Johnny Mastro & MBs

Concert Review Aug 2012 Ge Varin
beklom Johnny Mastro met zijn eeuwige zonnebril het podium, nu met zijn eigen Mamas Boy’s. Deze in 1993 opgerichte Southern California band blijft ondanks hun hectisch toeren steeds boeien. Dat heeft veel te maken met het samenspel van gitarist Smokehouse Brown en bassist Mike Hightower’s maar vooral met het rauwe stemgeluid en het harmonicaspel van de frontman zelf. Als vier Blues Brothers schaarden zij zich achter hun instrumenten om nadien als in een ware uitputtingsslag hun demonische rockblues, boogies, drassige groove’s en zelfs soulballads op het publiek los te laten, sommige ervan geplukt uit het gloednieuwe album ‘Luke’s Dream’. Johnny Mastro met zijn Keltisch kruis en tatoeages lijkt op een gekwelde heroïeke figuur zoals hij knielend, smekend of trots wijdbeens op zijn harmonica blaast. Aanvankelijk had de bassist een technisch probleem maar eens dit rechtgezet gaf ook hij zich over aan die gemeenschappelijke drive. Slide en gruizig gitaarspelend zweette Smokehouse in zijn driedelig pak het teveel aan energie uit en schurkte hij de gitaarhals tegen de microstandaard om er nog meer geluid uit te krijgen. Op het laatst knielde Johnny als een soort Black Knight, opgedoken vanuit zijn Black Album, solo vooraan het podium om van daaruit zijn uiteenrijtende harmonicablues te laten opstijgen. Spider, Angel, Junker, Thunder ... het gaat allemaal op in de eenheid van rauwe ongetemde heftige rockblues met een marginaal Lo Fi randje. (meer foto's) - Rootstime Magazine

Johnny Mastro Steals the Show - Live /Review VPRO.nl
Als laatste is het de beurt aan Johnny Mastro en zijn Mama’s Boys. Nu is er veel van te zeggen, maar mama’s kindjes zijn deze stoere Amerikanen alles behalve. Hun bluesrock swingt, beukt, zweet en giert aan alle kanten. Met veelal uptempo nummers wordt de snelheid hoog gehouden en de zaal tot een kookpunt gebracht. Mastro en zijn onafscheidelijke zonnebril hoeven niet veel meer te doen dan zijn stem en mondharmonica te laten spreken. Neem daarbij de vlammende gitaarsolo’s van 'coole' snarenlukker Dave Milton, flink wat Amerikaanse bravoure en je bent er. Songtitels zijn mijn onbekend maar wat zou dat ook. In dit gekkenhuis spreekt de blues en heeft Mastro het publiek aan de lippen. Voor de liefhebbers is dat ook het enige dat telt. Alles willen ze horen, zien en voelen. Dit genre verbindt en verbroederd, het spreekt geen klare taal, maar de taal van de blues. En die verstaat elke liefhebber.
- VPRO.NL

Johnny Mastro is al lang geen onbekende meer in onze contreien. De energieke harmonicaspeler gaat live tekeer alsof de duivel zelve hem op de hielen zit. Eerder dit jaar kwam 'Luke's Dream' uit, een energiek en soulvol album gekruid met de aloude Mastro geluiden: gitaargeweld, een geweldig strakke ritmesectie, en dan die bezwerende harmonica! Bovendien zingt Mastro met zoveel gevoel en soul, dat je niet anders kan dan bezwijken voor het geheel. Bij het zoeken naar vragen viel me één ding op: wat heeft die man toch met die verduivelde zonnenbril? En nog iets: hoe voelt het om als 'gewone werkmens' in de draaikolk van de muziek terecht te komen? Mijn persoonlijk antwoord op die laatste vraag: het moest gewoon zo zijn...

Enkele uren voor zijn stomend optreden op het (Ge)Varenwinkel festival zochtten we de man op in zijn hotel: een gezellig B&B in de Antwerpse Kempen....
Een tijdje geleden zei je in een interview dat omgaan met andere muzikanten soms aanvoelt als omgaan met een ander ras. En toch ben je zelf muzikant...
Goeie vraag. Het was gewoon heel lastig om steeds muzikanten te moeten inlijven en terug ontslaan. In het begin wist ik niet hoe ik dat moest aanpakken, het duurde eventjes vooraleer ik het doorhad. Muzikanten zijn niet zoals andere mensen, ze reageren anders. Een muzikant is van nature niet zo georganiseerd of houdt zich niet met de zakelijke kant bezig. Maar ik moest dat wel.

Je bent ook het levende bewijs dat je geen working-class achtergrond nodig hebt om eerlijke blues te spelen, of om de blues van de 21st eeuw te spelen. Denk je dat dat je geholpen heeft?
Denk ik wel, voor mij werkte dat toch. Het heeft een hele tijd geduurd vooraleer ik er mij mee kon verzoenen, want ik worstelde echt met dat dilemma: ik speel een muziekgenre waarin mijn achtergrond niet typisch is. Maar ik denk dat ik er nu wel overheen ben (lacht).
Ik ben ook al 20 jaar professioneel bezig, maar het was inderdaad uniek. Het geeft me een andere kijk op de zaken, omdat ik weet wat een 'gewoon' leven is, nl. werken van 9 tot 5 en een carrière hebben.

Jouw muziek is een mix van blues en rock, en zit vol ruwe energie. Was je ook al tot deze muziek aangetrokken als kind?
Ik was echt jong toen ik voor de blues viel, 10 of 11 jaar. En ik ben ook jong begonnen met de harmonica. Maar het veranderde wel, want in het begin hield ik vooral van traditionele blues, zoals Sonny Terry, Brownie McGee, en Muddy Waters, maar later hield ik meer van de Chicago Blues. Het was pas toen ik naar Long Beach verhuisde, dat ik merkte dat er een modernere manier was om die muziek te benaderen. En dat probeer ik nog altijd te doen.

Je nieuwste cd heet 'Luke's Dream'. Ik hoor af en toe wat gelijkenissen met Led Zeppelin, en ook een beetje ZZTop. Ben je je daar bewust van?
Niet echt. Ik wil niet naief overkomen, maar ik hoor toch meer RL Burnside of John Lee Hooker. Maar dan met meer gitaren, zoals The White Stripes of misschien The Black Keys?
En ook al hou ik van de groepen die jij opsomde, toch heb ik niet bewust naar die geluiden gezocht. De gelijkenissen zijn niet opzettelijk, we proberen altijd wat af te wijken van het traditionele.

Ik heb ook gelezen dat 'Luke's Dream' een iets traditioneler album moest worden, maar dat het ergens ontspoord is?
Inderdaad, en ik vind dat niet erg. Eigenijk wilden we een traditioneler album maken voor RipCat, omdat het vorige album, Beautiful Chaos, héél ver van de blues verwijderd was. Het initiële idee was om een album te maken waarop meer dan de helft van de liedjes akoestisch waren, met contrabas, akoestische harmonica en drum. We zijn zo begonnen, maar toen we een tweede gitarist erbij haalden om hier en daar wat op te vullen, begon alles moderner te klinken. En in plaats van er tegenin te gaan hebben we er gewoon op verder geborduurd. We accepteerden het (lacht). En zo is de sound van het album verder geëvolueerd.

Waar gaat 'Mr JJ's Man' over?
Vroeger hadden we een hele toffe chauffeur in Europa. Zijn naam was JJ, en op een dag wou hij met ons naar een vriend van hem. We zaten al meer dan 3 uur in de auto, in de file, toen JJ zich plots afvroeg of hij wel het juiste nummer had van zijn vriend, want hij had hem al meer dan 4 jaar niet gezien. Daar snapten wij totaal niks van! Maar JJ was zo'n toffe vent, dat hij eigenlijk met veel wegkwam.
Om een lang verhaal kort te maken, de vriend was niet thuis, en wij moesten meer dan 2 uur terugrijden.
De meeste liedjes op de cd gaan over dingen die ons gewoon overkomen.

Zowel 'Mr JJ's Man' als 'Spider' zijn akoestische songs. En er zit ook een bepaalde atmosfeer in.
Die songs zijn anders opgenomen. We zaten gewoon allemaal samen, dicht bij elkaar. Het is allemaal live, en ik vind dat je de sfeer van de kamer goed kan horen, het klinkt gewoon anders.

'Luke's Stomp' gaat over een droom die je had ivm Robert Lucas. Waar ging die over?
We waren heel goed bevriend, Robert en ik. En op een morgen werd ik wakker, en ik had ove - Rootstime Magazine

Johnny Mastro review July 7 2012…

JOHNNY MASTRO AND MAMA’S BOYS

LUKE’S DREAM

RIP CAT RECORDS RIC 1109

LUKE’S STOMP–THUNDER ROLL–KNEE HIGH–JUNKER’S BLUES–MR JJ’S MAN–HURT–TONIGHT WE RIDE–THE LIGHT–FRANCINE–SPIDER–ROLLER COASTER–MY ROCKET–TEMPERATURE



Johnny Mastro and Mama’s Boys have been heavily involved in the southern California blues scene since the early Nineties, plus, they’ve toured Europe an astonishing twenty-two times! For their debut for Rip Cat Records, “Luke’s Dream,” they offer up ten originals and three choice covers of a very eclectic nature, indeed.



Johnny Mastro is on vocals and harp, Smokehouse Brown is on guitar, Mike Hightower is on bass, and Jim Goodall is on drums. Special guest guitarists are Kirk Fletcher and Peter Atanasoff, and Max Bangwell adds percussion. This set was initially intended to be a more traditional-sounding album, and the four acoustic numbers bear that out. It is the nine electric numbers that take the listener on a musical journey that literally starts as a Delta-fueled dream, runs down thru the Excello-fied swampps of Louisiana, then churns north to Chicago, and finally ends up in a psychedelic place that few other than Hendrix have trod.



Sure enough, the set leads off with an acoustic, country-blues tale entitled “Luke’s Stomp,’ based on a dream about the late bluesman Robert Lucas. “Thunder Roll,” “Knee High,” and “Hurt” all might fall into the category of Alternative Blues, with the use of screaming, fuzzed-out guitars over Johnny’s vocals. “Tonight We Ride” has an almost gospel-like intro and outro, with a sweet Chicago-styled shuffle sandwiched in between. And, the set closes with a totally-psychedelic arrangement over the lyrics of Little Walter’s “Temperature” that would make Jimi proud.



We had two favorites, too. The dangers of substance abuse are addressed in “Junker’s Blues,” with Johnny wailin’ away on a big ol’ chromatic. And, “My Rocket” blasts off like a Saturn V on its way to Mars and holds nothin’ back.



Once again, Scott Abeyta of Rip Cat Records has scored with a sharp collection from one of the pioneer bands of the SoCal scene. With “Luke’s Dream,” Johnny Mastro and Mama’s Boys have let their creative juices flow on a powerhouse set of blues! Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow.
- Don&SherylBluesBlog

JOHNNY MASTRO & MAMA’S BOYS Luke’s Dream: I haven’t seen letraset like this on an album cover since Crème Soda used it in the 70s. What else here is a throwback? This harmonica led, white boy blues band is the most exciting thing to hit the genre since Paul Butterfield started losing energy around the time of said Crème Soda record. Almost sounding like no blues you’ve ever heard before, this four piece crew makes a sweeter racket than a quartet should be able to. Roots blues rock for the 21st century that’ll rocket you in to the next century with no wasted fuel but a lot of dripping sweat. You gotta hear this. - midwestrecord.com

Not so well know as the above, but gaining a reputation in the L.A. area are Mama's Boys, led by harmonica man Johnny Mastro, who has absorbed those Chicago-by-way-of-the-West Coast licks. Dave Melton adds slashing guitar and I recognize big bassman Jeff Henry from Chris Millar's Blues West. Recorded live in the studio, there is a terrific rough-at-the edges feel, and the music is "down & dirty", exactly the way it should be. They could soon be on those harp-lovers lips.
AE - AE- Juke Blues Magazine

Los Angeles' Mama's Boys turn in exciting performances on The Black Album. Songsby Sam Meyers, Elmore James, and John Lee Hooker join a slate of worthy originals. Singer/harpist Johnny comes on like a hybrid of William Clarke and Lester Butler. Guitarist Dave Melton shines, particularly on slide, and Jeff Henry (bass) and Jimmy Goodall (drums) keep things real with effective syncopoations, the ability to keep things swinging even on the harder numbers, and a solid shuffle feel on the straight blues. Dynamics and band interplay peak on Champion Jack Dupree's "Can't Kick the Habit". - Tom Hyslop

Johnny Mastro and The Mama’s Boys
CD REVIEW- Blues Matters
The Black Album-Nugene
Not to be confused with Ireland's The Mamas Boys - Mama's Boys are named after "Mama" Laura Mae Gross, the owner of Los Angeles' oldest Blues dub Babe's & Ricky's Inn, and this is their third album. The band was formed 13 years ago and is one of the cornerstones of the Southern California Blues scene. This album is as good an example as one could wish to hear of gritty gutbucket R&B in the Chicago style. Half the tracks were penned by vocalist/harpist, ex-New Yorker Johnny Mastro. He has shared the stage with the likes of William Clarke and Lester Butler, who are obvious influences on his harmonica style. I was immediately reminded of the classic Red Devils album "King King" when listening to this marvelous album for the first time. In addition to great self-penned tunes like 'Slave' and 'Loverman' there are solid versions of John Lee Hooker's Think Twice Before You Go' and the tour de force 'Can't Kick The Habit' (Dupree). Economy is the watchword in production, and the solid rhythm section gives space for the talent of lead gui¬tarist Dave Melton, who has previously backed a veritable Blues who's who, for example Coco Montoya and Debbie Davies to name but two. The album was recorded live in a stu¬dio in Culver City, and is a wonderful reminder that if you scratch the surface of the slick City of Angels scene you may well find a vibrant R&B band to blow the cobwebs away. Impossible to play quietly.
Noggin
- Blluesmatters Magazine - Noggin Publishing

Johnny Mastro and The Mama’s Boys
CD REVIEW- Blues Matters
The Black Album-Nugene
Not to be confused with Ireland's The Mamas Boys - Mama's Boys are named after "Mama" Laura Mae Gross, the owner of Los Angeles' oldest Blues dub Babe's & Ricky's Inn, and this is their third album. The band was formed 13 years ago and is one of the cornerstones of the Southern California Blues scene. This album is as good an example as one could wish to hear of gritty gutbucket R&B in the Chicago style. Half the tracks were penned by vocalist/harpist, ex-New Yorker Johnny Mastro. He has shared the stage with the likes of William Clarke and Lester Butler, who are obvious influences on his harmonica style. I was immediately reminded of the classic Red Devils album "King King" when listening to this marvelous album for the first time. In addition to great self-penned tunes like 'Slave' and 'Loverman' there are solid versions of John Lee Hooker's Think Twice Before You Go' and the tour de force 'Can't Kick The Habit' (Dupree). Economy is the watchword in production, and the solid rhythm section gives space for the talent of lead gui¬tarist Dave Melton, who has previously backed a veritable Blues who's who, for example Coco Montoya and Debbie Davies to name but two. The album was recorded live in a stu¬dio in Culver City, and is a wonderful reminder that if you scratch the surface of the slick City of Angels scene you may well find a vibrant R&B band to blow the cobwebs away. Impossible to play quietly.
Noggin
- Blluesmatters Magazine - Noggin Publishing

Johnny Mastro and Mama’s Boys

The Black Album
Nugene Records

***
UK debut of this California band. The dark drama of Mastro’s singing and harp playing and Dave Melton’s guitar can recall the early Paul Butterfield Band, while the cramped recording ambience conjures up the 50s storefront studios of Chicago. Original material is judiciously mixed with genre standards. This hugely promising band hits Europe this summer – catch them if you can.
- Mojo Magazine

Johnny Mastro and Mama’s Boys

The Black Album
Nugene Records

***
UK debut of this California band. The dark drama of Mastro’s singing and harp playing and Dave Melton’s guitar can recall the early Paul Butterfield Band, while the cramped recording ambience conjures up the 50s storefront studios of Chicago. Original material is judiciously mixed with genre standards. This hugely promising band hits Europe this summer – catch them if you can.
- Mojo Magazine

I'm just getting the opportunity to listen Luke's Dream, the new Johnny Mastro and Mama's Boys' cd on Rip Cat Records. This cd is gritty and grimy...just the way I like it. Luke's Stomp, a stripped down track with harp, tambourine, resonator and vocal sets a good pace to open the recording. Thunder Roll picks up the challenge and with a solid drum beat and droning bottom, drives the blues rhythm under a raw and raucous track. I really like the tone of the guitar on this track and the bottom of the track is just solid. Knee High is another great track with primitive rhythms and raw slide work. Mastro is a cool vocalist and knows just how to get the harp pushing the envelope. A jagged track with overdriven vocals and heavy hitting guitar chords. Cool guitar riffs are played almost under the track allowing a lot of breathing space for the natural boogie. Junker Blues takes a more straightforward 8 bar approach. This track again with great slide playing rips a hole in it! Mr. JJ's Man is an uptempo Harp jam with light guitar and vocals along for the ride. Hurt finds the grinding guitar man back wringing the breath out of his guitar. Using unusual phrasing the band builds a lot of tension and Mastro's vocals and harp are a good addition to this rough hewn battle axe. Tonight We Ride lays down familiar Chicago style sounds with the harp and vocal taking the lead and distorted guitar driving the track. Francine is another butt kicker that takes you to Hound Dog Taylor land. Great drive, great distorted guitar. great slide and gritty vocals. I mean, what else do you really want? Step back and let the boys play! My Rocket leads of with a screaming harp and cool slide. It has a very simple vocal structure ... almost early Steve Miller like... but they do boogie. The recording finishes up with Temperature, which takes a lot of different concepts and rolls them into a very raw and effective blues track. I've heard a number of tracks that have components of this song, but I've never heard anything quite like this. Listeners who are embracing the new primitive blues should absolutely love this recording. This is one of the most sonically pleasing and real primitive blues sounding cd's I've heard in a very long time! This cd was released on July 3rd. Find a copy while you can!

- Bmansbluesreport Blog

2012 Release Luke's Dream
4STARS
When many of us are younger we dread getting older, and definitely didn’t want to end up like our parents. I loved hair metal when I was a kid, and I certainly thought I would forever. Our tastes tend to change though, and while I am not listening to as much metal these days, my tastes expanded and I realized that I would love rock (amongst other styles) forever, just not in the same way. I thought I would learn to appreciate more jazz as I aged, but in true rocker fashion, I have found myself gravitating more towards the blues. Luke’s Dream is a fine album for those who can relate.

Los Angeles blues matriarch Mama Laura Gross mentored Johnny Mastro for years as he led her band, Mama’s Boys. Three of her most important musical lessons for Johnny were finding your own sound, keen listening, and the importance of soul in music. Together as Johnny Mastro & Mama’s Boys they certainly heed these words. They have that dirty, up tempo, electric blues style that makes their sound modern, yet classic, making them accessible to both fans new and old.

The latest from Johnny Mastro & Mama’s Boys can be a bit deceiving as it starts. It opens with a rather traditional blues track, the foot stomper “Luke’s Stomp.” However you need only look at the bookends of Luke’s Dream to see where this band can take you. Album closer “Temperature” couldn’t be further from traditional, and this is part of what makes Luke’s Dream so good. This band clearly knows where they’re from, but isn’t afraid to venture off in any direction they feel like. For some artists this could be disastrous, but for Johnny Mastro & Mama’s Boys there is a confidence and swagger in their style that makes anything possible. You hear it in the vocals, the rhythms, the harmonica, and the wailing guitar solos.

Luke’s Dream is an excellent album for bridging the gap between rock and blues. It consists of 10 original tracks and three covers. It also moves comfortably from acoustic jams to amped up, full of fuzz rockers. For traditional blues fans that are looking for a more modern sound, or rock fans that are learning to appreciate more classical artists and interested in the blues, Johnny Mastro & Mama’s Boys bring you nicely in either direction.


- Muzikreviews.com

Hello Mama's Boys,
Remember us ?
I want to congratulate you Johnny, Dave, Jeff and Jim on your fantastic performance at the CROSSWOOD-festival last saturday. You guys did a hell of a job on stage !! I also received many reactions from bluesfans who were present and I can assure you that they all were pretty much overwhelmed by the rolling thunder that came down from the stage.....
Johnny, I want to thank you very much for the T-shirt (my wife wears it - she's a big fan of Mama's Boys'music) and the 3 cd copies of the new Black Album (great stuff again !!!)
I wish you guys all the best during the finishing touches of the European tour and have a nice trip back to LA. Please send me your recations on CROSSWOOD 2004 !!
Bye bye,
Dirk Kerkhove/Crosswood vzw / J. Decosterstraat 15 /B-8792 Waregem / Belgium / Europe

- Dirk Kerkhove- Crosswood BluesRock

"STUNNING"
- BBC Radio

"The Revelation of the Festival"
2006 Moulin Blues Promoter


“They call themselves Mama’s Boys , but they play like sons of Mike Tyson.”
OC Weekly


“World class blues"
KLOS 95.5FM


"That Boy has a good feel..."
Lowell Fulsom


“… were pretty much overwhelmed by the rolling thunder that came down from the stage…”

Dirk Kerkhove
Crossswood Festival Belgium

"Comes off like a hybrid of William Clarke and Lester Butler."
Blues Revue Magazine - Various

From Long Beach, CA, Mama's Boys are a dangerously potent four-piece outfit with enough power to level any juke-joint or nightclub to splinters. Comprised of frontman/vocalist Johnny Mastro, Dave Melton's gritty guitar, and a rhythm section of Jeff Henry and Jim Goodall on bass and drums respectively, the baker's dozen here exhibit both intense drive and healthy originality on their own items as well as the strong covers. Ricky Allen's You'd Better Be Sure and an Elmore James slide showstopper, Coming Home, bristle with electricity. Mastro proves himself a workhorse as a singer and harp player as his tone ranges from somewhat light and airy on Too Tight to thick and deliberate on a heads-up version of the standard Shake 'Em On Down, while his chromatic efforts on the title track recall Carey Bell. Little Walter's Come Back Baby and Guitar Slim's Something To Remember You By might well lean towards the 1960s approach of Paul Butterfield or Charlie Musselwhite, but there's no question that this band is steeped in the 1950s Chicago style. Certainly one of the finer self-produced efforts from 2002 and if the lowdown nature of Blues For Late Summer, a sizzling nine-and-a-half minute drag (with a violent Kirk Fletcher guitar solo) doesn't cure you of your ills, check for a pulse - you might be dead. www.themamasboys.com

© 2003 by Craig Ruskey - Craig Ruskey- Blues on Stage

(Blues/Boogie Harmonica) The Mama's Boys "The Black Album" " The Mama's Boys"

Around 12 years ago in the oldest blues club in Los Angeles,"Babe's and Ricky's", Johnny Mastro (who plays harmonica and vocals) ended up playing in a blues band called the " The Mama's Boys" . Ms. Laura-Mae "Mama" Gross who is the proprietor of the club since it's beginnings back in 1957, is the bands namesake and inspiration for the band.Johnny Mastro has built a following that comes back week after week and his chops are awesome and the whole band is super tight.The band was soon playing their gut bucket/on the edge blues all over Souther California clubs.

" The Mama's Boys" have been playing 250 plus gigs each year for over ten years now. And you can only imagine how that much playing on a regular basis causes you to become a better musician. These fellas sound like Muddy Waters/Little Walter if by some chance they were reincarnated in todays world and made the blues current for today's taste.I have done reviews of all the cds that " The Mama's Boys" have released and they ONLY get better.As you all know,I am a fanantic about the blues harmonica but every member of this band is at the top of their game.Go to this link to listen to the Mama's Boys sound clip " The Mama's Boys sound samples" .

These fallas play with an abandonment that gives me chill bumps everytime I listen to them." The Mama's Boys" are in my "Top Ten Most Listened To Blues Bands" list and and I have couple of thousand cds. Johnny Mastro always has new chops-runs and licks-chugging patterns for every new release.He is still growing as a musicain and has the most raw and intense style of any harmonica player that I have ever heard.This band is the real deal and is blazing new territory in the blues/boogie music world.I give " The Mama's Boys" a rock sold (7) Harp Salute as well as giving Johnny Mastro my coveted "Nasty Harp Award" for making that harp growl and spit pure hog fat.

Please go to " The Mama's Boys sound samples" website and give this band a listen,you will be hooked like me!


- Steve Harvelle- Best of the Bluzharp

The Mama Boys come from Los Angeles. They were formed in LA's oldest blues club "Babe & Rick's Inn". By now they have a huge fan base in their home country. But as so many American bands, they loved to venture over to Europe. Their recent European tour lasted a full month. They did some gigs in Belgium too. During this tour they presented their latest album "Black CD - Limited Collectors Item". There were only 400 cds made and they served solely as promotional items for the European market. For once American audiences come last for the album will not be released in America for a couple months. This "live studio" album was recorded in "Pacifica Studio LA", a recording studio they used before. All tracks were recorded in only two sessions of four hours. If you think this had any impact on the quality, you are dead wrong. Just like their concerts, this album is filled with explosive Chicago blues with a spicy bit of Lester Butler added. Band leader Johnny Mastro knows how to handle his vocal cords and his harmonica. Powerful examples are the stirring "Slave" and the totally Chicago sounding "Chariot". Guitarist Dave Melton is very noticeable especially when he plays slide. Check him out on John Lee Hooker's "Think Twice Before You Go" and on the slow blues "Can't Kick The Habit". Then there is the very solid rhythm section consisting of funky bass player Jeff Henry and drummer Jim Goodall. Guest musician is Danny Freeman on guitar, who played with Stevie Ray Vaughan and Taj Mahal. This is unlimited harmonica and guitar blues which proves the blues is all but dead.
Reviewed by: Bobtje
- Bobtjes Blues Pages 2004

The sleeve notes to Mama's Boys' latest album release "Chicken & Waffles" say, "This CD was recorded completely live in the studio . . . into positioned room microphones . . . no overdubs" . . . yep, it shows. The sound has a fat & rich texture which many regard as "natural compression" derived from squeezing high sound levels into confined spaces, a room for example. Engineers at Robert Johnson's recording sessions mistakenly thought that the reason he positioned himself facing into a corner was that he was shy or unsociable . . . WRONG, he was "corner loading" (natural compression) compare his sound to that of his contemporaries & the thickness is soon evident. Obviously, room characteristics are important, some rooms have it & some don't . . . Sun Studios have it & this recording testifies that Pacifica Studios, Culver City, CA has it too. Enough of this sound-geekery & into the Blues . . . Mama's Boys hail from California & have been playing 250 gigs a year for the last 9 years, that means that when these guys go into a studio to lay down an album "au naturel" the result is going to be something special 'coz they sure have had plenty of "rehearsing". If you like your Blues greasy & way too sleazy then call the waiter over & order "Chicken & Waffles" all round.

- Judge Jones