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P-Vine
Japanese Imports
Blues
& Gospel
The Aces -> Freddy Robinson
| THE ACES |
P-Vine PCD 5514 |
Chicago Beat |
● CD $22.98 |
Reissue of French Black & Blue with four previously
unissued bonus tracks.
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CLARENCE
"GATEMOUTH" BROWN |
P-Vine PCD 5529 |
The Blues Ain't Nothin' |
● CD $22.98 |
14 tracks recorded for the French Black & Blue label
between 1971 and 1973 with Mickey Baker, Arnett Cobb, Milt Buckner, Jay
McShann and others. Two tracks are previously unissued.
CLARENCE "GATEMOUTH" BROWN: Ain't That Just Like A Woman/ Blues
Ain't Nothing/ Caldonia/ Dirty Work At The Crossroad/ If I Get Lucky/ Let
The Good Times Roll/ Piney Brown Blues/ Please Tell Me Baby/ Sad Sad Hour/
She Winked her Eye/ Slow Down/ Somebody Done Changed The Lock On My Door/
The Poeple/ You Got Money
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| THE CARTER BROTHERS |
P-Vine PCD 5292 |
Coming Back Singing The Blues |
● CD $22.98 |
13 tracks, 54 mins, recommended Roman, Albert & Jerry
Carter recorded some terrific tough blues for Jewel in the mid/late 60s
but then disappeared off the scene in the 70s. They reunited a few years
ago and recorded this excellent album which was only issued in Japan. Most
of the songs are originals by members of the group (Things Gotta
Change/ Coming Back Singing The Blues/ Wrong Number, etc) and are good
ones. There are a couple of remakes of their Jewel sides (Southern
Country Boy/ Why Baby, Why, etc.) and a couple of covers (Can't Get
Next To You/ Further On Up The Road). Lead vocalist Roman is a
powerful singer though, dynamically, a bit one dimensional. Albert plays
some nice guitar though it is often buried in the mix. The are accompanied
by a good sized group with horns, keyboard, etc who provide tasteful
accompaniments. Not an earthshaker but definitely worth while. (FS)
THE CARTER BROTHERS: Anything For You/ Can't Get Next To You/ Coming Back
Singing The Blues/ Don't Pity Me/ Further On Up The Road/ It's Gonna Hurt/
Let Me Love You/ Queen Bee/ Southern Country Boy/ Things Gotta Change/ Why
Baby Why/ Wonderful Girl/ Wrong Number
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| LARRY DAVIS |
P-Vine PCD 5402 |
Sweet Little Angel - Virgo & Kent
Recordings, 1968-69 |
● CD $22.98 |
15 tracks, 52 mins, essential
Larry Davis was one of the
finest of the soul-blues singers with a lovely expressive vocal style.
Unlike some of his contemporaries his recorded output was fairly meagre so
this collection of 1969 recordings is particularly welcome. Produced for
B.B. King's production company, a couple of cuts were issued on B.B.'s
Virgo label, some were issed on Kent and six tracks were never issued
before. Sessions were cut in St. Louis (then Larry's home) under the
guidance of Oliver Sain and in Los Angeles by producer Maxwell Davis.
There's a fine selection of songs including one of the best versions of
the wonderful The Years Go Passing By originally recorded by his
former boss Fenton Robinson - the combination of Larry's aching vocals and
Wesley Farmer's lyrical guitar is simply spine chilling. The previously
unissued Something About You is another superb minor key slow
burner along the lines of Passing. There are a number of fine
original songs written by Larry (What They Do To Me/ I've Been Hurt So
Many Times/ It Can Only Hurt For So Long, etc.) and, not surprisingly,
a number of B.B. King songs (You Upset Me Baby/ Sweet Sixteen/ Woke Up
This Morning, etc) which Larry makes his own. He is accompanied by
fine small groups - the guitar player on the St. Louis sessions, Wesley
farmer, is particularly impressive. An exciting and important release.
(FS)
LARRY DAVIS: A Letter To My Darling/ Driving Wheel/ For Five Long Years/
I've Been Hurt So Many Times/ It Can Only Hurt For So Long/ Rock Me Baby/
Something About You/ Sweet Little Angel/ Sweet Sixteen/ The Years Go
Passing By/ Three O'Clock Blues/ What They Do To Me/ Whole World Down On
You/ Woke Up This Morning/ You Upset Me Baby
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|
ROY GAINES
& MITSUYOSHI AZUMA |
P-Vine PCD 5583 |
Guitar Clashers In Gainesville, Tokyo |
● CD $22.98 |
13 tracks, 79 mins, very good After keeping a low profile
for many years the superb Texas guitarist Roy Gaines seems to be making up
for lost time - this is his third or fourth album in the past year. It was
recorded in Japan and features Japanese bluesman Mitsuyoshi Azuma on
guitar and two vocals plus a Japanese trio (piano, bass and drums). Roy
sings and plays well and Azuma does a nice job complementing him on a
selection of Gaines originals (I'm A Thang Shaker/ Toky Woman),
covers (Okie Dokie Stomp/ You Don't Understand/ I Want A Little Girl,
etc) and a couple of underrehearsed jazz instruemntals (Take The A
Train/ Moonlight In Vermont). Best new song is the driving Tokyo
Woman which is featured in two versions - a full length 6 minute
version and a 4 minute "radio" version. It's all well sung and
played but there's little that really grabs you. (FS)
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| CECIL GANT |
P-Vine PCD 5471 |
The Best Of Cecil Gant, 1944-48 |
● CD $22.98 |
25 tracks,70 mins, highly recommended
Available again.
Terrific collection of sides by this versatile and talented performer.
He's best known his 1944 hit - the blues ballad I Wonder which has
been covered by dozens of artists but there was a whole lot more to Gant
who recorded nearly 150 titles between 1944 and 1951 including several
R&B hits. He was a fine and immensely appealing vocalist and a superb
piano player. There are several great boogie instrumentals here in the
grand tradition of Albert Ammons or Pete Johnson (Original Cecil's
Boogie/ Rock The Boogie/ Hogan's Alley/ Ninth Street Jive, etc). There
are more gentle blues ballads (Special Delivery/ I'm Travelin' Alone,
etc), straight blues (Goodbye Baby/ Are You Ready/ Time Will Tell,
etc), jazzy jive numbers (Hit That Jive Jack/ Loose As A Goose) and
even a version of the Duke Ellington standard Solitude with Cecil
& his piano accompanied by a steel guitarist! A few tracks are from
worn 78s but, in general, the sound is excellent. There are five
duplications with Flyright 61 issued a few years ago. (FS)
CECIL GANT: Anna Mae/ Are You Ready/ Boogie Woogie Baby/ Cecil's Mop Mop/
Goodbye Baby/ Hit That Jive Jack/ Hogan's Alley/ I Wonder/ I'm All Alone
Now/ I'm Travelin' Alone/ Killer Diller Boogie (Syncopated Boogie)/ Long
Distance Call/ Loose As A Goose/ My Baby's Changed/ Nashville Jumps/ Ninth
Street Jive/ Original Cecil's Boogie/ Rhumba Boogie Woogie/ Rock The
Boogie/ Sloppy Joe's/ Special Delivery/ Time Will Tell/ Train Time/ Why
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| SMOKEY HOGG |
P-Vine PCD 3043 |
Sings The Blues |
● CD $22.98 |
21 tracks, 56 mins, recommended
Like many blues collectors
I've tended to ignore Smokey Hogg and write him off as a limited performer
and puzzled as to why he was so prolific and so popular. As this fine
collection of sides recorded for Modern between 1947 and 1951 makes
abundantly clear his popularity was at least partly due to the fact that
his music was particularly appealing to African-American immigrants moving
from the South to the Western and Nortern Cities. His music was an attempt
by a country bluesman to adapt his music to an urban style just as the
immigrants had adapt their country ways to the big city. His songs were
often wry observations on this situation or updates of traditional songs.
He was a fine singer with a very engaging style and while far from being
an exceptional guitarist he was a functional one even if his backing
musicians sometimes had trouble following his erratic timing. On Coming
Back To You Again he plays some very nice slide guitar. This set
includes his top ten R&B hits Good Morning Little School Girl
& Long Tall Mama plus Look In Your Eyes Pretty Mama/ Worryin'
Mind/ Runaway/ It's Raining Here/ When You Get Old/ Too Many Drivers/ My
Christmas Baby and others. Well worth your time. (FS)
SMOKEY HOGG: Coming Back Home To You Again/ Country Gal/ Goin' Back To
Chicago/ Good Morning Little Schoolgirl/ I Feel Good/ I Got Your Picture/
It's Raining Here/ Little School Girl/ Long Tall Mama/ Look In Your Eyes
Pretty Mama/ My Baby's Worryin' Me/ My Christmas Baby/ New Year's Eve
Blues/ Oh Woman! Oh, Woman/ Runaway/ Too Many Drivers/ What More Can A
Woman Do/ When You Get Old/ Worryin' Mind/ You Can't Keep Your Business
Straight/ You Just Gotta Go
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| JOHN LEE HOOKER |
P-Vine PCD 5448/53 |
The Vee-Jay Box |
● CD $159.98 |
6 CDs, 128 tracks, 6 hours 20 min., recommended
Six CD box
set featuring all of Hooker's Vee-Jay recordings cut between 1963 and '64.
The discs move chronologically through Hooker's many Vee-Jay sessions,
including material not originally released. Despite the label's occasional
wrongheaded attempts to make John Lee more "accessible" by
having him try to sound like a folkie (Take Me As I Am) or by
adding female backup singers (Love Is A Burning Thing and others
feature the Vandellas), or whatever, his sound remained essentially
unchanged. Which is to say, most everything here sounds great. Hooker is
occasionally alone but usually backed by a small and sympathetic band
containing, at various times, Eddie Taylor, Earl Phillips, Jimmy Reed, and
others. And while he never equaled to power of his earlier Sensation and
Modern recordings, his work at Vee-Jay includes the pounding Boom Boom/
No Shoes/ Send Me Your Pillow/ One Way Ticket/ I Love You Honey/ I'm Mad
Again/ Tupelo/ Big Legs, Tight Skirt/ House Rent Boogie/ and
reworkings of early hits, such as Boogie Chillun/ Hobo Blues/ Crawlin'
Kingsnake. The 48 page booklet has notes in Japanese, lyric
transcripts in English and full discographical information. (JC)
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| LIGHTNIN' HOPKINS |
P-Vine PCD 5749 |
Mojo Hand - The Complete Session |
● CD $22.98 |
This is, I believe, the first time all of Lightnin's great
sides recorded for Bobby Robinson's Fire label in 1960 have been reissued
together on one CD. Previous reissues have either just reissued the
original 9 track LP (Collectables) or added just some of the unissued
sides (Relic). Lightnin' was in excellent form on acoustic guitar with
bass and drums and 1 track with his unique piano playing. It includes his
"hit" Mojo Hand, the moving Have You Ever Loved A
Woman (with piano) and his Christmas song Santa. The unissued
tracks are very nice , though not exceptional. (FS)
LIGHTNIN' HOPKINS: Awful Dream/ Baby I Don't Care/ Black Mare Trot/ Bring
Me My Shotgun/ Coffee For Mama/ Glory Be/ Have You Ever Loved A Woman/
Houston Bound/ How Long Has The Train Been Gone/ I'm Leaving With You Now/
Just Pickin'/ Last Night/ Mojo Hand/ Santa/ Shake That Thing/ Shine On
Moon/ Sometimes She Will/ Walk A Long Time
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| B.B. KING |
P-Vine PCD 3001 |
Singin' The Blues |
● CD $22.98 |
When Ace reissued this Crown LP, they put it together with
B.B.'s The Blues LP in one 24-track release. P-Vine has a different
idea, doing a CD of each 12 song album, and adding 8 more titles and
alternates. Here the original track selection is rounded out by Bye Bye
Baby/ The Woman I Love/ Sneakin' Around/ Shut Your Mouth/ Jump With You
Baby/ Houserocker/ Why I Sing The Blues and an alternate of Woke Up
This Morning. Prime stuff. (MB)
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| B.B. KING |
P-Vine PCD 3009 |
The Jungle |
● CD $22.98 |
17 tracks, 51 min., recommended
Recorded mostly in the
early 60's with King at the top of his talents, this reissues the
excellent Kent LP 521 and adds 5 tracks. Beautician Blues/ Eyesight To
The Blind/ It's A Mean World/ Blue Shadows/ The Jungle/ I Stay In The Mood
(from
'56) all saw chart action. The band, featuring Duke Jethro on keys and
Kenny Sands on trumpet, is tight and complements King perfectly. Extra
cuts include an alternate version of 5 Long Years/ The Jungle, the
Kent 45 version of Eyesight/ Making Me Blue/ A Woman Don't Care.
This is the sound you think of when someone says "B. B. King.
"(JC)
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| B.B. KING |
P-Vine PCD 3844 |
1950-1952 |
● CD $22.98 |
20 of B.B's earliest RPM sides.
B.B. KING: A New Way Of Driving/ B.B.'s Blues/ B.B.'s Boogie/ Fine Looking
Woman/ Gotta Find My Baby/ Hard Working Woman/ Low Down Dirty baby/
Mistreated Woman/ My Baby's Gone/ My Own Fault Darlin'/ Pray For Me/
Questionnaire Blues/ Shake It Up & Go/ She Don't Move Me No More/
She's A Mean Woman/ She's Dynamite/ Some Day, Somewhere/ That Ain't The
Way To Do It/ The Other Night Blues/ Walkin' & Cryin'
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| B.B. KING |
P-Vine PCD 3879 |
Rock Me Baby |
● CD $22.98 |
Straight reissue of Kent 5012
B.B. KING: 3 O'clock Blues/ Bad Case Of Love/ Everyday I Have The Blues/
Please Love Me/ Rock Me Baby/ Sneakin' Around/ Sweet Little Angel/ Sweet
Sixteen Part 1/ Sweet Sixteen Part 2/ Ten Long Years/ When My Heart Beats
Like A Hammer/ Woke Up This Morning/ You Know I Love You/ You Upset Me
Baby
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| B.B. KING |
P-Vine PCD 3880 |
Let Me Love You |
● CD $22.98 |
| B.B. KING: Come By Here/ Did You Ever Love A Woman/ Driving Wheel/ Hold
That Train/ I Can't Explain/ I'm Gonna Quit My Baby/ I've Got A Right To
Love My Baby/ Let Me Love You/ Troubles Don't Last/ Walkin' Dr. Bill/
Whole Lot Of Lovin'/ You're Gonna Miss Me
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| FREDDY KING |
P-Vine PCD 3834 |
Gives You A Bonanza Of Instrumentals |
● CD $22.98 |
A reissue of King 928 from 1965. A collection of mostly
blues guitar instrumentals along with a couple of country flavored ones
recorded for Federal between 1961 & 1964. Freddy was a brilliant
musician who can hold interest over an LP of instrumentals.
FREDDY KING: Cloud Sailin'/ Fish Fare/ Freddy's Midnight Dream/ Freeway/
Funnybone/ King-A-Ling/ Low Tide/ Manhole/ Nickleplated/ Remington Ride/
Surf Monkey/ The Sad Night Owl
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| THE KINGS OF HARMONY |
P-Vine PCD 5463 |
The Legendary King Solomon Recordings |
● CD $22.98 |
25 tracks, 66 mins, recommended Lovely collection of
acapella gospel recorded for New York's King Solomon label in 1943 &
'44. The quartet performs in a smooth but soulful style on a collection of
mostly traditional gospel songs - Fountain Of Blood/ Is There Anybody
here/ So Glad/ Home On The Rock/ Wandering Child, etc. (FS)
THE KINGS OF HARMONY: Crucifixtion/ Fare You Well/ Fountain Of Blood/ Good
News/ He Knows How Much We Can Bear/ Home On The Rock/ I Got A Mother Done
Gone On/ I Want Two Wings/ Is There Anybody Here/ It Soon Will Be Over/
Lead Me On/ Lead Me To That Rock/ Little David/ Little Liza/ Moses Smote
The Water/ New Born Again/ On The Ocean Sailing/ Preacher And Bear/ Put On
Your Old Grey Bonnet/ Shame How They Done Our Lord/ So Glad/ Trees Are
Bending/ Walk The Lonesome Valley/ Wandering Child/ You Better Mind
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| CHARLEY PATTON |
P-Vine PCD 2255/7 |
The Complete Recorded Works |
● CD $45.98 |
Basically the three Document CDs of this master Delta
bluesman packaged together with thick 70 page booklet with 12 page essay
by Jim O'Neal (in English and Japanese) and transcripts of all the lyrics
in English.
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