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Diggin' Down





         

01 Dry Road Blues 03:32
02 Any Place Is Paradise 03:30
03 Smokestack Lightning 03:52
04 Noodle Bar 04:17
05 Rhumbatism 03:26
06 Hard Hat 04:50
07 Yes It Is 04:09
08 Crack In The Wall 03:59
09 Bluestring 04:20
10 Zeitgeist Boogie 03:44
11 Sweet Dreams 03:48
12 Find You 05:01
13 Diggin' Down 04:04

Recorded and Mixed by Mick Clarke at Fabulous Rockfold Studio, Surrey, England.

All songs written by Mick Clarke except "Any Place Is Paradise" by Joe Thomas, "Smokestack Lightning" by Chester Burnett and "Sweet Dreams" by Don Gibson.

Amazon.com Review *****

Absolutely Essential Electric Blues Guitar Disc!!!

Mick Clarke is a nasty man. The guitar tone he has is about as nasty and raw as you can find in the blues world. All of his releases are excellent but this one tops them all with 13 tracks of fantastic electric blues guitar. This is about as good as it gets folks. 5 stars is not sufficient for this masterpiece but it's all they have here so it will have to do but realize this disc is special. This is Guitar Slim meets Elmore James down in Junior Kimbrough's juke joint. Every track is excellent. If you have any love for electric blues guitar, you need this disc. Immediately. This is the bomb people.....highest possible recommendation on this!!!
By 6 String Guy on April 8, 2017

Amazon.com Review *****

Calling the Rolling Stones! Add Mick Clarke to your lineup!

I first heard Mick Clarke's music on a multi-title CD release from BGO Records. So, I was more than willing to listen to the new "Diggin' Down" release. What a FINE, FINE album! Album rock and Classic Rock stations everywhere should be playing this brilliant guitarist's work. In fact, doesn't Mick play ALL the instruments on this recording? What a talent!

Rock enthusiasts everywhere should pick up a copy of Mick Clarke's "Diggin' Down". Great music!

By Dee J.on May 7, 2017

Pentti Kiviluoma - Youtube review

"Diggin' down might be the best blues album this year (2017)"

Beehive Candy

From the brand new album we have the classic track 'Smokestack Lightning' given the Mick Clarke treatment. From the opening track (Dry Road Blues) the albums kicks in with driving and passionate blues rock, with Mick's vocals totally immersed in the moment. The pace varies across the collection of thirteen songs, the blues rock in consistently delivered with passion and skill. Guitar breaks are relevant rather than indulgent, and a robust level of emotional involvement is there throughout, which for me meant I was quickly lost in the music and loving it. Blues rock fans, this is a must have!

From "C" in San Francisco

"I have to say that you have outdone yourself with Diggin' Down. I barely survived listening to it as my head almost exploded".

Amazon.De Review *****

5.0 von 5 SternenMick Clarke ist ein wahrer Blues-Mann!

Von 20DollarBill am 22. April 2017: Mick Clarke ist ein wahrer Blues Mann, sein Gitarrenton, ist rauh und einzigartig wie man ihn in der heutigen Blueswelt nicht findet.

Alle seine Verffentlichungen sind hervorragend, auch dieses Album mit 13 Tracks und einer fantastischen E-Gitarre und toller Stimme. 5 Sterne ist eigentlich nicht genug fr dieses Meisterwerk, aber man kann nur 5 Sterne vergeben und die bekommt natrlich Mick Clarke und Band. Ich fand Mick schon 1978 super ...sein druckvoller Gitarren-Sound...2017 sitzt der Blues noch viel tiefer bei Mick Clarke! Wenn du elektrische Bluesgitarre magst, brauchst du dieses Album Top-Empfehlung!!! Viel Spa wnscht euch 20DollarBill von Rorysfriends.de!

Google Translation: Mick Clarke is a true blues man, his guitar sound, is rough and unique as it is not found in today's blues world. All his releases are outstanding, including this album with 13 tracks and a fantastic electric guitar and great voice. 5 stars is actually not enough for this masterpiece, but you can only 5 stars and the course gets Mick Clarke and band.I found Mick super in 1978 ... his powerful guitar sound ... In 2017, the blues are still much lower at Mick Clarke!If you like electric blues guitar, you need this album top recommendation !!! Have fun 20DollarBill from Rorysfriends.de!



Blues Magazine

Recensie: Mick Clarke - Diggin' Down
Toen Mick Clarke zijn gedachten liet gaan over een nieuw studio album zette een idee zich vast in zijn hoofd: het moest een instrumentaal album worden, gewoon muziek maken zonder het gedoe van teksten schrijven, de ultieme muzikale creativiteit. Maar tijdens de opnames kwam hij er al gauw achter dat het maken van een 'all instrumental album' toch wat saai was en niet helemaal zijn stijl.
Dus werden de vijf instrumentale nummers prachtige intermezzo's en vormen een mooie balans op dit album. Een heel goed idee, het stoomt lekker door, een mix van rock & roll, blues en boogie, zijn gitaarspel varieert van soepel tot rauw. Fantastisch, ik heb hiervan echt genoten.

Google Translation: Review: Mick Clarke - Diggin 'Down When Mick Clarke thought about a new studio album, an idea got stuck in his head: it had to be an instrumental album, just making music without writing the hassle of lyrics, the ultimate musical creativity. But during the recording he soon realized that making an 'all instrumental album' was a bit boring and not quite his style.So the five instrumental songs became beautiful intermezzo's and form a beautiful balance on this album. A very good idea, it's steamy, a mix of rock & roll, blues and boogie, its guitar play varies from smooth to raw. Fantastic, I really enjoyed it.





















































































































Mick Clarke - Diggin' Down Mick writes: Early 2016, and after getting a live album out of my system, (Ruff'n'Roar") I felt the urge to get back to the studio and be creative. Create what? I fancied an instrumental album and tucked into the first track, Rhumbatism. I was kind of thinking what would a Billy Gibbons solo album sound like?.. the funny thing is that almost immediately a Billy Gibbons solo album was released and didn't sound anything like what I had expected. Anyway, Rhumbatism rocked along and the Rockfold Rhythm Section (Linda) added maracas, tambourine and enthusiasm.

I already had a version of "Sweet Dreams" in the can from a previous session, so the next instrumental to go down was "Bluestring" - a kind of pseudo jazz rock thing. However, I had a problem.. It all sounded good but I was getting bored with recording instrumentals! So maybe I was doing this all wrong.. what should I do?

I know.. "Mick Sings Elvis"! I'd always wanted to do a version of "Mess Of Blues", and in fact there were a whole load of early Elvis tracks which I could have a bash at. I particularly had fond memories of a track called "Any Place Is Paradise". When I was very young my elder brother Derek had brought home an EP.. four tracks from Elvis's second album.

He'd bought it because he liked the track "Old Shep" but for some reason, even at a young age I'd picked up on the bluesiest track on the EP, complete with a Scotty Moore guitar solo. So anyway, after tracking down the lyrics I got stuck in to the track, and even gave a nod towards Scotty in the solo. I like it a lot.. I never did get round to "Mess Of Blues".

Next thing, while messing around with my guitar one evening I started jamming on the riff from Smokestack Lightning, and realised that actually I could do the song in a blues rock style and it could work. Bit cheeky I know.. me, basically a non singer, taking on The Wolf.. THE blues singer. Still, I think it does work and definitely rocks along.

Now the original songs started coming.. "Noodle Bar" refers to attending a ZZ Top show when they played in Brixton, South London.. the Noodle Bar, and flying ants are real.. other characters are ficticious.

"Hard Hat" was written around the time of Brexit and the US election, reflecting the strange times.. years later the strange times continue, so the lyrics are every bit as relevant. The rest of the album is the usual mix of blues and boogie, Gibson, Danelectro and Slide Guitars all getting a turn and a few jumbled thoughts turned into lyrics. I tried to use my old 1963 Watkins Clubman valve amp as much as possible, hence it being in the cover photo.

Indeed the cover photo came next and from that the title "Diggin' Down" and then the track of the same name. Something about digging back in the blues, roots, earthiness, all that.

The album got great reviews which you can see here, so I must have done something right. Still I later remixed a couple of tracks - 'Rhumbatism' and 'Noodle Bar'. the latter works if you turn it up a bit! Still a work in progress.