Doug Duffey and BADD’s sophomore album, Play The Blues, is deeply rooted in regional blues and flavored with a pinch of Memphis Rock-N-Soul. Duffey’s vivid lyrics tell stories from his real-life experiences of lost love, spirituality and Voodoo, and even nosey neighbors. The grooves are infectious, the solos soar, and the singing cuts deep into the soul of the listener. Multi award-winning Doug Duffey and BADD are a North Louisiana-based quartet specializing in 100% original bayou funk, swampadelic, bluesiana and Delta soul music. Duffey is joined by Ben Ford, Adam Ryland and Dan Sumner, who also co-wrote some of the songs. Together they form the rhythm section of the award-winning, Louisiana Soul Revival featuring Doug Duffey and they are the house band at Fort Sumner Studios in Monroe, LA.
This fine collection of rockin’ blues, soul and classic R&B adds to that legacy and proves he and his BADD cohorts were indeed born to Play The Blues. Influenced by old school 70’s funk and soul classics, as well as their native regional New Orleans funk, Memphis Soul, Louisiana R&B, and Louisiana Delta blues, they’ve recycled, refried, re-funked, redefined and repackaged it all into their own personal post-modern slammin’ jams.
The nine original tunes on Play The Blues open with a classic blues shuffle, “The Things We Used To Do,” borrowing from the1950’s Guitar Slim standard. Duffey puts his own spin on living through hard times and looking back on the good old days setting the tone and delivering the message that these veteran players are indeed here to “play the blues.”
The radio ready track “Evil” finds Duffey professing his love for a Black Magic Woman over a smooth Louisiana R&B groove that flows into the mournful twelve-bar “Big Easy Street Blues,” delivering pure barrelhouse piano, soulful vocals, and sweet guitar leads from Sumner. Duffey then demonstrates his lifelong study of Professor Longhair and Dr. John on the rolling “Have You Ever.”
As the title suggests, “Drink It On Down” is a swampy barroom rock party anchored by Sumner’s gritty guitar. The shifting groove and jazz overtones flavor the tense view of a troublesome world in “My Driving Wheel.” Duffey then takes time to rant about the nosey neighbors, who are jealous about his clandestine love affair that is the “Talk Of The Town.” He lists all the virtues of his lady “that make an old man feel young” on the uplifting ramble “You Got That Something.” The closing track, “A Memory Left To Lose,” begins as a sparse piano and guitar duet that builds into a soaring fully orchestrated ballad full of emotional intensity and harmonic artistry.
Born in Monroe, Louisiana, in the Mississippi Delta, Doug Duffey has been singing, playing piano, and composing professionally since childhood and has recorded over a dozen albums since his first single in1970. Doug Duffey’s first single, recorded in Nashville in 1970, was chosen by Billboard, Cashbox and Record World as “Pick Hit” and broke into the top 100 charts. He moved to Hollywood In his early 20s where Backstage Management managed him. Duffey has written songs for and/or recorded with George Clinton, Funkadelic, Rare Earth, Bootsy Collins, Keith Richards, Herbie Hancock, David Byrne, Maceo Parker, Anders Osborne, Little Queenie, Marcia Ball, Zakiya Hooker, and other Louisiana and international artists.
He has been called “one of the most prolific songwriters living in Louisiana” and has recorded 11albums of original material to date. His vast multi-genre catalog of material contains not only songs, but also instrumental and improvisational works. A poetic lyricist, his songs are intelligent, intellectual, sophisticated and soulful, whether solo or with full production; on record or performed live.
