Search - Mason Ruffner :: Gypsy Blood

Where's the First Album ?

John S. Nolan | Heidleberg, Germany | 01/30/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Ok, so Gypsy Blood is Mason, and that's a big deal in and of itself, but let's get some perspective...Its sometime around 1983-84 at the Maple Leaf bar in Uptown NO (Carollton for the strict purist). Mason is trying out his wireless guitar for the first time, and wanders out onto the street to solo while leaning on the fender of a 58 Pontiac. Mike Stanley and Willy Cole lays down the tighest rythm in uptown (and that's pretty tight), while Willy belts out backing vocals that give you shiver. That's a long way from all the synthesizers that obscure Mason's real talents here. Why some producer felt it necessary to obscure (My god, its Dave Edmunds! How could HE do THIS to a great artist like Mason?) what Mason does best, I'll never know. So what's the solution? Get the first album on Columbia (titled simply "Mason Ruffner", and recorded shortly after Jimmy Page came down to NO and proclaimed him "God" and Bruce came down and carried his amp). Why is this not available on CD? I'd buy it just to hear "Gravediggers" and "Gamblin man" again. He still does those songs live (at least he did four years ago, when I last saw him in Brussels, of all places) and those recordings need to be available again. Meanwhile Mason, God bless you, how about taking some time off at your ranch outside Austin and recording that straight blues album you promised us that night in Brussels? I'm waiting for with baited breath, hoping that the guitar will jump out the speakers and grab my brain cortex like it did the first time I heard you while walking down Bourbon Street- I missed seeing Miami lose the superbowl to the Redskins that day because you were to damn good to walk away from- now how about giving us another jolt like that? And no synthesizers this time...please?"

Gypsy Blood

gary horn Surfcity | Miami, Florida | 06/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great CD. I checked this CD out from the library system and was not expecting much. Boy was I amazed! Mason Ruffner rocks! If you like the blues and you have an opportunity to aquire this CD, get it. You won't be disappointed."

Alive & Well

Narizdura La Carretera | El Lay, USA | 05/17/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"To answer Billy Austin's question, Mason is alive and well and dividing his time between homes in Norway and Thailand. Still gigging constantly (Europe in the summer, Thailand in the winter) and practicing five hours a day. A lot of musos are making Thailand their home these days ...



My favorite Mason CD is You Can't Win. Agree that the production of this one, Gypsy Blood, is a bit too 1980s, but the songwriting is top shelf as always."