David “Kid” Ramos first gained wide spread recognition for his talent as a member of the James Harman Band. James Harman Band Strictly Live in 85’ captures the band live over a two night stint at the Belly Up Tavern in March of 1985 in Solana Beach, CA. Ramos is part of one of the baddest guitar tandems to walk the earth as Kid played in this ensemble alongside Hollywood Fats. The rhythm section of Willie J. Campbell on bass and Stephen Hodges round out this great band. This offering of mostly original material by Harman is solid. I chose the tune You’re Gone which features the band stretching out over almost nine minutes of blues bliss.

Kid, along with Lynwood Slim, made one album under the banner of the Big Rhythm Combo. The album, Too Small to Dance was originally released on Black Magic Records out of the Netherlands and later re-issued on Jerry Hall’s Pacific Blues Records. This long out of print gem features Fred Kaplan on piano, Tyler Peterson on bass and Richard Innes on drums. The song, Let it Go is a classic West Coast blues number that exemplifies a band that was ahead of its time but whose influence is still felt to this day.

Two Hands, One Heart is a 1995 Black Top Records release. It is Kid’s first “solo” album. Guest vocalist Janiva Magness sings on three tracks, but it is his old buddy Lynwood Slim who steps up to the mic to sing on ten of the album’s sixteen tracks. The album has a decidedly jump blues sound with jazzy T-Bone Walker inspired guitar lines thrown liberally into the mix. With that in mind, I chose the T-Bone tune, You Don’t Love Me. It is material like this that Kid was seemingly born to play and Slim was born to sing. This record picks up where the Big Rhythm Combo left off.  Great Stuff!

Kid’s second solo release is simply entitled Kid Ramos. This 1999 CD on Evidence Records has a more raw, rootsy sound than his previous release but like Two Hands One Heart, Kid again demonstrates incredible versatility with his playing as he visits several blues idioms. He does a take on a James Harman penned number to which Harman lends some greasy harp playing on the song, Walk Around Telephone Blues.

In the year 2000, Kid released an incredible album on the Evidence label, entitled West Coast House Party. The record features an array of singers including James Harman, Kim Wilson, Janiva Magness, Big Sandy and of course Lynwood Slim, among others. Perhaps even more impressive and somewhat surprising is the roster of guest guitarists who were brought in and put on display to play alongside Kid. They include Junior Watson, “Little” Charlie Baty, Rusty Zinn and others. One of my favorite tracks is Slim’s version of the Jimmy Liggins tune, Talkin’ that Talk, but I went with a tune that bookends this great album, the T-Bone Walker classic instrumental, Strollin’ with Bones. This tune features two guitarists from the east coast and gulf coast, Duke Robillard and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, respectively who join this west coast house party that was put on by the very gracious host, Kid Ramos.

2001 was a busy year for Kid. He released what turns out to be his most recent solo album. His fourth overall and third on the Evidence label, Greasy Kid Stuff. He also contributed mightily to two other projects we will get to in a moment. Greasy Kid Stuff puts his own playing back in the spotlight, as he is the only guitar player on this session. Greasy Kid Stuff is a harp heavy album with Charlie Musslewhite, Paul Delay, James Harman, Rick Estrin, Johnny Dyer and Slim all singing and blowing on this record. I went with the Ramos penned title track. This instrumental puts Ramos guitar directly in the spotlight that he likes to share so frequently.

By 2001, Kid had taken one of the high profile gigs in blues, that of the guitarist of The Fabulous Thunderbirds.  An album entitled The Fabulous Thunderbirds Live is the best recorded document of Ramos as a T-Bird.  The album was recorded in February of 2000 and reunites Kid with the rhythm section from the old Harman band, bassist Willie J. Campbell and drummer Stephen Hodges. The album is a nice sampling of T-Birds material including their crossover hits Tough Enough and their cover of the Sam and Dave tune, Wrap it Up. The record has a mix of Kim Wilson originals and a few blues covers including T-Bone’s The Hustle is On and the Guitar Slim classic, The Things I Used To Do. This is a great place to hear Ramos add his reverb drenched guitar to this blues standard and in the process breathe new life into an old war horse.

Also in 2001, Kid returns the favor and plays on a Janiva Magness album entitled, The Blues Ain’t Pretty. This Loose Leaf Records release is my favorite album by Magness. There is also some nice guitar work here by an emerging star, Kirk Fletcher who would eventually go on to play with the Fabulous Thunderbirds for a relatively brief stint. Organist Red Young, drummer Dave Kida and bassist, actually multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Jeff Turmes make great contributions to this album. The song Every Dog Has it’s Day features the buzz saw guitar of Kid Ramos who tears through the tune with reckless abandon. Great fun!  

Lynwood Slim’s 2006 album, Last Call is a Delta Groove Music release. On the record, Slim shares songwriting credit with his old buddy Kid Ramos on the poignant tune, Across the Sea. Kid drives this mid-tempo twelve bar blues shuffle with some great rhythm guitar work and nice turn arounds. Slim’s silky voice and acoustic harmonica are also featured on this tune which speaks to the sad fact that American blues musicians are often forced to go to the other side of the world to find work.   

Time Brings About a Change: A Floyd Dixon Celebration is a CD that was recorded live at the Rhythm Room in Phoenix, AZ. Ramos co-produced the album and plays guitar on the 2006 release. It captures one of the last performances of the singer and piano great Floyd Dixon. Sadly, the album was released shortly after Dixon’s death. It is the voice of Ramos you hear on the recording bringing Dixon up to the stage. I chose the opening number on the album which is a terrific version of one of my all time favorite instrumentals, Albert Collins’ Don’t Lose Your Cool. 

I thought it would be fun to slip a sorbet into the blues mix and play a track off of the second album by the roots Americana band Los Fabulocos Featuring Kid Ramos. The album appropriately entitled Dos is a journey through several musical styling’s, whose roots are firmly planted north of the border. Everything from vintage rock and roll, pachuco swing and even a dash of Bakersfield country is taken out for a spin by this talented band. Los Fabulocos’ singer, accordion player and principal songwriter Jesse Cuevas may be the star of this band but, there are fine contributions from bassist James Barrios and drummer Mike Molina who painted the dios de los muertos themed original album art. Ramos’ guitar and bajo sexto are also on display on this 2011 Delta Groove Music release. Ramos wrote the song, My Brother’s Keeper. On this tune Kid and Cuevas double up on guitar and accordion to create a heavy groove. 

In April of 2012, Rip Cat Records released the second album by The 44’s, Americana. As on their first album, Boogie Disease, Ramos produces and plays guitar. Americana is a huge step forward for this Southern California based band. On the tune Pleading My Case, Ramos demonstrates his often over looked ability as a slide guitar player. The tune is just another great example of Kid’s musical versatility. 

The Mannish Boys released their sixth album on Delta Groove Music this past August entitled Double Dynamite. The record is a double CD with two distinctively different sounding discs. Disc one, entitled Atomic Blues has more of a down home, Chicago blues feel to it with tunes written by Willie Dixon, Otis Spann, Little Walter, Muddy Waters and others. Disc two entitled Rhythm and Blues Explosion has more of an uptown, West Coast vibe. I chose the last track on disc two entitled, Hittin’ the Groove. This track brings us full circle if you will, as Kid Ramos plays lead guitar on an original tune written and sung by James Harman.