CHICO BANKS
"CANDY LICKIN' MAN"
EVIDENCE RECORDS
Bringing together blues, rock, funk, and fusion into his own unique guitar style, Chico Banks is now the third killer lead guitarist to be signed to the Evidence label. He joins Melvin Taylor and Carl Weathersby on what has been the best blues label of the nineties. Chico himself is a young, handsome man with a soulful voice like Marvin Gaye or Curtis Mayfield. His heavy use of the wah-wah will remind more than a few listeners of Jimi Hendrix.
One thing that’s obvious throughout the disc is that Chico loves the babes. He certainly makes that perfectly clear in the title song “Candy Lickin’ Man.” As far as the lyrics go in this one, well let’s just say that this is one song that probably is not going to be included on the Evidence Music Christmas collection. This along with another song called “Your Fine” pretty much guarantees that Tipper Gore won’t be buying this disc for any of her daughters any time soon. The only warning label I’ll put on the CD is to the blues purists out there because Chico has taken his blues in an exciting new direction.
On most of the tracks Chico has a stripped down band of bass, keyboards, and drums. However some of the tracks feature the Chicago Playboy Horns giving those songs a fuller “big band” sound. One song called “It Must Be Love” has special guest Mavis Staples singing lead. Mavis calls Chico “the epitome of soul” which is high praise coming from her.
Most of the songs on the disc are covers and there are two in particular that really blew me away. One is the old Elmore James warhorse “The Sky Is Crying.” Here’s a song thats been covered to death but Chico’s ultra funky version turns it into a completely different kind of song. Another highlight is the Magic Sam classic “All Your Love” which is also torn apart and rebuilt to fit Chico’s new sound.
“Candy Lickin’ Man” is Chico Banks’ debut disc. Recently he’s been on Willie Kent’s latest Delmark release. He’s also featured on a yet to be released CD by Pops Staples. He has the guitar chops, the voice, and definitely the style to go a long way in the blues world. Watch out for this guy!

- Bill Harriman
**** stars