Rating:
Genre:
Blues
Release Date: 09/01/1993
Run Time: 42:57
Over the years,
Tom Ball has worn two different hats equally well. He is an acoustic guitar-playing
folk instrumentalist in the
John Fahey/
Leo Kottke/
Robbie Basho vein, but he is best known for being half of the
acoustic blues-oriented duo
Tom Ball & Kenny Sultan. On
Filthy Rich,
Ball's role isn't that of a guitarist --
Sultan does most of the guitar playing, while
Ball is primarily in charge of singing and playing harmonica.
Ball is in picker mode when he is unaccompanied on a medley of
"The Glory of Love" and
"Swingin' on a Star"; this medley shows what
Ball can do as a
folk instrumentalist and an unaccompanied acoustic guitarist. And
Sultan is the unaccompanied
folk picker on the
instrumental "Buck Rag." But most of the time,
Ball and
Sultan work together as a team and concentrate on the
blues -- usually
acoustic blues, although they detour into
electric Chicago blues on
Muddy Waters'
"Honey Bee." The refreshing thing about
Filthy Rich and other
Ball/
Sultan releases is their loose, informal quality.
Ball and
Sultan don't do anything slick on
Filthy Rich; they come across as two musical friends who are getting together and having a good-natured, unpretentious dialogue, and this informal quality serves them well whether they are turning their attention to
Waters'
"Honey Bee" or
Hank Williams Sr.'s
"Mind Your Own Business" (which was a major hit for the seminal
honky tonker in the late '40s). Those who want to hear an entire album of
Ball playing
instrumental folk on the acoustic guitar would do well to check out his 1987 session
Guitar Music -- that CD is a fine example of what
Ball can do as a picker. But those who like him as a
blues singer/harmonica player can't go wrong with the consistently pleasing
Filthy Rich.
~Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
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