Sixty-nine year old Byrnes was born in St. Louis but since the mid-70's, he has lived in Vancouver where he is widely respected as a blues singer and TV actor. His voice is mature and expressive and he sings with sensitivity and restraint on a repertoire mainly comprising of songs by Willie Dixon, Jesse Winchester, Wilson Pickett and others, which are presented in strikingly original and highly effective arrangements. Robbie Robertson's "The Shape I'm In" is often sung exuberantly but the lyrics are actually rather bleak and on his version, Byrnes, appropriately sounds troubled, while there is an unusual but utterly convincing interpretation of the Bobby Bland-associated (or for some, the Whitesnake-associated) "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City," with prominent acoustic guitar and gorgeous vocal harmonies from The Sojourners. Willie Dixon's "Weak Brain, Narrow Mind" is performed authoritatively and there's a marvelous version of Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham's "Out of Left Field" sung straight from the heart. Producer Steve Dawson plays exceptional guitar throughout Long Hot Summer Days, contributing for example a trenchant solo to Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows." Steve Marriner contributes dramatic harmonica to Elmore James's "Something Inside of Me" and elsewhere.
Black Hen Music
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