“ The Games People Play” by Paul Lamb & the King Snakes

                                out May 28^th 2012 on Secret Records

                                              available on Amazon, iTunes & at www.paullamb.com

                      The album is dedicated to Iverson Minter AKA “Louisiana Red”, who died February 25, 2012.

“Red was one of the greatest and most beloved traditional blues artists.
………………… A great friend & a true gentleman of the Blues……..Paul Lamb

           All tracks recorded live over a 2 month tour  and the tracks were selected  from 3 venues :-

Back stage at the Green Hotel Kinross, Scotland
The Carlisle Blues Festival, Cumbria, U.K.
 Mühle Hunziken  , Rubigen, Switzerland

More details next month……….

Born in Bessemer, Alabama although his own stories state various Southern towns and cities.
Red lost his mother at birth and his father was killed in a Ku Klux Klan lynching when Red was just 5 years old. He lived in an orphanage in New Orleans for a few of his childhood years, until his grandmother took him to Pittsburgh to live. A few years later she bought him his first guitar, a $12 Kay. Red would play along with records or the radio and begged guitar lessons from his first mentor, Crit Walters. It was early in life that Red made the decision to become a blues musician. In the late 1940s Red would follow his passion to Detroit & became friends with Eddie Burns and John Lee Hooker. He would make his first recordings in Detroit for producer Joe Von Battle under the moniker of Rocky Fuller, a pair of these recordings were leased to Chess records. He would accompany John Lee Hooker on a session for Modern Records and you can hear Red shouting “Lord Have Mercy” in the middle of JLH’s “Down Child”. Red would also land a 1953 recording session in Chicago for Chess in which he is accompanied by Little Walter on the brilliant “Funeral Hearse At My Door” which remained in the vaults unreleased for decades. Red’s next stop would be New York where he would record for producer Bobby Robinson and for Atlas Records. But it was Louisiana Red‘s 1962 Roulette label recordings that garnered him national recognition as a bluesman. His single “Red’s Dream” with its humorous political commentary became a major hit and was followed by the Roulette album The Lowdown Back Porch Blues. This was followed by the 1965 release of Louisiana Red Sings The Blues on Atco. In the mid 70s he became the cornerstone of the Blue Labor label cutting two excellent solo acoustic albums; Sweet Blood Call and Dead Stray Dog and also appearing on that label as a featured sideman on albums by Johnny Shines, Roosevelt Sykes, Brownie McGhee, and Peg Leg Sam. He was romantically involved with folk legend Odetta for a small period of time in the 1970s. European promoters and booking agents took an interest, and Red found a new audience with his annual overseas tours. Labels such as L+R from Germany and JSP from England began recording Red, the latter debuting their catalog with Red, Funk and Blue, a duet album with Sugar Blue. Red appeared as himself in the movie Come Back featuring Eric Burdon of Animals fame. Red lived in Chicago for awhile in the early 1980s where he worked at the Delta Fish Market. He would then move to Phoenix in late 1981 where he lived for about a year.
Red left Phoenix for a European tour in late 1982, and it was then and there that he met his true love, Dora, who he married and spent the rest of his life with. Dora gave Red an uncompromised love and the constant companionship and protective looking-out-for that Red needed. Dora also provided the family situation that Red yearned for in his life as Red took great pride in his love and adoption of Dora’s sons. The positive impact and dedication that Dora provided Red was simply amazing. Red would live in Hanover Germany for the rest of his life with Dora and found work so plentiful in Europe that for a period of time he rarely would come to the USA. In 1995 Earwig Records would release Sittin’ Here Wondering. This CD created a relationship between Red and Earwig label chief Michael Frank who would record 2 more records by Red and book annual US tours. Releases followed on High Tone and Severn as well as a documentary DVD released only in Europe. In 2009 Little Victor produced Red’s Back To The Black Bayou CD released first on the Bluestown Label . Back To The Black Bayou swept Europe and the US with awards and nominations. Simultaneously, Red’s collaboration with pianist David Maxwell produced You Got To Move, and in 2010 Red would go to the Blues Music Awards with 5 nominations and receive 2 wins! Little Victor also produced Red’s final critically acclaimed CD Memphis Mojo.

It was indeed Red’s last stage appearence along with Paul Lamb & the King Snakes, when we played his home town Hannover at the Zazz Club on December 17th 2011.
It is sad to say goodbye to the loving persona of this great bluesman who’s music warmed our hearts.
Louisiana Red‘s vulnerability became his strength and he filled his heart with an unstoppable passion for music and acceptance. His legacy is great and his friendships are many. He can now rest in peace after a lifetime of giving us everything he had through his amazing blues.

The funeral will take place next Tuesday March 6th and as a long time friend of Red, I will be in Hannover for the service…………. God bless you Red.

Happy Holidays !

Wishing you all a very Blues Christmas &

A wonderful & peaceful New Year …..

From Paul Lamb & the King Snakes!

It’s been a good year for the band ,we have  travelled all over & the last gigs of the season are in Belgium Switzerland & Germany on 14^th , 16^th, and 17^th December.

Thankyou one & all, for your continued support and look out for a new live album due out in the Spring of 2012

We still have a lot of shows left for this year , so check out our tour page for a regular updated list.

Hoping to meet & greet, old & new fans in November & into December

…………………………….weather permitting  ;-)

To help with the Christmas presents check out the shop on line.

New dates have been added to the tour page, so be sure to check it out & book your tickets.

I am playing a number of dates in Denmark this weekend with my old (he is older than me) friend Louisiana Red. These will be duo acoustic dates & I am sure shows not to be missed.

Mid October check out the 2 dates in Spain. The poster is a monster as is the promotional video. Santander will certainly be the centre of the Blues on 22^nd October…you know that you need to go …so grab those tickets will you can !

bluezz @Santander Spain

This is the longest tour of Poland / Slovakia & Czech Republic we have ever done…..3 weeks non stop but what a great tour it has been & still 7 more shows to perform. The crowds have been with us all the way & it is so good to see that the Blues is respected & the people are eager to see more.A big thank you to the DELTA Agencja Koncertowo-Wydawnicza for making it all happen for us. They might be our agents but they are family as well !

Currently Paul Lamb & the King Snakes are in Portugal , next stop UK for the Upton Festival & then over to Sweden for the fabulous Karlshamn Baltic Festival. There are quite a lot to choose from so ensure you buy the ones with Paul Lamb & the King Snakes to entertain you & I am sure you will not be disappointed.

Visit our tour page here for more dates added.

We are just working on the full schedule but the band will be touring the Czech Republic & Poland in July & May.
This is great news & we have added a few more gigs to the tour listing here on our web site. We hope your schedules can make time to catch the band live, in an area near you.

See you all sooon …Paul & the lads !