Willie Mae

Willie Mae

Editorial Reviews
<"b00005r0ao5020"> All Music Guide, November, 1999
Highly recommended for lovers of traditional horn fired, piano saturated blues, with no reservation.

<"b00005r0ao5019"> Detroit Free Press, December, 1998
One of the most sublime platters to emerge from these parts in recent memory.

<"b00005r0ao4999"> Album Description
“One of the most exciting of the roots blues bands to ever come from Ann Arbor/Metro Detroit, pianist/guitarist/vocalist Hill has everything going his way. He has a clear, distinctive, soulful voice, his guitar or piano playing tasty and literate… It's clear the influences over Hill have served him and this band well. You'd be hard pressed to find a better, more consistent debut recording from any group. Highly recommended for lovers of traditional horn fired, piano saturated blues, with no reservation.” -All Music Guide

"What separates pianist-guitarist Hill from the pack of pretenders is that Hill's swampy, swarthy boogie isn't just reverent interpretation-between the tangy, unaffected vocals, thick horns and fatty bottom end, the stuff is thick enough to taste. This 12-track debut disc, featuring seven stellar Hill compositions, is an engaging mesh of Memphis, New Orleans and Midwest-and one of the most sublime platters to emerge from these parts in recent memory." -Detroit Free Press

"(Al's) unique and powerful style is a superb blend of roots rock, thumpin' rhythm and blues, and heartfelt soul. His piano and vocal performances are outstanding.” -Big City Blues Magazine

"The 43-year-old bluesman unleashes the soul of his blues through smoky vocals and shuffling boogie piano, accented by understated guitar work and songwriting that's nothing short of heartland honky tonk poetry." -The Grand Rapids Press

"Hill's hard-driving piano style crackles with the rolling shuffles, Cuban-inflected polyrhythms and syncopated, rhumba-boogie grooves of Crescent City masters Dr. John and Professor Longhair. The horn charts are tough but tasteful, and Hill's pliant, soulful vocals give a nod to Memphis masters Redding and Pickett." -The Detroit News

Al Hill fronts the Love Butlers with unaffected vocals and a rolling keyboard lead that recalls a time when not every blues band was a guitar showcase. Nothing I Can Do swings relentlessly...jump blues at its best... – Living Blues

Michigan’s Al Hill & The Love Butlers are a fun, swingy combo shifting between nightclub boogie and blue-eyed soul on Willie Mae. Hill croons the blues in a high tenor with a sentimental touch; he’s also an awe-inspiring piano pounder. Best cut: “Train Kept a-Rollin’,” with a delicious saloon piano intro by Hill. Uptempo, jazzy arrangements and great players give this album real beauty. – Blues Revue

Willie Mae

Willie Mae, Music, Al Hill & the Love Butlers, Soulful R&B vocalist, playing boogie/New Orleans style piano and bluesy guitar, with ace song writing and a funky horn section completing the package.

Willie Mae

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