Blues & Gospel - Bulletin May/June 2010 - Luther Allison  -> Shirley Johnson + Books + Book/LP set
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BULLETIN - May/ June 2010
Blues & Gospel
Luther Allison  ->
Shirley Johnson + Books + Book/LP set

 

 
 

BOOKS

 

LIGHTNIN' HOPKINS His Life And Blues by Alan Govenar ● BOOK $27.95
Hardbound, 334 pages, counts as 6 CDs for shipping
The first biography of one of the greatest Texas bluesmen of all time. It traces the story from his birth to a poor sharecropping in 1912, his leaving home at the age of eight with a guitar given to him by his brother, his meetings with Blind Lemon Jefferson and Texas Alexander, his time on the chain gang, his extensive career in the 40s and 50s recording and performing for African-American audiences and his second career performing throughout the world for white audiences after the interest in his music waned in the African-American community and his "rediscovery" by white researchers in the late 50s. His repertoire and some of the creative forces behind it are discussed and the book includes and extensive 45 page in depth discography of his recordings.

 
BARRELHOUSE WORDS A Blues Dialect Dictionary by Stephen Calt ● BOOK $26.95
Paper, 286 pages, counts as five CDs for shipping
If you listen to much early blues you're probably wondered what the phrase "dry long so" means or why a "kind hearted woman" would "study evil all the time" or what the heck is a "toodlum"? Well the answer to all these questions and many more can be found in this fascinating book. Utilizing both documentary evidence and invaluable interviews with blues musicians, blues scholar Stephen Calt unravels the nuances of more than twelve hundred idioms and proper or place names found on "race records" recorded between 1923 and 1949. From the intuitively obvious ("Back door man") to the not as obvious as it seems ("Saturday night") and all points in between, this racy, and compelling resource decodes a neglected speech for general readers and researchers alike, offering invaluable information about black language and American slang. This is considerably more extensive and detailed than Debra Desalvo's "From Alcorub to Zuzu" which was published a few years and covered some of the same territory.

 
BLUES & CHAOS The Music Writing Of Robert Palmer Edited by Anthony DeCurtis ● BOOK $29.95
Hardbound, 452 pages, highly recommended, counts as six CDs for shipping
Not to be confused with Robert Palmer the English rock singer, this Robert Palmer was a legendary music writer and critic who established his rep writing for Rolling Stone in the early 70's, and later became chief music critic for the New York Times. But Palmer did more than that; he also wrote an important history of the Blues, "Deep Blues" (1981) and books about Jerry Lee Lewis, The Rolling Stones, Leiber & Stoller and others. DeCurtis (himself a longtime contributing editor at Rolling Stone) has compiled a book of Palmer's articles on topics ranging from the difference between "Rock & Roll" and "Rock" to an obituary of Robert Pete Williams to the impact of Third-World Music to an interview with William Burroughs. Palmer, who passed away in 1997, had a collegiate approach to writing that was sometimes hard to get into, but it never got in the way of his obvious love for any subject he was writing about. DeCurtis has done a great job of choosing pieces (from the 70's, '80's and 90's) that show the breadth of Palmer's musical knowledge and scope of interest, and there is indeed something for everyone within this book. Along with people like Dave Marsh, Greil Marcus, and Lester Bangs, Robert Palmer pioneered music criticism for a new generation of readers who wanted more than the stars-favorite-colors reporting of Tiger Beat and 16 Magazine. On the back are quotes from some famous people who owe a debt to Bob for promoting their music. To that impressive list you can add us as back in the early 80s when Bob was writing for the New York Times he would review some hard to find music and knowing we were one of the only sources (we were Down Home Music back then) he would recommend us and we picked up a lot of new customers that way - some of whom are still with us today - thank you Bob! Anyone with a love for good music writing should do themselves a favor and pick up this book. (GMC/ FS)

 
MIDNIGHT AT THE BARRELHOUSE The Johnny Otis Story by George Lipsitz ● BOOK $24.98
Hardback, 235 pages, counts as five CDs for shipping
The life of Johnny Otis personifies all that's best about the "American Dream." The son of Greek immigrants he grew up in an integrated neighborhood where he fell in love with African-American music and culture and devoted the rest of his life to it. Often called the "Godfather of R&B" Otis was an instrumentalist, bandleader (his bands were the launching pad for many great vocalists and musicians), singer, songwriter, night club owner, record producer, label owner, disc jockey, pastor, politician and in his spare time(!) a painter and sculptor of note. He was also a tireless fighter for racial equality. In this first biography of Otis, professor of black studies George Lipsitz tells the largely unknown story of a towering figure in the history of African American music and culture who was, by his own description, "black by persuasion". "Midnight at the Barrelhouse" is a chronicle of a life rich in both incident and inspiration, as well as an exploration of the complicated nature of race relations in 20th century America. Otis's total commitment to black culture and transcendence of racial boundaries teach important lessons about identity, race, and power while encapsulating the contradictions of racism in American society. Written in a highly readable style, Lipsitz not only tells a great man's life story, he also gives the reader a sense of time and place, and paints a grim, yet hopeful, picture of a world that was. This book is essential reading.

 
BLUES BEFORE SUNRISE The Radio Interviews by Steve Cushing ● BOOK $19.95
Paper, 256 pages, counts as five CDs for shipping
This collection assembles the best interviews from Steve Cushing's long-running radio program Blues Before Sunrise, the nationally syndicated, award-winning program focusing on vintage blues and R&B. As both an observer and performer, Cushing has been involved with the blues scene in Chicago for decades. His candid, colorful interviews with prominent blues players, producers, and deejays reveal the behind-the-scenes world of the formative years of recorded blues. Many of these oral histories detail the careers of lesser-known but greatly influential blues performers and promoters. The book focuses in particular on pre-World War II blues singers, performers active in 1950s Chicago, and non-performers who contributed to the early blues world. Interviews include Alberta Hunter, one of the earliest African American singers to transition from Chicago's Bronzeville nightlife to the international spotlight, and Ralph Bass, one of the greatest R&B producers of his era.

 
LONG LOST BLUES Popular Blues In America 1850-1920 by Peter C. Muir ● BOOK $34.95
Paper, 254 pages, counts as five CDs for shipping
Mamie Smith's 1920 recording of "Crazy Blues" is commonly thought to signify the beginning of commercial attention to blues music and culture, but by that year more than 450 other blues titles had already appeared in sheet music and on recordings. In this examination of early popular blues, Peter C. Muir traces the genre's early history and the highly creative interplay between folk and popular forms, focusing especially on the roles W.C. Handy played in both blues music and the music business. Long Lost Blues exposes for the first time the full scope and importance of early popular blues to mainstream American culture in the early twentieth century. Closely analyzing sheet music and other print sources that have previously gone unexamined, Muir revises our understanding of the evolution and sociology of blues at its inception.

 
BLUES SPEAK The Best Of The Original Chicago Blues Annual Edited by Lincoln T. Beauchamp, Jr. ● BOOK $24.95
Paper, 161 pages, counts as five CDs for shipping
This anthology collects articles, interviews, fiction, and poetry from the Original Blues Annual, one of music history's most significant periodical blues publications. Founded and operated from 1989 to 1995 by African American musician and entrepreneur Lincoln T. Beauchamp, Jr., OCBA gave voice to the blues community and often frankly addressed contentious issues within the blues such as race, identity, prejudice, wealth, gender, and inequity. This book includes key selections from OCBA's seven issues and features candid interviews with Koko Taylor, Eddie Boyd, Famoudou Don Moye, Big Daddy Kinsey, Lester Bowie, Junior Wells, Billy Boy Arnold, Herb Kent, Barry Dolins, and many more. Also featured are heartfelt memorials to bygone blues artists, insightful observations on the state of the blues in Chicago and beyond, and dozens of photo graphs of performers, promoters, and other participants in the world-wide blues scene.

 
HARD LUCK BLUES by Rich Remsberg ● BOOK $34.95
Paperback, 220 pages, counts as seven CDs for shipping
Showcasing American music and music making during the Great Depression, Hard Luck Blues presents more than two hundred photographs created by the New Deal's Farm Security Administration photography program. FSA photographers depicted a range of musicians sharing the regular music of everyday life, from informal songs in migrant work camps, farmers' homes, barn dances, and on street corners to organized performances at church revivals, dance halls, and community festivals. The photos features bluesmen, rural country performers, Spanish-American musicians, high school bands, a Cajun Hawaiian guitar player, accordion players galore and much more. Except for a handful most of the performers would remain unknown outside their local cummunity/ Published in association with the Library of Congress, the book features photographs by Jack Delano, Dorothea Lang, Russell Lee, Arthur Rothstein, Ben Shahn, Marion Post Wolcott, and others. Photographer and image researcher Rich Remsberg provides context for the persons and events captured, and some cases drawing on interviews with the photographers' subjects. Captured across the nation, the images document the last generation of musicians who learned to play without the influence of recorded sound, as well as some of the pioneers of Chicago's R&B scene and the first years of amplified instruments. The images contained herein serve as a window to what was, a past that should never be forgotten.

 
HOUSE OF HITS The Story Of Houston's Gold Star/ Sugarhill Recording Studios by Andy Bradley and Roger Wood ● BOOK $34.95
Hardbound, 334 pages, counts as six CDs for shipping Founded in a working-class neighborhood in southeast Houston in 1941 by entrepreneur Bill Quinn, Gold Star Recording Studios, later to become Sugahill Recording Studios is a major independent studio that has produced a multitude of influential hit records in an astonishingly diverse range of genres. Its roster of recorded musicians includes Lightnin' Hopkins, George Jones, Willie Nelson, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Junior Parker, Clifton Chenier, Freddy Fender, Sir Douglas Quintet, Guy Clark, Lucinda Williams and many, many, more. In House of Hits, Andy Bradley and Roger Wood chronicle the fascinating history of Gold Star/SugarHill, telling a story that effectively covers the postwar popular music industry. The authors offer behind-the-scenes accounts of numerous hit recordings, spiced with anecdotes from studio insiders and musicians who recorded there. They include in-depth biographies of regional stars and analyses of the various styles of music they represent, as well as a list of all of Gold Star/SugarHill's recordings that made the Billboard charts and extensive selected historical discographies of the studio's recordings.

   

BOOK/ LP SET

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Numero 33 Light: On The South Side ● BOOK $59.98
Book+ 2 LP set, highly recommended
An elegant, evocative and impressive package. Clocking in at over 5 pounds (equivalent to 22 CDS), it measures 12 1/2" x 12 1/2" x 1 1/4". It features a 132 page hardbound book with more than 100 photos taken in the mid 70s by photographer Michael Abramson. The photos are beautifully done and portray club patrons in action at Pepper's, Perv's and other South Side Chicago clubs. No musicians are pictured with the exception of one shot which looks like Junior Wells (or a convincing impersonation). The book also features an ephemera section and essays by Abramson and Nick Honsby. The package comes with a two LP (not CD) set in it's own slipcase featuring an 18 track selection (not 17 as listed on the cover!) of the kind of Chicago blues that could be heard in the clubs and jukeboces at the time featuring artists like Arlean Brown, Ricky Allen, Lady Margo, Artie White, Hugh Hawkins, Little Ed & The Soundmasters, Walter "Butterball" Davis, Little Mack, Willie Davis & others. The LP's are thick vinyl and the sound quality is excellent. In general they have a laid back, late-night, funk-blues vibe. Liner notes are on the insert sleeves and are fairly extensive though light on session and sidemen details. Thanks to Greg Clark for input on this set. (FS)

 
 

NEW COMPACT DISCS

 
LUTHER ALLISON RUF 1157 Songs From The Road ● CD $16.98
CD + DVD set featuring the last recordings of this high energy singer and guitarist recorded live at the Festival International De Jazz Montreal in Canada on July 4, 1997 just five weeks before his tragic death from cancer. The CD has ten songs and the DVd seven - mostly original compositions.

 
BOBBY BLAND Reel Music 78018 Call On Me - That's The Way Love Is ● CD $14.98
Reissue of Duke 77 originally issued in 1963 complete with original cover artwork which was one of the biggest selling blues LPs of the 1960s. The two title songs was a massive two sides hit in the R&B charts and crossed over into the pop charts. Also includes Honky Tonk/ Wishing Well/ Care For Me/ Bobby's Blues and more. Newly remastered from original master tapes it comes with a 16 page full color booklet with notes by Bill Dahl, rare photos and full session details.

 
BUSTER BROWN Fuel 61815 The Best Of Buster Brown ● CD $12.98
21 tracks, recommended
This is a reissue of Relic 7064 and features the best collection of this singer and harmonica player's recordings for Bobby Robinson's Fire & Gwen label made between 1959 and 1962. Brown was a lively singer and harmonica player though a somewhat limited one and is accompanied by a solid hard-rockin' group of musicians including guitarists Jimmy Spruill & Riff Ruffin. Includes his big hit Fannie Mae, his minor hit Sugar Babe plus Madison Shuffle/ When Things Go Wrong/ Gonna Love My Baby/ Don't Dog Your Woman/ Doctor Brown, etc. The set includes one originally unissued song (No More) and a few alternate takes and false starts.

 
ROY BROWN El Toro R&B 112 Saturday Night! ● CD $17.98
Great collection of 29 sides recorded for King and Imperial between 1953 and 1957. By 1953 Roy's hits had dried up and most of King sides, good as they were, didn't have any success. When he moved to Imperial he had a surprise hit with his cover of Buddy Knox's rock 'n' roll hit Party Doll and followed that with his last hit - Dave Bartholomew's Let The Four Winds Blow - later a hit for Fats Domino. Excellent sound booklet has informative notes by Dave Penny and full discographical info.
ROY BROWN: Ain't No Rockin' No More/ Black Diamond/ Bootleggin' Baby/ Caldonia's Wedding Day/ Crazy, Crazy Women/ Don't Let It Rain/ Everybody/ Everything's All Right/ Fanny Brown Got Married/ Gal From Kokomo/ Grandpa Stole My Baby/ Hurry, Hurry Baby/ I'm Stickin' With You/ Laughing But Crying/ Let The Four Winds Blow/ Letter From Home/ Midnight Lover Man/ Money Can't Buy Love/ Mr. Hound Dog's In Town/ No Love At All/ Old Age Boogie (Parts 1 & 2)/ Party Doll/ Queen Of Diamonds/ Saturday Nite/ Shake 'Em Up Baby/ The Tick Of The Clock/ Trouble At Midnight/ Up Jumped The Devil/ Worried Life Blues

 
BARBARA CARR CDS Records 1012 Savvy Woman ● CD $15.98
10 tracks, 38 min. highly recommended
Carr signed to Chess Records in the 1960s and released a few soulful singles that went nowhere. After a hiatus of several years, Carr began recording for various small labels until she landed at Ecko Records, a label specializing in so-called chitlin' circuit singers whose songs are filled with sexually frank single entendres. Carr's previous catalog includes such titles as Bone Me Like You Own Me, Hooked On Your Love Bone, and the family Xmas classic I Need A Man Down My Chimney. Eartha Kitt she ain't. But for her latest release she jumps to Clarence Dobbins' CDS label, where the Ecko synthesizer is replaced by an honest-to-God horn section and the drummer actually had parents. In line with this more traditional approach, the sexual stuff is toned down, although Carr still isn't about to let her man treat her wrong, as Savvy Woman and Don't Put The Cart Before The Horse and Number Two will testify to. A soul throwback worth catching up to. (JC)

 
JAMES CLEVELAND Gusto 2086-2 Try Jesus ● CD $7.98
12 tracks, 38 min, recommended
Not to be confused with the out-of-print 1993 release of the same name on HOB Records, although the two have 5 tracks in common. And while there are no track details, these cuts would seem to be latter-day HOB material. Most if it finds Cleveland's gravelly voice is excellent form as he bends gospel traditions to his own musical will. Few had such a profound effect on the form, as Cleveland blurred the sounds of the secular and the religious. His albums easily outsold his contemporaries LPs; his third for the Savoy label, 1962's live "Peace Be Still," sold over 800,000 copies at a time when most gospel releases would barely make the 5000 mark. (JC)

 
JAMES COTTON Lilith 133 Pure Cotton ● CD $21.98
Reissue of fine 1968 Verve album featuring james in top form with his then current band with Luther Tucker on guitar, Alberto Gianquinto on keyboards and Francis Clay on drums. Includes the original recording of the The Creeper which was to become one of his signature tunes plus Soul Survivor/ Worried Life Blues/ Heart Attack/ She's Murder/ Who's Afraid Of Little Rd Riding Hood and more.

 
REV. GARY DAVIS Stefan Grossman's Guitar Works 130/1/2 At Home And Church ● CD $26.98
Three CD set, 49 tracks, highly recommended
Previously unissued recordings from the great gospel singer and guitarist recorded between 1962 and 1967 by Davis's pupil Stefan Grossman. The first two CDs feature Rev. Davis recorded at home playing a wide range of material including several tracks on banjo including a rare banjo rendition of one of his most famous tunes Candyman along with three very different guitar renditions of the tune. He also plays harp on Fox Chase and there almost 10 minutes of him talking about Blind Boy Fuller. It includes several songs not recorded elsewhere and, most remarkably, the third disc features an hour of Rev. Davis at his church with him both singing (with the congregation joining in) and preaching and the set end with two tracks from the Mariposa Folk Festival featuring Davis with The Georgia Sea Island Singers. Sound quality is excellent throughout, particularly considering the informal nature of the recordins. (FS)

 
WILLIE EGAN Document DOCD 5684 Come On - Early Recordings, 1954-1958 ● CD $15.98
26 track set of blues, R&B and black rock 'n' roll recorded by this excellent singer/piano player from Louisiana who settled in California in the 1940s. The tracks were recorded between 1954 and 1958 for a variety of West Coast labels with find bands - several including the excellent guitarist Lloyd Rowe. Some tracks have a strong New Orleans feel to them. Includes It's A Shame/ Reconsider Baby/ Poison Ivy/ Potato Stomp/ Wow Wow/ Sometimes I Wonder/ Come On, etc.

 
T-MODEL FORD Alive 103 The Ladies Man ● CD $15.98
New album from this back to basics Mississippi blues singer and guitarist finds him with a small group with harmonica, guitars and percussion but the sound is still basic funky juke joint blues. Ford performs a selection of original songs along with songs from the repertoire of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker and others. Includes Chicken Head Man/ I'm Comin' To Kick Yer Asses/ 44 Blues/ My Babe/ That's Alright/ Hip Shakin' Woman and others.

 
GUITAR GABRIEL/ VARIOUS Dixiefrog 8677 Guitar Gabriel/ Toot Blues - Beginning Of The Music Mak ● CD $24.98
CD - 21 tracks, 78 mins, DVD - 75 mins, very highly recommended
Robert Lewis Jones first recorded as Nyles Jones in 1970 and subsequently performed under the name of Guitar Gabriel. Although inactive for several years when he was located by folklorist/ musician Tim Duffy in 1991 he soon regained his musical skills and recorded several album for Duff's Music Maker label as well as touring extensively until his death in 1996 at the age of 71. Gabriel was a fine and original performer with a warm engaging vocal style and was a fluent guitarist with a style that draws on several elements - most notably the Piedmont style with elements of Lightnin' Hopkins, Lonnie Johnson and even a few jazz chords. Gabriel always sounded like he had a good time when he was performing with frequent spoken asides and chuckles. The material here is mostly previously unreleased and includes live, studio performances and home performances and includes two tracks from his 1970 recordings as Nyles Jones. His material is diverse including originals, old favorites like Rock Me Baby and Betty & Dupree which become completely transformed by Gabriel and more. It also includes the unexpurgated You Got To Watch Youself which is loosely based on the Dirty Dozens and is as dirty as dirty blues gets! On a few tracks he is given tasteful backup by Duffy on guitar and/or Michael Parrish/ piano. In addition to the CD there's a wonderful 75 minute color documentary funded by Martin Scorsese, Paul Allen & The The Blues Music Foundation which tells the story of Music Maker Records and the Music Maker Relief Foundation that was founded By Tim and Denise Duffy to locate veteran blues performers, introduce them to to the world and try to give many of them a new lease on life. In addition to interview footage with the principals of Music Maker and many of the artists there's an extensive selection of excerpts of musical performances from Music Maker artists like Guitar Gabriel, Boo Hanks, MacAvine Hayes, snake handler and risqué singer Willie Mae Hunter, Captain Luke, Cool John Ferguson, Adolphus Bell, John Dee Holeman and many others. In addition there's a 34 page booklet with extensive notes in English and French. A beautiful and invaluable package. (FS)

 
JOHN HEARTSMAN AND CIRCLES Jazzman 030 Music Of My Heart ● CD $18.98
15 tracks, 61 mins, good
Reissue of extremely rare two LP set self produced by Johnny Heartsman in 1977 and pressed in very small quantities and primarily aimed at the audience who came to see Johnny and his band at the Basin Street West club in Sacramento where some of the set was produced. Though Johnny is recognized as one of the West Coast's greatest blues guitarists his repertoire at the club was more jazz oriented with a touch of low key soul and this is what most of this CD consists of. Only three of the 15 tracks feature Johnny's distinctive guitar playing - on the rest of the tracks he plays or organ or flute accompanied by a small band with occasional horn. Heartsman shares the vocals with Janice LeVon and there are number of instrumental tracks. Titles include The Thrill Is Gone/ Talking About My Baby/ Silky Pete/ The Road To Nowhere/ If We Can't Be Lovers (Can't We Friends), etc. I love Johnny Heartsman as a bluesman but I found the music here to be rather cold and dispassionate and although I'm no expert I'm not sure it's particularly noteworthy as jazz. (FS)

 
HOWLIN' WOLF Geffen 13720-02 Rarities Edition - The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions ● CD $13.98
15 tracks, 68 mins, recommended
This is a rather odd release. A while back there was a two CD edition of this album, with the second CD comprised of all bonus material. Now this is a single CD edition, which is made up of that bonus CD, plus three "London Revisited" tracks (Goin' Down Slow/ Killing Floor, and I Want To Have A Word With You). If you have the two CD set, then you don't really need this, but if you only have the regular original one CD edition, this is worth picking up. Basically, this has three songs not on the original record, plus twelve alternate takes and mixes. Howlin' Wolf was still in pretty good shape when this album was made, plus pairing him up with the great English Blues-Rock players Eric Clapton, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Ringo Starr, Steve Winwood etc. was bound to produce some interested results. Even an album full of out-takes from sessions like these is worth picking up. (JM)

 
BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON Snapper Blues 013 Black Snake Moan ● CD $9.98
20 tracks, highly recommended
Another fine, inexpensive, introduction to one of the giants of pre-war blues from Snapper Blues. Texas singer & guitarist Blind lemon Jefferson was probably the most popular country bluesmen of the pre-war era and his style, songs and arrangements were to influence generations of performers. Lemon was a powerful singer with an intense voice and a dazzling guitar player - he punctuated his vocal lines with incredibly beautiful and complex guitar runs. This set features some of his most popular and influential songs like Broke And Hungry/ Black Snake Moan/ Matchbox Blues/ One Dime Blues/ Stocking Feet Blues/ See That My Grave Is Kept Clean and others. The compilers have carefully chosen to present the full spectrum of Lemon's talent including the mostly instrumental Hot Dogs showing just what a dazzling player he was, a rare example of his slide guitar playing on the spine chilling Jack O'Diamond Blues and the gospel song He Arose From The Dead from his first session issued as Deacon L.J. Bates and more. Sound quality is excellent and there are informative notes and full discographical info. (FS)

 
LONNIE JOHNSON JSP JSPCD 77117 A Life In Music - Selected Sides, 1925-1953 ● CD $28.98
Just arrived. A great retrospective of the recordings of this brilliant and incredibly influential musician. Four CD set with 100 tracks featuring some his best sides recorded between 1925 and 1953. It covers the whole spectrum of Lonnie's considerable talents featuring great blues vocals often with very original lyrics, spectacular guitar instrumentals, his playing with jazz groups led by Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington as well as tracks featuring his violin, banjo and kazoo playing! Some years ago Proper issued a four CD retrospective of Johnson's work (Proper BOX 81 - $26.98) and there are about 45 duplications with that set. More details next time.
LONNIE JOHNSON: 6/88 Glide/ A Handful Of Riffs/ Another Woman Booked Out And Bound To Go/ Away Down In The Alley Blues/ Blue Blood Blues/ Blues For Everybody/ Blues For Lonnie/ Blues In My Soul/ Blues Stay Away From Me/ Can't Sleep Any More/ Careless Love/ Chicago Blues/ Crowing Rooster Blues/ Deep Sea Blues/ Don't Make Me Cry, Baby/ Drifting Along Blues/ Falling Rain Blues/ Falling Rain Blues/ Fly Right, Baby/ Four Hands Are Better Than Two/ Four-O-Three Blues/ Friendless Blues/ From 22 To 44/ Got The Blues For Murder Only/ Got The Blues For The West End/ Hard Times Ain't Gone No Where/ Have To Change Key To Play These Blues/ He's A Jelly-Roll Baker/ Hot And Bothered/ Hotter Than That/ How Could You Be So Mean/ I Done Told You/ I Found A Dream/ I Love You Mary Lou/ I'm Guilty/ I'm Not Rough/ I'm Nuts About That Gal/ It Was All In Vain/ It's Been So Long/ It's Too Late To Cry/ Jelly Killed Old Sam/ Jersey Belle Blues/ Jet Black Blues/ Just A Roamin' Man/ Just Another Day/ Kansas City Man Blues/ Keep What You Got/ Lazy Woman Blues/ Life Saver Blues/ Love Is The Answer/ Love Story Blues/ Man Killing Broad/ Me And My Crazy Self/ Move Over/ Mr Johnson's Blues/ My My Baby/ My Woman Is Gone/ Newport Blues/ Nile Of Genago/ No Good Blues/ Nothing But Trouble/ Old Fashioned Love/ Paducah/ Playing Around/ Playing With The Strings/ Racketeers Blues/ Rambler's Blues/ Rocks In My Bed/ Savoy Blues/ Seven Long Days/ She's Makin' Whoopee In Hell Tonight/ Sitting On Top Of The World/ South Bound Water/ St. Louis Cyclone Blues/ Star Dust/ Stay Out Of Walnut Street Alley/ Steppin' On The Blues/ Stick With It, Baby/ Stompin' `Em Along Slow/ The Best Jockey In Town/ The Faults Of All Women And Men/ The Mooche/ To Do This You Gotta Know How/ Tomorrow Night/ Trouble Ain't Nothing But The Blues/ Uncle Ned Don't Lose Your Head/ Untitled Instrumental/ Watch Shorty/ What A Woman/ What Do You Want That I've Got, Pretty Baby/ Why Should I Cry/ Why Women Go Wrong/ Will You Remember/ Wipe It Off 16.The Dirty Dozen/ Woke Up With The Blues In My Fingers/ Won't Don't Blues/ You Can't Buy Love/ You Only Want Me When You're Lonely/ Your Last Time Out

 
SHIRLEY JOHNSON Delmark 798 Blues Attack ● CD $14.98
14 tracks, 64 min., recommended
Johnson paid her blues dues playing a regular weekly show at the Blue Chicago nightclub for a decade or two. On this, her second album for Delmark (her first was Killer Diller, and she released an earlier album called Looking For Love on the Italian Appaloosa Records label in 1996), she is joined by her own band, avoiding the potential sterility of hired studio talent who may not work well together in favor of a tight, solid blues force that responds to and anticipates Johnson's vocal pyrotechnics. Sure, Johnson can do the Koko Taylor thing, but she can also get the best from more soulful material, such as the Cropper/Floyd classic 634-5789. Guitarist Maurice John Vaughn, who played on Killer, wrote 5 of the songs here, including You Shouldn't Have Been There, an unusual take on the time-honored tradition of cheating songs, no small feat. (JC)

 

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