No comments about Jealous.

4 comments about Everybody Hollerin' Goat.

1. Othar Turner, if you were lucky to ever seem him perform, was an amazing performer and a gentleman to boot. The full energy of one of his famous annual summer goat fryups at his home in Senatobia, Missisipi is captured here. The nearest muscial form to "drum and fife" comes from the west coast of Africa, that's how old this musical form is, although there is some blues guitar mixed in on some of the tracks. The fife gives a very primordial, birdcalling edge to the drums. "Drum and fife" is an acquired taste, but like eating spices, once you've acquired that taste, you cannot get enough. Although Othar died last year, apparantly his granddaughter will keep the tradition alive.



2. This isn't for everyone, but if you're into deep blues roots, it is a must have. Blues, soul, funk, mother Africa, barbequed goat, cold beer and hot sweaty bodies: you can feel it all on this one!



3. If you are looking for the wellsprings of music, this CD might be a good place to start. This is as close to Africa as American music gets. The Mississippi fife-and-drum tradition has been explored on record by Alan Lomax and others, and it is always surprising to people unfamiliar with this music that such things exist. This CD is a powerful addition to the recorded heritage of Mississippi and the United States. Since 1923 or so, 90-year-old Othar Turner has been playing cane fifes of his own making, and family and friends accompany him down on his farm with drums--bass and snare. He holds 2-day picnics filled with fife-and-drum music, traditional blues jams, barbecued pig and goat, moonshine whiskey, beer and pop. Fife playing is an art in the oral tradition, passed on from generation to generation. Turner learned it from R.E. Williams, and taught it to his children and grandchildren. You might want to start with track five, one of three versions of "Shimmy She Wobble" on the CD. Turn up the volume and lose yourself in the sounds of hypnotic drumming, shouts, chants and screams, and fife. Then listen to the cricket-saturated "Roll and Tumble," one of several slide-guitar blues on the CD. Then roam freely and take it all in. If you really want to know the roots of music--all music--this is a place to start. Turner and friends make music from someplace deeper than we experience most of the time; but you can find it in yourself if you allow yourself to get lost in this stuff. Especially recommended for those who want to know blues and rock's beginnings.



4. Mr. Turner, a 91 year old former sharecropper from Senatobia, MS. is the last person playing a type of music called "African American Fife and Drum" music. It predates, and is one of the foundations for, the Blues. The music is a combination of African, Blues and march rhythms. You have to hear it to believe it and understand what I am talking about.

   The recordings on this CD are primarily "field recordings" that capture the atmosphere in which this type of music is played, i.e., a picnic or party-type setting. To fully appreciate what a picnic is, go to Mr. Turner's home in Senatobia Mississippi on Labor Day weekend and attend his annual picnic, which has been a tradition at his home for over 25 years. You will never forget the experience and you will never forget the hospitality of Mr. Turner and his family.

   Alan Lomax called African-American fife and drum music his most important discovery, and Mr. Turner has been honored by the Smithsonian, the National Endowment for the Arts, and has been featured in the Oxford American and on ABC's Good Morning America. Listen to this incredible and unique album and you will see why!

No comments about Timeless Classics.

5 comments about The Complete Plantation Recordings.

1. This is where the legend of the one and only, tremendous Muddy Waters starts. Few people have ever impacted any artform as much as Muddy has American music. Though he is accompanied on some songs, Muddy is also solo on many and performs some future classics w/ just an acoustic and his powerful voice. When Muddy heard the playback after "Country Blues" he knew that he had what it took to be a blues professional... possibly the greatest that there ever was. If you've never heard Muddy play acoustic, you are in for a shock; I believe my jaw dropped to the floor when I heard the amazing, full-bodied, vibrant sound that he got out of just a guitar and his voice on songs such as the first cut and "I Be's Troubled" (later recorded as "I Can't Be Satisfied." This is indispensable and essential listening, not just some study in the roots of American music.



2. Most Blues fans have heard a lot of chicago blues. Most fans have a lot of Muddy Waters chicago blues. But not alot of Muddy Waters fans would have heard Muddy sing the delta blues. This CD is very intersting because it shows Muddy playing the first blues he ever heard, The Delta Blues. Much like the sounds of Son House, Robert Johnson and Skip JAmes this cd is all acoustic blues. It is great to be able to hear a very young Muddy sing delta blues because once he went to Chicago he abandoned the delta sound and went electric. Muddy does several Robert Johnson songs on this cd quite well, and there are some interesting interviews with Muddy explaining what life was like in the delta and why he made songs out of his experiences. For those who like the old delta blues this cd is a must have, on no other cd do we hear Muddy singing blues like these.



3. When Muddy Waters made the first recordings here, he was 26 or 27 and had not been playing regularly. He didnt own a guitar and had to borrow Alan Lomax's Martin. You see here your basic Delta and Mississippi blues in full blossom, by a man who was a great player if he could sound like this when he wasn't in practice. People look at Mississippi blues with a distorted mind thinking of it only through the stream of Robert Johnson, when the music and the tradition was much broader.

   
   In the interviews on this recording you can see how lame and ignorant at times the folklorists were, both white and black, Lomax and Work. But you also see a testament to Son House who taught Robert Johnson, Muddy, and a whole layer of bluesmen and who was such a great artist even in his revival 1960s that Muddy would make his band members keep quiet and play close attention when House performed with them at Newport and elsewhere.

   However, you also see his roots beyond this. We get to hear a good string band performance with Muddy Playing with fiddler Son Sims and a mandolin player in a blues fiddle band that was typical of what was going on at the time. Muddy explains his decision to start playing music was inspired by Sims and the string band with Sims and the mandolin player was the band he performed with when he got work. Neither Waters nor the liner notes let you know that Waters also played mandolin, and that when Muddy was a teenager in the 1930s, his favorite blues group was the fiddle band The Mississippi Sheiks. Years later, Muddy would explain he walked all day just to hear the Sheiks.

   Despite all this history, this is some good blues music to listen to,. More relaxed,and less intense, and of course less masterful than the Chess masterpieces Muddy began putting out in Chicago in the 1940s, but this is still a CD I put on my player with it set to keep replaying it because I want to hear it.




4. If your idea of what a Muddy Waters tune should sound like is the cut-and-shuffle of "Hoochie Coochie Man" or the hard-hitting "I've Got My Mojo Working", the music on this album may come as a surprise to you. This is strictly acoustic stuff, split between solo performances and recordings with the Son Simms Four string band, and the style (if not the voice) recalls Waters' self-professed mentor, the legendary Eddie "Son" House.

   Stil, if you're interested in country blues, this is an important and interesting document, showcasing the great Muddy Waters before he truly found a style of his own. The 1941 recording of "I Be's Troubled" (later redubbed "I Can't Be Satisfied") shows signs of things to come, but most of what is on here owes a huge debt to Son House first and William "Big Bill" Broonzy second. Waters' heavy-handed slide guitar attack is strongly reminiscent of House, whom Waters mentions several times during the four interview snippets spread across the record.

   According to legend, listening to himself on acetate for the first time made Muddy Waters believe in himself and his abilities as a recording artist ("I didn't know I sang like that!"), and he eventually made it north to Chicago where his re-working of "I Be's Troubled" became a major local hit in 1948).

   Among the highlights on this album are the House-esque "Country Blues", "I Be's Troubled", and "Rosalie", which is a virtual blueprint for Waters' later approach. Also listen to "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone" and the Charley Patton-like "You Got To Take Sick And Die Some Of These Days".

   Again, this is NOT the kind of hard-rocking blues and deep grooves that made Muddy Waters the king of Chicago blues in the 50s (well, alongside Howlin' Wolf), but if you are interested in the developement of one of the most important post-war blues musicians, it is well worth picking up. And the music is good, too!




5. THis is the beginning of a colossal history: the history of McKinley Morganfield, aka Muddy Waters, born April 4,1915,in Rolling Fork (Sharkey Co),MS.Born on Kroger Plantation,he went to Clarksdale,MS,in 1918,after his mother's death,and lived with his grandmother.He taught playing harp at 9, and guitar around 1932.Nine years later,he waxed his first tunes,and the legend could begin.One of the greatest musicians of the century was born.
   Of course, this cd is essential.Even if there are some imperfections,even if the violin of Henry Sims on four tracks isn't very good.Muddy Waters' music is already here,with strong influences from Son House,Charley Patton,Willie Brown,Robert Johnson and even Blind Lemon Jefferson."Country blues" and "I be's troubled" are masterful solo pieces,recorded at Stovall's Plantation,August 1941."I be bound to write to you" will later be named "I can't be satisfied",and it features great slide playing."You got to take sick and die..." shows Muddy imitating (with great skill) the outstanding Blind Willie Johnson;you know,the guy who recorded "dark was the night,cold was the ground",one of the most extraordinary pieces in the history of american black music."Why don't you live..." is the same ."mean red spider" features a pianist that sounds like Sunnyland Slim."I'm gonna cut your head" is more in Big Maceo's mood,because of James Clark's piano playing;so are "atomic bomb blues" ,"tomorrow will be too late","Jitterbug blues","hard day blues","burryin' ground blues","come to me baby" and "you can't make the grade".It seems funny and strange to find Muddy playing the role of Tampa Red.However,there are great tunes,with great piano support;Muddy loved this kind of piano players,and some years later he will play with the immense Otis Spann (1930-1970),a "son" of Big Maceo.Finally,the terrific,outstanding,amazing,superb "rollin' and tumblin'",recorded in two parts,with Little Walter,harp,and Babyface Leroy Foster,dms and vcl.This tune became one of Muddy's anthems,and was first recorded by an obscure but very talented guy at the end of the twenties,Hambone Willie Newbern;this man recorded a few tracks,and died killed by cops who stroke him to death.You can find the "complete recorded works" of Willie Newbern on Document Records.Muddy's version of "rollin' and tumblin'" is one of the most ferocious things I ever heard;the very young Little Walter (Marion Jacobs,1930-1968),plays harp like mad here.A little bit more than five minutes of the greatest blues playing.If you're addicted to Muddy Waters' music,you have to discover this little known side of his music.

2 comments about Dirty Ditties [EP].

1. If you can't have a good time listening to this CD, you don't know how to have fun. Very ribald, raunchy, and thoroughly rough around the edges, with the exception of the excellent singing and harmony, if you are uptight, square, and easily shocked by foul language or off-color humor, don't buy this. Everyone else, it is a great sing-a-long, but not the kind with Mitch Miller. That is dating me. If you don't know who Mitch Miller is, you aren't old enough to be listening to this!!



2. I cant belive that no one has reviewed this cd yet. I first heard of the street spankers on mancows morning mad house, and have loved them ever since. Gor-don, loves them too, and so should you! I whistle "the scrotum song" constantly, and you will too once you hear it. It may be the finest song ever recorded by humans. Ever! Its my wrinkly crinkly bag of skin. Thats all that needs to be said.

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.

5 comments about Spotlight on Keely Smith (Great Ladies of Song).

1. Keely Smith is one of the "greats". This album has many wonderful songs and Keely does them all justice. Superb !!!!



2. I have played this CD until it's worn out. Her voice is beautiful and still is. I recommend this CD if your just starting out listening to her music. ENJOY!!!!



3. I remember a few singers from when I was a little girl, but did not remember Keely. I was discussing how much I liked other singers from my parent's day with a friend and my friend mentioned how she loved Louis Prima and Keely Smith. Coincidently I had just heard something about Ms. Smith on Public Radio. I looked her up on Amazon and noticed that Keely had a CD with one of my favorite songs on it, so I listened to the samples. To tell the truth if I couldn't listen to the samples, I would not have taken a chance, but I could hear her beautiful voice and that made me buy. Believe me, it was worth it. I don't think we have any singers today who sound as good as she does.



4. Spotlight On Keely Smith from the "Great Ladies Of Song" collection has a terrific display of hits by the incomparable Keely Smith. Keely sings very well and when you listen to her sing you have to wonder why she's not remembered as well as she should be. At any rate, this CD is a great addition to your collection and I highly recommend it. The quality of the sound is excellent.
   
   There are several highlights of this album. "You Go To My Head" features Keely singing sweetly; as she swings slowly and romantically she never misses a beat. Keely delivers this with such style that she truly puts her own stamp on this number with her fine interpretation. "Stardust" continues the same singularly beautiful style; and Keely's excellent diction bolsters her performance. The piano arrangement for "Stardust" impresses me very much as well. Moreover, listen for a stunning rendition of "Stormy Weather." The big band flavor with its brass works wonders and Keely delivers this to perfection.
   
   "It's Been A Long, Long Time" features Keely singing a more upbeat number and this number swings brightly with a big band feel that couldn't be better! "I'll Get By (As Long As I Have You)" features Keely singing a more pensive love ballad with a wonderful arrangement; I predict that you will enjoy "I'll Get By (As Long As I Have You)."
   
   "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" gets the royal treatment from Keely; she sings this ballad with such joy in her voice that you know she sings this one with all her heart and soul. The CD ends very strong with Keely performing "I Wish You Love." Awesome!
   
   Keely Smith is an undervalued songbird whose talents remain strong even today. I highly recommend this for Keely's fans (obviously); and people who enjoy female lounge singers will cherish this album for quite some while to come.



5. Although this collection has largely been eclipsed by the new "Essential" Capitol album, it does include a few jewels not on the recent release and is moreover a better example of the "undiluted" Keely--no duets with Prima or Sinatra, no Sam Butera and the Witnesses crowding out Nelson Riddle's sublime arrangements. One of the numbers on this collection and not on the new one is Jerome Kern's "Sweet and Lovely." Unlike Monk and other jazz musicians, I've never particularly cared for the tune--until hearing Keely do it. The woman is simply unreal. Where did she get a voice like that? What right does she have to sing that well? Other vocalists spend fortunes on vocal lessons to produce a few pleasant-sounding notes; Keely breathes in the smoke of the Sahara Lounge night after night, tries to sing over the din of a burlesque band (successfully), and keeps her cool while working with a headliner with the stage persona of a manic Neanderthal man--and she ends up with not only the voice but the technique of a singer without peer. Listen to the evenness of the vibrato, the contoured phrasing, the effortless tones supported by undetectable but firm and unfaltering breath support, the clear and pellucid soprano register that literally "floats" on a stream of uninterrupted melody, the varied articulations, enabling her to "bite" with the words when necessary even while maintaining that pure soprano. She's dead on pitch, she's consistent throughout the entire register (no falsetto "breaks"), she catches the dramatic expressiveness of a lyric's meanings, her diction doesn't risk the listener's missing a single word.
   
   So why do the names of Rosemary, Doris, Peggy, Dinah, Kay, Patti, Anita, June and all the rest get mentioned ahead of Keely in any discussion of female singers? Because she says "ma" instead of "my"? "Hort" instead of "heart"? Or because she's just too consistently perfect not to be taken for granted? Moreover, with practically any other female singer there's a 20-year window (max) during which they must be heard to be fully appreciated, after which the breath starts to fail, the voice starts to wobble, the strain becomes unmistakable. Ella, Sarah, Carmen--true of all of them, but not of Keely. Heck, you can recommend Keely Smith recordings from the present millenium, made 50 years after this Spotlight collection, and not go wrong. Perhaps, and this is a big perhaps, she was a bit too quick to separate her life from her art. If we felt we got to know a little more of the person behind that deadpan Buster Keaton face with the perfect angelic voice, we'd be less likely to overlook her undeniable supremacy.
   
   [As I write this, I see that the price of a new copy is under eight bucks. 20 tracks, and if you have Amazon Prime, it's even more of a screaming, irresistible bargain. If you choose not to pollute the environment with another jewel case and paper inserts, spend 20 bucks and download the tracks to your iPod. It's still a good deal--Nelson Riddle, Billy May and Keely. What more could you want?]

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!

No comments about Big Bill Blues: His 23 Greatest Hit Songs 1927-1942.

No comments about Tea For Two: Stride Piano Duets Live In Toronto, 1966.