Terry Gillespie
  • The Devil Likes to Win
  • What Would Bo Diddley Do
  • Early in the Mornin'
  • My Tipitina
  • You're Gonna Make Me Cry
  • Let's Get Together
  • My Mama
  • It Wasn't Me
  • Her Mind Left First
  • 16 Days
  • She Walks Right In
  • Magnolia Tree
  • The Devil Likes to Win (Reprise)
  • The Devil Likes to Win
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (03:16) [7.48 MB]
  • What Would Bo Diddley Do
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (03:51) [8.82 MB]
  • Early in the Mornin'
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (04:28) [10.21 MB]
  • My Tipitina
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (03:09) [7.21 MB]
  • You're Gonna Make Me Cry
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (04:20) [9.93 MB]
  • Let's Get Together
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (04:31) [10.35 MB]
  • My Mama
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (04:12) [9.63 MB]
  • It Wasn't Me
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (03:46) [8.61 MB]
  • Her Mind Left First
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (03:07) [7.14 MB]
  • 16 Days
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (03:19) [7.6 MB]
  • She Walks Right In
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (03:41) [8.45 MB]
  • Magnolia Tree
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (03:57) [9.05 MB]
  • The Devil Likes to Win (Reprise)
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (04:56) [11.3 MB]
Press

Raise Some Hairs
Now living in Ottawa, Terry Gillespie previously hailed from Detroit where he opened and played backup for Blues legends Howlin' Wolf, Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker, and Buddy Guy. He also played with Reggae superstars Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, and Dennis Brown. In 1979 Gillespie formed the band Heaven's Radio, which occasionally still performs.

In 2001 Gillespie began a jam that resulted in the formation of The Granary Blues All-stars. They played The Montreal International Jazz Festival in 2002 and again in 2004. The later was recorded and released as The Granary Blues All-stars Again. Consisting mostly of Blues covers, that album was reviewed in BluesWax in July 2004; the reviewer said, "They raise the hackles on your neck" and "this is a very soulful group that needs to be heard."

Today their music is a sweet tiramisu consisting of liquor-soaked layers of Blues, Reggae, Country, and Jazz. This follow up album consists of eleven songs, ten written by Gillespie. Each of the well-crafted tunes contains a hook, sometimes lyrical, while other times a riff, arrangement, or sentimentality. The band includes Terry Gillespie (guitar, vocals, trumpet), Stepehen Barry (bass), Gordon Adamson (drums, percussion), Peter Measroch (piano, organ), Jody Golick (saxophones), and Martin Boodman (harmonicas).

Opening with "Brother of The Blues," Gillespie writes and sounds like Greg Brown. The surprise here is a funky little beat that powers the song. The careful choice of words and phrasing makes it stick in your head. On "Yellow Moon" the surprise is the Ska sounding horns that join in on the second verse. Jody Golick's saxophone is infectious. "Big Boy" is a Rockabilly treat, "when I grow up I want to have a big band," once again it's the big band-styled horns that pick it up in the middle.

Terry Gillespie's soft trumpet on "Carl Nicholson" begins a Jimmy Cliff-influenced Reggae tribute to Gillespie's musical influences, including Carl Nicholson, Steve Valentine, and Van Morrison. Terry Gillespie sounds like Van Morrison when he sings on "Love Again" and Peter Measroch's piano is perfect. "Cold Ground" is a Hoyt Axton-sounding Country Blues with nice harp playing by Martin Boodman.

"Those Days Are Gone" rollicks and Terry sounds like Bob Dylan. "Change My Style" is the only song on the album not written by Gillespie and he credits it as being "traditional." "Rue Guy Boogie" is the best Blues on the album and once again Jody Golick on saxophone solos nicely. "Bathtub" probably started as a kid's song, but it is so much fun as it Reggaes out, horns and all. "Krushev" at first seems dated, but after several listens one imagines it is also a children's song that has somehow grown up.

Sue Foley plays lead guitar and credits Terry Gillespie as a major influence in her career. Terry Gillespie & The Granary Band possess a magic that seems to occur right in the middle of each song. It's what causes the hairs to rise on the back of your neck.

Richard Ludmerer, Vice President, New York Blues and Jazz Society, is a contributing editor at BluesWax

Copyright Visionation, Ltd 2007. All Rights Reserved with limited rights offered to artist and their agents for publicity purposes only with proper citation to BluesWax, BluesWax.com, or www.blueswax.com.

BluesWax is the largest Blues publication in the world. It is delivered via email to more than 70,000 subscribers around the world each week. It is only sent to subscribers and maintains a strict privacy policy and never shares its subscribers' information; just the Blues in your box each week. You may subscribe at www.blueswax.com. Visionation. Ltd. is the publisher of Blues Revue, BluesWax, FolkWax, and Comix View. I

Richard Ludmerer - Blues Wax (Apr 5, 2007)

Mark E. Gallo - Blues Bytes (Jul 24, 2008)
Terry Gillespie, formerly of Detroit, now calls Ottawa, Ontario home. It is certainly Canada’s gain. The highly regarded critic Tim Holek has called him Canada’s “King of Roots Music.” He has indeed been a bit of a Canadian blues legend for 40 years. Though raised in England, he was born in Edmonton, but it was in Detroit, in the 1950s and '60s, that he cut his musical teeth. He attended MSU to study chemical engineering, but it was musical concoctions that moved his soul. He came up on the local stages and shared space with everyone from John Lee Hooker to Albert Collins, with stops along the way backing Peter Tosh and Jimmy Cliff. He moved from Detroit to Montreal briefly and made the return to Canada permanent when he took Ottawa for his home in 1967. Brother of the Blues, his first recording in many, many years, is an amalgam of all of the above and more influences picked up along the way. The lead-off title tune reminds of Mark Knopfler with its stunning guitar work. On “Yellow Moon,” there is a heavy footed shuffle and a “chorus” of saxophones from Jody Golnick over Stephen Barry’s deep bass and Gordon Adamson’s snappy drums. “Big Boy” has a slinky groove, “Cold Ground,” with Martin Boodman’s harp comping, is deceptively upbeat. “Yellow Moon” has shades of Van Morrison, both in Gillespie’s vocal presence and in the arrangement. “Carl Nicholson” (aka Van Morrison) is even more so, down to the imagery in the writing. ("I will sing my song along a winding lane/one country to another/we were young/our souls on fire/in 1968 that’s when I met my brother”). Jimmy Reed’s “I’ll Change My Style,” the only cover in the bunch, has a lope that’s infectious. “Rue Guy Boogie” is not a boogie. Whatever it is, it is definitely a toe-tapper of the highest order. It has elements that remind of the Band. Jody Golick’s baritone work is the treat on the cut. “Bath Tub” reflects his affection for Jamaica music, with an almost dub style, and the closer “Kruschev” is a flashback for us of a certain age who remember Nikita and his shoe pounding episode at the UN as the enemy.” Cool harp, big percussive beat, This is most decidedly not your daddy’s blues. www.terrygillespie.ca

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  • Members:
    Terry Gillespie-vocal, trumpet, guitar and harmonica, Lyndell Montgomery-bass,fiddle; Peter Measroch-keys, Wayne Stoute-drums, percussion
  • Sounds Like:
    " Like Mark Knopfler, JJ Cale or JB Lenior, he is a player whose comfortable voice perfectly suits his deep guitar grooves. Nothing’s wasted and nothing’s missing. “
  • Influences:
    Howlin Wolf, Miles Davis, Muddy Waters, Other Turner, Toots
  • AirPlay Direct Member Since:
    09/19/10
  • Profile Last Updated:
    08/15/23 13:58:09

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