Single flashback

Colin James - Voodoo Thing [1988]

Colin James emerged from Regina, Saskatchewan in the early 80s, finding a love for blues guitar after trying on a number of other musical styles.

Thankfully for us, his dad introduced him to the Fender-bending attack of one Stevie Ray Vaughan and the die was cast.

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Unable to get anything moving career-wise on the prairie, Colin made a move to Vancouver at 16 - and a few years later, his new band was opening for SRV. The Texan liked what he heard, and had now 20-year old Colin open some more shows.

Following a demo of ‘Five Long Years’ and a few hundred tour dates, a major label deal was offered up by Virgin America. The subsequent sessions were produced by Canadian Bob Rock, the late, great Tom Dowd, and Danny Kortchmar [Linda Ronstatd, Don Henley].

No fewer than five singles were released, but the debut charted higher than all the rest. That was ‘Voodoo Thing’.

Voodoo Thing, peaked #15, 1988

Way down south, where the mangroves grow
Deep in the swamp down in the Bayou
There's a little story that's never been told
About a pretty widow who never grows old
And how she buried her soul with her wedding ring
Traded it off for that voodoo thing

These lyrics are sweaty, the saxophone is sweaty, and holy crap Colin’s sunburst Strat is making that whole room sweaty!

He may have the same guitar as his idol, but my takeaway from this album is that James is very much his own man. He wrote this track, along with many of the others on the record [which also features a couple of Willie Dixon covers].

There is a versatility to Colin’s playing, and this shows up not just here but on future projects, as well.

Lone Wolf - B-side, did not chart

James wrote this little beauty as well, a swinging little jump blues number.

The horn section almost manages to steal the track away from Colin, but his vocal and his picking saw him save face.

Funny hearing this now, as James jumped on the early-90s Swing fad and did a big band album where this tune would not have been out of place. The record did well, selling double-platinum in Canada.

BONUS - Shifting Sands, Colin James and Colin Linden

Remember lockdown songs? Sorry if that brought you back…

Anyway, Canada is blessed with not one, but TWO amazing blues players named Colin. And here, we get to hear a track that they worked on together during those challenging times [lol].

Colin Linden has had a great career as well, winning Junos as an artist and as a producer, and taking part in a great band called Blackie and The Rodeo Kings with Tom Wilson [Junkhouse] and Stephen Fearing.

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I’m going to save some of the other singles for the future, but do check out the rest of this record if you like some blues guitar. And who doesn’t, really?