Lamont Cranston – Tiger In Your Tank – Cold Wind Records CWR 8808 (LP)

This 1988 10-cut LP collection is a joy front-to-back.  This is perpetually blues with a delicious up-tempo boogie sense, a vicious, hot drive of jumping blues where spirited and enlivening sounds formulate the contagious backbones, and a robust wave of excitement that completely captivates.

Hailing from Minnesota, the upper U.S.’s Midwest counts the band’s beginnings all the way back to the late 1960s.  Many in-the-know count the group as one of the originators of the Minneapolis blues landscape, one that for many years has been a hotbed of tremendous blues talent.  Please note that this LP shows “Lamont Cranston” as the artist, but the group has been long known as The Lamont Cranston Band.

There is a back story to how the band got its name and the involvement of Larry Hayes and Pat Hayes as the founding members that should be left to the curious to discover.  A hint: The band’s name is derived from the alter ego of The Shadow, the pulp hero.  But make no mistake, the band is renowned for its considerable individual and collective skill sets, and has not only teamed with just about every major blues and soul act (including Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge, and Solomon Burke) on the scene since their formation, but also with major touring rock groups such as The Rolling Stones (who they opened for on the Stone’s 1981 tour), The Kinks, The Yardbirds, Kansas, and Tower Of Power, to name but a few; the list goes on and on.

Tiger In Your Tank was the band’s ninth outing, with their recording career beginning in 1976.  Pat “Lamont” Hayes leads the band with his formidable vocal, guitar, and harmonica proficiencies, and here, with its highly skilled core lineup also brimming with delicious horns, each cut delivers on quality and uniqueness, and compels repeated listenings.

This isn’t one of those reviews that will dissect each minute factor that pulls the collection into a glorious whole.  No, all that needs to be said is that this is just a brilliant set of recordings that makes it a joy to be a fan of up-tempo blues, one to be spun on the turntable and undoubtedly be a delight to enjoy.

Highly recommended!