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BLUES
& GOSPEL
Big Mama Thornton -> Luther
Tucker
| BIG MAMA THORNTON | Ace CDCHD 940 | The Original Hound Dog | ● CD $18.98 |
| A 22 track collection of Big Mama's best Peacock sides
leading off with her classic Hound Dog and including My Man
Called Me/ Willie Mae's Trouble/ I Smell A Rat/ They Call Me Big Mama/ I
Ain't No Fool Either/ Let Your Tears Fall Baby/ Rock-A-Bye Baby/
Nightmare/ Laugh, Laugh, Laugh/ The Fish, etc. |
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| BIG MAMA THORNTON | Arhoolie 305 | Ball N' Chain | ● CD $12.98 |
| One of the great voices in modern blues recorded in her
prime with Muddy Waters, Otis Spann, Buddy Guy, Fred McDowell, etc. with
the best from Arhoolie 1028, 1032, & 1039. Includes Ball N' Chain/
Hound Dog/ My Heavy Load and more than 60 minutes of music. BIG MAMA THORNTON: Ball N' Chain/ Black Rat/ Bumble Bee/ Gimme A Penny/ Hound Dog/ I'm Feeling Alright/ Life Goes On/ Little Red Rooster/ My Heavy Load/ School Boy/ Sometimes I Have A Heartache/ Sweet Little Angel/ Swing It On Home/ Unlucky Girl/ Wade In The Water/ Your Love Is Where It Ought To Be |
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| BIG MAMA THORNTON | MCA MCAD 10668 | Hound Dog - The Peacock Recordings | ● CD $10.98 |
| The cover photo is the same as the Ace UK collection (CD
940, 22 tracks), and 17 of the 18 songs here are also on Ace, the extra
track being Big Mama's rollicking 1953 duet with Johnny Ace on Yes,
Baby. If you missed the Ace disc, don't pass this one up. Willie Mae
Thornton was one of the last of the blues belters, adapting the booming
tone of the 20's big mamas to the roadhouse sound of the 50's Johnny Otis
and Billy Harvey bands. Prime tracks include They Call Me Big Mama/ You
Don't Move Me No More/ Rock A Bye Baby/ The Big Change/ Stop A-Hoppin' On
Me/ Just Like A Dog, Barking Up The Wrong Tree and of course Hound
Dog, a song that did a lot for Elvis, and even more for the legal
profession. I Smell A Rat is a classic of proto-rock n'roll, with
savage rhythm, gritty guitar and a fearsome vocal delivery. In fact, if
Big Mama wasn't such a great singer, I would still recommend this one for
all the great guitar work by Pete Lewis, Roy Gaines and others. Another
essential purchase in the Peacock reissue series. (MB) |
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| BIG MAMA THORNTON | Mercury 558 550 | The Way It Is | ● CD $12.98 |
| 8 tracks, 48 mins, recommended Excellent live set recorded
in Los Angeles in 1969 featuring the powerful blues belter accompanied by
a top notch group with George Smith on harmonica, the fine, underrated
guitarist Bee Houston and veteran piano player J.D. Nicholson. Most of the
songs are old blues favorites - Little Red Rooster/ Rock Me Baby/ Sweet
Little Angel/ Got My Mojo Working, etc - though not suprisingly Hound
Dog. Big Mama does a fine job on them as does the band. (FS) |
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| BIG MAMA THORNTON | Vanguard 175 | Vanguard Sessions: Best Of The Vanguard Years | ● CD $23.98 |
| Three CD set featuring all of Big Mama's Vanguard recordings
from the 70s. |
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| BIG MAMA THORNTON | Vanguard 79351 | Jail | ● CD $13.98 |
| Live recordings from prison shows in Washington and Oregon. Little
Red Rooster/Ball'N'Chain/Hound Dog/Rock Me Baby and 4 more. With
George Smith on harmonica. |
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| BIG MAMA THORNTON | Vanguard 79354 | Sassy Mama! | ● CD $13.98 |
| A straight reissue of her Vanguard LP from 1975, Sassy
Mama! is not on par with her best work from the 50's and mid-60's, but
her vocals are nonetheless powerful. Her style draws on Bessie Smith and
Ma Rainey, and is shown off here on the slow blues of Private Number
and the uptempo title track. Her band is made up of quality sidemen like
Buddy Lucas (t sax), Cornell Dupree (gtr), and Jimmy Johnson (dms), but
despite such talent, they sound a bit sterile playing together. Most of
the songs are Thornton originals, but she does do an interesting cover of
Muddy Waters' Rolling Stone. Other tracks include Lost City/ Mr.
Cool/ Everybody's Happy (But Me). (JC) |
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| GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS | Rounder 3013 | George Thorogood & The Destroyers | ● CD $14.98 |
| GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS | Rounder 3024 | Move It On Over | ● CD $14.98 |
| GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS | Rounder 3045 | More George Thorogood and The Destroyers | ● CD $14.98 |
| REV. H.R. TOMLIN & REV. S. J. WORRELL | Document DOCD 5406 | Complete Recorded Works, 1926-1927 | ● CD $15.98 |
| 24 tracks, 74 min., recommended Less famous than fellow
Atlanta recording artist Rev. J. M. Gates, Mosley was nonetheless
considered bankable enough for Columbia to take him into the studio again
and again over a 6 year period. (Alas, the Great Depression ended many a
Reverend's recording career and Mosley was no exception.) These sides find
W. M. to be a powerful preacher with considerable ability as a singer,
much more so than most of his competition. When he spends his shellac
singing, as he does on Drinking Shine, I've Been Redeemed,
and elsewhere, he's at his most accessible and impressive. Of special
interest is his lone Paramount recording (Watch And Pray) cut in
Grafton, Wis., with the Delta Big Four vocal quartette (Mosley's brother
will was a member), and his sermon You Preachers Stay Out Of Widow's
Houses. Other titles includeHell Is In The People/ The Monkey Is On
The Main Line/ The Gambling Man/ Sin No More/ If You Follow Jesus, and
more. (JC) |
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| HENRY TOWNSEND | Genes 9916 | Cairo Blues | ● CD $14.98 |
| 13 tracks, 45 mins, recommended A fine collection from this
brilliant St. Louis based bluesman that could have been even better.
Townsend is a beautiful singer and a splendid and distinctive guitar
player and piano player and sings powerful introspective lyrics - some
original, some from the repertoire of his friend Henry Spaulding and some
of his distinctive takes of blues standards. One cut features Henry
duetting with his wife Vernell on the fine Why Do We Love Each Other?
and he accompanies the great St. Louis piano player Henry Brown on Deep
Morgan Stomp. My main criticism is the presence of second guitarist
Mike Stewart on most of the tracks. Stewart's playing is by no means bad
but he is also playing lead and the balance is such that his playing is at
the level as Townsend and the two don't really mesh making for a messy
sound and lessening of the intimacy and intensity of Townsend's
performance who is the person we really want to hear! It's still worth a
listen. Some of these tracks were issued on Adelphi LPs in the early 70s.
(FS) |
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| HENRY TOWNSEND | Nighthawk 201 | Mule | ● CD $14.98 |
| 13 tracks, 46 mins, essential. Henry Townsend is a truly
superb performer. Born in Mississippi in 1909 he eventually settled in St.
Louis. He started playing guitar when stile young and recorded some
magnificent sides in the late 20s and 30s (reissued on Document 5147) and
also accompanied many performers such as Walter Davis, Roosevelt Sykes,
Sonny Boy Williamson and others. He pretty much quit music in the 50s but
was rediscovered in the 60s and started performing at clubs and made a
handful of recordings including this materpiece recorded in 1979. By this
time Henry was concentrating on the piano and so most of the tracks here
feature him on that instrument - and what a wonderful performer he is on
that instrument. Elements of his friends Walter Davis and Roosevelt Sykes
can be heard in his relaxed rolling stylings. The songs are almost all
original - many of them improvised in the studio - but all of them
substantial and meaningful. Lest you think he had completely forgotten the
guitar there are some wonderful guitar oriented pieces including the
terrific Talking Guitar Blues where he is joined on guitar by Yank
Rachell. Rachell accompanies Henry on mandolin on several tracks and a
couple of tracks feature moving vocals by Henry's wife Vernell. Sound is
superb and there are extensive notes by albums co-producer Leroy Pierson.
This album was a revelation when I first heard it in 1980 and is no less
impressive on CD - 13 years later. This is not an artist trying to
recreate past glories but one very much producing present glories. (FS) |
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| HENRY TOWNSEND/ PIANO SLIM | Wolf 120.495 | St. Louis Blues | ● CD $14.98 |
| SONNY TREADWAY | Arhoolie 462 | Jesus Will Fix It | ● CD $12.98 |
| Sacred steel guitar instrumentals. SONNY TREADWAY: Blessed Assurance/ Create In Me A Clean Heart/ Hallelujah, Anyhow/ Holy, Holy, Holy/ How I Got Over/ Jesus Will Fix It For You/ Lord, I Put My Trust In You/ No, Never Alone/ Praise In Remembrance Of Bishop L. Harrison/ Precious Lord, Lead Me On/ There Is Room At The Cross |
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| T.N.T. TRIBBLE | Collectables 5309 | T.N.T. Tribble | ● CD $11.98 |
| THE TRUMPETEERS | P-Vine PCD 5661/2 | Milky White Way, The Legendary Recordings 1947-1952 | ● CD $37.98 |
| More fine gospel quartet singing rescued from oblivion by
P-Vine. This time we have a two CD set featuring 54 tracks recorded
between 1947 and early 1952 by this close-harmony jubilee style New York
quartet whose original members included the great Joseph Johnson - lead,
Raleigh Turnage - tenor, Joe Armstrong - baritone, and James Keels - bass.
The only accompaniment is a sparse acoustic guitar. The set opens with
their big gospel hit Milky White Way and includes many other fine
tracks like By And By/ I Want To Die Easy/ Little Wooden Church/ Gospel
Train/ When I've Done My Best/ Lord Ease My Troublin' Mind/ Just A Little
Talk With Jesus/ Babylon's Falling/ Where Shall I Go/ Trouble About My
Soul/ This Is A Mean Old World and lots more. |
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| BESSIE TUCKER | Document DOCD 5070 | Complete Recordings In Chronological Order 1928-29 | ● CD $15.98 |
| Bessie Tucker was an obscure but superb singer from Texas.
The 24 tracks here (including 8 alternates) are her entire recorded output
and feature her accompanied by the excellent piano of K.D. Johnson
recorded in Memphis & Dallas in 1928 & '29. She was an incredibly
soulful singer with a loose flowing style that bring to mind work songs.
Some of her songs like Key To The Bushes and Penitentiary Blues
are powerful and chiling evocations of the environments where work songs
flourished. Most of the songs are intense and mournful with intriguing
lyrics. They lack the frivolity of some of her contemporaries. Johnson's
piano accompaniments are excellent providing lovely rolling underpinnings
to the vocals. On some cuts they are joined by guitarist Jesse Thomas. The
sound is generally very good and the music is sensational. (FS) |
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| TUCKER & THOMAS | HMG 1001 | Stranded | ● CD $13.98 |
| Recent recordings featuring Los Angeles duo Johnny Tucker/
vocal & drums and James Thomas/ vocal and bass with help from James
Armstrong/ guitar, Leon Blue/ piano, Hollis Gilmore/ sax and others. |
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| LUTHER TUCKER & THE FORD BLUES BAND | Blue Rock'It 122 | Luther Tucker & The Ford Blues Band | ● CD $14.98 |
|
