Blues & Gospel - Bulletin November/ December 2009 - Frankie Lee Sims -> Robert Pete Williams
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BULLETIN - November/ December 2009
Blues & Gospel
Frankie Lee Sims -> Robert Pete Williams
 

 

NEW COMPACT DISCS

FRANKIE LEE SIMS/ MERCY DEE WALTON JSP JSPCD 4217 Masterly Texas Blues - Music With A Swagger ● CD $16.98
Two CD set with 29 tracks each by two outstanding Texas bluesmen - singer/ guitarist Frankie Lee Sims and singer/ piano player Mercy Dee Walton. The Sims tracks features all his Specialty, Ace and Vin recordings made between 1953 and 1957 and the Mercy Dee tracks feature a cross section of his sides made for various labels between 1949 and 1955.
FRANKIE LEE SIMS: Boogie 'Cross the Country/ Cryin' Won't Help You/ Don't Take It out on Me/ Frankie Lee's 2 O'Clock Jump/ Frankie's Blues/ Hawk Shuffle/ Hey Little Girl/ How Long/ I Done Talked and I Done Talked/ I Warned You Baby/ I'll Get Along Somehow/ I'm So Glad/ Jelly Roll Baker/ Long Gone/ Lucy Mae Blues/ Lucy Mae Blues (Part 2)/ Married Woman/ Misery Blues/ My Talk Didn't Do No Good/ No Good Woman/ Raggedy and Dirty/ Rhumba My Boogie/ She Likes to Boogie Real Low/ Walking Boogie/ Walking with Frankie/ Well Goodbye Baby/ What Will Lucy Do/ Wine and Gin Bounce/ Yeh, Baby!/ MERCY DEE WALTON: Bi Foot Country/ Bird Brain Baby/ Bought Love/ Come Back Maybellene/ Danger Zone (Crepe on Your Door)/ Dark Muddy Bottom/ Empty Life/ Evil and Hanky/ Fall Guy/ G.I. Fever (Baba-Du-Lay-Fever)/ Get to Gettin'/ Happy Bachelor/ Have You Ever/ Homely Baby/ Lonesome Cabin Blues/ Main Event/ My Woman Knows the Score/ Oh Oh Please/ Old Fashioned Ways/ One Room Country Shack/ Pay Off (Anything in the World)/ Please Understand (All Over)/ Rent Man Blues/ Roamin' Blues/ Romp & Stomp Blues/ Straight and Narrow/ Stubborn Woman/ Trailing My Baby/ Travelin' Alone Blues

 
TAMPA RED Snapper Blues 51 You Can't Get That Stuff No More ● CD $9.98
24 tracks, highly recommended
Another fine inexpensive introduction to one of the greats of prewar blues - this time singer, guitarist, pianist and kazoo player. Although there is no discographical information the material here covers his pre-war career from the late 20s through the early 40s. Arrangements arrange from solo vocal and guitar to piano accompaniment (often his frequent collaborator Georgia Tom Dorsey) to small rhythm sections with piano, bass and drums and, on one tracks, clarinet. Although a few tracks feature Tampa's annoying kazoo playing there is much more of his gorgeous single string slide guitar work including several superb instrumentals. Tracks include Uncle Bud/ Turpentine Blues/ Boogie Woogie Dance/This Ain't No Place For Me/ I'll Kill Your Soul/ Bumble Bee/ Moanin' Heart Blues/ Mean Old Tom Cat (featuring some great slide chording)/ Western Bound Blues, etc. A few tracks are from rough 78s but sound quality is generally fine and there are informative notes by Michael Hendon. (FS)

 
PAT THOMAS Broke & Hungry 13006 His Father's Son ● CD $14.98
12 tracks, very good
Pat Thomas from Leland, Mississippi is the son of Delta country bluesman James " Son" Thomas who recorded quite extensively in the 70s and 80s. Pat's vocal and guitar style are very similar to that of his father as is much of his repertoire. On four of the tracks he is joined on drums by Lee Williams. Thomas is a pleasing performer but nothing special. (FS)

 
HOCIEL THOMAS/ BERTHA "CHIPPIE" HILL American Music 72 With Mutt Carey & Lee Collins ● CD $14.98
15 tracks, 44 mins, highly recommended
This CD has been out 15 years but has only just come to our attention since it has been marketed as a jazz CD with trumpeters Mutt Carey and Lee Collins listed in catalogs and prominently on the album covers with blues singers Hociel Thomas and Bertha "Chippie" Hill listed in very small print. With all due respect to Carey and Collins who are superb musicians their function here is as accompanying musicians and the original Circle 78s most of these tracks are from correctly listed the vocalists. The recordings here are all from 1946 with the first six featuring vocal and piano by Hociel Thomas accompanied by Carey. Hociel was the sister of legendary Texas piano player Hersel Thomas who accompanied her on her 20s recordings. Hociel presumably learned to play from her brother since she backs or powerful moaning vocals with fine piano playing and her instrumental Tebo's Texas Boogie is a real joy. Bertha "Chippie" Hill from South Carolina was another splendid singer who started her career in the 20s and these 1946 sides find her in strong voice on a selection of blues standards like Trouble In Mind/ Careless Love and Nobody Loves You When You're Down And Out accompanied by a small group with Lovie Austin or J.H. Shayne on piano, Johnny Lindsay on bass, Lee Collins/ trumpet and Baby Dodds/ drums. A very fine album that deserves to be better known among blues enthusiasts. (FS)

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Ace CDCHD 1234 Blue Belles With Attitude!!! From The Vaults Of Modern ● CD $18.98
28 tracks, highly recommended
Ace continue to trawl through the vaults of the Modern label with this great collection of blues by female vocalists recorded between 1945 and 1955 including unissued songs and unissued alternate takes. The set starts off in great style with Cordella De Milo's great answer to Joe Turner with Ain't Gonna Hush featuring superb vocals and stunning guitar from Johnny "Guitar" Watson who also plays on De Milo's other side here Lonely Girl - these have been out before on a Watson CD but it's nice to hear them again in a different setting. There are four cuts from Edna Broughton - an obscure but very fine vocalist - her eversion of Percy Mayfield's Two Years Of Torture is particularly nice with some fine guitar work ("Tiny" Webb?). The great Esther Phillips is featured on two early alternate takes when she was going under the name of Esther Jones, accompanied by Johnny Otis and his Band. Other artists include JImmie Lee, Del Graham, Effie Smith (two outstanding unissued sides), Mari Jones (with Johnny Moore's 3 Blazers), Vivianne Green and others. There are four very fine cuts by unknown performers - a couple of them sound familiar so maybe some of you blues sleuths can figure out who they are. Being an Ace release I don't need to tell you that sound quality is exceptional and 12 page booklet has photos, informative notes but no discographical data. (FS)
 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Club 51 101 The Best Of Club 51 Records ● CD $17.98
23 tracks, highly recommended
This CD presents almost the complete recorded output of the short lived Club 51 label run in Chicago by Jimmie & Lillian Davis between 1955 and 1957. The label issued seven singles which are all featured here along with eight originally unissued demos and a radio promo for the label which first appeared on a Relic LP back in the early 1990s. Artists include pop/ jazz singer and piano player Prince Cooper, blues performers Rudy Greene, Sunnyland Slim and Honey Brown, R&B vocalist Bobbie James and doo-wop groups The Four Buddies (actually the Five Buddies!) and The Kings Men. Apart from a demo by The Four Buddies the other demos are by unknown vocal groups. Session accompaniments are by fine Chicago musicians like The Eddie Chamblee Combo and the Lefty Bates Band. Apart from the two tracks by Sunnyland Slim this is the first time any of these tracks have appeared on CD. The label also recorded a gospel group The Highway Travelers and an acetate exists though it unfortunately is not included here. Sound quality on some of the demos is pretty rough but the rest sound fine and there is a booklet with brief notes on the label and artists. A most worthwhile release. (FS)
 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Delmark 800 It Ain't Over - Delmark Celebrates 55 Years Of Blues ● CD $14.98
11 tracks, 64 min., highly recommended
Few realize that when Bob Koester started in the music biz, he was interested strictly in the jazz of by-gone days. Everything changed when he released the seminal Junior Wells LP "Hoodoo Man Blues." This live show, recorded at Buddy Guy's Legends, documents the 55 year Delmark anniversary party, and features that labels workhorses, including Lurrie Bell (who plays on nearly every cut!), Zora Young, the late Little Arthur Duncan, Eddie Shaw, Tail Dragger, Shirley Johnson, and the great Jimmy Johnson, whose Cold, Cold Feeling and You Don't Know What love Is stand as two of the finer cuts. First-rate notes from David Whiteis. (JC)

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Document 32-20-16 Banker'$ Blues - A Study In The Effects Of Financial Mi ● CD $15.98
23 tracks, highly recommended
The first new release in quite a while from Document and a most telling one since Document, that great repository of American vernacular music, was almost the victim of the current recession and, in particular, the behavior of the bank that they relied upon. So here we have a sobering compilation of songs about hard times, taxes and bankers - most of them more than 50 years old but all of them still chillingly relevant. It opens with Blind Alfred Reed's 1929 old timey tale of greed Money Craving Folk and the most of the tracks are blues including Frankie "Half Pint" Jaxon's Mortage Blues, the albums titular song from Big Bill Broonzy and more from The Mississippi Sheiks, Rufus Thomas, Edgewater Crows, Charley Jordan and more and ends with a a 1995 recordings by Native American rockers Russel Means Ain't No Prison For The Corporation. Be sure to listen carefully to all the lyrics - it's not just the titles that are telling! A fine collection and let's hope it helps Document survive and continue putting out great music. (FS)
BARBECUE BOB: We Sure Got Hard Times Now/ BIG BILL BROONZY: The Bankers Blues/ BO CARTER: Times Is Tight Like That/ MARTHA COPELAND: The Pawn Shop Blues/ THE EDGEWATER CROWS: No Bonus Blues/ BROTHER FULLBOSOM: A Sermon On A Silver Dollar/ BILL GAITHER: Money Kills Love/ GOLDRUSH: All My Money Is Gone/ LITTLE SON JACKSON: No Money/ FRANKIE "HALF PINT" JAXON: Mortgage Blues Pt.1 & 2/ CHARLEY JORDAN: Stack O' Dollar Blues/ CHARLIE "SPECKS" MCFADDEN: Times Are So Tight/ RUSSELL MEANS: Ain't No Prison For The Corporation/ MEMPHIS MINNIE: Million Dollar Blues/ MISSISSIPPI SHEIKS: Sales Tax/ ONE STRING SAM: I Need A Hundred Dollars/ BLIND ALFRED REED: Money Craving Folks/ BOBBY SAXTON: Trying To Make A Living/ SMITH AND HARPER: Insurance Policy Blues/ RUFUS THOMAS: Save That Money/ PEETIE WHEATSTRAW: Poor Millionaire Blues/ RALPH WILLIS: Income Tax Blues/ HOP WILSON: Broke And Hungry

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Fantastic Voyage 022 Let Me Tell You About The Blues - Memphis ● CD $22.98
This three CD set with 75 tracks devoted to blues recorded in one of the nations leading blues capitals Memphis is subtitled "The Evolution Of Memphis Blues, 1927-1958". The first 31 tracks features recordings made between 1927 and 1940 by artists like The Memphis Jug Band, Pearl Dickson, Tommy Johnson, Lonnie Johnson, Furry Lewis, Garfield Akers, Noah Lewis, Memphis Minnie, Allen Shaw, Minnie Wallace, James DeBerry and others. The rest of the recordings cover the period 1950 through 1958 - much of it from the Sun label including a number of originally unissued sides. Artists here include Joe Hill Louis, Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats, Billy Love, Rosco Gordon, Woodrow Adams, Honeyboy Edwards, Charlie Booker, Williams Stewart, Earl Hooker, Little Milton, james Cotton and many more. There's nothing new here for long time blues collectors but it makes for a nice introduction for beginners.
WOODROW ADAMS: The Last Time/ GARFIELD AKERS: Cottonfield Blues, Part 1/ KID BAILEY: Rowdy Blues/ MEMPHIS JUG BAND: Jazzbo Stomp/ KENNETH BANKS: But High/ LEWIS BLACK: Corn Liquor Blues/ CHARLIE BOOKER: Walked All Night/ ISHMAN BRACEY: Saturday Blues/ JACKIE BRENSTON & HIS DELTA CATS: Rocket "88"/ CHARLIE BURSE & HIS MEMPHIS MUDCATS: Beale Street Holiday/ JOE CALLICOTT: Fare Thee Well Blues/ GUS CANNON: Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home/ CANNON'S JUG STOMPERS: Springdale Blues/ JAMES COTTON: Cotton Crop Blues/ Straighten Up Baby/ JAMES DE BERRY & HIS MEMPHIS PLAYBOYS: Single Man Blues/ PEARL DICKSON: Little Rock Blues/ TOM DICKSON: Death Bell Blues/ LITTLE BUDDY DOYLE: Hard Scufflin Blues/ HONEYBOY EDWARDS: Sweet Home Chicago/ BILLY "THE KID" EMERSON: When It Rains It Pours/ SLEEPY JOHN ESTES: Rats In My Kitchen/ The Girl I Love, She Got Long Curly Hair/ BOYD GILMORE: Believe I ll Settle Down/ ROSCO GORDON: Booted/ Cheese And Crackers/ T Model Boogie/ PAT HARE: I m Gonna Murder My Baby/ EARL HOOKER: Blue Guitar/ WALTER HORTON: Little Boy Blue/ We All Gotta Go Sometime/ HOWLIN WOLF: Saddle My Pony/ HOWLIN' WOLF: Moanin' At Midnight/ D. A. HUNT: Greyhound Blues/ MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT: Frankie/ JIM JACKSON: I m Wild About My Lovin/ JIMMY & WALTER: Easy/ LONNIE JOHNSON: Away Down In The Alley Blues/ TOMMY JOHNSON: Big Road Blues/ B. B. KING: She s Dynamite/ Three O Clock Blues/ FURRY LEWIS: Cannon Ball Blues/ NOAH LEWIS: Chickasaw Special/ SAMMY LEWIS & WILLIE JOHNSON: Feel So Worried/ JOE HILL LOUIS: Boogie In The Park/ Hydramatic Woman/ BILLY LOVE: Juiced/ Way After Midnight/ COY "HOT SHOT" LOVE: Wolf Call Boogie/ CHARLIE MCCOY: Last Time Blues/ THE MEMPHIS JUG BAND: Sun Brimmer's Blues/ MEMPHIS MINNIE: Bumble Bee/ LITTLE MILTON: Beggin My Baby/ Lookin For My Baby/ WILLIE NIX: Seems Like A Million Years/ JOHNNY O'NEAL: Ugly Woman/ LITTLE JUNIOR PARKER: Feelin Good/ Mystery Train/ PINETOP PERKINS: Pinetop s Boogie Woogie/ ELVIS PRESLEY: Mystery Train/ That s All Right/ BLIND WILLIE REYNOLDS: Married Man Blues/ DR. ROSS: Dr Ross Boogie/ The Boogie Disease/ ALLEN SHAW: Moanin The Blues/ WILLIAM STEWART: County Farm Blues/ FRANK STOKES: Downtown Blues/ RUFUS THOMAS: Bear Cat/ Tiger Man (King Of The Jungle)/ JIM THOMPKINS: Bedside Blues/ IKE TURNER & HIS KINGS OF RHYTHM: I'm Lonesome Baby/ MINNIE WALLACE: The Cockeyed World/ BUKKA WHITE: The Panama Limited/ ROBERT WILKINS: Old Jim Canaan s/ That s No Way To Get Along

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Friday Music 1121 Texas Guitar - From Dallas To L.A. ● CD $15.98
14 tracks, 40s mins, essential
This is the first CD reissue of Atlantic 7226 issued in 1972 as part of the label's "Blues Originals" series. This one is devoted to Texas bluesman as well as some from nearby states - some who recorded in Los Angeles. The set is dominated by eight tracks from superb country blues singer and guitarist William Houston who had one single issued as Soldier Boy Houston and the other as Lawyer Houston! In addition to those singles this set includes four originally unissued sides. Houston sings in a low key style accompanying himself with a churning, rhythmic guitar style - a little like that of Lil' Son Jackson. A number of the songs have a strong autobiographical feel to them and aprt from Hug Me Baby are all completely original. The rest of the album is urban blues and opens with Al King's superb cover of Lowell Fulson's Reconsider Baby with spectacular guitar work from Johnny Heartsman. The great T-Bone Walker is featured on two originally unissued sides including T-Bone Blues SpecialTin Pan Alley acquired from Bob Geddins Veltone label. There are also fine sides from R.S. Rankin and Guitar Slim. Most of this material has been reissued on CD before but a couple haven't and it's nice to have the original in its entirety and newly remastered from the Atlantic master tapes sounds really magnificent. Pete Lowry's original notes have been reproduced from the L.P. liner and, unless you have better than 20/20 vision you're gonna need a magnifying glass to read them.
 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Fuel 61732 World's Greatest Blues Live ● CD $16.98
2 CDs, 2 hours 30 min., 30 tracks, highly recommended
Actually a repackaging of two previous Fuel 2000 CDs with a slipcase around them. One, the excellent "The Best Of The Blues Live" has been difficult to find, and the other, "The Greatest Blues Show On Earth!," while available, is no less deserving of attention. The liner notes, such as they are (Fuel says they are saving trees and the planet by not proving detailed information of these performances, so let's give them a big 'Thanks plenty!' when we see them) provide no information on the recording dates or locations. In general, the tracks seem to be drawn from previous Fuel releases. For example, Albert Collins Iceman would appear to be from his 1992 Mount Fuji show in Japan. And many of the cuts seem to be later-day recordings, though that is not a comment on their quality; these are top flight performances all, and some appear to be unavailable on CD except for this set. You get Muddy Waters (Caldonia, Big Joe Turner (Flip, Flop & Fly), Bo Diddley Road Runner, John Lee Hooker (Hard Times), Otis Spann Country Boy Blues, Otis Rush All My Love, and more, and that's just part of the first CD. Green light all the way. (JC)
CLIMAX BLUES BAND: Sjake Your Love/ ALBERT COLLINS: Frosty/ Iceman/ BO DIDDLEY: Road Runner/ BUDDY GUY & JUNIOR WELLS: Country Girl/ Messin' with the Kid/ JOHN LEE HOOKER: Boogie Chillen'/ Hard Times/ LIGHTNIN' HOPKINS: Baby Please Don't Go/ One Eyed Woman/ Chain Gang Blues/ ETTA JAMES: Stormy Monday/ ALBERT KING: Born Under a Bad Sign/ FREDDIE KING: Key to the Highway/ J.B. LENOIR & SUNNYLAND SLIM: Mojo Boogie/ JOHN MAYALL & THE BLUESBREAKERS: It Ain't Right/ MISSISSIPPI FRED MCDOWELL: I Asked for Whiskey, She Brought Me Gasoline/ FENTON ROBINSON: Somebody Loan Me a Dime/ OTIS RUSH: All My Love/ Gambler's Blues/ OTIS SPANN: Country Boy Blues/ BIG MAMA THORNTON: Rock Me Baby/ BIG JOE TURNER: Flip, Flop & Fly/ MUDDY WATERS: Caldonia/ Mannish Boy/ ROBERT PETE WILLIAMS: Lonesome Blues/ SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON: Highway 69/ Night Time Is the Right Time/ JOHNNY WINTER: Black Cat Bone/ BILL WYMAN'S RHYTHM KINGS: Bright Lights, Big City

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Jasmine JASBOX 11 Bands That Boogie Woogie ● CD $31.98
Four Cd set, 103 tracks, highly recommended
A great collection of sides devoted to boogie woogie. Instead of the usual solo piano boogie this collection features groups playing the style though frequently including a piano intro or break in boogie woogie style. Though there is no discographical information I would think that most of the material here ranges from the late 30s through the early 50s and ranging from small groups to large orchestras and including several vocal tracks. Most of the bands are American though there are a few British bands including the Ted Heath Orchestra featuring the dynamic piano work of West Indian born pianist Winifred Atwell. A very wide array of performers are featured including Tommy Dorsey & His Orch., Frankie Carle & Orch., Gene Krupa & His Orch., Sidney Bechet & His New Orleans Feetwarmers, Harry James & His Orch., Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five, Teddy Powell & His Orch., Billy Penrose Quartet, Chas Hall & Digby Fairweather (British duo with a hot boogie version of Summertime), Lionel Hampton & His Orch., Sid Phillips & His Orch., Benny Goodman Sextet, Ella Fitzgerald with The Ink Spots, Bob Zurke & His Orch., Big Jay McBeely, Stan Kenton & His Orch. and many more. Sound quality is superb - it's a shame that documentation consists only of a brief introduction. But the music speaks for itself. (FS)
HENRY 'RED' ALLEN: K.K. Boogie/ ALBERT AMMONS: Boogie Woogie Stomp/ Shufflin' The Boogie/ Swanee River Boogie/ The Sheik Of Araby/ Twelfth Street Boogie/ KENNY BAKER: Bakers Boogie/ COUNT BASIE: Basie Boogie/ Hob Nail Boogie/ House Rent Boogie/ Red Bank Boogie/ The Mad Boogie/ Wild Bill's Boogie/ SIDNEY BECHET: Preachin' The Blues/ BUSTER BENNETT: I Want To Boogie Woogie/ WILL BRADLEY: Basin Street Boogie/ Beat Me Daddy Eight To The Bar (Parts 1 & 2)/ Boogie Woogie Conga/ Chicken Gumboogie/ I Boogied When I Should Have Woogied/ Rhumboogie/ Rock A Bye The Boogie/ Scrub Me Mama With A Boogie Beat/ HADDA BROOKS: Nightmare Boogie/ TOMMY BROWN: Atlanta Boogie/ CAB CALLOWAY: The Calloway Boogie/ FRANKIE CARLE: Carle Boogie/ CARMEN CAVALLERO: Anitra's Boogie/ LARRY CLINTON: Bach To Boogie/ BOB CROSBY: Honky Tonk Train Blues/ Yancey Special/ JOE DANIELS: Boogie For Googie/ Boogie Woogie March/ Can Can Boogie/ TOMMY DORSEY: Boogie Woogie/ ELLA FITZGERALD: Cow Cow Boogie/ LLOYD GLENN: Rampart Street Jump/ BENNY GOODMAN: Grand Slam/ Roll 'Em/ Roll 'Em/ EDMOND HALL: Downtown Café Boogie/ CHAS HALL AND DIGBY FAIRWEATHER: Boogie For 2/ Summertime/ LIONEL HAMPTON: Beulah's Sister's Boogie/ Bouncin' At The Beacon/ Hamp's Boogie Woogie # 1/ Hamp's Walkin' Boogie/ Munson Street Breakdown/ Tempo's Boogie/ Two Finger Boogie/ ERSKINE HAWKINS: After Hours/ TED HEATH: Dinah Boogie/ WOODY HERMAN: Chip's Boogie Woogie/ Indian Boogie Woogie/ Pinetop's Blues/ The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy/ EARL HINES: Boogie Woogie On St Louis Blues/ HARRY JAMES: Back Beat Boogie/ Boo Woo/ Trumpet Blues & Cantabile/ Woo Woo/ BUDDY JOHNSON: Boogie Woogie's Mother-In-Law/ DON JOHNSON: State Street Boogie/ PETE JOHNSON: Half Tight Boogie/ Rock House Boogie/ Skid Row Boogie/ Wine O Baby Boogie/ Wrinkle Head Boogie/ LUKE JONES: Jump The Boogie/ Shufflin' The Boogie/ LOUIS JORDAN: Caldonia Boogie/ Choo Choo Ch'Boogie/ STAN KENTON: Artistry In Boogie/ Stardust Boogie/ ANDY KIRK: Little Joe From Chicago/ GENE KRUPA: Drum Boogie/ JOE LUTCHER: Society Boogie/ FREDDY MARTIN: Bumble Boogie/ Sabre Dance Boogie/ BIG JAY MCNEELY: K & H Boogie/ FREDDIE MITCHELL: Doby's Boogie/ KID ORY: Ory's Boogie/ BILLY PENROSE: Boogie In Black And White/ Boogie In The Groove/ SID PHILLIPS: Hors D'oeuvre/ Kissin' Bug Boogie/ TEDDY POWELL: Bluebird Boogie Woogie/ Teddy Bear Boogie/ SAMMY PRICE: The Dirty Dozens/ HARRY ROY: Cross Hands Boogie/ THE SKYROCKETS: Boogie In C/ FREDDIE SLACK: Be-Bop Boogie/ Boogie In G Minor/ Mr Freddie's Boogie/ Southpaw Serenade/ Strange Cargo/ JACK TEAGARDEN: Boogie Woogie/ T-BONE WALKER: T-Bone Boogie/ BOB ZURKE: Cow Cow Blues/ Cuban Bug Boogie/ Rhumboogie/ Southern Exposure/ Tom Cat On The Keys

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS JSP JSPCD 77122 The Bob Geddins Blues Legacy ● CD $19.98
Four CDs, 107 tracks, very highly recommended with reservations
Bob Geddins one of the most important entrepreneurs in the post war black music scene on the West Coast. Geddins, originally from Texas was a singer, songwriter, promoter who was also a skilled electrician, radio repairman and pipe fitter who built his own pressing plant. In spite of all his talents Geddins was a naieve businessman who tried to conduct his business based on trust and often found himself at the wrong end of business deals. He ran numerous record labels throughout his career making some the first recordings of legendary West Coast blues figures. Under the guidance of Opal Louis Nations the British Acrobat label was doing an extensive series of reissues of Geddins material which was not completed due to the demise of the Acrobat label. Now JSP has stepped in and put out this four CD selection which is exclusively devoted to Geddins blues records - the Acrobat series also included gospel and some pop oriented material. About 3/4 of the material here has been reissued by Acrobat with the rest being material that would have been reissued had the series continued. If you check my reviews of the Acrobat CDs you will know that Geddins recorded some exceptionally fine music and so all the music here is outstanding including artists like Lowell Fulson, Jimmy McCracklin, Jimmy Wilson, Roy Hawkins, Willie B. Huff, K.C. Douglas, James Reed, King Soloman Trio, Johnny Fuller and many others. Unlike the in depth notes on the Acrobat releases the notes here are confined to four page booklets with each CD. I would certainly recommend that you get the Acrobat releases first, while they are still around, and then get this one to fill in the gaps or if you are only interested in Geddins's blues recordings. In an ideal world JSP would have picked up the series where Acrobat left off but of course it isn't an ideal world and even if you have to get this for the tracks not on the Acrobat sets it's probably worth it as there is some great material there. (FS)
ANGEL FACE WITH FRANK MOTLEY: Don't Ever Leave Me Again/ JUKE BOY BONNER: Rock with Me Baby/ Well Baby/ K.C. DOUGLAS: Mercury Boogie/ K.C. Boogie/ Lonely Boy Blues/ EMERY FRANKLIN: Lonesome Blues/ JOHNNY FULLER: Bad Luck Overtook Me/ Comin' Round the Corner/ First Stage of the Blues/ Fool's Paradise/ How Long/ I Can't Succeed/ Lovin' Lovin' Man/ Mama Told Me/ Mean Old World/ Remember/ Roughest Place in Town/ Strange Land/ Sunny Road/ Too Late to Change/ Train Train Blues/ Weeping and Mourning/ LOWELL FULSON: 9: 30 Shuffle/ Fulson Boogie/ Highway '99'/ Jelly, Jelly/ Let's Throw a Boogie Woogie/ Mean Woman Blues/ My Baby Left Me/ Prison Bound/ Stormin' and Rainin'/ Tell Me Baby/ Thinking Blues/ Trying to Find My Baby/ Whiskey Blues/ FATS GAINES: He's a Real Fine Man/ Home Work Blues/ BOB GEDDINS' CAVALIERS: Irma Jean Blues/ ROY HAWKINS: Ain't No Fault of Mine/ They Raided the Joint/ WILLIE B. HUFF: Beggar Man Blues/ I Love You Baby/ I've Been Thinkin' and Thinkin'/ Operator 209/ JOHNNY INGRAM & HIS RHYTHM CZARS WITH WINDY MOR: Jubudy/ JOHNNY INGRAM & HIS RHYTHM CZARS WITH JIMMY NEL: Red Light Gotta Go/ JOHNNY INGRAM & HIS RHYTHM CZARS: Ridin' Hi/ Streamlined Baby/ ULYSSES JAMES: Poor Boy/ KING SOLOMAN TRIO: Baby, I'm Cutting Out/ Mean Train/ LITTLE CAESAR: Big Eyes/ Can't Stand It All Alone/ What Kind of Fool/ Wonder Why I'm Leaving/ JOE HILL LOUIS: Bad Woman Blues/ Hydramatic Woman/ SIDNEY MAIDEN: Eclipse of the Sun/ JIMMY MCCRACKLIN: Bad Luck and Trouble/ Beer Tavern Girl/ Big Foot Mama/ Fare-Well/ I Can't Understand Love/ I Wanna Make Love to You/ I'm the One/ Jimmy's Blues/ Listen Woman/ Low Down Mood/ Miss Minnie Lee Blues/ My Love for You/ Playin' on Me/ Railroad Blues/ Rock and Rye/ Savoy's Jump/ She's My Baby/ South Side Mood/ Take a Chance/ When I'm Gone/ You're the One/ JAMES REED: Things Ain't What They Used to Be/ You Better Hold Me/ BIG MAMA THORNTON & THE HI-TONES: Big Mama's Coming Home/ Don't Talk Back/ MERCY DEE WALTON: Main Event/ Trailing My Baby/ THE WEST SIDE TRIO: So Tired I Could Cry/ West Side Jump/ TURNER WILLIS: Re-Enlisted Blues/ JIMMY WILSON: Big Town Jump/ Blues at Sundown/ Blues in the Alley/ Call Me a Hound Dog/ I Found Out/ I Used to Love a Woman/ Instrumental Jump/ Jumpin' from Six to Six/ Mistake in Life/ Mountain Climber/ Nobody's Business/ Oh Red/ Oh Red/ Strangest Blues/ Teardrops on My Pillow/ Tin Pan Alley/ Trouble in My Home/ Woman Is a Woman

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS JSP JSPCD 77126 Nuggets From The Golden Age Of Gospel, 1945-1958 ● CD $19.98
Just arrived. Fabulous new four CD box set compiled and annotated by gospel expert Opal Louis Nations featuring 105 great gospel recordings cut between 1945 and 1958 - mostly quartet singing along some solo vocalists. The material includes some of gospel's biggest names (Five Blind Boy Of Alabama, Sensational Nightingales, Soul Stirrers, Golden Gate Quartet, Dixie Hummingbirds, Rev. James Cleveland, etc), gospel recordings featuring artists who became better known in other fields (Frank Sinatra with The Charioteers, Sly Stone, Candi Staton & The Jewel Gospel Trio, Ann Cole & The Colemanaires, O.V. Wright & The Sunset Travelers, etc.) and lots of great but obscure artists making their first appearance on CD (The Golden Melodeers, Mary DeLoach, Keys Of Heaven, Ever Ready Gospel Singers, Dixieland Singers, Royal Travelers, Original Gospel Stars, Leon Lumpkins & The Gospel Clefs, etc.).
THE AFRO QUINTETTE: Toll the Bells/ GENE ALLISON & THE ISRAELITE TRAVELERS: Send My Child Home To Me/ INEZ ANDREWS & THE CARAVANS: I'm Not Tired Yet/ THE ANGELIC GOSPEL SINGERS & THE DIXIE HUMMI: One Day/ THE ARGO GOSPEL SINGERS: He's Alright With Me/ PAUL ARNOLD & THE GOSPELAIRES: It's a Pity/ REVEREND DR. MORGAN BABB & THE PHILCO SINGERS: Wonder How Long/ REV. BALLENGER: This Train/ SISTER LUCILE BARBEE: Where Could I Go/ THE BELLS OF JOY: There'll Be No More Sorrow/ MADAME EMILY BRAM: Each Day/ NAPPY BROWN & SELAH JUBILEE SINGERS: Who So Ever Will/ SHIRLEY CAESAR: I'd Rather Serve Jesus/ WYNONA CARR: There is Rest For the Weary/ HAZEL CHATMAN WITH THE GOLDEN HARMONIZERS: He Knows How Much You Can Bear/ JUDY CLAY & THE DRINKARD SINGERS: That's Enough/ REV. JAMES CLEVELAND & THE CARAVANS: Old Time Religion/ HARDIE CLIFTON & THE BROOKLYN ALL-STARS: Careless Soul/ DOROTHY LOVE COATES & THE GOSPEL HARMONETTES: Love Lifted Me/ ANN COLE & THE COLMANAIRES: Out On the Ocean Sailing/ THE CONSOLERS: Glad To Be In the Number/ MDME EDNA GALLMON COOKE & THE MT. VERNON MEN'S CHOIR: Angels, Angels, Angels/ SAM COOKE & THE SOUL STIRRERS: Pilgrim of Sorrow (Take 1)/ REV. H.B. CRUM & THE GOLDEN KEYS: So Glad I'm Here/ SISTER ETHEL DAVENPORT WITH BROWNIE MCGHEE: World Can't Do Me No Harm, The/ THE DEEP RIVER BOYS: I'm Tramping/ MARY DELOACH: The Lord's Gospel Train/ THE DELTA SOUTHERNAIRES: Bye and Bye, Part 1/ THE DETROIT HARMONETTES: I Need Thee/ THE DIXIE HUMMINGBIRDS: Let's Go Out To the Programs, Part 2/ THE DIXIELAND SINGERS: Our Prayer/ THE EVENING STAR QUARTET: Jesus, I'll Never Forget/ THE EVER-READY GOSPEL SINGERS: One Day When I Was Walking (I'm In His Care)/ THE FAIRFIELD FOUR: Come Over Here/ THE FIVE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA: Mother's Song/ THE FIVE BLIND BOYS OF MISSISSIPPI: Let's Have Church/ THE FIVE SOUL STIRRERS: Walk Around/ THE FLOWERS OF JOY: At the Cross/ REVEREND C.L. FRANKLIN WITH ARETHA, ERMA & CAROLINE: Wings of Faith/ EVELYN FREEMAN & THE EXCITING VOICES CHORUS: Didn't It Rain/ THE GOLDEN GATE QUARTET: Same Train/ THE GOSPEL SONGBIRDS: God's Creation/ THE GOSPEL TONES: Roll, Jordan, Roll/ BESSIE GRIFFIN & THE CARAVANS: Let Us Run/ BESSIE GRIFFIN & THE CONSOLATORS: Every Now and Then (Take 2)/ TONY HARRIS & THE TRAVELING FOUR: All On the Altar/ R.H. HARRIS WITH THE CHRISTLAND SINGERS: Nothing Will Move Me (From the Love of God)/ JOE HINTON & THE SPIRIT OF MEMPHIS: I Need Thee/ HOWARD "SLIM" HUNT & THE SUPREME ANGELS: Jesus Let Me Sleep/ MAHALIA JACKSON: No Matter How You Pray/ REVEREND CLAUDE JETER & THE SWAN SILVERTONES: Jesus Remembers/ THOMAS JOHNSON & THE HARMONIZING FOUR: How Far Am I From Canaan/ THE JONES BROTHERS QUARTET: Amazing Grace/ THE KELLY BROTHERS: Prayer For Tomorrow/ THE KEYS OF HEAVEN: Jesus Bears the Cross/ MARIE KNIGHT: Trouble In Mind/ JOE LIGON & THE MIGHTY CLOUDS OF JOY: Jesus is Real/ LITTLE SUGAR & THE HIGHTOWER BROTHERS: Come By Here/ JOE VAN LOAN & THE CANAANITES: Lead Me To That Rock/ BROTHER BILL LOUIS (UTAH SMITH): Two Wings Flying Home, Parts 1 & 2/ LEON LUMPKINS & THE GOSPEL CLEFS: Open Our Eyes/ THE ROBERTA MARTIN SINGERS: Rock My Soul/ BROTHER JOE MAY: Mother Bowed/ THE MAYFLOWER SINGERS: Ship of Zion/ GOLDEN MELODEERS: He Knows My Heart/ THE MITCHELL AIRES QUARTET: Lord, Will I Meet Them Again/ REV. GATEMOUTH MOORE & THE BESSEMER SUNSET FOUR: They Buried Sin, Part 1/ OLLIE NIGHTINGALE & THE DIXIE NIGHTINGALES: I've Been Lifted/ THE ORIGINAL GOSPEL STARS: I Want To Go To Heaven/ PHIL PHILLIPS & THE GATEWAY QUARTET: Four & Twenty Elders/ THE PILGRIM JUBILEES: Angel/ THE PRISONAIRES: My God is Real/ THE RADIO FOUR: Sending Up This Prayer, Part 2/ LOU RAWLS & THE CHOSEN GOSPEL SINGERS: Walk With Me/ LOU RAWLS & THE PILGRIM TRAVELERS: Come Home/ DELLA REECE & THE MEDITATIONS: Hard To Get Along/ ROSCOE ROBINSON WITH HUEY BROWN & THE SILVER QU: Sinner's Crossroads/ CLEOPHUS ROBINSON WITH SISTER JOSEPHINE JONES: I Can See So Much/ THE ROYAL SONS QUINTET: Bedside of a Neighbor/ THE ROYAL TRAVELERS: Yes It's Me Lord, That Came To Thee/ THE SENSATIONAL NIGHTINGALES: Burying Ground/ ROSA SHAW: On the Highway/ CECIL SHAW & THE UNION SPIRITUAL HARMONIZERS: Jesus Be My Keeper/ FRANK SINATRA & THE CHARIOTEERS: I've Got a Home In That Rock/ WILLIE MAE FORD SMITH: Jesus is the Name/ THE SOUL STIRRERS: The Love of God (Take 1)/ THE SOUTHERN TRAVELERS: I Can See Everybody's Mother/ THE STAPLE SINGERS: Uncloudy Day/ THE STARLIGHT SINGERS: Lord Have Mercy/ CANDI STATON & THE JEWEL GOSPEL TRIO: Jesus is Listening/ SLY STONE: Walking In Jesus Name/ THE SWANEE QUINTET: Cry Sometime/ JOHNNIE TAYLOR & THE HIGHWAY QC'S: I Was So Happy/ LITTLE JOHNNY TAYLOR & THE STARS OF BETHEL: There is a Fountain/ SISTER ROSETTA THARPE: Didn't It Rain/ SONNY TIL & THE ORIOLES: The Lord's Prayer/ JACKIE VERDELL & THE DAVIS SINGERS: I've Been Changed/ THE VICTORY FIVE: I Never Knew/ THE VIOLINAIRES: Another Soldier Gone/ ROSIE WALLACE & THE IMPERIAL GOSPEL SINGERS: My Father's House/ THE CLARA WARD SINGERS WITH SAM WHINHAM: Didn't It Rain/ MADAME ERNESTINE WASHINGTON WITH THE MILLERAIRES: Holding On, Part 2/ MARION WILLIAMS & THE STARS OF FAITH: When I Lay This Body Down/ O.V. WRIGHT & THE SUNSET TRAVELERS: Sit Down and Rest Awhile/ THE ZION TRAVELERS: Where is My Wandering Chil

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Retroworld 6026 Snakebite II ● CD $24.98
Two CDs, 57 tracks, very highly recommended
This is the second two CD set devoted to recordings made in the 50s for the Chicago based Cobra and Artistic labels. The first volume (Retroworld 6007 - $24.98) mostly featured the familiar issued recordings of Otis Rush, Magic Sam and Buddy Guy. This one explores the some of the rest of the Cobra catalog - most of it Chicago blues at its best. There are a number of alternate takes by Otis, Buddy and Magic Sam along with sides by Shakey Jake (with great guitar from his nephew Magic Sam), Duke Jenkins (fine instrumental R&B), Betty Everett, Lee Jackson, The Clouds, Clarence Jolly, Ike Turner & The Kings Of Rhytm, Sunnyland Slim, Louis Myers, Morris Pejoe, Charles Clark (mediocre vocals but great accompaniments from Sonny Boy Williamson, Otis Rush and others), Sonny Boy Willoamson (two great originally unissued tracks), Arbee Stidham (with twin harmonica accompaniment from Sonny Boy Williamson and Walter Horton!), Little Willie Foster and others. Although most of this material has been reissued at one time or another much of it is not currently available and the music ranges from excellent to sensational! Sound quality is superb and booklet has some nice photos but practically no notes and no discographical information. (FS)
 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Saga Blues 982 077-7 She's My Cook ... But She Burns My Bread Sometimes ● CD $13.98
Another thematic collection from the French Saga Blues label. This one is devoted to one of the most popular sexual metaphors - that of food and cooking. With tracks like Banana In Your Fruit Masket by Bo Carter, Anybody Here Wamnt To Try My Cabbage by Maggie Jones, He's A Jelly Roll Baker by Lonnie JOhnson, etc. Unfortunately like some of their other thematic collections they don't hit the mark all the time. I'm not sure why they felt it necesarry to include both parts of two part songs from Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie, Son House and Bessie Smith when only one verse in each song is food relted. It's not like there is a shortage of much more relevant material to choose from.
LUCILLE BOGAN: Barbecue Bess/ Coffee Grindin Blues/ BIG BILL BROONZY: Milk Cow Blues/ BO CARTER: Banana In Your Fruit Basket/ She's Your Cook, But She Burns My Bread Sometimes/ JIMMIE GORDON: She Sells Good Meat/ SON HOUSE: My Black Mama, Parts 1 & 2/ LIL JOHNSON: Get Em From The Peanuts Man/ Hottest Gal In Town/ My Stove's In Good Condition/ Sam The Hot Dog Man/ Youll Never Miss Your Jelly Till Your Jelly Rollers Gone/ LONNIE JOHNSON: He's A Jelly Roll Baker/ ROBERT JOHNSON: Milkcows Calf Blues/ MAGGIE JONES: Anybody Here Want To Try My Cabbage/ SARA MARTIN: Kitchen Man Blues/ MEMPHIS MINNIE & KANSAS JOE: What Fault You Find Of Me? Parts 1 & 2/ BESSIE SMITH: Empty Bed Blues, Parts 1 & 2/ ST. LOUIS BESSIE: Sugar Man Blues/ WASHBOARD SAM: Barbecue

 
AL "CAKE" WICHARD SEXTETTE Ace CDCHD 1233 Cake Walkin' - The Modern Recordings, 1947-48 ● CD $18.98
24 tracks, highly recommended Al "Cake" Wichard may not exactly be a household name (except in the Wichard household) but he was very active figure on the West Coast blues scene in the 40s. Very little is known about his life - he was probably born in Arkansas in 1919, learned drums at some point and arrived on the West Coast in the 1940s and started his career with Jay McShann's band. In addition to his work as a session musician he also recorded a number of sessions for Modern under his own name and the recordings here show that he attracted some of the top vocalists to sing with him as many of the tracks here feature the vocals of Jimmy Witherspoon or Duke Henderson - some of which have been reissued before under the respective vocalists name. There are several fine instrumentals, a couple featuring the piano of Jay McShann and a couple of improvzed instrumentals featuring the guitar of Pee Wee Crayton. Fine West Coast jump blues. (FS)

 
REVEREND JASPER WILLIAMS AIR Gospel 7066 I Fell In Love With A Prostitute ● CD $9.98
1 track, 55 min., recommended
No, it's not the good reverend who has fallen in love with a fallen lover; although that would make for an interesting sermon as well. Williams draws his sermon from Hosea 1:2, where Hosea is induced into falling in love with a beautiful woman of ill repute, Gomer. The inducer, who would seem to be God, shows Hosea a thing or two about what it's like to lose the thing (one) you most love. Rev. C. L. Franklin preached on the same subject on one of his many records. At its heart, the sermon is about the faithlessness and infidelity of women, some of them anyway. As Williams puts it, "There is no trouble like love trouble." The Reverend is skilled at taking the word and fleshing it out a bit, recasting it in colorful ways that his congregation cannot help but find entertaining and familiar. Instead of saying 'You know when your woman is cheating' and leaving it at that, he comes out with, "You know when there's a dead cat on the line." Near the end of the sermon, after the lesson has been learned, Williams (from the sound of it) wades into the pews for some huffing and puffing, which must have been terribly exciting to witness but offers little profit for his listeners at home, devolving as it does into little more than muffled noise. Still, a stirring bit of work and a fun CD to leave lying around the coffee table when company comes. (JC)

 
ROBERT PETE WILLIAMS Southland SCD 4 Broken-Hearted Man ● CD $13.98
Superb collection of sides recorded in December 1971 by this magnificent and unique Louisiana bluesman appearing on CD for the first time.

 

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