Hot As a Coffee Pot

King Alex Littlejohn is one of the greatest pure blues singers performing today. Born in 1934, he was raised in Faraday, Louisiana where he was childhood friends with Jerry Lee Lewis, Mickey Gilley, and Jimmy Swaggert. As a teenager, he moved to Kansas City where he lived in the 18th and Vine District. Inspired by that thriving music scene, he learned to play bass and sing the blues. He has played with a number of famous bluesmen, most notably, B.B. King. King Alex has been recording since 1959. In 1996 he played the Blues Estafette in Utrecht, Holland. There he signed with Black Magic Records and released the CD, 'Hot As A Coffee Pot'. King Alex returned to Europe for a three week tour in 2002. While there, he obtained the remaining copies of 'Hot As A Coffee Pot'. Having previously sold out in America, these CD's will not last long. All songs were written by King Alex. His rich vocals are complimented by his driving band, The Untouchables, featuring Doug Hemphill - 'Flying V' guitar played with an Albert King influence, Charlie Booth - Hammond organ, Neil Nolan - tenor saxophone, Dave Duffield of the Memphis Horns - cornet and flugelhorn, and 'Blue Shoe Sole Revue' front man, Steve Shoemaker on trombone and harmonica. For more information on King Alex, check out the feature article on him in Living Blues Magazine issue 157 volume 32 no.3 May-June 2001. This review was in: Back To The Roots, Nov.-Dec. 1997, no.16 (Belgium) King Alex And The Untouchables 'Hot As A Coffee Pot' Black Magic 9035 Alex writes most of his stuff himself, and those songs go from light-footed rhythms like the theme song to driving New Orleans-flavored songs ('Grandma's Sweet Potato Pie' and 'I Want To Come Back') in which the modest horn section has a large part. 'Hot As A Coffee Pot' is one of those discs that you can keep on listening over and over again. Against all commercial ideas, Alex and his friends make the most pure stuff I have heard this month, and believe me, I heard a lot. Franky Bruneel.