Steel Notes Magazine Steel Notes Magazine - Winter 2017/18 | Page 47

www.steelnotesmagazine.com Steel Notes Magazine classic blues are here. The jamming band, complete with horns and keys, a guitar player that can throw lightning bolts whenever he wants to, and a rhythm section than is totally locked in. Listen to these lyrics! It just hit me Sheba is a black female David Lee Roth. 10. Hey Girlfriend 5:02 – I like the beat the drummer lays down in the beginning of the song and how everyone else comes in and picks up the groove. This is a very intense song, in many ways. On one level, Sheba is telling a woman that she has been spending time with the other woman’s man. Musically, the song is incredibly intense. Each member is in full-on jam mode. The drummer is filling while the bass player is running a funky pattern and the keys jam and the guitar gets funky which accentuates the horns. Overall, this song is a massive BLAST of energy. 11. Blues of My Soul 7:05 – This is Sheba’s coming out of Mississippi track. She heard some very nice slide work after she left Mississippi and was instantly emotionally brought back to life on the Delta. She spent a lot of time picking cotton, which is an incredibly physically devastating activity. The one respite was listening to Mr. John playing his slide guitar off on the porch. The refrain becomes that “My Grandma would say (the bus is) goin’ my way, but it ain’t my day.” One night, Sheba’s mother made her escape. Eventually, her mother did return for her and the family headed for Florida. 12. Don't Say Goodbye 5:54 – This is simply a beautiful song. Sheba is singing about someone she loves going away. Sheba has the ability to vocally express sadness extremely well. I am enjoying the music, I mean they are all playing well, and it grooves, but Sheba’s vocals and her sadness have me. This is perhaps the most powerful song on the album. 13. Can't Help Lovin’ My Man 6:14 – In this song it seems that Sheba has indeed found a man to love and love him she does. Musically this song is on par with the last track. What I thought was a successful conclusion to an emotion-filled body of work, is in fact only a partially happy ending. You see, Sheba is in love with a fellow, but he goes away, and she is not really sure that he loves her. She spends her time at home sitting by the phone waiting for him to call. She knows that he loves her, but if he does not, she does not care. She cannot help loving her man. So, what is the bottom line: The bottom line is this. Sheba has had an arduous life. She also has an incredible voice which she uses to sing about events and emotions she has felt at different points of her life. Fortunately, she has found a group of musicians with whom she blends. Each of the players on this album is very good. This comes across as a very cohesive unit of highly talented people who make very powerful music. This album is more than worth the purchase price. I give Sheba’s album A Real Good Woman 5 out of 5 scowls on the Grouch scale. - The Grouch Available at Bongo Boy Records: https://bongoboyrecords.com/sheba/ Also available starting this November at cdbaby, iTunes, Amazon, Walmart and other online retailers and retail outlets Worldwide. Steel Notes Magazine www.steelnotesmagazine.com 47