No comments about Knockin' Myself Out.

5 comments about I Am the Blues.

1. Frank John Hadley (the official reviewer)... What can I say - you're a very, very sick person. Healing yourself with the music won't do you any good now. What you need is a professional (medical) help - psychiatric treatments, deaf aid etc. Or at least consider the advantages of a suicide.
   After so many versions that we heard from others, THE BOSS himself decided to show us what these songs should sound like. And that's it. Not to mention his part in song writing, producing and the powerful bass playing. What can I say regarding his voice? Pure energy... The guy clears his throat and it's as big as a house. The expression is one in a million.
   Do I recommend this item? Absolutely. Just looking at the track list is a reason enough. Too bad nobody thought of doing the proper remastering to this day.



2. How can you give Willie Dixon less than five stars? The man has played on some of the greatest blues recordings in history and he has written some of the genre's most memorable songs. Recorded in Chicago during the summer of 1969, the album only features one third of the material recorded in that session. The band featured Johnny Shines on guitar, Walter "Shakey" Horton on harmonica, Clifton James on drums, either Sunnyland Slim or Lafayette Leake on piano, and of course Willie Dixon on bass and vocals. If you're looking for instrumental flash, this is not for you. However, Willie's deep growl is pleasant, it has a great beat, and every single song is a classic!



3. Willie Dixon really is the Blues, and the genius who wrote many of your classic rock favorites. Unless you already know more about this guy than I did when I bought this album, you'll find yourself saying...."I didn't know he wrote that song" over and over again. On this album we hear the man who lived the life that became classic rock and roll songs by The Doors, The Rolling Stones, and Eric Clapton. This album is a must have.



4. Probably more interesting for who he is, rather than the music itself. There isn't a song on this recording that isn't done better elsewhere - but Willie wrote 'em and adds his own style and emphasis to each one. The backing is by un-named session players who deliver stock riffs, for the most part. I agree with another reviewer that the harp playing is really good, though I disagree on the piano playing, which comes off as tinkly and pedestrian. Willie is best on "Back Door Man", on which he really rips and which fits his voice to a "T". It's worth the price for that tune alone. The best-balanced song might be "Seventh Son", with a really nice shuffle/swing to it. I was particularly disappointed in "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Little Red Rooster", but given recordings of the original artists (the tunes given to them BY Willie), the bar was pretty high.



5. You don't have to look very far to have proof this is a good album. In fact, just look at the tracklist of just about any rock album from the '60's and '70's. Chances are, you'll see a Willie Dixon song off this album. Out of the nine tracks, a good seven have been covered by famous rock bands, be they Jeff Beck (You Shook Me, I Ain't Superstitious), Led Zeppelin (You Shook Me, I Can't Quit You Baby), Cream (Spoonfull), the Doors (Backdoor Man), the Allmans (Hoochie Coochie Man) or the Stones (Little Red Rooster).
   Okay, so a lot of people played his music. But is it any good? A stupid question, of course. The answer is a loud, resounding, "Yes". Nine cuts of pure blues, with Willie providing the bass, the vocals, and innuendo-laced lyrics. But hey, it's the blues. As for the best songs, I'd say the top three are Spoonful, Back Door Man and Little Red Rooster, though I love every song here (You Shook Me and I Ain't Superstitious, by the way, get honorable mention). Although it's a blues album and recommended to any blues fan, it'll do well in a rock fan's collection as well.

2 comments about The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues.

1. These are classic sides. They aren't some stupid adaptation to the folk craze of the 1960s by Muddy--that would come 5-10 years later with too many badly produced quickie albums done for the the blues rock album. These are nice classic Mississippi/Chicago blues albums.

   More acoustic guitar than in his regular performances, but still more personally tinged, closer to his original records in the late 1940s. This is a master at work and these are songs he did that are classics in the blues repertoire because of these recordings.

   If you are a serious lover of the blues, you probably have these sides already. If not you want to get them. If you just like good music and love your ears, and can witness the dramatic power, the humor, the strength and the sexiness that Waters conveys with his voice and music, you also need this.

   As I said in my review of Muddy's real folk blues, every note Muddy played and sang was real folk blues from Stovall Planatation to the Day he died!




2. Back in the 50's, a few of us Chicago suburban kids surreptitiously tuned the radio to WGES, high on the dial, to hear disk jockey Sam Evans. The best part was when he took us "Down, way down to the basement" to hear the blues by McKinley Morganfield--Muddy Waters--and his sidemen. "Folk Blues," and more especially "More Folk Blues," came out in the sixties, but contain fifties recordings, made before Mike Bloomfield and other "discovered" Muddy and the recordings slicked up. They are almost the only way to relive the experience of raw early electric blues as played at Pepper's Lounge and around the South Side. No one ever phrased a song like Muddy: in "I wisht I knew what cha-a-nge-d my baby's mind," the four-syllable rendering and the amazing note speaks of loss in a never-reproduced voice. The tunes are the upbeat sound with the submerged hurt that defines real blues: "Hello, little girl, you sure do appeal to me. You know you remind me of my all-time used-to-be." If blues means more to you than crashing metal and incoherent screaming, you need this CD.

2 comments about Feel Your Groove.

1. This is an extraordinary album.
   
   Nick DeCaro's orchestra arrangements (track 5 "Feel Your Groove") is a masterpiece - revealing what a jazz-inspired genius can do with a full-blown orchestra. DeCaro was Sidran's secret weapon. Same goes for "When A Woman Say She Ready" on the "I Lead A Life Album".
   
   Hard to find even in the 70's - when I finally found "Groove" I ran out and bought a whole new stereo system to play it. Needless to say I took the phone off the hook that afternoon.
   
   No musicologist or serious music fan should be without these two all-important albums. Track 5 (Groove) is a timeless masterpiece.
   
   Rob Lahey



2. This is a great CD/Album. The first album released by this prolific musician in the early 1970's stands the test of time.
   From the opening piano song (Leo's My Name and Music's My business)which creates the feel of a late night in a crazy cool bar, to groove organ jazz (Feel Your Groove) to Such tunes as "Poor Girl" and "My Wife " this album does it up. Guest artists include Curley Cooke, Blue Mitchell, Peter Framton and Charley Watts.
   Buy it it's worth the import price.

No comments about Inner City Volume 1 [CASSETTE].

No comments about Fast Fingers.

No comments about Hot Shot.

4 comments about Living Chicago Blues, Vol. 3.

1. This is the absolutely best compilation album any blues fan can own. The reason for buying such an album is to get a nice sampling of artists you probably don't own any music from. Certainly that is the case here were many of the artists appear for the first and maybe only time ever but the music is first rate.
   
   Vol 3 is part of a 4 part series but the other 3 sets are no longer available. Too bad but this is the best of the lot. This is first rate chicago blues with a high energy pulse, stinging musicianship and plenty of soul. AC reed, the sons of the blues, lacy gibson and my all time fav band scotty and the rib tips might not be in the blues hall of fame but the cuts here combine for one of the finest blues albums you can own!



2. is a great song. The rest of the CD is good as well, but I love that song.



3. You've find it...

   If you're looking for some grassy, rocky, jazzy blues, don't go somewhere else. Chicago is the TOWN of BLUES. And this album (with the other of the serie) is really what you should consider BLUES. Yes Robert JOHNSON, Muddy WATTERS, John Lee HOOKER, BB KING, Eric CLAPTON are over the top, but listen to this album. And if you had travel to Chicago and had a beer in one of those bars around, you'll be right back in town. I miss Chicago and my nights out there, but with THIS CD...




4. I'm not talking about some Ktel top 40 record either man. Ya dig? Ya looking to pick up some red hot soulful chicago blues then what are you waiting for? This is it! Volume 3 is the best of alligator's 4 part living chicago blues seris. No $14 could be better spent.

   Every cut on this disk is solid through and through. AC Reed starts out with "hard times" and they just keep getting better. This is one of the few ways to get your hands on some "scotty and the rib tips" stuff. The name alone makes you like these guys. The music makes you like them even more. "Careless with our love" will smooth out life's wrinkles. The quitar is solid and soulful. You can tell these guys take their blues seriously.

   Everything is fine from there. Carey bell is the mouth harp master. When you hear Lacy gibson's "feel so bad" you won't feel bad at all. That song is almost too hot to hear. You wonder if your CD is playing at warp speed. The follow up "wish me well" continues to smoke. Last but not least are the son's of the blues. Lurrie bell is one of my favorites. This son of carey bell carries on his fathers legacy to the next level. President reagan must have been listening to the "berlin wall" just before he made that infamous speech. President gorbachev, tear down this wall!

   What would the world be like without alligator records? I shudder to think. Make this your second blues CD after the alligator records 25th anniversary collection. You won't be disappointed!

   ...............socks

No comments about Hoochie Coochie Man.

No comments about Everyday I Have the Blues.