**1/2 Lurrie Bell

BLUES HAD A BABY

(Delmark)

Lurrie Bell's blues aren't in his head. They're in his genes and in his fingers and in the days he's spent torn between being one crazy son of a bitch and being perhaps the most talented blues guitarist of his generation. On Blues Had a Baby, the 41-year-old Bell's playing is as intense, propulsive, and original as the well-worn paths of the Chicago blues allow. The son of harmonica legend Carey Bell, Lurrie has some of that same eclectic, accidental genius. Set opener "Give Me a Hard Time" and several other band cuts are marked by fluid and soulful playing that is deep instead of flashy; the stark final cuts capture Bell alone in the studio. His singing ranges from serviceable to strong, with some of the best moments coming -- oddly enough -- on "If I Had a Hammer." Producer Scott Dirks's liner notes capture the Bell allure I witnessed 15 years ago at the defunct Nightstage in Cambridge and find again here: "Using a $100 copy of a copy of a piece of shit guitar, he left every blues fan in the club slack jawed and stunned with one of his effortless displays of off-hand virtuosity, and the question on their lips: `Who is that guy?' "

-- Bill Kisliuk