Recorded live in Clontarf Yacht Club as part of the excellent Near FM live blues sessions, this CD represents fifty minutes of Mary Stokes and her band at the peak of their powers. Stokes has become one of the finest living exponents of the blues, and on this session she’s pushed to the limit by Foxy Murphy’s gritty guitar-playing and Brian Palm’s provocative harmonica. The latter shines on the original ‘I’m Coming Home’, and Pat Farrell adds his incendiary guitar to a brisk reading of Robert Johnson’s ‘Walkin’ Blues’. But it’s always Stokes’ show. A sinister rhythmic slouch fuels her take on Elmore James’ ‘Done Somebody Wrong’, Tom Waits’ ‘Way Down In The Hole’ has her at her most expressive, while her soaring vocal on ‘Blues On The Moon’ reaches depths of emotion few of her rivals can reach. John Lee Hooker’s ‘Boom Boom Boom’ wraps it all up on a high, with Palm’s harmonica the perfect foil for Stokes’ bruising vocals. Mick Cleary on bass and drummer Paul Brennan deserve a lap of honour for keeping things tight at the back. The Bells Have Tolled is also an example of what a creative radio station can do to support live music. If Near FM can help get such a dynamic performance to the wider world, why can’t stations with greater resources?
KEY TRACK: ‘DONE SOMEBODY WRONG’