No comments about Plays Big Blues.

2 comments about The Best of Bobby Bland, B.B. King & Little Junior Parker.

1. Note: two songs (Wondering & Mother-In-Law)are credited to Junior Parker and Bobby Bland, leading one to believe that they are duets. Not so! They are performed by Parker, only. They originally appeared on an old LP, "Blues Consolidated", which was credited to Bland and Parker. But THAT was because side 1 of the LP was Bobby Bland tracks, and side 2 was Junior Parker tracks. Whoever complied this CD must have made the erroneous assumption that all the songs from that LP were duets involving BOTH artists. Also, "Let The Good Times Roll" is credited to Bland and BB King. Well, there is a live version of the song, with the two singers alternating on verses, which can be found on other CD's. The version, here, is live - but it sounds like BB King alone on this performance. Small points, though - it's still good Memphis-style blues from three of it's greatest practitioners.



2. I recently order this cd in july after listen to it, It made me feel like feel good in my opions it is the best this is what you call music in my days

3 comments about Lightnin' Hopkins Featuring Mr. Charlie.

1. I simply love Lightnin's electric guitar playing. He's like a sprightly John Lee Hooker when he plugs in. I really like this album even though I know I "shouldn't"! It's a low-budget wonder. Lightnin' stretches out in this incredibly slow-granding way with tunes like "Brand New Automobile" and "Mister Charlie II". I play this album often because it is so innocuously enjoyable.



2. I simply love Lightnin's electric guitar playing. He's like a sprightly John Lee Hooker when he plugs in. I really like this album even though I know I "shouldn't"! It's a low-budget wonder. Lightnin' stretches out in this incredibly slow-granding way with tunes like "Brand New Automobile" and "Mister Charlie II". I play this album often because it is so innocuously enjoyable.



3. I really love this album, 'though I know I shouldn't in the "snob" sense. Lightnin' Hopkins is simply my favorite electric guitar player. I like every single song on this album -- Lightnin' is like a sprightly John Lee Hooker when he goes electric. I prefer Lightnin' plugged in to unplugged. Plugged in he's something else entirely. "Brand New Automobile" and "Mr. Charlie (Pt. II)" are slow grinding wonders. I keep going back to this low-budget enterprise time and again, and really enjoy it. Well worth the piddly-squat price!

2 comments about My Shining Hour.

1. The music in this CD is a gift for aour ears and soul. Gail Wynters is one of the best jazz singers today, instead of the lack of media coverage of his work. The musicians and the repertoire are also a very tasteful election. Listen to this record and hear the voice and the spirit unique of Gail Wynters.



2. I've heard Gail in person several times and send thanks to whoever produced this gem. In the tradition of Billie, Carmen and Sarah, but yet completely original and moving and touching, Gail Wynters gives these jazz standards a fresh reading and shows that she belongs in the pantheon of the great singers of the century. Her southern accent adds an innocent charm to even the most sophisticated songs. Buy this CD -- and at this price, it's the bargain of the century.

5 comments about The Slide Guitar: Bottles, Knives & Steel.

1. Eternal thanks to Thomas Edison for inventing recording when he did because, had it been delayed for many more years, much of what you hear in this magnificent 1990 release from Sony/Columbia, which presents artists ranging from legends to the virtually unknown, may well have been just a dim memory.
   
   Those that fall into the legend category are immediately recognizable, led by the master of the 12-string guitar (he could also play the accordion and concertina, violin, piano, mandolin, and harp or harmonica) Huddie William Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly (or Leadbelly as he is sometimes listed). Born in January, 1888, he left behind an extensive catalogue of Folk standards when he died on December 6, 1949, including this previously-lost version of Packin' Trunk Blues. Another in that vein is Robert Leroy Johnson, born May 8, 1911, a Delta Blues master whose singing, guitar, and song-writing skills influenced so many later arrivals (among them Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, Jack White, and Eric Clapton) that, in its first year of existence in 1986, the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inducted him in the Early Influence Category (Lead Belly was also so honoured in 1988). Indeed, often called the Grandfather Of Rock `N' Roll, Calpton flat-out called him "the most important blues musician who ever lived" (and he didn't live long, passing away at age 27 on August 16, 1938). One listen to Traveling Riverside Blues and you'll hear why he so highly-regarded.
   
   Also in the legend grouping are Tampa Red (You Can't Get That Stuff No More), Bukka White (Bukka's Jitterbug Swing and Special Stream Line), and Son House (Pearline). Hudson Woodbridge, born on January 8, 1904 in Smithville, Georgia, but known from his earliest days as Hudson Whittaker, developed a signature single-string bottleneck approach which, combined with his composing under the name Tampa Red, also had a profound effect on the great Muddy Waters as well as Elmo(re) James, Big Bill Broonzy and Mose Allison. His career lasted much longer as he passed away at age 77 on March 19, 1981. Another who lived to a ripe old age was Eddie James "Son" House, Jr. (born on March 21, 1902 and died October 19, 1988) whose strong, repetitive rhythms also influenced many big names that followed, while Bukka White (born Booker T. Washington White on November 12, 1909) passed away at the relatively younf age of 68 on February 26, 1977. A delta blues guitarist and singer (and cousin of B.B. King), his unusual nickname Bukka. resulted from an erroneous spelling of his first name by the Vocalion label back in 1937.
   
   At the other end of the spectrum are Barbecue Bob and Sister O.M. Terrell, about whom very little is known. Born Robert Hicks on September 11, 1902, Barbecue Bob took his performing name from his main occupation as a cook and, indeed, one of the few photographs of him around show him decked out in his cook's garb. The un-titled cut presented here, recorded in 1929 (two years before his death on October 21, 1931) sounds very much like Handy's St. Louis Blues - but with different lyrics. As for Sister Ola Mae Terrell, it appears she was a wandering Holy Ghost Preacher who somehow managed six cuts for Columbia in or around 1953 and then disappeared.
   
   In between these two extremes are some of the best slide guitar artists ever recorded, including Oscar "Buddy" Woods, aka The Lone Wolf, who not only was one of the driving forces behind the development of the lap steel bottleneck blues slide guitar; but is credited by many historians as THE one who created the genre.
   
   These and other details are contained in the six pages of liner notes written by musicologist and author Richard Spottswood (Ethnic Music on Records: A Discography of Ethnic Recordings Produced in the United States, 1893-1942 ), the AAD sound reproduction is excellent, and with the insert you get a discography of the contents.



2. One stops in silent homage when something is perfect, actualized, manifested. This CD has music that stands as part of that perfection of American music, a root, a fundamental point of authenticity, of reality to shame our modern pop-besotted ears. Not to wax nostalgic about the lives of these often broke, often desperate musicians (most of the tracks on this CD were composed at the high-water mark of lynching), but how will we reacquire some of this genuineness in our music again? To cut to the chase, Track 8 is my favorite(You can't get that stuff here no more), a Prohibition-era ode to booze and women. The verve of the singer and the playing of the slide conspire to generate this mood: part defiance, part exuberance, all Tampa Red. This is a CD which invites both close listening and casual foot-tapping, depth and good technical ability. In short, I have it on cassette and have almost worn it out.



3. This is a fine collection of blues songs played on the slide guitar. It features legends like Charlie Patton, Blind Boy Fuller, Leadbelly and Robert Johnson. These guys naturally turn in good performances, but a suprising highlight is a unique version of "Swing Low, Chariot" by the obscure Sister O.M. Terrell. Fans of old time blues will really enjoy this CD.



4. If you want to go back to the purest roots of guitar music, this cd is definitely for you. There are several tracks on this record that would alone warrant the purchase (e.g. Sylvester Weaver's Guitar Rag in the 1927 version), and there are several tracks that are almost painfully intense. In addition, the booklet provides interesting background information on the history of bottleneck guitar playing. A must, if you ask me.



5. Even without the Slide Guitar moniker, these recordings stand as some of the best performances of the 20th century. A most have for all music lovers.

2 comments about Paying the Cost to Be the Boss.

1. As opposed to what is claimed by the previous reviewer, this record is a compilation of various songs ranging (I am assuming) from the 50's through the 90's. Like many other "value" recordings, the sound quality is acceptable in some spots and totally unacceptable in others. For instance, this record opens with a sort of a 90s smooth-jazz version of "The Thrill is Gone," which, as opposed again to the previous reviewer's comments, is not an alternate version, but sounds like some type of bootlegged recording from a soundcheck. None of the performances, however, are dated in the liner notes and the packaging in general is pretty cheap.

   There are plenty of other great BB records one can get instead of this. I get the feeling that BB likely isn't enjoying any of the royalties from this stinker anyway.




2. This is a good album for BB fans. If you are not a big fan than you should look into other, more known recordings, but if you are interested in hearing his other music then the album is very good. It has a different version of the popular "The Thrill is Gone" that is pretty neat and also the price is right!

4 comments about Queen of the Blues.

1. Lizzie Douglas was born in Algiers, Louisiana on June 3, 1897 and at the age of 7 moved from a rural farm to Walls in the northern portion of Mississippi. On her 8th birthday she was given her first guitar by her father and took to the instrument almost immediately, soon playing at local functions as "Kid" Douglas.
   
   At a very young age she ran away from home, playing for change at what is now W.C. Handy Park on Beale Street in Memphis [then Church's Park], and sometime in the late 1910's or early 1920s she latched onto the stage name Memphis Minnie while playing tent shows with the Ringling Brothers Circus.
   
   Late in the 1920s jug bands began springing up all over Memphis, and it was with various such groups that she began expanding on her guitar style. At this time she also entered a common-law, as well as a musical, relationship, with a musician named Kansas Joe McCoy, and together they recorded Bumble Bee. Unfortunately not included in this set, the hit would later be covered by Muddy Waters as Honey Bee.
   
   What stands out immediately in this 1997 compilation from Columbia Legacy's Mojo Workin' Series, is the raw, growling power of her voice along with her intense guitar picking which put her in the same class as any of her male contemporaries.
   
   The volume contains virtually no liner notes, but on the reverse is this paragraph which is worth repeating: "Beauty and badness ... one of the greatest of all blues guitarists [man, woman or child], Memphis Minnie also sang the blues with a style all her own. In addition to her vast talent, Minnie was strikingly good looking, flamboyant and determined to succeed in a time when women were expected to accept a secondary roll in society. In the face of unthinkable odds, Minnie earned the recognition of her mostly-male peers and became a bona-fide star in her day. Her original version of When The Levee Breaks [with Kansas Joe] would become standard of the rock vernacular when covered by Led Zeppelin at the apex of that supergroup's career."
   
   Unfortunately, the sound quality of the tracks vary greatly, with some sounding like thay were transferred direct from 78 rpm to CD with no attempt to reduce the hiss and pop, while others offer a progressively cleaner sound [the best of which are the previously unreleased tracks 7, 17, and 18]. Two tracks [3 and 4] honour the Brown Bomber himself, Joe Louis.
   
   Minnie, as with her idol Ma Rainey, liked to demonstrate her new-found wealth by traveling from show to show in expensive automobiles and by wearing flashy, heavy bracelets made from silver dollars.
   
   Operating out of Chicago in the Dirty Thirties, Minnie added a bass and drums to her sound, and it was in this period that she left McCoy to marry another musician named Ernest Lawlars, known more familiarly as Little Son Joe.
   
   They continued to cut records right into the 1950s before increasingly poor health forced her to return to Memphis in 1958 and give up the music business. Almost completely infirm from that point on, she died on August 6, 1973, in Memphis at age 76. In 1980, 20 inductees were honored by the Blues Hall Of Fame in its first year of existence. Memphis Minnie was one of them.
   
   Hopefully, more and more of her material will be properly cleaned up and made available on CD in the not-too-distant future. She was a real gem and well worth a listen, even in these crackling tracks.



2. if you want a far superior version of "When the Levee Breaks," listen to Led Zeppelin's masterpiece-and no it's not a cover, just lyrically similar



3. Minnie seems to be overlooked today. Yet, she was one of the most popular blues singers of the 1930s and 1940s. Her style and vigor and the excellence of both her singing, her guitar playing, and the lyrics of her songs, set her apart and above other blues singers.
   
   Now, Minnie doesn't sing with the existential angst and bitter pain that blues singers adored by white post folk "blues fans" adore. That is because Minnie sings the real blues that real Black people in the Delta and in Tennessee, and then all over the country wanted. It is blues for Saturday night to juke and dance and party and drink and make love and lose love and maybe to listen to Sunday afternoon to remind you when the hangover leaves, or you realized who you ended up with last night.
   
   She plays and sings smiling blues, records that were supposed to make you happy enough to dance. Everytime I hear her, I am really struck by how her guitar playing really is a bridge between the old acoustic styles and the modern styles that would be identified with post-war electric blues. I am also struck with how much sexy fun records were back in her day, and what a hot momma Minnie must have been to see and to hear and to touch.



4. "Queen of the blues?," you may ask. After you check out this CD, you'll understand why. There were many outstanding female blues vocalists of the first half of the 20th Century, but Minnie not only sang, she was also an accomplished guitarist and wrote many of her songs.

   This is evidenced by "When the Levee Breaks," which starts off this eighteen track set. Minnie co-wrote and plays guitar on the song, but the lead vocals are by her husband, co-writer "Kansas" Joe McCoy. It's the same song that was later recorded by Led Zeppelin on their fourth album (the same one that included "Stairway to Heaven"). It also seems to be Kansas Joe singing on "Joliet Bound," which immediately follows the first track.

   Vocally, it's pretty much Minnie throughout the rest of the CD, although sometimes it's hard to tell because of her husky singing voice. This is an area where the liner notes could really have been helpful, but this is mere nit-picking.

   In addition to those songs mentioned, other stand out cuts are "New Orleans Stop Time," "Call the Fire Wagon," and the unabashedly sexual, "I'd Rather See Him Dead." Also of note are "He's in the Ring" and "Joe Louis Strut," which are both tributes to the former heavyweight champion.

   Memphis Minnie is the real thing. She's raw, bold and can play some mean guitar. Her playing ranges from "gut bucket" (a la Robert Johnson) to a more "rocking" style, later popularized by the likes of Chuck Berry (who is rumored to have recorded a jam session with her). Simply put, this CD should be a part of any comphrensive blues collection.

No comments about Got My Mojo Working.

5 comments about Live at the Regal.

1. So they finally went back and remastered the muddy audio on this classic album! The new sound is fantastic -- clear as a bell. Sadly, while the audio was being cleaned up, no one bothered to clean up the very, very sloppy edits (especially in the second half), such as when the second intro of B.B. (why two separate intros, anyway?) gets abruptly chopped off and goes right into a song that from the background crowd noise came at some other point in the show. If you're going to do a live album, the tracks should at least create the illusion of a live show, especially in this digital era when fade-outs and fade-ins are no longer used, and audience applause can be smoothly edited in to create seamless transitions!
   
   The performance is powerful and this is definitely a 5-star recording that has been royally botched by sloppy and oh-so-obvious edits. In addition, many remasters go back and add in some bonus tracks. If no original source material survives (which may be the case 42 years after this performance!), then something from the era is added as a bonus and the CD is fleshed out to anywhere from 60 to 79 minutes long. Not here. You get the original 35 minutes. No more. No less.
   
   Anyone who's seen what Legacy is doing with classic LPs (adding more to the original CD, plus a second CD of extra material) by Bob Marley, Eric Clapton, The Who, etc., surely have some idea how this great LP could have been updated for the 21st century. What we get is clearer audio, and nothing else. What a disappointment!



2. B.B. King-Live At The Regal *****
   
   Recorded live at the Regal in Chicago in 1964 this went on to become what is now widely considered the all time greatest live blues album. This is rightly deserved as this is in fact the greatest live blues album of all time.
   
   King's single note guitar lines are crisp as ever, and his vocals are beyond comparison. Aside from being obviously his best live recording, Live At The Regal is the best recording of King period. This is with out a doubt the best version of 'Sweet Little Angel' ever released. The essential version is more correct. 'Every Day I Have The Blues' and 'Its My Own Fault' are among some of the most inspired performances ever caught on tape. The albums closer 'Help The Poor' is just gut-wrenching. Pure bliss!
   
   This performance is pure electric. With every passing listen to Live At The Regal I still get chills all down my spine, and if you ask me that is the mark of a fantastic album after all these years and listens.



3. As a Memphis native, I have heard B.B. on many occasions. Never have I seen or hear him play with the same passion he did here in 1964. The quality of the recording is outstanding, with Lucille giving the center-stage on many occasions. The clarity and quality is amazing for a forty year old recording. This is the live B.B. King recording to buy. The Cook County Jail performance from 1971 is a close second, but the quality is not nearly as good.



4. recorded live at the regal theatre, chicago in 1964, this is generally considered b.b. king's best album, and deservedly so. this is simply one of the great urban blues albums of all-time. b.b.'s singing is as powerful and nuanced on this recording as it was ever to be, before or after. his guitar playing is at a peak of expressive beauty here, far more tasteful and beyond the technic, at this point, of what any rock and roll guitarist was yet capable of. yes, the rock and rollers would improve greatly in time, but this was 1964, and King was the undisputed guitar king. a fine horn section, it should be mentioned, also graces the album. the whole affair is magical. a great night in recording history.



5. BB King's Live at the Regal is a recording of a great show performed at the Regal Theater in Chicago in 1965. Considered among many, including myself, as his greatest album its a must for any blues collection. King is at the top of his form and you can hear it in his guitar playing. His band gives their all and, importantly, the song selections are magnificent.
   
   Its a great recording of a great performance. Its also a perfect introduction to the blues for neophytes as well. Highly recommended.

1 comments about Telarc's Got More Blues.

1. Telarc usually records the best jazz and blues albums with great musicians...Also here it is one of them...Non arguement, each one who in this album is the blues masters of the world... And finally you must listen to this album in my opinion...You will like and enjoy it...