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NEWSLETTER #124
Blues & Gospel
Various Artists - > Jody Williams
 

VARIOUS ARTISTS
MUDDY WATERS
KENNY "BLUES BOSS" WAYNE
JODY WILLIAMS
 

VARIOUS ARTISTS Yazoo 2063 Times Ain't Like They Used To Be, Vol. 5 ● CD $15.98
23 tracks, 69 mins, essential. Another fantastic collection of rural blues and country music from the 20s and 30s. There are some fabulous blues rarities here including one side of the great Blind Joe Reynolds 78 that only turned up recently (Cold Woman Blues - the same side that was issued on the Revenant Charlie Patton box), a previously unknown track by Ben Covington that's a real beauty and a great track by an unknown performer recorded on the same day as a Blind Lemon Jefferson session - whoever he is he's very fine indeed. As if that isn't enough the booklet has previously unpublished pictures from the 30s of Skip James and Buddy Boy Hawkins! I'm not as familiar with the country artists here but there are some beautiful performances from Sam McGee, Weems String Band, The Garland Brothers & Grinstead (lovely old time gospel), J.P. Nestor & Norman Edmonds, The Grayson County Railsplitters, The Murphy Brothers Harp Band, Wyzee, Tucker & Lecroy and others. And there's more blues from Skip James, Buddy Boy Hawkins, Charley Patton and more. Sound quality is superb and the 16 page booklet has excellent, if occasionally patronizing, notes by Rich Nevins.

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Yazoo 2064 Times Ain't Like They Used To Be, Vol. 6 ● CD $15.98
23 tracks, 69 mins, highly recommended More wonderful stuff including the other side of the Blind Joe Reynolds 78 - Ninety Nine Blues plus more great blues from Tenderfoot Edwards (aka Edward Thompson), Mississippi Moaner, Skip James, Charley Patton, Louie Lasky and Eli Framer. On the country side we have Eck Robertson's pioneer recording of Sally Gooden reissued for the first time the correct speed plus sides by Birkhead & Lane, Parker & Dodd, Virginia Mountain Boomers, Jess Johnston & Byrd Moore, Red Headed Fiddlers, The Swamp Rooters, Turney Brothers and others. (FS)

 
MUDDY WATERS Chess 112 822 Real Folk Blues/ More Real Folk Blues ● CD $18.98
Essential! Two great LPs from the mid 60s on one CD previously available as individual CDs). "Real" is a great collection of Muddy tracks covering the period from his earliest Aristocrat recording Gypsy Woman in 1947 to his excellent Same Thing from 1964 where after a few years of relatively unexciting recordings he recorded this gem along with the almost as good You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never had. Along the way we have his magnificent Screamin' & Crying where Muddy's slide guitar is particularly lyrical and the piano accompaniment by Johnny Jones is utterly exquisite. Also included are his take off of Bo diddley's I'm A man which Muddy called Mannish Boy, the urgent Just To be With You, his all time classics Walking Blues & Rollin' & Tumblin' and others. "More Real" is great collection of 12 sides recorded between 1948 and 1952 including several not originally issued on 78 or 45. Includes 4 Aristocrat sides with Muddy's searing guitar accompanied only by Big Crawford's thundering string bass (beautifully brought on this remastering). Includes a version of Robert Johnson's Kind Hearted Woman and the powerful Whiskey Blues. Most of the other tracks add Little Walter's lyrical harmonica and the interplay between Muddy's guitar and Walter's harmonica on tracks like Sad Letter & Too Young To Know is positively magical. Other tracks include Down South Blues/ Hello Little Girl/ She's Alright, etc.
MUDDY WATERS: Appealing Blues (hello Little Girl)/ Canary Bird/ Down South Blues/ Early Morning Blues/ Forty Days And Forty Nights/ Gypsy Woman/ Honey Bee/ Just To Be With You/ Kind Hearted Woman/ Landlady/ Little Geneva/ Mannish Boy/ Rollin' And Tumblin', Pt. 1/ Sad Letter Blues/ Same Thing/ Screamin' And Cryin'/ She's Alright/ Sittin' Here And Drinkin' (whiskey Blues)/ Too Young To Know/ Train Fare Home Blues/ Walkin' Blues/ Walking Thru The Park/ You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had/ You're Gonna Need My Help I Said

 
KENNY "BLUES BOSS" WAYNE Electro-Fi 3371 88th & Jump Street ● CD $15.98
New album from this fine singer and piano player. Original songs with solid band including guest apperances by Jeff Healey, Mel Brown, Bob Stroger & Willie "Big Eyes" Smith.

 
JODY WILLIAMS Evidence 26120 Return Of A Legend ● CD $15.98
13 tracks, 56 mins, essential Jody Williams is back .. with a vengeance! As Bill Dahl points out in his excellent notes the term "legend" is bandied about too freely these days but in the case of Jody Williams it's justified. He was among the most influential guitarists on the Chicago scene in the late 50s and early 60s but his name is not too well known as most of his work was as a session guitarist and he quit music in 1964 for a more secure job working for Xerox. Chances are you've heard him though as he has played on sessions by Howling Wolf, Jimmy Rogers, Bo Diddley, Jimmy Witherspoon and many others. The handful of singles issued under his own name are prized by collectors and held in awe by blues guitarists. After retiring from his day job in 1995 he finally allowed himself to be persuaded to perform and record again and under the expert guidance of his long time friend Dick Shurman who produced this album he has come up with what surely is going to be the new blues album of 2002. He is backed by solid rhythm section, occasional horns and occasional guest musicians (Billy Boy Arnold, Rusty Zinn, etc). The songs and tunes are all originals including remakes of some of his classic singles and a whole slew of new compositions. Jody is a tremendous singer with a powerful and warm quality and the slightly offhand approach is particularly suited to some of the wry songs he writes. His guitar playing is dazzling - not flashy, though he can play fast when necessary, but full of wonderfully constructed solos loaded with invention. If some of his licks sound familiar from other guitarists playing chances are Jody originated them! An exceptional release. (FS)

 

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