The Spin Doctors exploded onto our airwaves in the early 90s with their debut album Pocket Full of Kryptonite (1991). My big bro had a copy on CD and collectively we absolutely thrashed it to death. I’d argue – for a 30+ year old album it’s still on relatively high rotation for me. It’s funky, it’s high energy, it’s poetic. I love it! But then… nothing really happened. They released another 4 albums over the next 14 years but none of them really caught my attention. Not until If The River Was Whiskey in 2013.
I absolutely love blues music. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but that’s their loss! So imagine my surprise when the funkalicious Spin Doctors released a big ol’ dirty blues album. And it’s GOOD. Like… REALLY good. So how on earth did they end up making a blues album???
Turns out the ‘Doctors have always been a blues band. The track Sweetest Portion from the ‘Whiskey album was written by front-man Chris Barron when he was only 19 – well before `Kryptonite was released. They used to play a lot of blues covers in their early live shows before they hit the big time. So this is really them returning to their roots. And I gotta say… I dig it. Whiskey has ended up being higher on my rotation in the ten years since I first heard it than Pocketful of Kryptonite was.
So if blues if your thing, check it out. If it’s not… well this is my blog and I’ll play it if I want to.
My ADHD Playlist 