would love to go back to 1956 to witness Screamin’ Jay Hawkins record his notorious hit I Put a Spell on You. Rumour has it that the song originally started out as just a standard blues ballad, but Hawkins along with guitarist Mickey Baker (one of my guitar heroes), drummer Panama Francis, sax player San “The Man” Taylor and several other New Orleans session guys were locked in the studio with a crate of rum. Hawkins later said he couldn’t even remember recording the song but what came out of there was this amazing, weird, spooky record that would go on to define the entire career of Hawkins. The song went on to be a massive hit selling over a million copies despite being band by several radio stations for sounding “Too cannibalistic”!
Ever bought a record solely because you liked the sleeve? If so, what was it and did it delight you or disappoint you?
Ha ha – I’ve had the reverse! I almost didn’t buy a T-Bone Walker alum once because the front cover was so bad! It was called T-Bone Walker Sings the Blues and it had a picture of a girl on the front sniffing a flower and I thought, “What’s that got to do with T-Bone Walker’. The album was going for a cheap price though so I thought I’d take a punt on it. Glad I did, it was a storming album! The opening track was Strolling with Bones and it became a big influence on my guitar playing! Just goes to show (as Bo Diddley said) you can’t judge a book by looking at the cover!
Oh no, your house is burning down and you can only rescue one record! What would it be and why?
If my house was burning down I’d make sure I got my wife and my little dogs and I’d be out of there! Everything else can be replaced, they’re just things. All you need to worry about in this life is the ones you love and yourself!
is needed now More than ever
What’s your favourite record sleeve? Tell us all about it (and whether or not the music gives you as much pleasure as the sleeve).
The first one that springs to mind is Bo Diddley is a Gunslinger. It’s such a cool cover! It has Bo dressed up as a cowboy going for the gun on his hip. What’s not to love about that? I keep meaning to find a copy for my wall – I love it that much. The album is pretty good too! I love the way that Bo always puts his own name in most of his songs, it gets me every time!
Morbidity alert: what record would you like played at your funeral?
I’m hoping that’s a way off yet! Of course it’s a fairly well known fact that I used to work in the funeral business. It was my job to drive the hearse and shoulder the coffins to the altar, so I’ve heard more than my fair share of funeral songs (I don’t want to hear My Way or Angels ever again!). There’s so many songs I love that I’d like to put together a double album and make everyone sit there and listen to it! I think if I had to pick one song to be played as my coffin went on its final journey down that conveyor belt to its fiery end it would be Elmore James’ Goodbye Baby. The song says it all and there’s some much emotion in Elmore’s voice you really feel like the tears are welling in his eyes. There’s some mean slide playing too and who doesn’t love a bit of slide guitar eh?
Big Boy Bloater & the LiMiTs play Mr Wolf’s on Thursday 20th September 2018
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