Review: Kid Ramos 'Strange Things Happening'

Review: Kid Ramos ‘Strange Things Happening’

By Jim Hynes

The well-traveled, legendary guitarist and producer Kid Ramos returns with his first solo album in five years, Strange Things Happening. The title takes its name from a song by the gospel-blues and rock ‘n roll pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and stays in the vein of gospel-blues throughout. It’s a departure from Ramos’ usual straight West Coast blues and occasional Tex-Mex offerings. Ramos is a BMA winner and 14-time BMA nominee who came to prominence with the James Harman Band, The Roomful of Blues, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and later The Mannish Boys, his own Los Fabulocos, and currently as a member of the blues supergroup The Proven Ones, all the while issuing his own solo work over the course of five plus decades. The inspiration for the record came from an old pastor friend of Ramos who wanted to support musicians that were playing gospel music.

Ramos is joined by featured vocalists Brian Templeton (The Radio Kings) and his son, Johnny Ramos. Given that Templeton has his own Christian music label, Straight Street Records, the project was a natural fit. Produced by Chris Lizotte (singer/songwriter and worship leader), the session includes Dave Limina on piano and Hammond organ (Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters), bassist Mike Tuturro, and Stephen Hodges (James Harman, John Hammond, Tom Waits) on drums. This core group renders material not only from Tharpe, but also Clara Ward, The Soul Stirrers, and Bob Dylan as well as original compositions by Brian Templeton.

The title track appears as Templeton, blessed with great pipes and who sings on most tracks, issues those famous lines – “Jesus is the holy light, turning darkness into light, there are strange things happening every day.” Ramos’ rollicking guitar lines mesh with Limina’s church-like organ. Limina, who has done such remarkable work with Ronnie Earl, was a perfect choice for this repertoire as, at least to these ears, he is one of the best Hammond B3 masters in blues. Classic gospel tunes follow. “How I Got Over,” written by Clara Ward in 1951 and most associated with Mahalia Jackson’s rendition 25 years later, features tasty piano from Limina. Southern gospel architect A.P. Carter’s “I’m Working on a Building,” sways with ebullient joy, Templeton’s soaring vocal underpinned by effervescent organ from Limina. Given the nature of the material, the guitar is often less prominent than the organ or piano, but Ramos picks his spots judiciously, firing off a killer solo here.

“Oh, What a Meeting,” a less obscure tune, introduces us to the high-pitched vocals of Johnny Ramos, quite a contrast to Templeton’s robust tenor, but equally as potent emotionally. Ramos unleashes one of his most torrential solos on this lengthy seven-minute slow burner. Johnny sings gloriously again on “God Walks the Dark Hills,” played at a similar steady tempo, with stately piano and clean, spiraling guitar.

The band revs up and Templeton goes into blues shouter mode on the rambunctious, “Jesus Dropped the Charges” and offers another flat-out burner with his own “An Answer for Isaac,” which leans far more to the blues-rock than gospel vein as he plays harp and Hodges beats the heck out of the skins. His “Nobody But the Lord” is closer to the gospel motif, rendered as an up-tempo shuffle, with Limina’s organ going full throttle.

The interpretation of Dylan’s “Every Grain of Sand” is faithful to the original with Templeton pouring emotion into each verse. On the other hand, “Satan’s Jeweled Crown” is an outlier, a Tex-Mex ditty with Ramos switching to the bajo sexto along with his son on vocals and Jesse Cuevas from Los Fabulocos on accordion. The album does end powerfully with the duet vocal of Johnny and Kid on “More Love than Power” and Templeton’s immense vocal on the rousing piano-driven“I’m a Pilgrim.”

Kid Ramos and his bandmates have made a celebratory, uplifting record and let’s hope he stays with this gospel-blues repertoire on future outings. We’d be remiss not to acknowledge Nola Blues, which in such a short time, has risen to the top tier of blues labels as they continue to sign major artists.

Pre-order the album here

“Strange Things Happening”