BLUES
& GOSPEL
Richard
"Hacksaw" Harney -> Ted Hawkins
RICHARD
"HACKSAW" HARNEY |
Genes 9909 |
Sweet Man |
● CD $16.98 |
10 tracks, 37 mins, highly recommended A delightful
collection of mostly instrumental music featuring nigh legendary Mississippi
guitarist Richard "Hacksaw" Harney. Originally performing in the 20s with
his brother Maylon as "Pet & Can" he backed a couple of singers on record
but his shyness and a speech impediment prevented him from taking his music
to a wider audience. He was rediscovered in 1969 and made a handful of
recordings prior to his death in 1973 including these previously unissued
recordings from 1972. He was a superb, though not, guitar player whose music
was a mix of bleus, ragtime and jazz and not really what one might expect
from a Mississippi bluesman though Delta elements surface many a time. Most
of the pieces are originals highlighted by the beautiful minor key piece
Sweet Man. He also performs a couple of old pop/ jazz favorites Five
Foot Two and Oh Red featuring charming vocals. This disc is hsort,
but oh so sweet! (FS)
|
SLIM HARPO |
Ace CDCHD 510 |
I'm A King Bee - The Early Swamp Blues
Classics |
● CD $18.98 |
The first of three planned Ace CDs of Excello recordings
from this Louisiana blues legend. This disc features 24 tracks recorded
between 1957 and 1964 including nine previously unissued songs or alternate
takes.
SLIM HARPO: Blues Hangover/ Bobby Sox Baby/ Boogie Chillen/ Buzz Me Babe/
Buzzin'/ Don't Start Cryin' Now/ Dream Girl/ I Got Love If You Want It/ I
Love The Life I'm Living/ I'm A King Bee/ Late Last Night/ Lover's
Confession/ Moody Blues/ My Home Is A Prison/ One More Day/ Please Don't
Turn Me Down/ Rainin' In My Heart/ Snoopin' Around/ Strange Love/ That's
Alright Baby/ What A Dream/ Wonderin' And Worryin'/ Yeah Yeah Baby/ You'll
Be Sorry One Day
|
SLIM HARPO |
Ace CDCHD 606 |
Tip On In |
● CD $18.98 |
25 tracks featuring Slim's later Excello sides and his 1969
Imperial session.
SLIM HARPO: Baby Please Come Home/ Dynamite/ Folsom Prison Blues/ Hey Little
Lee/ I Just Can't Leave You/ I'm Gonna Keep What I've Got/ I've Been Your
Good Thing For You/ I've Got My Finger On Your Trigger/ I've Got To Be With
You Tonight/ Jody Man/ Just For You/ Mailbox Blues/ Mohair Sam/ Mutual
Friend/ My Baby She's Got It/ Rock Me Baby/ Stick Your Chest Out Baby/ Te-ni-nee-ni-nu/
That's Why I Love You/ The Hippy Song/ The Music's Hot/ The Price Is Too
High/ Tip On In (part 1)/ Tip On In (part 2)/ You Can't Make It
|
SLIM HARPO |
Ace CDCHD 658 |
Sting It Then |
● CD $18.98 |
1961 live show - the only known live recordings of the great
Swamp bluesman. Part of these recordings were previously issued on the U.S.
Excello two CD set but this is the complete show. Backed his great band with
Rudy Richard/ guitar, Willie "Tomcat" parker on sax and other he plays some
of his own most popular songs as well as blues favorites - Buzzin'/
Lottie Mo/ Big Boss Man/ I'll Take Care Of You/ Moody Blues/ I'm A King Bee/
I Got Love If You Want It, etc. Sound is not the greatest but the
remastering engineers have done a great job to make it listenable. (FS)
SLIM HARPO: Big Boss Man/ Boogie Chillun/ Buzzin'/ Everybody Needs Somebody/
Hold Me Tenderly/ I Don't Play/ I Got Love If You Want It/ I'll Take Care Of
You/ I'm A King Bee/ Little Liza Jane/ Lottie Mo/ Moody Blues/ Next Disc/
Rainin' In My Heart/ Star-time Announcement/ Star-time Theme/ Sugar Coated
Love/ When The Saints Go Marchin' In/ You Know I Love You
|
SLIM HARPO |
Hip-O 40072 |
The Best Of |
● CD $11.98 |
16 classic sides including I'm A King Bee/ Shake Your
Hips/ I've Got Love If You Want It/ Rainin' In My Heart and lots more.
|
SLIM HARPO |
Hip-O 40135 |
Raining In My Heart |
● CD $11.98 |
15 tracks, 40 mins, highly recommended. Another classic
Excello album reissued - this time Excello's third album and the first for
their best selling bluesman Slim Harpo. This classic album was originally
issued in 1962 and includes some of his best recordings featuring his nasal
vocal style and reedy effective harmonica with fine accompanying musicians
like Guitar Gable, Rudolph Richard, Al Foreman, Katie Webster, etc. It
includes his two hits I'm A King Bee and the beautiful blues ballad
Raining In My Heart. It also features his fabulous talking blues
Blues Hangover, the driving I Got Love If You Want It with its
effective use of maracas and such powerful slow blues as What A Dream
and My Home Is Prison. This CD adds three bonus cuts to the LP My
Little Queen Bee/ Late Last Night and Tip On In, Part 2.
Essential sides, if you don't already have them. (FS)
|
COREY HARRIS |
Alligator 4837 |
Between Midnight And Day |
● CD $16.98 |
Young African-American acoustic country blues performer.
COREY HARRIS: 61 Highway/ Between Midnight And Day/ Bound To Miss Me/
Bukka's Jitterbug Swing/ Catfish Blues/ Early In The Morning/ Feel Like
Going Home/ Going To Brownsville/ I Ain't Gonna Be Worried No More/ I'm A
Rattlesnakin' Daddy/ It Hurts Me Too/ Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning/
Pony Blues/ Roots Woman/ She Moves Me/ Write Me A Few Lines
|
COREY HARRIS |
Alligator 4850 |
Fish Ain't Bitin' |
● CD $16.98 |
17 tracks, 55 min., recommended As with the 1995 CD, Corey
Leslie Harris once again plays/pays homage to his mentors, including Son
House, Blind Lemon Jefferson ("Jack O'Diamonds"), Blind Willie Johnson, Big
Maceo, Fred McDowell/Rev. Gary Davis ("You Got To Move"), Memphis Minnie
("Bumble Bee Blues") and Frank Stokes ("Take Me Back"). Also included are 9
original traditional-based songs, four with an all New Orleans brass band,
including "5-0 Blues", a song about police brutality, and "Fish Ain't Bitin'"
(with Wolf Anderson on trombone), a song he wrote after living & teaching in
an industrial district of Louisiana called "Cancer Alley". The engineering
on this CD is the best I've heard in years. (EL)
COREY HARRIS: 5-O Blues/ Berry Owens Blues/ Bumble Bee Blues/ Clean Rag/
Fish Ain't Bitin'/ Frankie and Johnnie/ God Don't Ever Change/ High Fever
Blues/ High Fever Blues (solo version)/ If You Leave Me/ Jack O'Diamonds/
Mama Got Worried/ Moosemilk Blues/ Preaching Blues/ Take Be Back/ Worried
Life Blues/ You Got to Move
|
COREY HARRIS |
Rounder 3194 |
Downhome Sophisticate |
● CD $16.98 |
18 tracks, very good
Corey Harris shakes loose after his Vu-Du Menz CD of 2000 with another journey across a wide musical landscape. He's
not afraid to mix Delta Blues with Jamaican and current trends making the
overall outcome score well. Both the title track and the topical Santoro
find a smart mix of hip-hop and blues and Fire is an excellent
display where he combines soulful vocals with blazing guitar. He completely
revamps Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning and while it might haunt
purists, there's no denying his ability to come up with magical excursions
that should please a more modern audience. (CR)
|
PEPPERMINT HARRIS |
Blue City 815 |
I Got Loaded |
● CD $18.98 |
30 track collection of sides from the 50s from this plummy
voice Texas bluesman. Includes his great #1 R&B hit I Got Loaded
which has been covered by a number of artists plus Right Back On It/ Hey
Little Schoolgirl/ I Always End Up Blues/ I Never Get Enough Of You/ Let The
Back Door Hit You/ Maggie's Boogie and others.
|
WYNONIE HARRIS |
Ace CDCHD 457 |
Women, Whisky And Fish Tails |
● CD $18.98 |
21 tracks, 53 min., recommended
Well aware of the fact that
there are already several Harris discs on the market, Ace wisely decided to
focus their reissue on his later King sides, recorded between 1953 and 1957.
This period of time falls after his period of regularly making the charts,
but all of the material is strong and interesting nonetheless. And almost
all of the titles are new to CD. Among them are Greyhound/ Christina/
Fish Tail Blues/ Shotgun Wedding/ Bring It Back, and I Don't Know
Where to Go. Not a last gasp, but a last flash of brassy blues
brilliance. All with Ace's usual high standards in sound quality, graphics,
and liner notes. (DH)
WYNONIE HARRIS: Bad News Baby (There'll Be No Rockin' Tonite/ Big Old
Country Fool/ Bring It Back/ Christina/ Don't Take My Whiskey Away/ Drinkin'
Sherry Wine/ Fishtail Blues/ Git To Gittin' Baby/ Greyhound/ I Don't Know
Where To Go/ I Get A Thrill/ Keep-A-Talking/ Mama, Your Daughter Done Lied
To Me/ Man's Best Friend/ Mr Dollar/ Please Louise/ Shake That Thing/
Shotgun Wedding/ The Deacon Don't Like It/ There's No Substitute For Love/
Wine, Wine Sweet Wine
|
WYNONIE HARRIS |
Ace CDCHD 843 |
Lovin' Machine |
● CD $18.98 |
26 tracks from the 50s by this great blues shouter - many
previously not on CD. Includes a previously unissued version of Rot Gut
preceded by a verbal exchange between Harris and King boss Syd Nathan.
WYNONIE HARRIS: A Tale Of Woe/ Adam Come And Get Your Rib/ All She Wants To
Do Is Mambo/ Bloodshot Eyes/ Do It Again, Please/ Down Boy Down/ Drinking
Blues/ Git With The Grits/ Good Mambo Tonight/ Here Comes The Night/ I'll
Never Give Up/ Just Like Two Drops Of Water/ Keep On Churnin' (till The
Butter Come)/ Lovin' Machine/ Luscious Woman/ Married Women, Stay Married/
My Playful Baby's Gone/ Nearer My Love To Thee/ Night Train/ Quiet Whiskey/
Rot Gut Previously Unissued/ Song Of The Bayou/ That's Me Right Now/
Tremblin'/ Wasn't That Good/ THE ROYALS (with WYNONIE HARRIS): All Night
Long
|
WYNONIE HARRIS |
Delmark 683 |
Everybody Boogie |
● CD $14.98 |
18 tracks, 50 min., recommended
Most R&B fans will
rightfully point to Harris' hard rockin' sides for King Records (1947-54) as
evidence of the artist's greatness. But Harris cut 4 sessions for Apollo
between Aug. and Dec. of 1945, yielding 16 titles, and while not his finest
work, still uniformly good. Backed by Illinois Jacquet and His All Stars
(including Bill Doggett on piano and Charles Mingus on bass), Jack McVea &
His All Stars (with Teddy Buckner on trumpet), Oscar Pettiford & His All
Stars (with, probably, Wardell Gray on tenor sax), and Johnny Alston & His
All Stars on the various sessions, Mr. Harris in Mr. Blues Singer, moving
easily between mid-tempo (Time To Change Your Tune) and jump blues (Playful
Baby). All this along with two previously unissued alternate takes (I
Got A Lyin' Woman, Everybody Boogie) make it a difficult reissue
to resist. (JC)
WYNONIE HARRIS: Baby, Look at You/ Everybody's Boogie/ Everybody's Boogie
(Alternate Take)/ Gone With the Wind/ Here Comes the Blues/ I Got a Lyin'
Woman/ I Got a Lyin' Woman (Alternate Take)/ Papa Tree Top/ Playful Baby/
Rebecca's Blues/ Somebody Changed the Lock on My Door/ Straighten Him Out/
Take Me Out of the Rain/ That's the Stuff You Gotta Watch/ Time to Change
Your Tune/ Wynonie's Blues/ Young Man's Blues/ Young and Wild
|
WYNONIE HARRIS |
King Blues KSCD 1413 |
Good Rockin' Tonight |
● CD $7.98 |
8 tracks - Good Rockin' Tonight/ I lIke My baby's
Pudding/ Good Morning Mr. Judge/ Grandma Plays The Numbers/ Sittin' On It
All The Time/ Lollypop Mama/ I Want My Fanny Brown/ Shake That Thing
|
WYNONIE HARRIS |
President PLCD 559 |
Here Comes The Blues - Roots Of Rock 'n'
Roll Vol 4. |
● CD $16.98 |
27 tracks, 76 min., recommended
Before Wynonie "Mr. Blues"
Harris began his long tenure with the King Record label in 1947, he recorded
for several other labels, starting as a solo in mid-1945 with the Philco
label, for whom he recorded the risque Around the Clock. His next
label was Apollo. There, with Illinois Jacquet and His All Stars, he
recorded Here Comes the Blues, She's Gone with the Wind,
Everybody's Boogie, Take Me Out of the Rain, and Young and
Wild. For Hamp-Tone, he laid down Good Morning Corrine, In the
Evening, and Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop. And in late 1946, for Aladdin, he
waxed Mr. Blues Jumped the Rabbit, Rugged Road, and Whiskey
and Jelly-Roll Blues. This comprehensive English import features all of
those selections and thus offers a clear sampling of Harris's work during
the the early stages of his career. And sound quality, cover art, and liner
notes all demonstrate the high quality of the collection's production
values. (DH)
WYNONIE HARRIS: Around The Clock Part 1/ Around The Clock Part 2/ Baby Look
At You/ Cock A Doodle Doo/ Come Back Baby/ Everybody's Boogie/ Good Morning
Corinne/ Here Comes The Blues/ Hey Ba Ba Re Bop/ Hey Ba Ba Re Bop (2)/ I
Gotta Lyin' Woman/ In The Evening/ Mr Blues Jumped The Rabbit/ Papa Tree
Top/ Playful Baby/ Rebecca's Blues/ Rugged Road/ She's Gone With The Wind/
Somebody Changed The Lock On My Door/ Take Me Out Of The Rain/ That's The
Stuff You Gotta Watch/ Time To Change Your Town/ Whiskey And Jelly Roll
Blues/ Wynonie's Blues/ Yonder Goes My Baby/ Young And Wild/ Young Man's
Blues
|
WYNONIE HARRIS |
Proper BOX 20 |
Rockin' The Blues |
● CD $25.98 |
Most welcome four CD set featuring all the recordings made
by this great and influential blues shouter between 1944 and 1950 including
a number making their first appearance on CD. Comes with 52 page booklet
with rare photos and discography.
WYNONIE HARRIS: A Love Untrue/ All She Wants To Do Is Rock/ Around The
Clock-Part 1/ Around The Clock-Part 2/ Baby Shame On You/ Baby, Look At You/
Battle Of The Blues-Part 1/ Battle Of The Blues-Part 2/ Be Mine My Love/ Big
City Blues/ Bite Again, Bite Again/ Blow Your Brains Out/ Blowin To
California/ Blues/ Cock-A-Doodle-Doo/ Come Back Baby/ Confessin The Blues/
Crazy Love/ Dig This Boogie/ Drinkin' By Myself/ Drinkin' Wine Spo-dee-o-dee/
Everybody's Boogie/ Everybody's Boogie (Alternate Take)/ Feel That Old Age
Coming On/ From Bad To Good Blues/ Ghost Of A Chance/ Goin' Home/ Good
Morning Corinne/ Good Morning Judge/ Good Morning Mr. Blues/ Good Rockin'
Tonight/ Grandma Plays The Numbers/ Hard Ridin' Mama/ Here Comes The Blues/
Hey! Ba-ba-re-bop, Part 1/ Hey! Ba-ba-re-bop, Part 2/ Hurry, Hurry!/ I
Believe Ill Fall In Love/ I Can't Take It No More/ I Got a Lyin' Woman/ I
Got a Lyin' Woman (Alternate Take)/ I Like My Babys Pudding/ I Want My Fanny
Brown/ I Want To Love You Baby/ In The Evenin' Blues/ Lightnin' Struck The
Poor House/ Lollipop Mama/ Love Is Like Rain/ Man Have I Got Troubles/ Mr.
Blues Is Coming To Town/ Mr. Blues Jumped The Rabbit/ My Baby's Barrel
House/ Oh Babe/ Papa Tree Top/ Playful Baby/ Put It Back/ Rebecca's Blues/
Rock Mr Blues/ Rose Get Your Clothes/ Rugged Road/ She Just Won't Sell No
More/ She's Gone With The Wind/ Sittin' On It All The Time/ Somebody Changed
The Lock On My Door/ Stormy Night Blues/ Straighten Him Out/ Take Me Out Of
The Rain/ Teardrops From My Eyes/ Thats The Stuff You Gotta Watch/ Time To
Change Your Tune/ Triflin' Woman/ Whiskey And Jelly-Roll Blues/ Who Threw
The Whiskey In The Well/ Wynonie's Blues/ Wynonie's Boogie/ Yonder Goes My
Baby/ You Got To Get Yourself A Job, Girl/ Young And Wild/ Young Man's
Blues/ Your Money Don't Mean A Thing
|
WYNONIE HARRIS/ROY
BROWN |
King 627 |
Battle Of The Blues |
● CD $9.98 |
Reissue of King 627 from 1959. Both Roy & Mr. Blues are best
known as Kings of jump blues. This LP is a real change of pace treat. Each
King is represented by 7 slow grinders. Not their best known material but
very satisfying. Roy's heard on 7 '50-'57 DeLuxe sides, including Hard
Luck Blues & Sweet Peach with Wilbur Hardin and Wrong Woman
Blues backed by the Tiny Bradshaw Orch. with Red Prysock on tenor.
Wynonie's 7 King sides, 1950-53, include such greats as Prysock, Mickey
Baker, Todd Rhodes, Ted Buckner & Big John Greer, plus on Drinking Blues
, he's backed by The Lucky Millinder Orch. - Nearer My Love To Thee/
Tremblin' , etc.... GM
|
WILBERT HARRISON |
Fuel 2000 61599 |
An Introduction To Wilbert Harrison |
● CD $13.98 $9.98 |
16 tracks, 44 mins, highly recommended
An excellent
cross section of sides recorded by this fine and idiosyncratic performer
between 1959 and 1966. Three of the cuts were recorded for Bobby
Robinson's Fury label in 1959/ 1960 including his only hit, the classic
Kansas City. The rest of the sides were recorded for various
small labels in the 60s including the fine blues ballad I Will Never
Trust Another Woman, the romping Off To Work Again with hot
tenor sax by King Curtis, the fine Pretty Little Woman which
grafts Wilbert's vocal on the backing track from Elmore James'
Stranger Blues and more. Great stuff - pity it's so short! (FS)
|
WILBERT HARRISON |
Jamie/ Guyden 4025 |
Let's Work Together |
● CD $14.98 |
14 tracks, highly recommended
What a delight! This is
Wilbert's great 1969 Sue album newly remixed and remastered from original
3-track master tapes by Tom Moulton under the supervision of original
producer Juggy Murray shortly before his death in 2005. Wilbert Harrison was
one of a kind with his distinctive vocal style and approach to songs which
seemed to change from session to session. For this album Wilbert played
guitar, harmonica, piano and drums with "Thunder Thumb" on bass. The
wonderfully catchy title song which was a reworking of his 1961 recording
Let's Stick Together became something of a hippy anthem after being
covered by Canned Heat. There's a remake of his biggest hit Kansas City,
some great R&B covers like Louie Louie/ Blue Monday and a great
version of Jimmy Reed's Baby What You Want Me To Do (here called
Peepin' & Hidin') where he duets with the superb soul singer Tina Britt.
It also includes some typical Harrison oddities like Tropical Shakedown
and Soul Rattler. There are three bonus alternate takes which don't
add a whole lot but are nice to have. The new remix is a revelation with a
clarity and presence that blows away all previous reissues. Includes four
page booklet with notes which are mostly about Murray, but definitely of
interest. (FS)
|
WILBERT HARRISON |
Relic 7035 |
Kansas City |
● CD $14.98 |
After leaving Savoy Records, Harrison cut a number of bluesy
sides for Fury between 1959-61, including his biggest hit Kansas City.
And while the Fury sessions offered no more hits (and too many sound-alikes),
they did produce plenty of good music like Cheatin' Baby/ Let's Stick
Together (reworked as Let's Work Together for a minor hit in
1969), Don't Wreck My Life/ 1960 and much more. This 22 song
collection contains 2 nice unissued sides, A Woman In Trouble/ Pretty
Little Woman, the latter featuring Elmore James, and presents many songs
in stereo for the first time. Good stuff. (JC)
WILBERT HARRISON: A Woman In Trouble/ At The World's Fair 1960/ C.c. Rider/
Cheatin' Baby/ Da-de-ya-da/ Don't Drop It/ Don't Wreck My Life/ Drafted/
Fell In Love/ Goodbye Kansas City/ It's Been A Long Time/ Kansas City/
Kansas City Twist/ Let's Stick Toghether/ Listen My Darling/ Little School
Girl/ Messed Around And/ My Love/ Pretty Little Women/ Since I Fell For You/
The Horse/ Why Did You Leave
|
ROY HAWKINS |
Ace CDCHD 754 |
The Thrill Is Gone |
● CD $18.98 |
P-Vine in Japan issued a Roy Hawkins CD of his recordings a
couple of years ago - Ace now finally catches up with it's Hawkins release.
Although there is quite a lot overlap the Ace issue does have half a dozen
cuts that are not on the P-Vine so, if like me, you're a Hawkins fan you'll
want this one too for these cuts and the English notes and slightly superior
sound.
ROY HAWKINS: Albania/ Blues All Around Me/ Gloom And Misery All Around/ Got
My Dreams Under My Pillow/ Hank's Shuffle (inst)/ I Don't Know Just What To
Do/ I Walk Alone/ I'm Never Satisfied/ Just A Poor Boy/ Mean Little Girl/
Mistreatin' Baby/ My Temper Is Rising/ On My Way/ Real Fine Woman/ Royal
Hawk (inst)/ The Thrill Is Gone/ Trouble Makin' Woman/ Trouble Makin' Woman
(alt Tk 1)/ Where You Been?/ Why Do Everything Happen To Me/ Wine Drinkin'
Woman/ You Had A Good Man/ You're A Free Little Girl/ You're The Sweetest
Thing
|
ROY HAWKINS |
Ace CDCHD 1096 |
Bad Luck Is Falling - Modern, RPM & kent
Recordings Vol. 2 |
● CD $18.98 |
24 tracks, 66 mins, essential
Complementing Ace 754 this is
the second collection of sides by this superb and underrated West Coast
bluesman recorded for Down Town and Modern between 1948 and 1961. Although
very popular in the early 50s with two R&B hits to his name very little is
known about Roy's life. He was a a fabulous vocalist with a style a little
bit like Charles Brown but more intense. He was also a fine songwriter with
a penchant for moody minor key songs and his great The Thrill Is Gone
was turned into a worlwide hit by B.B. King in 1970. Roy's original version
of the song is on the first volume - this one includes a fine alternate
take. Roy was accompanied by some superb bands led by the likes of Buddy
Floyd and Maxwell Davis and his tracks often feature stellar guitar work
from musicians like Ulysses James, Chuck Norris and Johnny Moore. One 1952
session features T-Bone Walker on guitar who provides some truly stunning
accompaniments. Hawkins left Modern in 1954 and recorded little else until
he returned to Modern in 1961 where he recorded a four track session which
included a remake of his 1948 recording Strange Land with a wonderful
band including some incredible guitar - who? Superb stuff. (FS)
|
TED HAWKINS |
Evidence 28000 |
Songs From Venice Beach |
● CD $12.98 |
14 tracks, 46 min., essential Recorded in Nashville in 1985
and released (only in Europe) as a two-volume set called "On The Boardwalk:
The Venice Beach Tapes", these tracks feature Hawkins, raw and uncluttered,
with only a guitar for company. Those who only "discovered" him on "The Next
Hundred Years" will find that he had been singing such songs as There
Stands The Glass and his own Ladder Of Success for over a decade.
And as always, Hawkins sings as if that act will expiate his sins, as if the
sound of his voice has the power to heal. Maybe it does. (JC)
TED HAWKINS: All I Have To Offer You Is Me/ Good Times/ Gypsy Woman/ Having
A Party/ He Will Break Your Heart/ I Got What I Wanted/ Just My Imagination/
Ladder Of Success/ Quiet Place/ Searching For My Love/ Share Your Love With
Me/ Somebody Have Mercy/ There Stands The Glass/ Too Busy Thinking About My
Baby
|
TED HAWKINS |
Evidence 28002 |
Final Tour |
● CD $16.98 |
The great Ted Hawkins bares his musical soul for the last
time on these recordings on these recordings from his last tour just a few
months before his death.
|
TED HAWKINS |
Evidence 28003 |
Love You Most Of All - More Songs From
Venice Beach |
● CD $16.98 |
18 tracks, 58 mins, highly recommended More incredible
singing from this wonderful performer including the remaining 13 tracks from
the legendary "Venice Beach Tapes" recorded in Nashville in 1985.
Accompanied only by his own acoustic guitar he performs a wide range of
material ranging from the anthemic Bring It On Home To Me originally
recorded by his biggest vocal influence Sam Cooke, to John Denver's Take
Me Home, Country Roads, to Otis Reddings' Dock Of The Bay to Bob
Dylan's Blowin' In The World. All covers but all completely
personalized by Ted. His version of Hank Williams' Your Cheatin' Heart
is one of the few that truly captures the beauty and anguish in Hank's
vision. The last five cuts are from a 1990 session, 3 songs previously
unissued and all are Hawkins originals. Though not among Ted's better
composition they are well worth a listen, particularly the lovely Return
with his wife Elizabeth on backing vocals. (FS)
|
TED HAWKINS |
Rounder 2024 |
Watch Your Step |
● CD $16.98 |
15 tracks, 38 min., essential This reissue of Hawkins'
largely acoustic first album is as fresh sounding today as it was in 1982
when it was issued or 1972 when it was recorded. His voice, part Otis
Redding, part Sam Cooke, manages to uplift the spirit even as it describes
the misery of children (The Lost Ones) or the dual nature of illness
as simultaneously mundane and life threatening (Sorry Your Sick).
Hawkins' sense of humor is sometimes displayed openly (TWA/ Who Got My
Natural Comb?), sometimes mingled with the bittersweet realities of his
and everyone else's life (Peace And Happiness), but never missing.
Every song is original, personal, moving, and somehow speaks to that which
is fundamentally human--no mean feat. A blessing. (JC)
TED HAWKINS: Bring It Home Daddy/ Don't Lose Your Coo/ I Gave Up All I Had/ If
You Love Me/ Peace & Happiness/ Put In A Cross/ Sorry You're Sick/ Stay Close To
Me/ Stop Your Cryin'/ Sweet Baby/ The Lost Oned/
TWA/ Watch Your Step (acoustic)/
Watch Your Step (band Version)/ Who Got My Natural Comb
|
TED HAWKINS |
Rounder 2033 |
Happy Hour |
● CD $16.98 |
A superlative set of 12 tunes (10 originals) which embrace a
multitude of genres. For the most part Hawkins carries the album solely by
his simplistic approach to acoustic guitar coupled with an honest,
no-nonsense vocal delivery. On 3 tunes - My Last Goodbye/ California Song
& the Hank Williams flavored title track, Ted is joined by a backing
quartet, the Angry Old Men. The other cover tune is the Curtis Mayfield
classic Gypsy Woman. Joining Ted on this & the raunchy You Pushed
My Head Away is guitarist "Night Train" Clemons who sounds a lot like
Robert Cray.
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