"Two Steps From The Blues" - Bobby Bland

Two Steps From The Blues is a very influential album and has been a real favourite of mine ever since I bought it at the HMV annex in downtown Montreal during my first year of university in 1998. Having read about the album in some of my favourite books beforehand (i.e. Greil Marcus' Mystery Train and Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music) I had built up lofty expectations for this album. Thankfully I was not let down.

The title track is a stunner and as with the rest of the album, is a marvelous synthesis of down home Blues and smoother Soul. It is the album opener and makes a perfect introduction to a truly epochal album. Possibly the most famous song on the album is the hard-hitting "I Pity The Fool" (yes, I believe that's where Mr. T got it from), a song where Bobby Bland simply can't fathom that someone else was fool enough to fall in love with his used to be. This song has been covered many times, Ann Peebles does a great version.

The two deepest songs on the album are the ethereal and haunting "I'll Take Care Of You" and "Lead Me On".  The latter is the highlight of the album for me.... The song is barely over 2 minutes but is one of the deepest songs I've ever heard. It opens with the immortal lines "You know how it feels, you understand. What it is to be a stranger, in this unfriendly land", Bobby Bland's voice surrounded by an understated but forceful orchestration. The album has its rowdier side as well, such as a song from a few years earlier ("Little Boy Blue") where Bland really cuts loose, as well as "I Don't Want No Woman" (later recorded by Johnny Jenkins on his cult classic Ton Ton Macoute).

Bobby Bland passed away fairly recently, in June 2013. Thankfully I had the chance to see him in concert in January 2003, opening for B.B. King at Place des arts in Montreal.

Yep, those are two steps.