Doyle Bramhall II

bluefuzzguitar · Post by **bluefuzzguitar** » Sat Nov 08, 2003 7:41 am

I'd like to start a thread on my favorite guitar player, singer and songwriter right now, Doyle Bramhall II. Doyle Sr is a singer/drummer/songwriter whose voice comes eerily close to that of SRV. Or should I say SRV's singing voice comes eerily close to that of Doyle Sr? SRV was friends with dbii's dad and besides being a vocal influence on SRV Doyle Sr co-wrote several songs with Stevie. Doyle wrote Change It (his original version is on the Birdnest on the Ground album which is OOP but comes up regularly on eBay) and with Stevie he wrote several songs like Dirty Pool, Life By the Drop and just about the whole In Step album.

Stevie would come and jam at the Bramhall home many times and kind of became a mentor and guitar teach for Doyle Jr. Jimmy Vaughan used to visit the Bramhall's often too. DBII became a second guitarist for the Fabulous Thunderbirds alongside Jimmy Vaughan in his teens! Soon after SRV died he formed the Arc Angels in the early 1990's with Charlie Sexton on guitar and vocals and Double Trouble (yes, Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon!) as their rhythm section. The Arc Angels recorded one great album and were destined for stardom but would disband due to excessive drug use by dbii who couldn't handle the pressure.

In 1996 dbii came out with his first solo album entitled Doyle Bramhall II on Geffen Records. This album is also OOP but pops up regularly on eBay as well. The album was produced by Wendy & Lisa (of Prince fame!) and was to launch dbii in the pop market but failed miserably. My own analysis is that the songs are great but too 'complicated' to be a commercial success. The same is true for his next album, Jellycream, which came out on RCA under the artist name of Bramhall. The album is a true classic, IMO. It's again OOP and can again be found on eBay.

Doyle's last album was released in 2001. The band name now was Doyle Bramhall II and Smokestack and the album was called Welcome. For RCA it was 'two strikes, you're out'. The album was doomed from the beginning since dbii made the bold decision to record this album live in the studio, just like back in the day of Hendrix, Zeppelin, Free, etc. and RCA didn't do much in the way of promotion. It's the absolute best Doyle has produced so far, though, and another classic IMHO.

Doyle may be without a record deal but he's got friends in high places. Eric Clapton liked Jellycream so much that he decided to record two songs off that album for his Riding with the King album with BB King and had Doyle play on it too! Doyle also contributed to Clapton's Reptile album and is currently recording a new album with Eric. Roger Waters asked Doyle to go on tour to do all of David Gilmour's vocal and guitar parts. If you buy the In the Flesh CD and DVD you can see and hear Doyle in action with Roger Waters. He completely blows Snowy White off the stage, IMO! Many people on the guestbook of Doyle's website (www.doylebramhall2nd.com) feel the same way.

Another dbii album and tour is way overdue. We've been talking about Johnny Lang being a 'legend' when really he's an overhyped kid who can play guitar and sing, all right, but whose style and sound make no lasting impression. DBII is an ace guitarist and singer and an even better songwriter and he's the guy who 'almost made it' when he just oozes soul! He may not be a 'legend' but I feel he's certainly a legend in the making and I would put him in the same league as Jimi and SRV. Also, he can get some killer tones out of his fuzzface-driven '67 Super Bass! If you're not familiar with dbii buy Welcome (eBay!). It's a kind of Texas Blues meets Classic Rock. If you're already familiar with dbii's music then please share your thoughts on dbii on this forum.

Mike

Country Boy Shane · Post by **Country Boy Shane** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 2:57 pm

Hey man,

Did Hendrix use 1959-SLP or SuperBass Marshall's when he was alive?

bluefuzzguitar · Post by **bluefuzzguitar** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 3:06 pm

Country Boy Shane,

Hendrix used Super Leads but he had some mods done to them. There's some interesting facts on this on the Plexi Palace forum.

Mike

Country Boy Shane · Post by **Country Boy Shane** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 3:48 pm

only thing i could find was that he modded the cabinets to speakers he ripped out of Sunn amps. I think a lot of his stuff was retired because it was so beat to shit also..

bluefuzzguitar · Post by **bluefuzzguitar** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 12:30 pm

Shane,

Like I said, check out the Plexi Palace forum for the Hendrix plexi mods. I had intended this to be a thread on dbii. Anyone care to chime in?

Mike

bluefuzzguitar · Post by **bluefuzzguitar** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 9:18 pm

I found this really cool interview with dbii on the MusicToyz site:

http://www.musictoyz.com/chopdoyle.htm

Again, if the link doesn't work just copy and paste it into your address line.

I particularly like what Doyle has to say about SRV copycats!

Mike

Trigger · Post by **Trigger** » Sun Dec 07, 2003 4:41 pm

Just read it - great interview! Thanx for the link, Mike.
Doyle should come & tour Europe, don't you think? (

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