Bill Lupkin – Hard Pill To Swallow – Blue Bella Records BBCD 1011

Hailing from Fort Wayne, Indiana back in 1947, Bill Lupkin was introduced to the blues by his older brother.  From then on there was no looking back.  First choosing the drums while in his teen years as his instrument-of-choice, Lupkin found greater interest in the harmonica, and as they say, there was no looking back.

At the age of 21, Lupkin headed northwest to the blues hotbed of Chicago, where his fully-formed harmonica and vocal skill sets found him a home in The Aces, the great blues assemblage that backed the best of Little Walter’s work, and included the Myers brothers Dave and Louis.  Lupkin also served a protracted stretch with one of the post-war giants of the blues, Jimmy Rogers, before striking out on his own with his first band, The Blues Coalition.

On this superb 2007 collection, Lupkin finds his considerable blues proficiencies amplified by bluesman and Blue Bella Records owner Nick Moss who lends his substantial guitar attributes, while another then-member of Moss’ band, The Flip Tops, Gerry Hundt provides his guitar and mandolin dexterities to the proceedings.  Rounding out the band are drummer Mark Fornek, Lupkin’s brother Steve on bass, and keyboard man Tim Wire.

Affairs of the heart are the main themes across this outing, and Lupkin’s vocals are in grand form, but it is his harmonica expertise that steals the show.  His harmonica playing is fabulous across the landscape of this collection, culminating in the highly impressive instrumental entitled “Elgin Bounce.”

In a nutshell, this is phenomenal Chicago style blues with heaps of tenacity and push, all delivered by a talent who should be greater known than he is.

Highly recommended without qualification!