That's Right! (Lambert & Powell, Langley Music, BMI) 

To commemorate and celebrate their 45th anniversary, the band hosted a three-day party in March of 2013 at one of their favorite haunts, The Ocean Mist, in Matunuck, Rhode Island. The band blew the doors off the packed club, playing to roaring ovations each night. Happily, the proceedings were recorded and the resulting album, 45 LIVE, is among Roomful of Blues’ crowning achievements. The album is a lightning-in-a-bottle blowout, showcasing the larger-than-life vocal and instrumental power of the band.   

45 LIVE, produced by bandleader/guitarist Chris Vachon, features fourteen songs (over an hour of music) spanning the entirety of the band’s history. The tracks were carefully chosen by Vachon, who included some of the group’s best known originals, like Dressed Up To Get Messed Up, Turn It On, Turn It Up, and That’s Right!, as well as tunes the band had previously recorded or performed with blues giants Joe Turner (Crawdad Hole), Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson (Somebody’s Got To Go) and Earl King (It All Went Down The Drain). 45 LIVE is a flawlessly blended mix of rocking guitar, punching horns, room-filling vocals, serious musicianship and unbridled creativity. The results are a non-stop, hip-shaking party. It’s clear why The New Yorker described a Roomful concert as “thunderous performances that get feet stomping and hands clapping.”  

Roomful of Blues, according to DownBeat magazine, “are in a class by themselves.” The band has been led since 1998 by Vachon, who, according to Guitar Player, “burns with explosive solos and a delightfully greasy sense of rhythm.” Roomful of Blues has always maintained its signature sound through great musicianship and a stellar horn section—featuring tenor and alto saxophonist (and clarinetist on 45 Live’s Jambalaya) Rich Lataille, who first joined the band in 1970. Lataille’s masterful playing can evoke either the fat-toned, honking sax of the glory days of early rock or the cool elegance of big band swing jazz. 

45 Live

Order from Alligator

Roomful of Blues - That's Right!

Alligator Records 35th Anniversary Collection

That's Right!

Roomful Of Blues - That's Right

Jazz For The Open Road

That's the Groovy Thing

Jumpin' 'N Swingin'

That's My Life

That's The Groovy Thing

Hook, Line & Sinker

She Walks Right In

Alligator Records 40th Anniversary Collection

That's A Pretty Good Love

The Blues'll Make You Happy, Too

Since its inception, Alligator has always kept a close eye both on new artists and new technologies. In the 1970s, the company produced LPs, cassettes and 8-track tapes. In the 1980s, Alligator was the first blues company to produce CDs, and in the 1990s Alligator was among the first labels to market its catalog over the Internet. These days, alligator.com, the label's website, and its social media sites are instantly updated with the latest news and tour dates. At the website, visitors can listen to a 250-song jukebox while reading bios of every artist, get free downloads and purchase CDs and other blues-related merchandise. Alligator is also deeply involved in the downloading worlds, working closely with almost all of the legitimate download services, making thousands of Alligator tracks available for instant online purchase.

Today Alligator Records is fueled by the same principles that it first established in 1971. The label continues to push forward, still bucking the odds, with everybody working long hours on a shoestring budget. The entire staff is always looking for new talent and listening to a wide variety of roots music. As driven and determined as ever, Alligator is committed to the future. "I want to keep bringing blues and roots music to new fans and getting them as excited about the music as I am," says Iglauer. 