Bernard Allison

“At the beginning of my career, I made a promise to myself and my mother, Fannie Mae Allison, that on every album of mine, there would be at least one or two pieces by my father,” he explains. Bernard has kept his word: both at concerts and on his records, he faithfully performs his father's songs to this day. He usually does this in a funky, rock-oriented style that clearly differs from the traditional blues he grew up with. While he was still finding his own musical voice, his father encouraged him to “play it the way you feel it,” rather than copying what came before him. Just in time for the 30th anniversary of Ruf Records and more than three decades after the debut of blues guitar master Bernard Allison, Luther's Blues extensively celebrates the musical legacy of Bernard's father, Luther Allison – a true legend of Chicago blues and a central figure in the history of the record label.

The double CD features 20 outstanding recordings by Bernard Allison, each a composition by Luther Allison that previously appeared on one of Bernard's numerous albums. Allison himself selected the tracks for this collection; Pauler Acoustics, a renowned name in the hi-fi scene, has lovingly remastered them. The 20 Luther Allison songs on Luther's Blues have thus been upgraded by a representative of the next generation of blues for the 21st century. They are not necessarily Luther's most famous pieces. When working on a new album, Bernard says he often looks for “songs that were overlooked back then by my father. I then give them my own touch.”

The tracklist of the two CDs spans exactly 30 years, from “Hang On” – recorded in Paris in the summer of 1992 when Allison was just in his mid-twenties – to the two pieces from the last studio album Highs & Lows, which reached number 1 on the Billboard Blues Chart in 2022 and garnered a nomination for Blues-Rock Album of the Year at the Blues Music Awards. There are also new versions of familiar Luther Allison songs like “Bad Love,” “Life Is A Bitch,” and “Let's Try It Again.” Bernard Allison has played a significant role in keeping these songs, now considered classics, in our collective consciousness. This is especially true for “Serious,” an exceptional track that first appeared on a Luther Allison record in 1987. His son plays it at every concert and considers it his father's most popular song worldwide. He has never lost sight of where he comes from and is back on tour!