First released in 1969, after guitarist
Jimmy Dawkins had served a long apprenticeship as a sideman in the Chicago
electric blues scene,
Fast Fingers remains one of the finest pure
electric blues albums of its era.
Dawkins proves to be a solid songwriter and an able singer, although the best moments on the album invariably come when he tears off a casually perfect, deeply soulful, but never showy electric solo. Highlights include the stomping instrumental
"Triple Trebles," featuring an outstanding
Dawkins solo over a funky horn-driven rhythm, and the mellow, laid-back opener,
"It Serves Me Right to Suffer." The album was finally reissued on CD in 1998 with a new cover and two fine outtakes from the original sessions,
"Sad and Blues" (which features an exceptional extended solo by
Dawkins) and
"Back Home Blues," which is a 1969 recording with a new (1998) vocal by
Dawkins. ~ Stewart Mason