Elles Bailey

In the last five years Elles Bailey has gone from strength to strength on the basis of some stunning live shows and a couple of exquisite albums.

During lockdown she headed to White Noise Studio to create three ‘Ain’t Nothing But’ livestream shows where she featured the music that had invigorated and influenced her, in her own words “STRIPPED BACK & BARE TO THE BONE.”

This album of covers is exactly that, with Elles supported by Joe Wilkins & Phil King on guitars & Backing vocals and Joe James on double bass. No retakes, very little production but amazing atmosphere created by a few musicians playing for joy and camaraderie.

My first sight of Elles Bailey was at the 100 Club in London where she was opening a night of ‘Ladies Of The Blues’. Her voice was breathy and slightly girlish but she had real control of the songs she did that night (mainly originals) and she put the songs over with all the passion she could muster. Over the following five years I have heard her develop a soulful huskiness and move from Blues towards a more Country sound but the passion is still there and she puts over a song such as Elton John’s ‘Border Song’ or Leadbelly’s ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night’ with a highly individual performance, gritty where needed and with pathos as well.

Elles selection of tracks ranges from Blues to soul to country to pop and she covers writers as diverse as Leadbelly, Paul Simon, John Prine, Elton John, even a wonderful version of ‘Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City’ from Michael Price and Dan Walsh that just burns with a terrific guitar solo from Joe.
She really does Blues better than ever. Leadbelly’s ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night’ is terrific and she covers Willie Dixon’s ‘Spoonful’ and Ben Harper’s ‘No Mercy In This Land’ with a very unique takes on them. ‘When The Levee Breaks’ (Memphis Minnie) has a great country-Blues feel to it.

We’ve heard ‘Angel From Montgomerie’ before as Elles has been featuring it live for a while and this version just drips with emotion and a touch of ennui.

I don’t have a favourite track, I have played the album through a few times now and enjoyed every track along the way but you can dip in and out without missing anything.

It isn’t a conventional live album – hopefully that will come when we can go back to live shows again – but it does capture the quality of Elles Bailey without a safety net and some superb support musicians.

Bloody fine.

Available to pre-order from
https://www.ellesbailey.com/store?fbclid=IwAR2zaxZQmFqzqW5HK1zpN3TvYnYylBTgHkYkT4AcGAE77ZARCWhbmvHoJrw