It takes a
man who's mojo is workin' to throw a CD release party on April Fool's Day.
That's what Boxcar Joe Laing did to celebrate his first CD Boxfull Of
Blues, recorded live at Manny's Car Wash. His friends and fans crowded
into Manny's Car Wash to hear him and his energetic band, the Boxcar All
Stars. The All Stars are Chris Carter on guitar, Mitch Margold on
keyboards, Tim Tmdall on bass and James Wormworth drums. The band, sans
Boxcar, opened with "The Chicken" a funky instrurnental. Love the Boxcars;
they make me wanna dance. The Boxcars are more engine than boxcar,
providing strong rhythmic playing, coupled with taste and technical
prowess that make them a powerful rhythm section. Carter then introduced
Boxcar Joe to the enthusiastic crowd as they vamped on "Help Me", a Sonny
Boy Williamson/ Ralph Bass shuffle. The Boxcar emerged, stepped up to the
mike and let it rip. The crowd was instantly drawn in by his warmth and
presence. The first set rocked through tunes from his CD including
Hiowlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor", Ray Charles' "Hallelujah, I Love Her So",
"Dock of the Bay" from Otis Redding, and "The Things I Used To Do", by
Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones. He also covered Tracy Chapman's bluesy "Gimme
One Reason" which is not on his CD. Shifting the evening's pace, Laing
picked up his acoustic guitar to sing andplay several of his original
tunes, including "Busted" a ballad of penury. "Mad Dash for the City" a
ditty which captures' the frustration of tunnel vision in a traffic jam
and his blues, "You're Gorma Hate It Baby." His acoustic set both
personalized the show and added a layer of intimacy.
Laing is known to
many locals as the jam-meis- ter of Manny's Car Wash. He ran the popular
Sunday night jam session steadily for almost a year, backed by the
energetic Boxcars, each of whom has his own impressive blues and r&b
resume. Now that he has put together his first CD, Laing's music has taken
him to a wider audience, although Manny's is still lucky enough to get him
and his talented players to lead the jam from time to time.
Speaking of
wider audiences, the Boxcar was featured on Eyewitness News WABC-TV, that
same morning of April 2, And I mean morning. Staying up all night, Boxcar
and the band headed back to Manny's at 5am, somewhat bleary-eyed, where
Bill Evans and the Weather Posse taped segments of the local morning show.
Evans, the ebullient weather jock, got up and jammed with Laing and the
Boxcars and their happy hoodang was broadcast throughout Good Morning
America's time slot 'till 9am. Looks like the Boxcar's mojo is working on
America's broadcast frequencies. Watch out: it just might work on you. No
foolin!
Article by Elizabeth Rose
NY Blues Society " BLUES
VIEWS"
The Boxcar Joe Laingm,
Boxfull of Blues
A
former Essex Conuty park police officer, white blues singer "Boxcar" Joe
Laing became the Lone Star Cafe's sound man before seriously attempting a
career in music. Though he lacks the intimidating vocal range of mentors
Howlin' Wolf aud Muddy Waters, his husky baritone, gritty moans aud
enthusiastic swagger make him a firstrate interpreter of post-World War II
Chicago Blues Unlike most artists, Laing opted to record his debut,
"Boxfull Of Blues," live without overdubs at NYC's Manny's Car Wash
instead of in the usual sterile studio context (which most blues artists
find constricting). Afforded an experienced supporting cast consisting of
guitarist Chris Carter, keyboardist Mitch Margold, bassist Tim Tindall,
and drummer James Wormworth, Laing never misses a beat, confidently moving
from deliberately slow-paced to energetically high-octane songs.
Uplifting, jolly-spirited fare such as his Gospel-rooted, frog-throated
take on Ray Charles' cheery "Hallelujah, I Love Her So" and the
organ-laced shuffle through the oft-covered juke joint party standard "Let
the Good Times Roll" will get your mojo working. Serious fare such as
Sonny Boy Williamson's pungent "Help Me" and a stretched out, resonating
version of Guitar Slim's "The Things That I Used To Do" prove Laing knows
a thing or two about passion and pain. In the same vein, his flickering,
down and out original "You're Gonna Hate It Baby" crawls by like a
desolate reconfiguration of "I Put A Spell On You." On Howlin' Wolf's
"Killing Floor," the rhythm section makes good use of the backbeat from
Otis Redding & Carla Thomas' Southern soul delicacy "Tramp." Margold's
electric piano offers punctuation and intimacy to a somber version of
Muddy Waters' mischievous "Rock Me." Laing proves to have excellent taste
in selecting well known material, making each vintage song his
own.
-John Fortunato
Jazz Heritage Review
By Bob Nissin
From cop, to real estate salesman, to truck driver,
to soundman at NYC's famous Lone Star Cafe, to club owner. A man of many
hats is Boxcar Joe Laing. But, always in his heart...music. And from his
lips...a voice that wails out the blues like you won't believe! Via his
friendships with legendary preformers like Albert King, Delbert McClinton,
Paul Butterfield, Albert Collins, Kenny Neal, Johnny Copland and others,
Boxcar was invited to sing a song or two with the greats and as a result
earned the kind of support and encouragement that every preformer
craves...that which comes from those whom you admire and from whom you get
inspiration. But, maybe I'm gettin' too deep here. The fact is the man can
sell the blues! Check him out rockin' through tunes like Howlin' Wolf's
"Killing Floor", Ray Charles' "Halleujah, I Love Her So"' and Otis
Redding's "Dock of the Bay." On "Boxfull of Blues", his first CD, the
Boxcar and his band "The Boxcar All-Stars" give you a night live at
Manny's Car Wash in NYC. Recorded on April 16, 1996 as it happened, it's
the blues, pure and simple from The Boxcar!
