Tracks:

· Johnny & The Devil 
· Baby Wants To Boogie 
· Living In The Fast Lane
· Darkest Hour
· Nobodys Fault But Mine
· Mississippi
· Travelling Man
· Dough Roller Blues
· Rivers Invitation
· Titanic 
· Stones In My Passway
· When Things Go Wrong
· Down Where The Drunkards Roll
· Sidewalk Hobo
· Cajun Boogie
· Rain
· Nashville Picking
· Blue Blood
· Lazy

Johnny was a countryboy
Made his living off the land
Every saturdaynight he'd play the guitar
With the boys in the local band

Now the devil he played with golden fingers
Near the waters he did dwell
Made your backbone shiver - when you walked by the river
And you listened to his tunes from hell

The river runs on so freely - the river runs to the sea
Johnny sold his soul to the devil down below
Who will never more set him free
And he never can again be free

Johnny talked to the river
Shouted into the deep
You can have my soul if you give me your guitar
Make her laugh - make her mourn and weep

Up came the devil and he spoke to Johnny
You'll be the best in all the land
You'll play hot - you'll play well - as the fires from hell
But your soul will be at my command

The river runs on so freely ...

Johnny can jive and Johnny can boogie
Let the music flow so free
Play the strings so you can hear them ring
Through the bayou country

Now the people came from near and far
When they heard about the guitar-man
Johnny's voice got hoarse and his fingers were all bloody
But his playing never took an end

Sometimes in the dead of night
There's music sounding through the trees
The devil plays a tune on the bank of the river
Johnny's soul sings harmony

The river runs on so freely ...

Baby where you going to
With your red shoes on ?
You been here such a short time,
You been gone so long

Baby wants to boogie, daddy wants to rock´n´roll (2 x)

Baby where you going to
In your dress so fine ?
Won´t you stay another while
And give me some of your time

Baby wants to boogie ...

You look like an angel
You make my heart skip a beat
The way you move your body - Babe
Knocks me off my feet

Baby wants to boogie ...

Poached eggs - scrambled eggs
In the house on the hill
Drinks and music
´Til you had your fill

Baby wants to boogie ...

Baby where you going to
With your red shoes on ?
You been here such a short time,
You been gone so long

Baby wants to boogie ...

Once I had a good friend - very dear to me
He said: I can handle it - it doesn't worry me
Cocaine and the needle - I know when to say no
Let me tell you: my good friend - ain't here no more

Living in the fast lane - never go slow
Living in the fast lane - anything goes

Way back in the sixties - I remember well
Mindblowing parties - gate to living hell
First it gives you sweet dreams - makes your mind fly free
But that goddamn' habit is killing by degree

Living in the fast lane ...

Builds walls around you - bars up the door
Makes a strong man helpless - cry out for more
Makes you beg for mercy - on your knees and pray
Timebomb on your brain - ticking night and day

Living in the fast lane ...

Oh the sun is nearly rising
And the night is almost gone (2x)
The darkest hour is just before dawn

Won't you cuddle up a little closer
Mama won't you hold my hand (2x)
The blues is creeping on me
Got to loose ´em if I can

Oh the sun is nearly rising ...

I can hear the rooster crowing
Mama ´t ain't long fore day (2x)
Wait for the sunshine
To drive my blues away

Oh the sun is nearly rising ...

Starting out of Memphis - highway 61
Traces of the places where the blues began
Sun is blazing - horizon far
Echoes of a national steelguitar

Down in Mississippi (4x)
Where the blues was born

Yazoo river rolling through the land
Cradle of the blues - that deltaland
Cottonfields - catfishfarms
Steady-rocking rhythm since the dawn of time

Down in Mississippi ...

Wade Walton's barbershop - backroom booze
Shave and a haircut - lots of rhythm 'n blues
Greenville jukejoint - saturday night
Get down 'n boogie till the morning-light

Down in Mississippi ...

Brokendown Chevy on a muddy track
Ten people sharing a two-room shack
Folks so poor - nothing to loose
Get religion or that lowdown blues

Down in Mississippi ...

Charly Patton, Fred McDowell, Willie Brown
Son House, Son Thomas - that delta sound
Black man's heart - black man's soul
Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf

Down in Mississippi ...

Big Joe Williams * Bukka White * Robert Johnson * Jimmy Reed
Sam Chatmon * Ishman Bracy * Tommy Johnson * Skip James *
John Lee Hooker * Elmore James * Mississippi John Hurt *
Memphis Minnie * Peetie Wheatstraw * Sonny Boy Williamson

Down in Mississippi ...

I'm a travelling man and the highway is my home
Here today - tomorrow I'll be gone
From the mexican line to the windy city
Ain't got much to loose
And all I need is a good old country-blues

Gypsy woman told my mama on the day that I was born
You got a boychild coming - he's gonna be a rolling stone
Mama locked the windows - barred the door
But friends it was no use
'Cause I was born with the travelling fever blues

I'm a picker and a singer - don't have much company
The breeze in the trees is all I got for harmony
Restless blood runs through my veins
I got fever in my shoes
And all I need is a good old country-blues

Put my thumb in the wind - tryin' to catch a ride
Got a little bit of something - help me make it through the night
I got no home - no fixed adress
But that's the life I choose
And all I need is a good old country-blues

I'm a travelling man ...

Yes I rolled and I tumbled - cried the whole night long
Yes I rose this morning - didn´t know right from wrong

Have you ever woke up - your dough-roller gone
Then you wring your hands - cry all day long

Yes, I told my woman - before I left the town
Don´t you let nobody - tear your barrelhouse down

Yes, I fold my arms and slowly walked away
I said "That´s allright mama - your troubles gon´ come some day"

Yes I rolled and I tumbled - cried the whole night long
Yes I woke up this morning - didn´t know right from wrong

That night it all started when the ship began to shake
We were filled with amazement - a little shocked but not afraid
We didn't really understand what caused the water to come in
We had been told this mighty ocean-liner "even god himself couldn't sink"

You took a picture of our child - your hat and your jewelry
And we put on some warm clothes because we thought it might be cold at sea
When we left our cabin we noticed how the water started pouring in
Was it a tear or maybe just a drop of water on your chin

Titanic, Titanic, so proud and so free
Will your grandeur protect us from the cold icy sea

We followed some white arrows with a lifeboat-sign
We had to go onto the first-class deck but no one seemed to mind
Despite the strange situation we all took it quite with ease
Only one of the third-class passengers was behaving foolishly

We talked to a gentleman that we'd met earlier on
He introduced us to his wife - he introduced us to his son
Then the captain said that the lifeboats could not be lowered down
I believe it was because some chains of the hoist could not be found

Titanic, Titanic, so proud and so free ...

We were all invited for a free drink at the bar
We drank to the empire and to good health for us all
The ship was leaning to one side - we felt it sinking quietly
We decided to stay together on board - though many people jumped into the sea

Then the rats left the ship to try and find dry land
But we stayed close together and held each others hand
It was midnight on the water - we could hear the ocean roar
In the lifeboats that were lowered down - there was no room for us anymore

Not a helping hand around in this cold cold night
An iceberg disappearing into the distant morning light
We're watching the last lifeboat as it slowly lowers down
There's many men, women and children left behind - not a helping hand around

Not a helping hand around - not a helping hand around
There's many men, women and children left behind - not a helping hand around

Now the members of the band struck up with "nearer my god to thee"
Somehow banal but in the vain of our time and century
By now we have lost our last tiny bit of hope
We're all going down while the flag is going up

Instrumental extro: "Nearer My God To Thee"

Come on baby come along with me
Down to the bayou countery
To the swamplands where the cajuns go
Do the zydeco

Alligator jumps around
Wags his tail to the squeeze-box sound
There's a fish-fry and there's hot gumbo
Come on baby let's go

Tune up the fiddle - roisin' up the bow
Listen to the fiddle of Old Man Moe
Sends a tune up to the sky
Watch them bowhairs fly

Alligator jumps around ...

There's Old Ray and black-eyed Susie
Rockin' to the beat of a cajun boogie
Dancin' the twostep and the fais dodo
Come on baby let's go

Alligator jumps around ...

I'm sitting in the rain - rain keeps drizzling on (3x)
Waiting for a train to take me back home
Sitting in the rain - rain keeps drizzling on

Got my pockets full of money - made a lot of bread this time (3x)
If the rain would stop I'd try to hitch a ride
But rain, rain keeps drizzling on

Thinking 'bout my woman -
Haven't seen her since god knows when (2x)
Talked to her on the phone last night
Just got late for the midnight flight
Sitting in the rain - waiting for a train to take me back home

Concerto, A, 3/98
50 Jahre hat er also nun auf seinem (nicht vorhandenen) Buckel, der Hans. Auch wenn er mit dem kleinen Makel behaftet ist, nicht in Österreich geboren zu sein, so ist er doch längst „unser“ Hans geworden, denn darin sind wir gut und schnell. Wer etwas kann, muß einfach einer der Unseren sein. Und daß er etwas kann, hat er inzwischen mit großer Ausdauer bewiesen. Also bietet der runde Geburtstag Gelegenheit, etwas in der Geschichte zu kramen. „Blue Grooves From Vienna“ ist somit im ersten Teil, der dem Albumtitel entspricht, eine Kompilation der besten Momente aus den Platten „Titanic“ (1982), „Baby Wants To Boogie“ (1986) und „Johnny & The Devil“ (1989). Der zweite Teil „Rare Grooves From Vienna“ bringt dann Raritäten wie gemeinsame Aufnahmen mit Gerry Lockran, Peter Ratzenbeck, Michael Langer und Dana Gillespie sowie eine Single-B-Seite und eine Liveaufnahme vom SWF-Bluesfestival 1993/94. Alles in allem eine bunte Mischung, die durch Hans' unverkennbare Stimme und sein untrügliches Gefühl für amerikanische Rootsmusic zusammengehalten wird. „Er ist mit Sicherheit einer der großen zeitgenössischen Bluesmen“, wird Theessink in der „Enzyklopädie des Blues“ klassifiziert. Und das hat er sich auch verdient, unser Hans!

Dietmar Hoscher