**1/2 Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin

UP & IN

(Alligator)

This journeyman guitarist who apprenticed with Muddy Waters has become a meat-and-potatoes bandleader. His playing is dependable, if unexciting save for a few flashes of dexterous slide, and his arrangements are from the Chicago handbook. His singing is just passable too. But what takes this CD out of the bar-band mode is the humor of his lyrics. In "Alien's Blues," Margolin imagines himself to be a space visitor perplexed by Earth. And "Blues for Bartenders" is a compendium of ribald saloon jokes.

Another plus is Margolin's love for tradition. His songs nod affectionately to Duke Ellington, Muddy Waters, Snooky Pryor, even Bessie Smith (with the sassy honeyed voice of Sweet Betty). You can also hear guitar licks borrowed from the late Luther "Snake" Johnson, Chuck Berry, and others. Guest turns from pianists Dave Maxwell and Pinetop Perkins raise the stakes too.

-- Ted Drozdowski

(Bob Margolin performs at Johnny D's this Friday, August 29; call 776-2004.)