Bobby "Blue" Bland

Blues You Can Use could have accurately been titled Blues and Soul You Can Use because it offers a generous dose of R&B along with straight-ahead electric blues. But then, that title wouldn't have been as catchy. More important than the title, of course, is the music itself -- and Bobby "Blue" Bland is in decent form on this album, which came out when the singer was 56 or 57. To be sure, Blues You Can Use isn't in a class with Bland's classic Duke output of the 1950s and 1960s -- and his voice is undeniably thinner than it was in his younger days. But Bland demonstrates that he could still be expressive and charismatic on 12-bar ditties like "I've Got a Problem" and "For the Last Time" as well as laid-back soul numbers such as "Restless Feelin's," "There's No Easy Way to Say Goodbye" and the tear-jerker "Let's Part as Friends." Produced by Malaco founders Tommy Couch, Sr. and Wolf Stephenson, Blues You Can Use isn't essential. But it's enjoyable, and it's a good example of the fact that Malaco often did well by Bland in the 1980s and 1990s. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide