Russ Green

Stone Cold

Overton Music

Russ Green was born in Chicago and grew up on the city’s west side. After being discharged from the Army, Russ attended Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, where he studied film. Being an admirer of Jimi Hendrix, he wanted to recreate Hendrix’s sounds but chose to recreate them not with a guitar, but with a harmonica. When he got back to Chicago, he checked out Sugar Blue, who played the Rolling Stones’ “Miss You,” and he was hooked. Green considers Sugar Blue and Billy Branch to be his mentors. Working in film production and television, Green got to meet many actors and even joined fellow harmonica player Bruce Willis on stage. Green has played, recorded, and toured with both John Primer and Lurrie Bell. His production credits include a recording for Big Llou Johnson and playing on the album Chicago Blues Harmonica Project. Green’s acclaimed 2018 debut album, City Soul, was named one of that year’s best blues albums by DownBeat Magazine: “Green’s well-above-average singing succeeds in its balance between allegiance to tradition and his aim to reinvigorate the music in a discernible way.” Green has also played at many blues festivals including the Chicago Blues Festival, the Burnley Mechanics Blues Festival in England, the Gloucester Blues Festival, also in England, and the San Francisco Blues Festival.

Russ Green, on harmonica and vocals, is joined by guitarists Giles Corey on all but one track and Vince Agwada, who plays on three tracks; keyboardist Joe Munroe, who plays on six tracks; bassist Vic Jackson; and drummer Felix “D-Kat” Pollard. The album is produced by Green and recorded, mixed, and mastered by Rick Barnes at Rax Trax Recording in Chicago. The album is dedicated to the memory of Sam Clayton Jr. (Little Feat).

The album opens with a hard-luck tale, “Lint Redux,” with slide guitar from Corey and a fiery harp from Green as he sings, “I got a funny feeling, I think its here to stay, woke up this morning with worries on my mind…nothin’ but lint in my pocket, It’s more than I can stand, that lint got so lonely, it’s gone and left me too.”

On the title track, “Stone Cold,” with some boiling organ from Munroe, Green soulfully cries, “Early one Sunday morning, I went down to the river to see what I could see, I heard my baby tell the preacher man that she loves everybody but me…you know she’s stone cold.”

“12 Feet of Water” opens with some organ from Munroe and orchestration around a lengthy harmonica moan with mystical overtones, as Green chants, “There’s 12 feet of water in her living room, there’s 12 feet of water in her living room, she called 911 and there’s nothing they can do, ’cause you know the rest of the house is just bone dry.”

On the funky “Hey Man,” Green plays his high-caliber harp as he belts, “They say hey man, look at what you did, got yourself a gun and became the stickup kid, hey man look what you done, got yourself a gun, and now you’re on the run.”

“Waitin’ on You” is the tale of a frustrated lover, as Green chirps out a sweet vocal: “Waitin’ on you girl is the hardest thing to do, like waitin’ for a freight train to run me down…but there is nothin in this whole world I’d rather do, you told me you love me, you love me so damn hard, all you really wanted, was my brand new credit card.”

On “Nobody Knows,” an easy-rolling blues love poem with some melodic guitar and harmonica, Green bursts, “Nobody knows the story of me and my baby, nobody knows the story about me and my baby, they don’t know what its all about, the truth is they don’t have a clue, about the sweet love between me and you.”

“Need You So Bad” features some great piano, harp, and percussion from “D-Kat” Pollard, and some jazzy harp work as Green confides, “your always in my mind…my hearts on fire, the world is wrong, don’t know what to do, it’s all about you, if you call in the middle of the night, I’ll be right there, cause I need you baby, I need you so bad…I try to play it cool, but I am just your fool, your wish is my command, nothing I can do…you got control of me…I want the world to know, I’m your only man…’cause I need you baby, I need you so bad…I’m insecure, I need you to know, I love you more than the air I breathe…’cause I need you so bad…I want you baby.”

On “I Believe,” with a mournful harmonica intro, Green soulfully pleads for renewal: “Just another day, the tears roll from my eyes, another day I need to hold your hand, but it’s another thing that I just can’t do, now I’m afraid my mind won’t ever go blind…I gotta believe that I will see you again, and I gotta believe that I will love you once more, and I gotta believe that your standing by my side.”

The traditional shuffle “Troubled World” features Green as he howls, “Trouble oh lord, is all in my head, in the mirror I can’t believe what I see, I hope and I pray, some girl will come my way, what do you do when your mojo let you down, you gotta live, live the life you love, you gotta love, love the life you live, ’cause that’s what you do, when you live in the blues.”

The closer, “Boogie Joint,” features a furious harmonica workout paying tribute to the blues, as Green croons, “You got to boogie baby, gonna boogie all night long, down in the bars up on Beale, gotta boogie baby gonna boogie all night long, thinking about how blues used to be, seven nights a week, and all night long.”

Russ Green may have taken a while to travel that long and winding path to the blues highway, but once he got there, the results are perfect. Green strives to write songs that relate to the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of everyday life. Green hopes that these Stone Cold songs will touch you as much as they touched him.

Richard Ludmerer

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