Buddy Ace
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Buddy Ace |
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Buddy Ace 
Born Jimmy Lee Land in Jasper, TX, on November 11, 1936, bluesman "Buddy Ace" was known as "The Silver Fox of the Blues". His name was changed to "Buddy Ace" by Duke's Don Robey after Frankie Ace's younger brother (St. Clair Alexander) had no success with it! Lee Land was in gospel groups at first (one contained Joe Tex) before going R & B in the early 50s. He played in Bobby Bland and Junior Parker's bands before he finally got a record contract with Duke/Peacock in 1955. In the mid-'60s, Ace scored several R&B hits but never scored a major breakthrough. Relocating to Los Angeles in 1970 and later to Oakland, he spent much of this period touring in and around the Bay Area. Ace continued to perform and record into the '90s with 3 albums released on Leon Haywood's Evejim imprint. On December 26, 1994, Ace passed away in Waco, TX. Album Discography
** 1/2 Funkified soul blues album recorded in the 70s. "Fingerprints" has the memorable line "If fingerprints showed on skin..." B.B. KIng's influence is heard on "Houston Town" with a groove nearly identical to "Thrill Is Gone". "Take 'Em Up" is an odd funk number replete with scratchy guitar and vocals mostly shouted by Ace, who tells a woman to hike her dress up so he can see what she's got. He sounds like McKinley Mitchell on "I Wonder" and delivers county soul on "I Love Your Funki Sole". Overall the production sounds dated.
**** Great modern soul blues album with soon-to-be classic title track (LP title track was "Root Doctor") by Roy Hytower. Ace does two flawless soul covers in "Chokin' Kind" & "Pouring Water On A Drowning Man" showing his voice has aged well- with a Bobby "Blue" Bland rasp and Little Milton power. The highlight, however, is the aching "Don't Hurt No More".
**** 1/2 Gem of modern soul blues features first rate songs by Ronnie Lovejoy ("It's Time To Move On", "Damn Sure Get Over You"), Leon Haywood ("Keep It In The Family", "Just Your Fool") and Jimmy McCracklin ("Think", "Do It Together", "Just Gotta Know") ranging from funky blues, smooth jazzy soul ("Fix It Man") to pleading soul ("Let Me Do Something For You"). Ace's vocals are on fire and the production sounds contemporary to this day. Get it!
*** Being that Bobby "Blue" Bland was Buddy's main influence it comes as no surprise we have a tribute project to ponder. The material is mostly Bland's early hits ("Cry, Cry, Cry", "Two Steps From The Blues" & "St. James Infirmary") but leads off with Bland's most famous modern day classic, "Members Only". In some ways it's like having the man himself do modern versions of his classics benefited by modern studio technology. This is significant because Bobby's voice had been greatly diminished due to cigarettes and fast living by the time this record was recorded. To his credit, Ace is no mere Bland clone- nevertheless the renditions aren't all that different from the originals.
**** Early recordings reveal throaty Ace to be very much in the Bobby Bland-tradition of soul blues singers. "Nothing In The World Can Hurt Me (Except You)" and "Hold On (To This Fool)" were minor hits.
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"The Real Thing" (Jewel 1996)
"Don't Hurt No More" aka "Root Doctor" (Evejim 1988,1994)
"The Silver Fox" (Evejim 1988,1994)
"From Me To You Bobby Bland" (Evejim 1995)
"The Duke Recordings" (Duke 2005)