Seemingly content to live in the shadow of others for most of his career, British bluesman Snowy White has quietly gone about his business for nearly half a century, during which time he’s been in Thin Lizzy and toured with blues legend Peter Green and as a touring member of both Pink Floyd and the Roger Waters Band. In 2019 he’s back with another of his languid, easy-on-the-ear solo records, The Situation.
Despite largely shunning the limelight (he had a hit single in the mid eighties, the mournful Bird of Paradise, before scurrying back into the umbre), White still puts these records out under his own name every now and then, and lovers of woozy blues rock with the odd Iberian intonation still buy them. Tracks like Why Do I Still Have the Blues highlight why, with White’s gorgeous phrasing pushed to the fore over a generally sparse backing. He’s like Gary Moore stripped of the bombast, or an even more slowhanded Eric Clapton, his careworn voice rarely rising above a murmur, content to let the six strings do most of the talking.
In his more spritely moments (LA Skip, the title track), Snowy ads a bit of Latin flair to proceedings, leading to obvious Santana comparisons, but for the most part, within the reasonably rigid bluesman parameters he’s set himself, White remains very much his own man – and time and again on this record proves why he’s been in such demand as a sideman over the years.
The shuffling You Can’t Take It With You shows White’s trad side, making sure all the bases are neatly covered for his fans, and it’s that versatility that makes The Situation such an enjoyable record to listen to. An old pro, surrounded by similarly accomplished chums of the calibre of Max Middleton (keys) and Kuma Harada (bass), doing what he loves and doing it bloody well – that’s not a bad situation to be in, right? Highly recommended!
The Situation is released on April 19th.
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