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BLUES
& GOSPEL
Sonny Terry -> Ramblin' Thomas
|
SONNY TERRY JIMMY THACKERY SISTER ROSETTA THARPE LOVIN' SAM THEARD HENRY THOMAS HOCIEL THOMAS/ LILLIE DELK CHRISTIAN |
IRMA THOMAS JAMES "SON" THOMAS JESSE THOMAS KID THOMAS RAMBLIN' THOMAS |
| SONNY TERRY | Alligator 4734 | Whoopin' | $12.98 |
| This album is a bit different to most of Sonny's albums since instead of the usual folky feel this album has a tough down home Chicago feel with Sonny accompanied by Johnny Winter/electric & acoustic guitar & piano, Willie Dixon/bass and Styve Homnick/drums. Sonny is in good form vocally and instrumentally and the accompaniments are tasteful and appropriate - one could have only wished that Sonny would have played amplified harp for an even tougher sound! (FS) |
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| SONNY TERRY | Collectables 5307 | Sonny Terry | $11.98 |
| CD issue of Krazy Kat 807. On Aug. 15, 1952 Sonny cut 2
takes each of 8 tunes for Gotham, who released 2 couplings, Baby Let's
Have Some Fun/ Four O'Clock Blues & Harmonica Rhumba/ Lonesome
Room. This LP releases 14 of 16 recordings, only 3 ever before issued
(for some reason, only the alternate take of Rhumba is here.) With
backing by Brownie McGhee, Doc Bagby(org) & Daddy Merritt(p,d), the
released tunes are more in the folky vein Sonny & Brownie were doing
at the time for Folkways, with the other 4 being a harder, more blues
sound - Wine Headed Baby (great)/ Bad Luck Blues/ No Love Blues/
News For You Baby (GM) |
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| SONNY TERRY | Document DOCD 5230 | Complete Recorded Works, 1938-45 | $15.98 |
| 26 tracks, 75 min., recommended Here we have Sonny Terry's
complete post-1945 recording, including (for the first time) a few
unissued Library of Congress recordings. Included are 3 early L of C
versions of Fox Chase (1938,1942), the last two (unissued) also
featuring Brownie McGhee. The Red Cross Store, with Brownie on
vocals, also comes from this unissued session. The post-1943 NYC
recordings - for Asch, Savoy, Solo Records - include Sweet Woman
(Solo,'45) with his first vocal featuring his natural voice (instead of
his falsetto). The CD ends with 3 tracks featuring Sonny Terry (&
McGhee) accompanying one Alonzo Scales. (EL) |
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| SONNY TERRY | Document DOCD 5657 | Volume 2 : 1944-1949 | $15.98 |
| 22 tracks, 69 mins, recommended Fine selection of sides,
mostly drawn from selections recorded for the Stinson label. Sonny is
mostly featured in the company of Woody Guthrie who sings on a number of
the tracks and plays guitar, banjo and mandolin. Some of the tracks also
feature Woody's traveling buddy Cisco Houston and a couple feature fine
vocals by Alec Seward. Sonny is also featured in a brief contribution to This
Time Of The Year - an orchestra production from the play "Finian's
Rainbow" which featured Sonny in an acting role. (FS) |
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| SONNY TERRY | Original Blues Classics 503 | Sonny's Story | $12.98 |
| Originally issued as Bluesville 1025 in 1960 - enjoyable
acoustic set with J.C. Burris/second harmonica on some cuts, Sticks
McGhee/g & Belton Evans/d. |
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| SONNY TERRY | Original Blues Classics 521 | Sonny Is King | $12.98 |
| SONNY TERRY | Original Blues Classics 589 | Sonny Terry & His Mouth Harp | $12.98 |
| Reissue of obscure album recorded by Sonny for the
Washington label in 1953 with Alec Seward on guitar rather than his usual
partner Brownie McGhee. |
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| SONNY TERRY | Smithsonian Folkways 40033 | The Folkways Years 1944-1963 | $15.98 |
| Harmonica master Sonny Terry's eight Folkways LP's were full
of ferocious North Carolina harp playing. Pete Seeger and his banjo show
up on two of this CD's 17 tracks, including an updating of the classic Fox
Chase; Terry's longtime partner Brownie McGhee plays guitar on 10
others. There are two previously unreleased tracks here, both duets with
McGhee dating from the late forties: a devastating version of James (St.
Louis Jimmy) Oden's dark Going Down Slow, and an unissued acetate
of the wild Sweet Woman. The sound on this 48-minute set is
exemplary, and the performances are consistently first-rate. JG) |
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| SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE MCGHEE | A&M 0829-2 | Sonny & Brownie | $10.98 |
| Early 70's pop-oriented reissue, with People Get Ready,
Bring It On Home To Me, On The Road Again and 9 more. |
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| SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE MCGHEE | Collectables 5198 | Sonny Terry & Brownie Mcghee | $11.98 |
| SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE MCGHEE | Fantasy 24708 | Back To New Orleans | $16.98 |
| 2-LP set on one CD. |
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| SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE MCGHEE | Fantasy 24723 | California Blues | $16.98 |
| 26 tracks, 79 min., recommended. Originally issued as 2 LP's
(Fantasy 3254 & 3317), California Blues features this most
famous blues duo in 1957, early in their recording association. Nine
songs, including I'm A Stranger/ John Henry/ I Done Done/ Motherless
Child feature the pair harmonizing; on the rest of the cuts they back
each other. It's easy to see why these acoustic performances helped Terry
and McGhee become the darlings of the burgeoning folk revival movement.
And it's easy to hear why the two became such respected bluesmen. Plenty
of great harp and guitar work, and notes from Bay Area blues scholar Lee
Hildebrand. A tremendous value. (JC) |
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| SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE MCGHEE | Fantasy 24750 | Backwater Blues | $16.98 |
| Recommended 75 more minutes of fine live stuff from the same
sessions as the classic Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee Live At Sugar
Hill, recorded at that San Francisco club 12/61 (available on Original
Blues Classics 536). They wonder why people ask why they only sing about
whiskey, women & money - what else is there? Tunes include Wine
Headed Woman/ One Scotch One Bourbon One Beer/ Lose Your Money, along
with more traditional Back Water Blues/ Careless Love/ Climbin' On Top
Of The Hill (a rewrite of Sittin' On Top Of The World)/ Key
To the Highway, etc.with both bluesmen at their peak (GM) |
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| SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE MCGHEE | Just A Memory JAM 9131 | Live At The New Penelope Cafe | $12.98 |
| SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE MCGHEE | Original Blues Classics OBCCD 536 | At Sugar Hill | $12.98 |
| Reissue of Fantasy 8091 recorded live at San Francisco's
famed Sugar Hill jazz and blues club in December 1961. Fairly standard
Sonny & Brownie McGhee fare including Hooray, Hooray, This Woman Is
Killing Me/ Just About Crazy/ Baby, I Knocked On Your Door/ Baby, I Got My
Eye On You/ I Feel Alright Now/ Sweet Woman Blues, etc. |
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| SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE MCGHEE | Original Blues Classics OBCCD 541 | Just A Closer Walk With Thee | $12.98 |
| A worthwhile reissue of Sonny & Brownie's gospel LP on
Fantasy. Many of these tracks (recorded in Oakland in 1957) have fervor
and pep, but still they sound sterile and somewhat contrived in comparison
to lifetime country gospel performers like Rev. Gary Davis. With Some
Of These Days/ Just A Closer Walk With Thee/ If I Could Hear My Mother
Pray/ You Can't Hide - 12 in all. (MB) |
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| SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE MCGHEE | Sony Music Special Products 26430 | Sing The Blues | $8.98 |
| 10 tracks, 27 min., recommended A budget issue from Sony
Special Products with no liner notes at all, not even a mention of
original recording dates. Judging by both the somewhat subdued mood, the
consistent loping tempo of the numbers on the program here, and the ages
of the artists in the cover photo, this is music from near the end of this
great duo's recording career. Now, don't misunderstand me. The music is as
solid as you might want it to; but it's also fair to say that some of the
fire and playfulness of their earlier work is missing. The playlist
includes Mean Old Frisco, Going Down Slow, Sittin' on Top
of the World, Key to the Highway, Stranger Blues, and Bad
Blood. Sound quality is just fine. (DH) |
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| SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE MCGHEE | Southland SCD 15 | Nothin' But The Blues | $14.98 |
| Enjoyable collection of 17 songs recorded live in England in
1959 and previously unissued. The duo are in good form on amostly familiar
collection of songs (Mean Old Southern/ Pick A Bale Of Cotton/ Fox
Chase/ Midnight Special/ How Long Blues/ John Henry, etc) along with a
few less frequently recorded (Twelve Gates To The City/ I Got Fooled |
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| SONNY TERRY/ BLIND GARY DAVIS | Collectables 5607 | The Stinson Collectors Series | $11.98 |
| JIMMY THACKERY | Blind Pig 5011 | Trouble Man | $16.98 |
| JIMMY THACKERY & THE DRIVERS | Blind Pig 5001 | Empty Arms Motel | $16.98 |
| 10 tracks, 46 min., good. There really are some great white
blues guitarists out there, and Thackery is one of the more tasteful I've
heard in a while. But I worry that blues singing will soon be a lost art,
or is at least lost on these guys who think that gravelly gargling noises
are the closest they can come to soulful vocalizing. Stick with the
instrumental sizzle of Stevie Ray Vaughn's Rude Mood, the Mar-Key's
Last Night, and the faithful copy of Hendrix's Red House,
unless the sound of someone giving themselves a sore throat turns you on.
(MB) |
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| JIMMY THACKERY & JOHN MOONEY | Blind Pig 5006 | Sideways In Paradise | $16.98 |
| Blues and ragtime renditions on acoustic guitar, mandocello
and mandolins, 1993 |
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| SISTER ROSETTA THARPE | Document DOCD 5335 | Complete Recorded Works, 1938-1944, Vol 2 : 1941-1944 | $15.98 |
| 27 tracks, 73 min., Recommended Most gospel singers made few
if any records during WW II, thanks to shellac shortages, but Rosetta
Tharpe and her fans were blessed in that regard. And while the songs here
are mostly religious, the opener, cut with Lucky Millinder And His
Orchestra, is a version of I Want A Tall Skinny Papa that must have
given her regular churchgoing audience fits. Of course, her religious
songs sounded pretty secular most of the time anyway. Her second recording
of This Train is notable if only because she's backed by Louis
Jordan And His Tympany Five. Similarly, Rosetta is accompanied by the
capable Sam Price Trio on the exceptional and popularStrange Things
Happening Every Day and on its original flip Two Little Fishes And
Five Loaves Of Bread. But much of the time it's just Sister Tharpe and
her guitar. And that's fine. (JC) |
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| SISTER ROSETTA THARPE | Fremeaux & Associates 017 | Gospel, 1938-43 | $15.98 |
| 18 tracks, 50 min., recommended Born Rosetta Nubin in 1915,
this energetic female gospel pioneer began her musical career singing
"the devil's music" at the famous Cotton Club in New York City.
Within a few years, however, she had turned her full attention to sacred
music presumably because God "don't like" the blues. And, as
this look at her earliest recordings demonstrates, her choice did result
in some mighty "joyful noise." Featured recordings include Just
a Closer Walk with Thee/ Sit Down/ Rock Me/ This Train/ Stand by Me/
Nobody's Fault But Mine/ All Over This World, and Precious Lord
Take My Hand.
Sound quality is good given the dates of the material; the
brief English notes are informative/ and cover graphics are basic but
appropriate. (DH) |
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| SISTER ROSETTA THARPE | Southland SCD 1007 | Live In 1960 | $14.98 |
| Sister Rosetta Tharpe always loved to travel, and although
she hated cities she adored her fans. This 12-song CD, recorded live in
England in 1960, highlights her down-home earthy style and country way of
singing gospel. The first to popularize the electrified guitar in the
church, she had a vigorous picking style which at times broke into wild
staccato, and influenced even the like of T-Bone Walker. Moments such as
these are briefly captured on the bridges of songs Didn't It Rain/
Gospel Train/ Down By The Riverside. Just good ole country gospel
singing, strumming, and foot tapping as only the gal from Cotton Plant,
Arkansas can do it. Recorded earlier, and with better balance than the
Milan CD in our last newsletter. (OLN) |
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| LOVIN' SAM THEARD | Document DOCD 5479 | In Chronological Order | $15.98 |
| 25 tracks, 73 mins, very good A collection of recordings
featuring this talented performer who achieved most of his acclaim as a
comic, actor and songwriter - he wrote the blues/ jazz standard - You
Rascal You and wrote Let The Good Times Roll for Louis Jordan.
His first recording of You Rascal You from July, 1929 is available
on Blues Documents 6040 ("Cow Cow Davenport - The Accompanist")
- this set features You Rascal You - No. 2 from 1930 with an
unknown piano accompaniment. Theard was a decent singer and has some good
accompaniments from Tampa Red, Cow Cow Davenport, John Oscar & others.
Most of his repertoire consists of standard hokum fare full of predictable
double etendres She Skuffles That Ruffvin' It Away/ Doodle It Back/ Hot
Dog Man/ Get It In Front/ She Can Love So Good and the like. There are
a few more interesting songs like Three Sixes (what is he singing
about here) and two almost country blues flavored songs with nice slide
guitar from Willie B. James though sound quality on these is pretty rough.
Excellent notes by Tony Russell. (FS) |
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| HENRY THOMAS | Yazoo 1080/1 | Texas Worried Blues | $15.98 |
| Henry Thomas was one of the greats of
early blues with a repertoire that included many songs that predated blues
as well as music influenced by white country and popular music. He was a
Texas singer and guitarist who often punctuated his singing and guitar
playing with the uncommon sound of the pan-pipes or quills - a remarkably
effective addition to his music. This disc is a reissue of the long out of
print double album on Herwin with new cover and new notes by Stephen Calt
whose writing is drier and more analytical than that of the original notes
by Mack McCormick. It features all 23 issued songs recorded by Thomas
between 1927 and '29. Thomas's music is intensely melodic and it's not
suprising that some of his songs (Fishing Blues/ Honey Won't You Allow
Me One More Chance/ Don't Leave Me Here ) have been covered by white
folk and blues interpreters. Sound is excellent throughout and if you have
not heard this before it's well worth your time. (FS) |
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| HOCIEL THOMAS/ LILLIE DELK CHRISTIAN | Document DOCD 5448 | In Chronological Order, 1925-1928 | $15.98 |
| 25 tracks, 75 min., good Nothing here proves what a good
blues singer Hociel Thomas could be, but her 10 sides may be of interest
because her backing group is Louis Armstrong's Jazz Four -- Hociel's
father was Hersal Thomas. And yet, even Armstrong, Hersal, Johnny Dodds,
and Johnny St. Cyr seem unable or unwilling to lift these bluesy pop
numbers to any interesting elevation. Lillie Delk Christian was a jazz
singer of pop songs, not a blues singer, and again, accompaniment tends to
be the most interesting element in these recordings, and again, Armstrong
(with his Hot Five,this time) is one of the backing musicians. So are Earl
Hines and Jimmie Noone. The results are mixed, though generally quite
satisfying as My Blue Heaven, Ain't She Sweet, You're A
Real Sweetheart and a couple of others confirm. Last Night I
Dreamed You Kissed Me can perhaps most kindly be described as an
egregious error. (Note: Hociel Thomas' early recordings are available on
DOCD-5224.) (JC) |
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| IRMA THOMAS | Rounder 2128 | Walk Around Heaven | $15.98 |
| 10 tracks, 47 min., recommended A splendid 1993 gospel
session, showing that this New Orleans soul sensation, best known perhaps
for Wish Someone Would Care and Time Is On My Side, both
from 1964, is still in very fine form indeed. This latest set from her
current label includes spiritual standards like the title track and Ask
What You Will, up tempo tunes like Just a Little While to Stay Here,
and the Christmas standard Oh Holy Night, all performed with power
and conviction. Not for the musically timid. Whether you're a fan of
Thomas's or a general fan of gospel music, this disc is a winner.
Impeccable sound, brief notes, and solid graphics. (DH) |
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| JAMES "SON" THOMAS | Evidence 26095 | Beefsteak Blues | $12.98 |
| 12 tracks, 45 mins, very good Reissue of early 80s album originally on the German L+R label plus a couple of bonus cuts drawn from L+R compilations - some recorded live in Europe. Mississippi Delta bluesman Thomas was a good singer and guitarist with a repertoire that mostly consisted of blues standards like Mama Don't 'Low No Guitar Playin' Round Here/ Rock Me Mama/ Standing At The Crossroads/ Smokey Mountain and others though Thomas often gives them an original twist. Highlights are the powerful title song and a lengthy version of Catfish Blues with some naughty lyrics. (FS) |
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| JAMES "SON" THOMAS | Swingmaster 2204 | Mississippi Delta Blues Man | $18.98 |
| CD issue of album recorded in Holland in 1981 during the
first European tour of this fine Mississippi country bluesman. Pleasing
renditions of somewhat overly familiar songs including Big Leg Woman/
Whiskey Headed Woman/ Take A Little Walk/ Lonesome Road Blues/ Hard Time
Blues/ Catfish Blues (a "naughty" version)/ Bull Cow
Blues and others. |
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| JESSE THOMAS | Blues Documents BDCD 6044 | Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order, 1948-58 | $15.98 |
| 28 tracks, 74 mins, essential Don't let his obscurity fool you - Jesse Thomas is a brilliant bluesman who might have been a force to reckon with had the cards been stacked right. The brother of Willard "Rambling" Thomas he first recorded in 1929 but this exemplary disc focuses on his post war recordings. Thomas was a wonderful singer with a vocal quality that will remind you of Robert Johnson! He was also a dazzling and unique guitar player whose playing was unlike almost any other guitarist I can think of rural and uptown elements sitting comfortably side by side. He was also a first rate songwriter with catchy songs like Same Old Stuff/ I Wonder Why/ Another Friend Like Me/ Gonna Write You A Letter and others including the incredible tongue twisting D. Double Due Love You. He recorded in a wide variety of settings ranging from solo to small groups and on his version of the old chestnut Kansas City Blues called Gonna Move to California he plays acoustic guitar. His singing and playing are always a joy to listen to even though the accompaniments sometimes get in the way. Jesse is now in his 80s and was still performing a few years ago though he has proven uncoperative with researchers. Very little of Jesse's work has been reissued before so this retrospective is especially welcome. He is most assuredly one of the "great unknowns" with the emphasis on "great". (FS) |
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| KID THOMAS | Wolf WBJ 012 | Here's My Story | $14.98 |
| This is one for diehard harmonica freaks. Kid Thomas (Tommy
Louis Watts) was a fine singer and harmonica player from Mississippi who
originally settled in Chicago. He eventually moved to the West Coast in
1960 where he was murdered in 1970 in tragic circumstances. He only
recorded a handful of songs and had his only commercial release in 1957 -
the Howling Wolf flavored Wolf Pack |
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| RAMBLIN' THOMAS | Document DOCD 5107 | & The Dallas Blues Singers 1928-1932 | $15.98 |
| Willard "Ramblin'" Thomas was an outstanding
country-blues guitarist who recorded for Paramount and Victor. In addition
to his 16 songs on this set, several other performers round out the disc.
There are five songs by Jesse "Babyface" Thomas (Willard's
little borther), two by Sammy Hill, and another pair by Otis Harris, all
of which have been previously reissued, though not on CD. But it's
Ramblin' Thomas, his exquisite slide playing and singing, and his dark,
direct visions that are at the center of this fine disc. (JG) |
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