Before I say one word about the music or the musician, I'd like to say something about the man - CHESTER "MEMPHIS GOLD" CHANDLER. After being a veteran of 10 years in the military and having served our country in Viet Nam, MEMPHIS GOLD has spent a great amount of his musical career doing USO tours and entertaining American Troops in Hungary, Turkey, Germany, Croatia, Macedonia, Egypt, Sinai, Japan, Guam, Okinawa, Cuba and many other far flung places. When asked why he does this his answer was "I like to give time back to the troops because having served in Viet Nam, I know what it's like to be a long way from home." In addition to this unselfishness, ten years ago, he risked his own life while saving the lives of nine young children he rescued from a train wreck. Chester, the world needs more people like you - not just for your music, but your humanitarianism as well.

About a year ago, MEMPHIS GOLD sent me some rough demos and told me that once his finished product was available, he'd send me a copy for review. What I heard on those demos left me thirsting for more, and at last, after nearly a year, "THE PRODIGAL SON" arrived in my mail box. It was worth the wait.

For this project, MEMPHIS GOLD assembled quite a significant cast of players - not just in quality but in quantity as well. Besides himself, there are sixteen other players. Joining MEMPHIS GOLD on lead and rhythm guitars, harmonica and vocals are: BOBBY PARKER on lead guitar; JOEY "GRASSHOPPER" POPPEN on rhythm guitar; RALPH OLIVER, LARRY SELF, APAULO TRINDADE and the late WILLIE HICKS on bass; WARREN WEATHERSPOON, DAN LEAKE, DON ATLIFF, EMMIT KITTRELL and PETE RAGUSO on drums; KURT GIBBONS on keyboards; LORENZO JOHNSON on congas; PHIL WIGGINS and CHARLIE SAYLES on harmonica; ROBERT ELDRIDGE on horns.

The opening track on "THE PRODIGAL SON", which consists mostly of originals, is a very funky tune called "COME WIT' ME". Aside from the rhythmic vocals and hot guitar licks from MEMPHIS, it is indeed the rhythm section that lights the fire on this one. WARREN on the drums, LORENZO on the congas, RALPH on bass and KURT on the keys, are the highlights on this one.

"DON'T LET HER DRIVE" and "CRABCAKES" are two real hard driving numbers. The whole band is in the fast lane on these two. On the first one, KURT tears it up on keys while MEMPHIS adds some smoking harp playing, and on the second one, KURT absolutely blows me away. At this point, I actually stopped writing the review for a bit, while I did searches for KURT GIBBONS on the Internet. I am absolutely astounded by this mans playing.

"BIG LEG WOMAN" is the first track that slowed it down to some real low down blues. This track alone would earn MEMPHIS GOLD the right to call himself a blues man. His vocalizing and guitar work is perfect.

On a CD that features four bass players, some of the best you'll hear is on a track called "CHICKEN IT". It's an instrumental that features the late WILLIE HICKS playing some of the fastest bass these ears have ever heard. It's a shame that I had to use such a disappointing adjective in front of his name. On this track, Willie went toe to toe with the harp, the guitar and the piano, and he laid it all down as fast as they did. "PREACHERS BLUES" is another one of those tracks that, as with many others, the rhythm section shines. I guess with three different drummers and four different bass players that should be the case. Once again, it's WILLIE on bass and KURT on organ but this time it's PETE on the drums. ROBERT also does one hell of a job with the horns here.

Some of the best blues guitar on this CD can be heard on one of my favorite tracks, "SERVES ME RIGHT". This nearly ten minute track is all MEMPHIS. It's a slow, very soulful track that brings out this versatile musicians blues side. You can truly feel his playing and his singing coming directly from his soul.