5 comments about The Ultimate Collection.

1. This is a lovely collection of Ms. Holiday's finest. My dad wanted a copy of the 20th Century Masters Collection I have of hers and since Christmas was coming up, I decided to buy him his own copy of the disc rather than just burning him a copy. I came to [...] and looked for that disc, but saw a ad for this one - this not only had all of the songs on the other album, but a whole other CD worth, too! Plus, it has a great DVD full of concert clips and interviews. My dad was stoked when he got his present and has been listening to it nonstop for a few days now :)



2. The Ultimate Collection This one is a rip-off. There are not enough songs on the CD and they try to compensate by sending a DVD which freezes all over the place. Buy Lady Day instead which has tons of her songs and is a superb value.



3. There are some good songs on this collection. Overall a good Billie Holiday presentation. Also descent quality.



4. If you are addicted to the music and sound of Lady Day, then you must include this collection in your music porfolio. One can never get too much of Holiday.



5. Loved the compilation. Nice mix of tunes and certainly hits som eof her more contreversial works. Nice packaging too, lots of music in a small and neat package.

5 comments about Bessie Smith: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 1.

1. BESSIE SMITH WAS, AND ALWAYS WILL BE, THE QUEEN OF THE BLUES. THESE ARE HER EARLIEST RECORDINGS, THE FIRST TWO CD'S IN A SET OF FIVE TWO CD SETS. THESE RECORDINGS WERE MADE IN 1923-24, AND EVEN THO' THEY ARE RAW, AND DON'T HAVE GREAT BACKUP, THE POWER OF HER VOICE CAN'T BE DENIED.



2. This is the first recording of Bessie Smith that I've owned and I'm not at all disappointed. On the contrary I'm so moved by her deep rhythms and the commanding presence of her voice. This collection is more mellow than I originally thought but, I think that is the beauty of the blues that Bessie sings. She truly is one unique woman. I play these cd's almost every evening and they really help me unwind. I would recommend this music, this remarkable woman.



3. The blues is not just a musical genre,some of the artists who have made this particular kind of music are without a doubt some of the most gifted performers of all time.Bessie Smith is such an individual and she was not without peer but certainly she was one of the best voices this genre(or any genre really)had to offer.These sides sound great and the transfers are of the highest quality allowing the listener to hear the emotion she sang with.
   This first set is the cream of the recordings she made...just voice and piano.I still think that when you want to showcase the peformer that this is how you do it....no tricks.Her phrasing and delivery are what sets her apart from the rest.If you have this already,then buy it for somebody you know that loves the blues.If you don`t own it,take a chance and you to will be amazed by this singular talent - Bessie Smith is where all roads lead to.



4. Listening to this CD set is like sitting in one of those smoke filled blues bars on in an old, old movie. I first heard Bessie Smith on a small town blues radio program - you know, one of those stations that gave an hour or two to different kinds of music, so the jockeys for the particular genre really know their stuff. Her voice really stood out from all the rest. It is smooth like Ella Fitzgerald but sorrowful and knowing. I am an Ella fan too, but Bessie has more IN her voice. I would love to have heard her sing some gospel because you can hear the pure power in her voice without her every really using it. It is like a deep river running slowly.

   The sound quality of the recording is ... well, have you ever listened to vinyl? It is like that, sort of. You can tell it is old. For me, though, that just adds to its charm. The accompanyment(sp?) is piano - no blaring horns or anything like that. This is slow, classic blues.




5. In my opinion Bessie Smith was not only one of the first, but the
   best. Bessie Smith blazed the trail which was followed by all of
   the great female blues singers.

   This complete set illustrates that ALL of her recordings became
   part of the foundation upon which the genre was built.

   I only have one regret. I bought the set on cassettes before I
   had a CD player! A problem that I plan to resolve in the very
   near future.

5 comments about Where Will You Be Christmas Day.

1. This is collection of Christmas songs recorded from old 78s. Some of the songs are a bit scratchy, but they are all quite listenable. The recordings date from 1917 to 1959, with the majority being recorded in either the '20s or the '30s. The music is played is a wide variety of styles; including gospel, folk, calypso, blues, county and others. Most of the songs are quite enjoyable. This is a very different Christmas album than any other you've ever heard, which is a good thing.



2. I love this cd. The songs are uniquely christmasy. I don't necessarily play it Christmas morning when I'm sticking with the traditional stuff, but I play it more than any other Christmas cd I have. In contrast to the guy that doesn't think these are recorded well, I think these have excellent sound quality for this type of old music. The variety is awesome from the bagpipe guy to a Leadbelly quicky, Buell Kazee doing his usual thing to blues, solo vocals and more. I get these songs, like "The Wrong Way to Celebrate Christmas" in my head and I can't get them out. I wish I could find another Christmas cd like this one. Now that would be the right way to



3. If poorly recorded roots music is of interest to you, you might want to consider buying this CD. The poor recording is, of course, not the fault of the company making the CD. The recordings are made from old originals that were made with primitive equipment in primitive conditions. There is no arguing that the music is historically significant. But, I was hoping that there might be one or two songs I could consider listenable. Each year I search for obscure music to add to a large collection of holiday CD's. This one, unfortunately, will not be one that I count among the worthwhile purchases. Pairing this with the John Waters CD is, I suppose, logical. I would recommend that one first, however, on the basis of sound quality if nothing else.



4. This CD has a wide range of musical styles, collected from rare recordings from the 20's to the 50's; most of the recording seem to come from a gospel/blues tradition, but each is unique in it's own way...
   Some of these songs are quite enjoyable, but others take some getting used to; this is not a CD I would play on Christmas with the family gathered round, but I have been listening to it in my car during the holiday season...I collect Xmas CD's, and this unusual compilation is a welcome addition to my collection.



5. this is quite possibly the best CD i have ever heard in my life. i absolutely treasure the music and am so thankful that the guys at dust-to-digital thought to put this compilation together. it is not "christian" necessarily, even though it is a christmas album (when you hear "christmas in jail" and "papa ain't no santa claus" you'll see what i mean) so don't think that it is only for those whose taste runs to the religious. the music represents the soul, the backbone, and the seed of just about all american music (except perhaps techno...). a must own for any lover of folk, country, rock, blues, soul, gospel, and even funk music. this is the best of the best--you will not be disappointed!

5 comments about Love's Been Rough on Me.

1. Ms. James's acknowledgements in the booklet of this 1997 release are gracious in standard liner-note fashion; she thanks her collaborators and significant others and concludes, "You can call it country, you can call it country blues, you can call it country soul -- call it whatever you like. It is just me. Another one of my dreams fulfilled. I've always wanted to do a country record and here it is." Perhaps she was diplomatically holding back, or perhaps she truly felt this way but soured on the record within the next year, but in a 1998 ROLLING STONE interview, she bitterly disowned this recording. She criticized everything from the production to the photo on the cover (to my nearly ten-years-past recollection, her descriptive phrase was something like "a picture of me with a shawl around my neck, looking like some sad old woman who's about to go make spaghetti"). She seemed disappointed and resentful that the label initially had supported her in her desire to make a country record, but then backed away from that concept in the event (more below on the specifics of this).
   
   So, be aware that by recommending this so strongly, I am putting myself in opposition to the artist herself. But artists are not always the best judge of their own work; sometimes one can get a clearer view from not standing so close. I wonder if Ms. James's opinion of LOVE'S BEEN ROUGH ON ME would be more generous today, if she were able to hear it as the record it is, rather than the one that fell short of what she had in mind. I have a feeling that what she envisioned (or whatever the aural equivalent of "envisioned" would be) was more along the lines of what Solomon Burke was allowed to do on his 2006 masterpiece NASHVILLE -- an aged but still potent R&B voice that exudes hard-won wisdom, confronting music of an unabashedly rustic character in both composition and execution. It is true that the country influence on Ms. James's album, when not absent entirely (vigorous rock-and-soul jams like "Love It Or Leave It Alone" and "I Can Give You Everything"; a heartfelt cover of Otis Redding's "I've Been Lovin' You Too Long"), is subtle at best. There are a few song structures so purely Nashville as to be identifiable as such no matter how they're decked out ("Done In The Dark," which she and one of her sons cowrote; "If I Had Any Pride Left At All"), and a fleeting guitar twang or underpinning of steel ("The Rock"; the title song), but the greater portion of the album is a slick and soulful affair. The inclusion of a horn section, over the singer's objection, seems to have been a particularly sore spot. If it's "Etta goes country," it's decidedly heavier on the "Etta" than the "country."
   
   And yet, ten years on, this sounds not only better than ever, but (to me) like the jewel of what could be called the third phase of Ms. James's recording career, the one that began in 1994 with her first release on Private Music, and continues in her present association with RCA. In this period she has benefited from a kind of support that is no doubt the envy of many less fortunate contemporaries. She has been staggeringly prolific, recording Tin Pan Alley standards (four discs!), rock, blues, the inevitable holiday album, even easy-listening pop. But for all the first-class production values and the admirably broad artistic palette of her many releases, few of them have really "scored." There is no doubting Ms. James's sincere affection for the music of Gershwin, Berlin, Porter, and their like, but three albums of standards with pianist Cedar Walton's jazz combo ('94's MYSTERY LADY, '95's TIME AFTER TIME, and '01's BLUE GARDENIA) demonstrate conclusively that such music does not play to her strengths as an improviser or interpreter (she has more in common as a song stylist with Aretha Franklin and Dinah Washington, both of whom could also sound out of place on Tin Pan Alley, than with Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, who thrived there). An attempt at still more of the same, this time in heavily synthesized, "modern" clothing, '99's HEART OF A WOMAN, is not only the worst of her Private albums but one of the worst things I have ever heard from any major artist: unlistenable. LIFE, LOVE AND THE BLUES ('98) and MATRIARCH OF THE BLUES ('00) are more pertinent, but still leave an aftertaste of the generic. They're agreeable yet stubbornly unmemorable attempts at recapturing a classic Etta James formula.
   
   Not so with LOVE'S BEEN ROUGH ON ME. For once, whatever her misgivings about what was done with her original concept, she seems to this listener to have everything going for her: songwriting that is consistently strong; a unified theme and atmosphere that pervades the entire set (I can only describe this as a sort of "nocturnal" quality -- everything here, whether a ballad or an uptempo number, has the feel of a late-night rumination from someone who has accepted her insomnia); a style of music that is right in her comfort zone as an interpreter; and instrumental support that's not only alert and responsive but assertive enough to challenge her, to good effect. She gets into a hell-for-leather duel with whichever of her electric guitarists features on "Love It Or Leave It Alone"; and the way the ensemble coalesces and swells behind her whenever the "b" section of "Cry Like A Rainy Day" comes around ("I've made some wrong moves..." "Remember these arms..." et cetera) is genuinely thrilling. Finally, do not be surprised if, like me, you come to consider her performance of the standout track, "If I Had Any Pride Left At All," as affecting a ballad performance as she has ever given on record. No small compliment when one's discography includes "At Last" (well, yes, but try to remember how you felt about it before it was flogged to death in every TV show or movie that has a slow dance) and "Lovin' Arms." For all that the voice has darkened and wizened (which she uses to exquisite effect in the rueful I'm-leaving-you opener, "The Rock"), her singing here is far more remarkable for the power it retains than for anything it's given up.



2. I did not even know who Etta James was, when I walked into a bookstore and heard this CD playing. I really liked the aching, defeated but proud sound of these songs, and I bought it. How lucky for me I had chanced upon a legend who retained immense talent and taste well into her late career. Since then I got some schoolin' and I've bought other Etta James CDs. She can really sing the pants off a song. I've even seen her live since then. But "If I had any Pride Left at All" (on this CD) is still my favorite Etta James song.



3. Etta James takes on a country feel on this release but being that it IS Etta James one would think that there were no other country singers ever. From the opening tract "The Rock" you feel the pain in this womans soul. when she sings " Now you say I`m only holding you down like some ole rock you been draggin around " You know that she has felt it and she makes you feel it too.The following song " Cry like A Rainy Day " Has Etta`s voice soaring to its highest high and down to its lowest lows never clearer, stronger, and just as powerful as ever this lady can SANG. The Title Track will bring you to tears she sings " Have Mercy Baby Loves Been Rough On Me " her voice and style take you down a path of broken dreams and hearts as only Etta can do.Her rendition of "If I Had Any Pride At all" and I`ve Been Lovin You" Will have you running for a tissue. And then as if to rescue your broken heart Etta sings " I Can Give You Everything " to bring you back from that edge. To round the offering out the closing tract was written by Etta herself with her son Donto and Josh Sklair." Done In The Dark" is catchy, sassy,in your face, I know your doing me wrong kinda song,a fitting end to these sessions.
   As with all of her recordings the backing musicians are a tight and well oiled unit one wonders if playing with the best brings out the best I`m not sure but it sure sounds that way. This CD belongs in everyone ones collection
   I was lucky enough to of seen this Lady twice this summer she can still belt em out and stir your soul, she is after all THE ONE AND ONLY ETTA JAMES



4. I purchased this CD 5 years ago, in a tiny shop on Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Her music was playing throughout the store---the lyrics are bittersweet,sentimental and mature. ( She has BEEN THERE, and you get the feeling that she knows that you have too---) I had never experienced Etta James music beforehand---and believe me it is an EXPERIENCE! Eventually I left the man, but I took my Etta James CD with me. ( There are many men, but only one EJ.)



5. This cd is one of Etta's BEST!!!... "Love's been rough on me" showcases Etta's strong voice! I love this one!

3 comments about The Ultimate Collection.

1. This Gershwin collection is divided into two CDs; the first has many of his more popular pieces from Broadway productions, and the second has a selection of his symphonic works. Some of the songs on the first CD are performed by singers such as Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Bing Crosby, and sound absolutely spectacular. Unfortunately, the compilers opted for some lesser know and less talented names for several of the tracks, rendering about a quarter of the CD mediocre. The one pick that really didn't fit in, however, was Audrey Hepburn's rendition of "How Long Has This Been Going On?" Audrey Hepburn, despite all her wonderful acting talent, simply cannot sing, and listening to the entire song even once is a difficult thing to force yourself to do. In my humble opinion, however, listening to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong singing "Summertime" completely makes up for it.

   The performances on the second CD are wonderful across the bar, and a delight to listen to. My own personal gripe with this CD, however, is that, instead of selecting three or four compositions and including full performances of all of them, the producers have used a number of medleys and suites in order to include a larger representation of Gershwin's work. You may like this, and as I said, all the performances are top notch, but I found myself wishing that entire works had been used, instead of just pieces of them. There are a few which are presented in the entirety: the ubiquitous Rhapsody in Blue (an extremely good recording of it), Lullaby, and his three preludes for the piano, but these are the only ones.

   I, sadly, do not have the discriminating ear of a musician, but there were certainly no flagrantly obvious problems with the sound on either of the discs; this album seems extremely well done from a technical perspective. I would recommend it to someone looking for a Gershwin album with a little of everything, but for someone who already has or is looking to start a collection of his work, this CD will add very little of note.




2. This is clearly one of the best collections of Gershwin's ever-lasting musical masterpieces. Rhapsody in Blue is a favorite piece, and the cd contains many songs sung by some of the greatest singers, including Ella Fitzgerald. If you've been searching for the perfect gershwin cd, consider purchasing this particular one.



3. This collections includes seventeen Gershwin songs sung by superb artists over several decades and 11 wonderful "best of" instrumentals. Singing artist incude original recordings by Billie Holiday, Louis Armstong, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, and others. Instrumentals include Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris. Many of the instrumentals were recorded by Arther Fiedler and the Boston Pops. There is 140 minutes of music on two CD's

5 comments about First Issue: The Dinah Washington Story (The Original Recordings).

1. I'm new to this artist and found this collection wonderful! The sound quality is great and so is the variety of songs.



2. Born Ruth Jones on August 29, 1924 in rural Tuscaloosa, Alabama, she moved to Chicago at an early age and, after winning an amateur contest in 1939, took the name Dinah Washington in the early Forties when she joined Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra.
   
   In 1944/45 she recorded on the Keynote label and made what was then known as the Harlem Hit Parade with Salty Papa Blues (# 10) and Evil Gal Blues (# 9) under the billing "Sextet with Dinah Washington" (the sextet was trumpeter Joe Morris, Rudy Rutherford on clarinet, Milt Buckner on piano, drummer Fred Radcliffe, Vernon King on bass and Arnette Cobbs on tenor sax).
   
   After a two year absence from the charts, she returned on Mercury in 1948 with The Rudy Martin Trio and the classic Fats Waller composition Ain't Misbehavin (# 6 on the Most Played Juke Box Race Records charts) - unfortunately not in this set.
   
   Thereafter Dinah was seldom off any charts (1957 being the sole exception) right through to the year of her death at age 39 (December 14, 1963), during which time she had just over 60 hits.
   
   In this compilation you get 23 of them, including a cover of a pure Country song, the Hank Snow classic I Don't Hurt Anymore which went to # 3 R&B in 1954 (she also took Hank Williams Cold, Cold Heart to # 3 R&B in 1951 but, alas, that too is missing).
   
   All of her biggest Mercury pop crossovers are here, however, including I Wanna Be Loved (# 5 R&B/# 22 pop in 1950 with the Teddy Stewart orchestra), What A Difference A Day Makes (# 4 R&B/# 8 pop), and Unforgettable (# 15 R&B/# 17 pop) - both in 1959, the 1960 duets with Brook Benton, Baby (You've Got What It Takes) and A Rockin' Good Way (To Mess Around And Fall In Love) which both went to # 1 R&B and nos. 5 and 7 respectively on the Billboard Pop Hot 100, my all-time favorite, the sad This Bitter Earth which peaked at # 1 R&B/# 24 Hot 100 in August 1960, Love Walked In (# 16 R&B/# 30 Hot 100 in November 1960), and 1961's lilting September In The Rain (# 5 R&B/# 23 Hot 100).
   
   After four more lower region pop hits in 1960/61, Dinah moved to Roulette Records in 1962 and that year added six Hot 100 entries, although only one made the Pop Top 40, and none scored on the R&B charts as her voice had lost much of its quality by this time.
   
   Dinah Washington is, simply put, one of the all-time greats, and this was acknowledged by the R&R Hall Of Fame, which inducted her in 1993 in the "early influence" category, the U.S. Postal Service who honored her that same year with a stamp (depicted on the CD cover), and the Blues Hall Of Fame in 2003. Inside this package you also get a wonderful booklet written by the noted music historian Chris Albertson which highlights her career and details of each of the 46 selections.



3. Dinah Washington was known as "The Queen of the Blues", but she was also equally adept at singing jazz, R&B and pop. She recorded a lot of music during her relatively short life, and this 2 CD set features 2 and a half hours of some of her best work. There is one unlisted bonus track at the end, which is Dinah telling a joke about a talking dog.



4. this is a personal go-to collection of dinah washington recordings. they cover the gamut of her career from gutsy bluesy early stuffs to commercialized arrangements for standards that were redeemed by her uniqe style and phrasing.
   
   i'm sure that if a person reads the other reviews, they'll get biographical info, more detailed analyses of her phrasings and the arrangements and breakdowns of the studios that recorded her. all i know is what i feel. and this woman's voice makes me feel so good! i love the pop stuff, i love when she swings it, i love when she holds back and i love it most when her phrasing is so relaxed that it's like she's talking to the listener, especially on 'mad about the boy'.
   
   and i love that corny joke at the end!



5. How can there be people who do not own these recordings. How can people live without Dinah. She was special. From the first blues sides she cut with the men from Hamp's band in the forties, to her last effort, there is a deeply African American blues and church based depth to her, but something personal, so totally real, so totally of her own,bitter sometimes, sweet rarely, moving always to her singing.
   
   In these recordings we see a great range of Dinah. She's doing R & B (TV is the thing this year), Torch songs, she singing Jazz and even playing vibes with ace Jazz Musicians, she is cutting through oceans of strings on What a Difference a Day Makes, she is all over. There are so many shining gems on this record, there is so much lost that music is so categorized that you cannot have a Diva like Dinah today who the Jazzbos call their own, whom the blues singers must tip their hats to, who provides the slow song to make your move for the dancers, and who is a star even for the squares listening to MOR--does that exist any more middle of the road radio?

   I'm convinced that when John Hammond first produced Aretha Franklin as a Jazz-Blues artist before Jerry Wexler took her to soul, that Hammond thought he was trying to create a Dinah Washington.

   I do not think a single artist has come along since she left us to fill those voids. No one with all that soul!

4 comments about Alberta Hunter - My Castle's Rockin'.

1. Since I wrote script Billy Taylor reads in this documentary (which, by the way, is a documentary and not, as stated above, a concert film) I am delighted to see that it won awards! Odd that I had to find that out here, isn't it? Anyway, Alberta was a wonderful person who led a fascinating life and had a long career. One hour was really not enough to say all there was to say, but I hope the documentary is a good summation. It is sad that Alberta did not live to see the end result. She passed away as we were producing it.



2. There's actually 4 records: 1977's Remember My Name, a soundtrack she wrote the songs for apparently and sang when she was 82, her first release since her last record, I guess, at age 62. Her second album is Amtrak Blues from 1978 age 83, then The Glory of Alberta Hunter 1981 age 86 and, finally, Look for the Silver Lining from 1982 at age 87. There is also a CD called Downhearted Blues Live at the Cookery. She also has another live release Jazz live at the Smithsonian. Yow.
   
   Her voice is so wonderful at this later age. Similar, to me, with Johnny Cash where I prefer his voice in his last decade much more than his first 2 or 3 decades. Same with Alberta Hunter. I don't really care for her work from the 20's through 40's. But this stuff is stunning. She has so much gusto and presence and to have the chance to see her live show here is a real treat. chrisbct@hotmail.com



3. Alberta Hunter is a Great Talent.She is in Command Here.You Feel The Pressence of Her Voice&The Feelings She Puts into it Have So Much Depth.



4. This award-winning performance documentary, which includes a full-length concert from The Cookery in Greenwich Village, tells the story of a legendary singer/songwriter who retired at 62 and made a comeback at 82. The Los Angeles Times called it "an exhilarating, moving portrait of an extraordinary woman."

   #1331 (60 min, Hi-Fi Stereo)

No comments about Timeless Classics.

5 comments about Great Ladies of Jazz.

1. Great Ladies of Jazz is a very solid CD that features some really great songs performed by some of the very best female jazz singers ever. The quality of the sound is fantastic; and the artwork is very well done as well.
   
   "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" is a live track of the great Ella Fitzgerald, the First Lady Of Song; and Ella swings this out like the pro she always was! The piano arrangement is stunning and Ella really throws herself into this number. If you listen it's immediately apparent that Ella enjoyed a great rapport with her audience, too--she usually did! Ella was the best of them! Ella returns for "Our Love Is Here To Stay;" I love that horn treatment and the overall musical arrangement works wonders for "Our Love Is Here To Stay." I love it! Ella's voice is in excellent form; it's rich, warm and extremely vibrant. Great!
   
   Listen also for the great Billie Holiday to perform a sublime rendition of "Come Rain Or Come Shine." Billie sounds more mature on this recording; but make no mistake about it--her voice is still in excellent form. Billie's uncanny sense of timing and her excellent diction bolster her ability to sing this ballad with panache, heart and all her soul. In addition, Billie's treatment of "God Bless The Child" strikes me as being especially pretty and moving; Billie Holiday was always one of my very favorite female vocalists and just one listen to this will tell you why! "Ain't Misbehavin'" by Dinah Washington features Dinah squarely front and center--and that's where she belongs! The big band arrangement enhances "Ain't Misbehavin';" this Fats Waller tune shines brightly when the great Dinah Washington delivers it flawlessly.
   
   Sarah Vaughan sings "'S Wonderful" with her usual style and grace; and the horn stands out in the music that accompanies her fine singing! "'S Wonderful" by Sarah Vaughan is easily a major highlight of this album. Listen for Sarah a second time around as she performs "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" with yet another big band arrangement. Sarah's voice is clear as a bell and her voice is very rich and full.
   
   "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?" gets a fine jazzy interpretation from Abbey Lincoln; Abbey's voice sounds better than ever and this Depression era ballad is greatly enhanced by Abbey's interpretation. The CD even ends strong with Shirley Horn delivering "I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good" flawlessly; the piano arrangement is very elegant as well.
   Shirley does this one up right!
   
   Fans of the great female vocalists on this album are bound to want this CD in their collections. This CD oozes good taste and class and it's bound to be available for sale for quite some while to come.



2. This is a great cd. I heard it inside a little music place one day and asked the old lady who was singing the song I was hearing. She got me out this cd and I got it for like 8 dollars. Every song on here is so great. I am only 21 and I love it. It makes me miss old good music like this. So unless you only like a certin kind of music I say get this it has amazing songs and is very relaxing. You may be able to find it at a lower price at your local record store so you may want to check there first.



3. This is the quintessential collection of the best female voices in jazz. This collection has the songs that made these women famous and/or the songs for which they are most remembered. Every song on the cd is a gem!!! The highlights are Ella's live recording of "It Don't Mean a Thing(If It Ain't Got That Swing)" and Nina Simone's "I Loves You, Porgy." All twelve songs run the gamut of emotions from true bliss to deepest sorrow. These women knew how to sing and these selections are some of the greatest in the american songbook. I highly recommend this cd.



4. There is nothing smoother than the voices of these great ladies. Put it in the car and you won't stress about rush hour any more.



5. I bought this CD a few years ago on a whim, never having listened to jazz before. I fell in love with Ella Fitzgerald's voice, she's outstanding. This CD features some great female voices, incredible musicianship and for price, you cannot go wrong!

3 comments about Hoodoo Lady.

1. One of the interesting facts about the development of the blues is that in the early days the recorded music and the bulk of the live performances were done by women, at least they were the most popular exponents of the genre. That time, the early 1920's to the 1930's was the classic age of women blues performers. Of course, when one thinks about that period the name that comes up is the legendary Bessie Smith. Beyond that, maybe some know Ethel Waters. And beyond that-a blank.
   
   Yet the blues singer under review, Memphis Minnie, probably had as a productive career as either of the above-mentioned names. And here is the kicker. If you were to ask today's leading women blues singers like Bonnie Raitt or Maria Muldaur about influences they will, naturally, give the obligatory Bessie response, but perhaps more surprisingly will also praise Ms. Minnie to the skies.
   
   This compilation, while not technically the best, will explain the why of the above paragraph. Minnie worked with many back up players over the years, some good some bad, but her style and her energy carried most of the production. She was the mistress of the double entendre so popular in old time blues- you know phrases like `put a little sugar in my bowl'. The best of the bunch here are the title song Hoodoo Lady, Ice Man and Butcher Man but the real deal here is that this is an album you acquire a taste for-and then do not want to turn the damn thing off. That, for me, is high praise indeed.



2. Memphis Minnie (1897 -1973) was one of the greatest of the women blues singers and, indeed, in a male-dominated field one of the greatest of all blues singers. She possessed musical talent, learning the guitar as a child and continuing to record and perform until ill health forced her retirement in 1959. She wrote much of her own material and performed with great skill on the guitar. Minnie recorded hundreds of sides over a thirty year career. He work still brings pleasure to lovers of the blues.
   
   Memphis Minnie's earliest sides were recorded with her husband, Kansas Joe, in Memphis. These sides are accessible on CD, but the songs on the disc under review here date from the mid-30s when Minnie had left Joe and moved to Chicago. This recording is on a large commercial label as part of its "roots and blues" series; and it is an ideal introduction to Memphis Minnie.
   
   The CD consists of 20 songs recorded between 1933 and 1938. Many of the sides remained unreleased and in the vaults of the recording company at the time. Minnie sings with a brassy voice, full of assurance, accompanies herself on the guitar, and performs with a variety of other musicians. I was particularly impressed with the honky-tonk piano featured on songs such as "Down in the Alley' "I hate to see the sun go down" (a variant of "St. Louis Blues") and "Please don't stop him". The clarinet is used with great effects on "Please don't stop him" and "I'm going don't you know". Other tracks feature the mandolin and the use of rhythm blocks. In some of the songs, Minnie uses a highly expressive falsetto ( including "good biscuits", "if you see my rooster" "has anyone seen my man","caught me wrong blues".
   
   Many of the songs are full of sexual double-entendre,particularly those with food or animals as the ostensible theme. In other, more poignant, songs Minnie bemoans the lot of women after abandonment by a cheating man (such as "My baby don't want me no more" and "my strange man". Other songs such as the title of the album "Hoodo Lady" play upon superstitous beliefs (voodo) that remained common at the time in both rural and urban areas. As with the best blues, the songs here are an admixture of rawness, humor, natural musicianship, and sadness.
   
   This is an important CD for those with even a casual interest in the blues. Minnie's roots music, as with the best of the blues, is lively, creative and worth hearing. It documents an important, sometimes neglected, part of the American experience. Paul Garon, author of a biography of Memphis Minnie, "Woman with Guitar" wrote the thorough liner notes for this CD.
   
   Robin Friedman



3. This is an absolute must have for any serious blues collector and any fan of music. I have approximately 100 blues CDs, many from this era and this is easily one of the best 5. Anyone looking to begin a blues collection would be well advised to purchase these great early Memphis Minnie recordings. Her guitar playing may well surpass even the great Tampa Red and her vocals have a more startling and rhythmic quality than female contemporary Bessie Smith.