01	The Door						03:56
	02	Loola Loo						04:12
	03	It Hurts Me Too						05:27
	04	Come On Back						04:57
	05	Stand Up (And Be Strong)						02:26
	06	Anyway						03:36
	07	Don't Know You						04:20
	08	It's All Coming Back						04:46
	09	Gimme What You Got						04:11
	10	Mommy Can I Come Home						03:10
	11	Change						04:16
	12	The Beginning						03:43

Date of US Release October 10, 2000

Keb' Mo''s self-titled first album, from its Robert Johnson covers to its appearance on a resuscitated Okeh Records, seemed to suggest the arrival of a Delta blues traditionalist, even though the former Kevin Moore was really a Los Angeles native who had kicked around the music business for years playing various styles of music. The follow-up, Just Like You, was therefore a disappointment to blues purists, since it clearly used folk-blues as a basis to create adult contemporary pop in the Bonnie Raitt mold. But to the music industry, that was just fine, since it fostered the hope that here was an artist (finally!) who could find a way to make the blues - consistently revered but commercially dicey - pay, and Keb' Mo' won a Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy for his effort. Slow Down (1998) brought him a second Grammy and got even higher in the charts. The Door is more of the same. Keb' Mo''s slightly gritty voice and fingerpicking are the focus of the music, but he does not hesitate to add mainstream pop elements, beginning with writing partners who include Bobby McFerrin and Melissa Manchester, and continuing with a backup band that features such session aces as keyboard player Greg Phillinganes and drummer Jim Keltner. This is music that is folkish and bluesy rather than being actual folk-blues. Just in case anyone hasn't gotten the point yet, Keb' Mo' begins the album's sole cover, Elmore James' "It Hurts Me Too," in authentic folk-blues style, after which the arrangement lurches into a heavily percussive, anything but traditional direction. It's fair warning that the singer/guitarist is interested in tradition only as a jumping-off point. Maybe that's what "contemporary blues" is.


Michael Davis - Trombone
David Mann - Sax (Tenor)
Rob Mounsey - Conductor, Horn Arrangements, Horn Conductor
Lew Soloff - Trumpet
Marva Hicks - Vocals (bckgr)
Scarlett Rivera - Violin
Dennis Collins - Vocals (bckgr)
Jim Keltner - Drums
Jill Dell'Abate - Producer, Additional Production
James "D-Train" Williams - Vocals (bckgr)
Tommy Eyre - String Arrangements, Synthesizer Strings
Lawrence Feldman - Sax (Alto), Sax (Tenor)
Ted Jensen - Mastering
Mark Johnson - Engineer
Bill Lane - Assistant Engineer
Greg Leisz - Pedal Steel
Reggie McBride - Bass
Dave O'Donnell - Engineer, Mixing
Greg Phillinganes - Synthesizer, Pedal Steel, Keyboards, Guitar Synth
Gerri Sutyak - Cello
Russ Titelman - Producer
Keb' Mo' - Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals, Producer
Art Smith - Guitar Technician
Thomas Tally - Viola
Freddie Washington - Bass
Leon Ware - Vocals (bckgr)
Joel Zimmerman - Art Direction
Michael Caplan - A&R
John Boncimino - Management
JoAnn Tominaga - Production Coordination
Freddie "Ready Freddie" Washington - Bass
John Halpern - Photography
Sergio Gonzбlez - Percussion, Drums
Jason Stasium - Assistant Engineer
Steve Jordan - Percussion, Drums
Ryan Smith - Mixing, Mixing Assistant
Tim Olmstead - Assistant Engineer
Jill D. Abate - Producer

2000 CD OKeh/550/Epic 61428
2000 CS OKeh/550/Epic 61428
2000 SCD OKeh/550/Epic 61428




Big Wide Grin
Artist Keb' Mo'
Album Title Big Wide Grin
Date of Release Jun 5, 2001
AMG Rating
Genre Blues
Tones Literate, Amiable/Good-Natured, Cheerful, Gentle, Plaintive, Fun
Styles Modern Electric Blues, Modern Acoustic Blues, Contemporary Blues, Children's Folk
Type children
Library View Click here to see this album in MARC format
Charts & Awards Click here for Billboard Chart Positions & GRAMMY Awards
Product Purchase Click here to buy this album

The rise in the number of titles in the children's music category around the turn of the century was accompanied by a shift in the approach to such recordings. As baby boomers, who remain loyal record buyers, have become parents, the artists who appeal to them have turned to children's music, but it often seems as though the records are still being made for the boomers, not their children. Though the recordings often concern the subjects of childhood and parenting, it is often hard to imagine a child actually enjoying the music. Such is the case with the Keb' Mo' children's album, Big Wide Grin, which is better regarded as a regular Keb' Mo' album on the theme of family rather than an album for children. The singer covers a number of pop evergreens from the late '60s and 1970s - the O'Jays' "Love Train," Bill Withers' "Grandma's Hands," the Winstons' "Color Him Father," Sly and the Family Stone's "Family Affair," Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi," and Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" - and he reaches back even further for the swing-era standard "The Flat Foot Floogie" and "America the Beautiful." All of these are likely to be familiar to parents of a certain age, and most have something to do with family issues, but only a couple are likely to appeal to children. This is not to say that, to be a children's album, a record must be filled with singalongs for the preschool set. But albums like this belong to a recent subset of the children's market that should perhaps be labeled "parents' music." In the case of Keb' Mo', the recording serves to ease him even more in the direction of being a folk-pop interpreter, an approach he has embraced increasingly since initially coming across as a new-style folk-blues singer. - William Ruhlmann

1. Everybody Be Yoself (C. Street Man) - 4:59
2. Love Train (Gamble/Huff) - 4:29
3. Don't Say No (Moore/Tarr) - 4:17
4. Infinite Eyes (Mohawk/Moore/Parker) - 4:57
5. Grandma's Hands (Witchers) - 3:30
6. Color Him Father (Spencer) - 3:36
7. Family Affair (Stewart) - 3:47
8. The Flat Fleet Floogie (Gaillard/Green/Stewart) - 2:04
9. I Am Your Mother Too (Moore/Zuriani) - 4:03
10. Big Yellow Taxi (Mitchell) - 3:45
11. Isn't She Lovely (Wonder) - 5:16
12. America the Beautiful (Bates/Ward) - 3:35



Robert Cray: Strong Persuader
Roosevelt "Booba" Barnes: Heartbroken Man
Luther Allison: Love Me Papa
Various Artists: Blues from the Western States
Eddy Clearwater: Chief
Scrapper Blackwell: Scrapper Blackwell, Vol. 2 (1934-1958)
Chris Cain Band: Cuttin' Loose
Roy Book Binder: Hillbilly Blues Cats
Lonnie Brooks: Bayou Lightning
Big Bill Broonzy: Good Time Tonight

Gerald Albright - Sax (Alto)
Laval Belle - Drums
Alex Brown - Vocals (bckgr)
Ed Cherney - Mixing
Luis Conte - Percussion
Bob Hurst - Bass (Upright)
Phillip Ingram - Vocals (bckgr)
Bill Lane - Assistant Engineer
Greg Leisz - Pedal Steel, Mandola
Danilo Lozano - Flute
Roy McCurdy - Drums
Kevin McCormick - Bass, Producer, Engineer
Barbara Morrison - Vocals
Leo Nocentelli - Guitar
Doug Sax - Mastering
Gabe Veltri - Engineer
Perla Batalla - Vocals (bckgr)
Keb' Mo' - Banjo, Guitar, Harmonica, Keyboards, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)
Bobette Harrison-Jamison - Vocals (bckgr)
JoAnn Tominaga - Production Coordination
Carl Studna - Photography
Sergio Gonzбlez - Drums
Samie Barela - Assistant Engineer
Robert Hadley - Mastering Assistant
Randy Phillips - Vocals (bckgr)

2001 CD Sony Wonder 63829
2001 CS Sony Wonder 63829