Lachy Doley – Studios 301 Sessions
Even during a full-on lockdown, Australian Hammond and Whammy Clavinet wizard ("the greatest living keyboard player in the world today" - Glenn Hughes) doesn’t do things by halves.
Back in April, at Sydney’s 301 Studios and recorded on his 43rd Birthday, Lachy Doley performed a full 14 song, 90 minute set with not a band but a full ensemble cast – ten musicians and singers (including a horn section and the redoubtable vocal talents of Mahalia Barnes, Juanita Tippens and Bek Jensen) plus three special guests, in front of twenty people, all on headphones for the full, from the mixing board experience.
Later shown in two separate parts for fan-broadcast, Lachy Doley has since posted the filmed show in its entirety on YouTube and released the set on CD, Digital and Limited Edition Orange Vinyl as the Studios 301 Sessions.
The result, in whatever form you choose to listen or watch, is Lachy Doley’s finest live performance to date (his equally impacting Blues at Broadbeach, recorded in 2016, is an outstanding performance (and later album release) but five years and a clutch of solo albums later Doley’s vocal maturity and song craft has expanded threefold).
From opener 'Give It (But You Just Can’t Take It),' a sharp-dressed, Jimmy Smith styled funk number featuring equally sharp horns and a blues-groovin’ Hammond C3 solo, to rousing, eight-minute set closer 'I Can See Clearly Now' (based on the Ray Charles soul-blues-gospel version), Lachy Doley and band blues it up, funk it out and soulfully swing it like nobody’s business.
It’s pointless marking out highlights here because truth be told each and every song works as well as the next; the set mixes, matches and complements some of Lachy Doley’s best solo material with a handful of standards (peppering his sets with a choice cover or three is a Lachy Doley trait).
Indeed the fourteen song lockdown show showcases Lachy Doley, and a tremendous band, to such fine effect that it could have been sub-titled This is Lachy Doley! (and perhaps should have been).
Lachy Doley and band seriously impress through covers such as 'Voodoo Child' (where Doley shows just what his tried & trusted Hohner D6 can do in the right hands – he Whammy Clavs the bejesus out of the Hendrix classic) and originals with equal passion and aplomb.
Fine examples of the latter include Conviction album brace 'Betcha I’ll Getcha' (which swing-shuffles so hard it’s a wonder it didn’t continue to shuffle right out the studio door) and the bass-pumping rock-blues power of 'Make it Up.'
Back in April, at Sydney’s 301 Studios and recorded on his 43rd Birthday, Lachy Doley performed a full 14 song, 90 minute set with not a band but a full ensemble cast – ten musicians and singers (including a horn section and the redoubtable vocal talents of Mahalia Barnes, Juanita Tippens and Bek Jensen) plus three special guests, in front of twenty people, all on headphones for the full, from the mixing board experience.
Later shown in two separate parts for fan-broadcast, Lachy Doley has since posted the filmed show in its entirety on YouTube and released the set on CD, Digital and Limited Edition Orange Vinyl as the Studios 301 Sessions.
The result, in whatever form you choose to listen or watch, is Lachy Doley’s finest live performance to date (his equally impacting Blues at Broadbeach, recorded in 2016, is an outstanding performance (and later album release) but five years and a clutch of solo albums later Doley’s vocal maturity and song craft has expanded threefold).
From opener 'Give It (But You Just Can’t Take It),' a sharp-dressed, Jimmy Smith styled funk number featuring equally sharp horns and a blues-groovin’ Hammond C3 solo, to rousing, eight-minute set closer 'I Can See Clearly Now' (based on the Ray Charles soul-blues-gospel version), Lachy Doley and band blues it up, funk it out and soulfully swing it like nobody’s business.
It’s pointless marking out highlights here because truth be told each and every song works as well as the next; the set mixes, matches and complements some of Lachy Doley’s best solo material with a handful of standards (peppering his sets with a choice cover or three is a Lachy Doley trait).
Indeed the fourteen song lockdown show showcases Lachy Doley, and a tremendous band, to such fine effect that it could have been sub-titled This is Lachy Doley! (and perhaps should have been).
Lachy Doley and band seriously impress through covers such as 'Voodoo Child' (where Doley shows just what his tried & trusted Hohner D6 can do in the right hands – he Whammy Clavs the bejesus out of the Hendrix classic) and originals with equal passion and aplomb.
Fine examples of the latter include Conviction album brace 'Betcha I’ll Getcha' (which swing-shuffles so hard it’s a wonder it didn’t continue to shuffle right out the studio door) and the bass-pumping rock-blues power of 'Make it Up.'
Two of the aforementioned special guests – Karen Lee Andrews (lead vocals) and Lachy Doley’s brother Clayton (piano) – then add their respective talents to the slow gospel blues of 'Get It While You Can.'
Clayton Doley also features (and adds lead vocals) on his own song 'Right Time,' a Stevie Wonder-esque number that goes back to the days the Doley boys played in groups together.
Third special guest, guitarist Franco Raggatt, is heard to fine, slow blues effect on 'The Greatest Blues' and adding some feisty six-string blues to the rockin’ cover of the Spencer Davis Group’s 'I’m a Man.'
'The Greatest Blues' also features on Lachy Doley’s 2019 solo offering Make Or Break (as does opener 'Give It' and the bristling Whammy blues number 'A Woman'); it's an album that deserved far more attention, acclaim and exposure than it received.
Add in some serious Whammy Clav funk by way of 'Only Cure For the Blues is the Blues' (which also allows Jackie Barnes to flex his drum muscles), contrasting slow blues and forlorn horns brace 'Love Come Around' (featuring the wonderful voice of Mahalia Barnes) and 'Conviction,' plus the heavy pop-blues of 'Six Feet Under' (with its decidedly James Bond chorus) and you have a live in the studio winner.
Part best of, part celebration, part finger to the Covid Blues we’ve all been singing these last two years, Studios 301 Sessions isn’t just one of the best of the many excellent lockdown live performances of 2020 and 2021, it’s one of the best blues-based releases of the year, full stop.
Actually, make that an exclamation mark.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Purchase Studios 301 Sessions on CD, Digital or Very Limited Edition Orange Vinyl (a small number remain) here: https://lachydoley.bandcamp.com/album/studios-301-sessions
Clayton Doley also features (and adds lead vocals) on his own song 'Right Time,' a Stevie Wonder-esque number that goes back to the days the Doley boys played in groups together.
Third special guest, guitarist Franco Raggatt, is heard to fine, slow blues effect on 'The Greatest Blues' and adding some feisty six-string blues to the rockin’ cover of the Spencer Davis Group’s 'I’m a Man.'
'The Greatest Blues' also features on Lachy Doley’s 2019 solo offering Make Or Break (as does opener 'Give It' and the bristling Whammy blues number 'A Woman'); it's an album that deserved far more attention, acclaim and exposure than it received.
Add in some serious Whammy Clav funk by way of 'Only Cure For the Blues is the Blues' (which also allows Jackie Barnes to flex his drum muscles), contrasting slow blues and forlorn horns brace 'Love Come Around' (featuring the wonderful voice of Mahalia Barnes) and 'Conviction,' plus the heavy pop-blues of 'Six Feet Under' (with its decidedly James Bond chorus) and you have a live in the studio winner.
Part best of, part celebration, part finger to the Covid Blues we’ve all been singing these last two years, Studios 301 Sessions isn’t just one of the best of the many excellent lockdown live performances of 2020 and 2021, it’s one of the best blues-based releases of the year, full stop.
Actually, make that an exclamation mark.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Purchase Studios 301 Sessions on CD, Digital or Very Limited Edition Orange Vinyl (a small number remain) here: https://lachydoley.bandcamp.com/album/studios-301-sessions