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A live album as your debut is not a bad idea for some bands. LA blues band The Red Devils with Rick Rubin’s guidance had that idea back in 1992. Even simpler, they simply recorded the opening set at the Monday night residency at the departed King King club (now resurrected) in Hollywood. And what a debut King King was. Driven by the late Lester Butler’s harmonica, The Red Devils delivered a raw but reverent take on the blues. Unlike a lot of white blues band, the reverence render into bored cliches. The Devils were hot and greasy. Butler’s harmonica was distorted and loud. As vocalist, he enhanced the low down vibe by singing through the harp mike. But Butler wasn’t the only musical star. Paul “The Kid” Size was just as able on guitar. But modest as well. The first few tracks of King King, Butler takes the solos with Size content to lay down note and beat perfect rhythm licks. When he does take centre stage, he showcases a fierce, authentic blues style. King King opens with the original tune, Automatic which lays down a hard shuffle. Followed by the boogie damnation of Goin’ to the Church it is a great one,two punch to grab the ears. Automatic - The Red Devils The Devils then switch between covers such as Billy Boy Arnold and Sonny Boy Williamson and their own songs. One song, Devil Woman, takes on a eerie vibe as it seemingly foretells the drug demons that would eventually take Butler’s life in 1998. Devil Woman - The Red Devils The album King King suggested success for The Red Devils but it was their only official album. They made some waves and somehow went their separate ways reason disbanded. While they were making waves they managed to record with a few different artists including Mick Jagger and Johnny Cash. The Jagger sessions have never officially seen the light of day. But through the majicks of the innertubes, I have stumbled onto a copy. To be honest, I can’t get that excited over the bootlegs. It isn’t bad but seems to lack that spark you’d expect. Blues With a Feeling - Mick Jagger and The Red Devils The Red Devils also recorded a few tracks with Johnny Cash. These tracks can be found on Disc 2 of Unearthed. Rick Rubin describes the sessions as thus: They were a very traditional-sounding, hard rocking blues band we had on our record label. It sounded good , but it didn’t really feel like a Johnny Cash song, it felt like something else. That’s one of the sort of failed experiments - a very cool record, but I’m not sure it’s a great Johnny Cash record. Rubin is right. It is cool bit but sort of weird as Cash and The Red Devils never quite sync. And thank you Cash musical historian Amanda for the liner notes and mp3. T is for Texas - Johnny Cash and The Red Devils King King is The Red Devils only real legacy. But if you are only going to leave one album behind they hit the jackpot. They recorded one of the best live blues albums ever. There is a sad potential in what coulda been but it is better rejoice in what was. To close, The Red Devils performing She’s Dangerous at the Pinkpop Festival in Netherlands during 1993.