Category Archives: Mississippi Nights/Pictures
DAVEY PATTISON Mississippi Nights/Pictures
First UK/European release of these two solo albums from the current Pat Travers band and former Gamma vocalist Davey Pattison. They were first released back in 1999 and 2003, with many of Pattison’s US based musician friends helping out. Both albums are blues based with plenty of tasty slide playing coupled with some songs like ‘Daydreaming’ and ‘Mississippi Nights’ sounding not unlike Jackson Browne’s solo work. Pattison also tips a nod to his influences throughout the songs none more so than on ‘John Lee Jimmy Reed and Mississippi Fred’, which cane be heard on the ‘Pictures’ album.
Davey Pattison has a lovely, rich vocal style that can easily switch between blues based numbers through to more laid back west coast AOR numbers. Definitely of interest to blues and Jackson Browne fans plus of course Pat Travers many fans. Informative sleeve notes make for a great package overall. ***1/2
Jason Ritchie, www.getreadytorock.com
The Rainbow show captured them in all their fiery glory…Classic rock come back to conquer anew
All Music (March 2008)
…these are very strong records, on which Pattison mixes some of his favourite styles: blues and soul.
“Mississippi Nights” has one highlight after another…’Pictures’ is every bit as consistent, although it leans more towards pure blues…
…if you want to hear the full versatility of his voice, this reissue of both his solo albums is the one you want to have.
Highly recommended.
Rock Advice ( www.rockadvice.org ), March 2008
…bluesy guitar based rock which reflects his work, not only with Robin Trower, but also previous career points with Gamma, Ronnie Montrose and Michael Schenker. Two quality albums from a fine, underrated rock vocalist
Classic Rock Society, April 2008
That’s quite a reputation to be a choice singer of Robin Trower, Ronnie Montrose and Michael Schenker, but if that implies Davey Pattison’s up to hard rock belting out, it’s not the case with the Scottish singer’s solo output. There’s a boogie lava in “Have A Look At Yourself”, the opening cut of Pattison’s debut, piano and slide guitar oiling the rails for the voice to roll on, slowly but surely. This swampy ride, which gains weight in “Judas” from the edgier “Pictures”, is engaging, and it’s impossible not to be taken with the Stax-styled brass-splashed glide of “I Got The Hots For You” or “Daydreaming” where Davey fills Otis’ shoes on what feels like a sequel to “Dock Of The Bay”.
Where Paul Rodgers who Davey sounds like in the humid “Too Hot To Sleep” and upbeat “Waiting As Fast As I Can” usually goes urban, Pattison takes a country lane, like in the harmonica-adorned “John Lee, Jimmy Reed And Mississippi Fred” and “Houston Street Blues”. Yet he can turn steely brooding, too, as in the sax-guilded “Gypsy Woman Got The Blues”, and mischievous in the hush tones of “Mr. Henpecked”, while the folk evergreen “WIld Mountain Thyme” takes the singer back to the glens – and points to the place where his all-encompassing heart really is.
***** / ****1/2
www.dmme.net (March 2008)
…well worth hearing if you’re a devotee of polished and direct melodic rock
Kevin Bryan, Stirling Advertiser (June 2008)
……two solo albums released in 1999 and 2003. The former’s soporific, laid-back Californian soft-rock is contrasted by the latter’s more forceful collision of blues and rock.
RocknReel (July/August 2008)