AUSSIE BLUES #9

Matt Taylor - Old New Intuitive (1975)

Tracks:

01. Bendigo
02. Hound Dog Dust Bust
03. The Beast
04. Good Advice
05. Hope
06. This Story Must Have No End
07. Watch Out
08. Somebody Stole My Hair
09. My My My

Musicians:

Matt Taylor - Vocals & Harmonica
Greg 'Sleepy' Lawrie - Guitar
Graham Morgan - Drums
Barry Sullivan - Bass

An Australian blues legend, Matt Taylor has been playing his brand of Australian-twinged blues music since the mid-'60s. His first band, the Bay City Union, was formed in March 1966 and was one of Australia's first traditional Chicago blues bands. They issued one single, "Mo'reen"/"Mary Mary," in April 1968 before breaking up in July 1968 due to a general lack of interest in blues bands.

 Taylor briefly sang with the Wild Cherries before forming the Horse, and then briefly stepped in as lead singer with Cam-Pact for a two-week tour of Sydney during early 1970. He then joined blues band Genesis in February, who released a collaborative single with Carson County Band, titled "Bad Luck Feeling"/"Back Home" under the banner the Meating. They toured until August 1970 when Taylor left to join Chain; the move proved fruitful with the hit single "Black and Blue"/"Lightning Ground" (March 1971) and the groundbreaking album Toward the Blues (September).

 Taylor left Chain in October 1971 and spent the next year living on a farm in Beechworth, Victoria. In January, Taylor performed at the 1973 Sunbury festival and the track "From Brisbane to Beechworth" appeared on Mushroom's triple live album set The Great Australian Rock Festival Sunbury 1973. Another live performance, "Roberta" (recorded June 1973), appeared on the album Garrison the Final Blow Unit 2, and his performance with Chain on "Grab a Snatch and Hold It" also made it on the album.

 His debut solo album, Straight as a Die, was released at the end of 1973. The single "I Remember When I Was Young"/"Krishna Loves You, Too," which had been recorded in an open paddock at Kingston Park Farm, hit the Top Ten in Melbourne. The album reached number 15 on the national charts and Taylor toured the country, performing at Sunbury 1974; the live track "We'll Never Do the Same Again" appeared on the various artists album Highlights of Sunbury '74 Part 2.

 His second album, Music, was released in August 1974 and he supported Jethro Tull on their Australian tour in August 1975. His third solo album, Old, New, Intuitive, was released in September 1975, before Taylor once again retired to a commune, this time at Balingup, Western Australia. He formed a new band, Western Flyer, in 1977 and played with them until August 1979. He then formed the Matt Taylor Band with legendary slide guitarist Dave Hole and they toured Australia during the next year.

 In December 1980, Taylor and Phil Manning formed the Matt Taylor Phil Manning Band, which issued the Oz Blues album in June 1981 and the single "Spring Hill"/"The Line." They supported U.S. guitarist Roy Buchanan on his Australian tour before disbanding in December 1981. In January 1982, Chain re-formed for the Mushroom Evolution Concert to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Mushroom Records. Taylor then re-formed the Matt Taylor Band which released the album Always Land on Your Feet (February 1983). The Matt Taylor Band broke up in December 1983, and Chain re-formed yet again. Chain would tour on and off until 1995.

 In April 1991, Taylor and Manning toured the country with other Australian blues legends before Taylor flew to Germany in 1993 to tour with a band called the Booze Brothers. He then played in the U.K., followed by the U.S., where he supported the John Heussenstenn Band and Walter Trout Band.

 Taylor's fourth solo album, Pyramids and Spirals, was released in March 1995 followed by his fifth solo album, The Awakening, in 1997. Again working with Chain after its release, the band recorded a new album, The First 30 Years, and toured during 1988. A new Chain album, Mix Up the Oils, was released in July 1999.

 AUSSIE BLUES #8

Matt Taylor - Pyramids & Spirals (Newmarket Music NEW CD 1062.2)

01 - City Shines
02 - Northern New South Wales
03 - Memphis Has Got A Pyramid
04 - Tropical Rain
05 - Willy Brown
06 - Green Turns To Blue
07 - Chi Kung Boogie
08 - Certain Kind Of Thrill
09 - The Spiral
10 - Fuhrer Bunker
11 - My Last Day In Berlin
12 - Relax'in
13 - Oz Boogie
14 - Free At Last

Released in March 1995, Pyramids & Spirals is the fourth solo album from legendary Australian blues musician Matt Taylor (frontman of the band Chain). The 14-track record is widely praised by blues enthusiasts and critics for its intimate storytelling, solo brilliance, and adventurous Americana-meets-Aussie-blues feel.

Having crossed paths and played with BB King, Muddy Waters, Albert King, John Mayall, Canned Heat and many more critically acclaimed musicians, Matt Taylor proves his solo brilliance on Pyramid & Spirals. This album is a must for every blues lovers collection.

 Bob's Chat

Today another in my "Albums That Deserve Another Listen" series, this time the remarkable Jo-Ann Kelly's 1969 self titled album. Jo-Ann Kelly and her brother Dave were both born in Streatham, London and grew up there. I was also born in Streatham however my family migrated to Australia when I was very young. I've often thought that had my parents remained living in London and I grew up in Streatham instead of Perth, then I almost certainly would have known Jo-Ann and Dave Kelly as by the late 1960s I was a passionate blues purist, as the Kelly's were, so it would be inevitable that our paths would have crossed at some time. Jo-Ann Kelly is widely considered to be one of the best white female blues singers of all time. Apparently Canned Heat were very interested in getting her to join their band, as was Johnny Winter. Sadly Jo-Ann passed away from a brain tumor in 1990 at the age of 46. Her younger brother Dave, now age 79, still performs blues with various British bands.

The Rockabilly & Early Rock & Roll series continues with another collection of great covers songs. The artists featured here today in Volume 121 include: Carl Perkins, Warren Storm, Elvis Presley, Conway Twitty, Johnny Rivers, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sonny Burgess, Laura Lee Perkins, and several others.

And Blues, R&B, Soul & Gospel Records Volume 259 brings you 21 fine recordings from 1948 to 2023 by Luther Allison, Muddy Waters, Albert King, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Johnny Otis, Louis Armstrong, The Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Bo Diddley, and other outstanding performers.

So my friends, dig in and enjoy.

Due to interest in Jo-Ann Kelly I've now added this great vid of her performing. There are several vids of her on YouTube but this one is the best by far.

 ALBUMS THAT DESERVE ANOTHER LISTEN

Jo-Ann Kelly - Jo-Ann Kelly (1969)

01. Louisiana Blues
02. Fingerprints Blues
03. Driftin' and Driftin'
04. Look Here Partner
05. Moon Going Down
06. Yellow Bee Blues
07. Whiskey Head Woman
08. Sit Down on My Knee
09. Man I'm Lovin'
10. Jinx Blues
11. Come on in My Kitchen

Jo-Ann Kelly - Vocals & Guitar
Recorded in London, March 1969.

Jo-Ann Kelly (5 January 1944 – 21 October 1990) was an English blues singer and guitarist. She is respected for her strong blues vocal style and for playing country blues guitar.

Kelly was born in Streatham, South London, England on 5 January 1944. She had two younger siblings, Susan and Dave. Her early interest in performing music grew out of hearing the Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Skiffle in the late 1950s. She learned 3 or 4 guitar chords from her younger brother, Dave Kelly.

She appeared on several compilation albums with her first in 1966 being New Sounds In Folk and then two years later on Blues Anytime Vol. 1: An Anthology Of British Blues(1968) Immediate Records before releasing her first solo album titled Jo-Ann Kelly (1969), this was issued on CBS in the UK and Epic Records in the US. She was also a core member of Tramp along with her brother Dave Kelly.
Canned Heat and Johnny Winter both tried to recruit Kelly, but she preferred to stay in the United Kingdom. She expanded to the European club circuit, where she worked with guitarist Pete Emery and other bands. In the early 1980s, she was a member of the Terry Smith Blues Band.

In 1988, Kelly began to suffer from headaches. In 1989 she had an operation to remove a malignant brain tumour. She died on 21 October 1990 in England, aged 46.

Jo-Ann Kelly (5 January 1944 - 21 October 1990); The rock era saw a few white female singers, like Janis Joplin, show they could sing the blues. But one who could outshine them all, Jo-Ann Kelly seemed to slip through the cracks, mostly because she favored the acoustic, Delta style rather than rocking out with a heavy band behind her. But with a huge voice, and a strong guitar style influenced by Memphis Minnie and Charley Patton, she was the queen.

Jo-Ann Kelly was released on CBS (Epic) 1969 and reissued on Beat Goes On, 1998. The British blues boom' was almost over, but Jo-Ann Kelly stayed close to the real thing. CBS sent her to the USA that year, she rehearsed with Johnny Winter and appeared on the same bill with her heroes Bukka White and Mississippi Fred McDowell at the Centenary Blues Festival in Memphis (the only British artist who was invited), and duetted with McDowell on his Standing At The Burial Ground, made live in London that year. 

Look for the link in the comments

 ALBUMS THAT DESERVE ANOTHER LISTEN

Muddy Waters - The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album (1975)

 01. Why Are People Like That (3:37)
 02. Going Down Main Street (4:16)
 03. Born With Nothing (5:23)
 04. Caldonia (6:20)
 05. Funny Sounds (4:36)
 06. Love, Deep As The Ocean (5:15)
 07. Let The Good Times Roll (5:15)
 08. Kansas City (5:12)
 09. Fox Squirrel (3:54)

Personnel:

Muddy Waters: vocal/guitar
Pinetop Perkins: piano
Paul Butterfield: harmonica
Sammy Lawhorn: guitar
Bob Margolin: guitar
Fred Carter Jr: bass/guitar
Levon Helm: bass/drums
Garth Hudson: accordion/keyboards/saxophone
Howard Johnson: saxophone

Recorded February 6 & 7, 1975 at Bearsville's Studio, Turtle Creek, Woodstock, New York.

Reviews:

When The Band's drummer Levon Helm set up a Woodstock-based recording studio and production company in 1975, his first client was the legendary bluesman Muddy Waters. Surrounding him with familiar sidemen Pinetop Perkins and Bob Margolin, plus rock and blues stalwarts Garth Hudson on accordion and organ, Paul Butterfield on harp, and Howard Johnson on saxophone, the 60-year-old Waters responded with the smoothest and most supple singing of his career. These two sessions are as delightful as any in his long association with Chess Records, and they signify his last album with that label. Among this Grammy Award-winning work's highlights are Muddy's original composition "Born with Nothing," featuring his stinging signature slide; his joyful R&B covers of "Let the Good Times Roll," Wilbert Harrison's "Kansas City," and Louis Jordan's "Caledonia," this last graced by a looping Hudson accordion solo; and the previously unreleased bonus track, "Fox Squirrel".

Recorded in 1975, The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album was the brainchild of the Band's Levon Helm and producer/songwriter Henry Glover. At the time, the duo's production company, RCO, had recently set up shop in a barn-turned-studio in Woodstock, New York, and Muddy Waters was their first client. The album, born of a unique merger of top-flight talent (Waters' touring band plus the cream of the musicians then living in and around Woodstock), is one of the loosest, swingiest records that Waters ever cut, and features such musicians as blues-harp great Paul Butterfield, Helm and Garth Hudson (of the Band), guitarist Bob Margolin and keyboardist Willie "Pinetop" Perkins (from Waters' band), and renowned session players Fred Carter and Howard Johnson.

The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album includes five original songs written by Waters ("Going Down to Main Street," "Born With Nothing," "Funny Sounds," "Love, Deep as the Ocean" and the previously unreleased CD-only bonus track, Fox Squirrel) plus covers of Louis Jordan's "Let the Good Times Roll" and Caldonia, Bobby Charles' "Why Are People Like That" and Leiber & Stoller's Kansas City. The album was to be the last that Muddy Waters would record for Chess. It was, however, a memorable farewell.

The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album was awarded the 1975 Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording.

Look for the link in the comments

 AUSSIE BLUES #5

Chain - Two Of A Kind (1973)

Advert for Muddy Waters May 1973 Australian tour

Muddy Waters, Perth, Australia 1974 (photo by Bob Mac)

Chain - Two Of A Kind (1973)

Tracks:

01. Two Of A Kind (James "Pee Wee" Madison) - 4:41

02. Reconsider Baby (Lowell Fulsom ) - 4:37

03. Everybody Has To Lose Sometime (trad., arr. by James "Pee Wee" Madison) - 8:20

04. Blues With A Feeling (Little Walter Jacobs) - 4:44

05. How To Set Fire To An Elephant (Ian Clyne) - 19:20

Track 5 recorded live at the Garrison Nightclub, June 7th, 1973.

Personnel:

James "Pee Wee" Madison - Guitar, Vocals

George "Mojo" Beauford - Vocals, Harmonica

Phil Manning - Guitar, Vocals

Ian Clyne - Organ

Mal Capewell - Saxophone, Flute

Barry Sullivan - Bass

Barry Harvey - Drums

Greg "Sleepy" Lawrie - Slide Guitar on Track 5

By 1973 Chain were the top blues band in Australia, so when Muddy Waters and his band toured Australia in May 1973, it came as no surprise that Chain were the local support band for Muddy's Australian concerts. Among the members of Muddy's band for the 1973 tour were guitarist James 'Pee Wee' Madison and harp player George 'Mojo' Beauford. So while Muddy and band were in Australia Chain's management seized upon the opportunity to have Chain record a new album with 'Pee Wee' Madison and 'Mojo' Beauford guesting on a few tracks. The session yielded only enough  tracks to fill one side of an LP, so Mushroom Records included a 19 minute live track from Chain's appearance at Melbourne's Garrison Nightclub in June to fill the B-side of the album. 

Note: In the above advert for Muddy's May 1973 Australia tour a Perth concert is scheduled for May 11 at the WACA. However, the Perth concert was cancelled. We did, however, get to see Muddy the following year for the 1974 Australia & New Zealand tour. The line up had changed, both Madison and Beauford had left the band and were replaced by Bob Margolin and Jerry Portnoy, the other members were Pinetop Perkins on piano, Calvin "Fuzz" Jones on bass, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith on drums, and Luther Johnson on guitar - this was the Luther Johnson who appeared in the Blues Brothers movie playing with John Lee Hooker. Another interesting fact is at the end of the Australian tour Jerry Portnoy unexpectedly returned to the USA (I've heard since that there was a death in his family) and none other than James Cotton flew out to New Zealand to rejoin his former boss for the remainder of the tour.

https://pixeldrain.com/u/vyeaHyzc

 ALBUMS THAT DESERVE ANOTHER LISTEN

Albert Collins - Trash Talkin' (1969)

01. Harris County Line-Up (2:17)
02. Conversation With Collins (5:21)
03. Jawing (2:11)
04. Grapeland Gossip (2:48)
05. Chatterbox (2:24)
06. Trash Talkin' (4:03)
07. Medley: Baby What You Want Me To Do - Rock Me Baby (4:01)
08. Lip Service (3:15)
09. Talking Slim Blues (3:24)
10. Back-Yard Back-Talk (2:50)
11. Tongue Lashing (2:49)
12. And Then It Started Raining (2:42)

After seeing Albert Collins playing at the Ponderosa Club in Houston in June 1968, Canned Heat singer Bob Hite recommended Albert to Imperial Records, which was affiliated with Liberty/USA.

Between the years 1968-1970 Albert Collins recorded three albums for the Imperial label, which helped bring him from relative obscurity in the Texas club scene to national recognition with blues and rock audiences.

Of the three Imperial albums my favorite is Trash Talkin', which was recorded in Nashville in July 1969. The session was produced by Bill Hall and the backing musicians consisted of a Nashville-based lineup which included James Hooker Brown on organ, Charles Freeman on guitar, Tommy McClure on bass, Robert "Trap" Tarrant on drums, along with a horn section of session players.

The album was released by Imperial in the US in 1969, and in the UK on Liberty in 1970. 

I bought the UK Liberty release of Trash Talkin' from 78 Records in Perth sometime in the early 1970s. At that time I was an art student, living at home with my folks, and Trash Talkin' was frequently on the turntable while I worked on my art assignments at the dining-room table. My mum was often nearby, either ironing clothes or pottering about in the kitchen, so she got to hear a whole heap of blues music too. Nonetheless I was startled when one afternoon she made a request for Conversation With Collins, "I like that song you play when the wives go out for the night and the husbands stay home and babysit. Put that one on."

So let's do just that, as Trash Talkin' sure deserves another listen.

https://pixeldrain.com/u/CtLkrHuu

 Albums That Deserve Another Listen

After Hour Blues (Biograph BLP 12010)

Released by Biograph Records in 1969, "After Hour Blues" featured recordings made in Chicago in 1949 by St. Louis Jimmy (James Burke Oden), Sunnyland Slim (Albert Luandrew) and Little Brother Montgomery (Eurreal Wilford Montgomery). In addition to the 1949 sessions, the album included two rare tracks by Little Brother Montgomery recorded in Grafton, Wisconsin in September 1930.

At a time when guitar blues heavily dominated the blues reissue market, "After Hour Blues" made a refreshing change as it placed some focus on blues piano players. 

I got my copy of the LP in 1969/1970 and it became an instant favorite, especially so for the four tough St. Louis Jimmy tracks that were recorded in April 1949 with an unknown pianist, who was most likely Roosevelt Sykes. 

"After Hour Blues" remains one of my most favorite blues albums and one that most definitely deserves another listen. 

Tracklist:

Recorded in Chicago 1949:

01 - St. Louis Jimmy - Hard Work Boogie

02 - St. Louis Jimmy - Your Evil Ways

03 - St. Louis Jimmy - I Sit Up All Night

04 - St. Louis Jimmy - State Street Blues

05 - Sunnyland Slim - When I Was Young (Shake It Baby Take 1)

06 - Sunnyland Slim - When I Was Young (Shake It Baby Take 2)

07 - Little Brother Montgomery - Vicksburg Blues

08 - Little Brother Montgomery - A & B Blues

09 - Little Brother Montgomery - After Hour Blues

10 - Little Brother Montgomery - Little Brother Stomp

Recorded in Grafton, Wisconsin 1930:

11 - Little Brother Montgomery - Vicksburg Blues

12 - Little Brother Montgomery - No Special Rider

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PW = AfterHourBlues

 ALBUMS THAT DESERVE ANOTHER LISTEN

Champion Jack Dupree - Natural & Soulful Blues (1959)

 (3:15) 1. Seafood Blues

 (3:52) 2. Death Of Big Bill Broonzy

 (2:54) 3. Don't Leave Me Mary

 (3:02) 4. Rampart Street Special

 (2:50) 5. How Long Blues

 (3:08) 6. Bad Life

 (3:12) 7. Mother-in-Law Blues

 (3:29) 8. Slow Drag

 (3:32) 9. Dennis Rag

 (3:15) 10. Bad Luck Bound To Change

Piano, Vocals: Champion Jack Dupree

Bass: Jack Fallon

Guitar: Alexis Korner

In 1959 Champion Jack Dupree toured England, and while in London on November 9th, recorded 13 tracks with the backing of a young Alexis Korner on guitar and Canadian Jack Fallon on bass. From this session 10 tracks were issued on an LP titled "Champion Jack's Natural And Soulful Blues". Apparently the LP was initially released in the UK on London Records in 1960, before being release in the USA on Atlantic LP 8045 in 1961. 

"Champion Jack's Natural And Soulful Blues" is my 2nd favorite Jack Dupree album after the superb 1958 Atlantic LP "Blues From The Gutter", and it definitely deserves another listen.

Short Biography:

Champion Jack Dupree was born in New Orleans on July 4, 1910. He was orphaned as a child when his parents were killed in a house fire, and was raised in the city's Colored Waifs School for Boys, where he learned to play the piano. He then earned a living hustling money on the city's streets, and playing piano in bars and brothels in the city's French Quarter.

In 1930 he left New Orleans for Chicago, and played at house parties and in small clubs, but left the city after a year and moved to Detroit. He decided to became a professional boxer, based out of Indianapolis. He was actually successful in that endeavor, fighting more than 100 bouts and becoming lightweight champion of Indiana. He soon went back to music, however, and in 1940 returned to Chicago, where he recorded for noted producer Lester Melrose. Dupree was drafted into the US Navy in 1942, serving aboard ship in the Pacific as a cook. In 1943 he was captured by Japanese forces and spent the next two years in a POW camp. When he returned to the US after the war he settled in New York City and was soon recording for such labels as Savoy and King. His recording of "Walking the Blues" with Teddy McRae got to #6 on the R&B charts in 1955.

In 1959 he moved to Europe, moving around several countries before finally settling in Germany in the mid 1970s. He found a loyal and devoted following in Europe, recording for more than a dozen labels and performing in a series of successful concerts. In 1990 he returned to the US to play in the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, While there he recorded "Back Home in New Orleans" for Bullseye Blues Records. In 1991 he returned to New Orleans for the Jazz and Heritage Festival, and recorded another album for Bullseye Blues Records, "Forever and Ever", and later played at the Chicago Blues Festival. He returned to Germany where he died of cancer in Hanover on January 21, 1992.

Dupree's playing was almost all straight blues and boogie-woogie. He was not a sophisticated musician or singer, but he had a clever way with words. Many of his songs were about jail, drinking and drug addiction, although he himself was a light drinker and did not use other drugs. His "Junker's Blues" inspired Fats Domino's first hit record "The Fat Man". Some of Dupree's songs had gloomy topics, such as "TB Blues" and "Angola Blues" (about Louisiana State Penitentiary), but he also sang about cheerful subjects, as in "Dupree Shake Dance": "Come on, mama, on your hands and knees, do that shake dance as you please". He was a noted raconteur and transformed many of his stories into songs, such as "Big Leg Emma's", a rhymed tale of a police raid on a barrelhouse.

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 Albums That Deserve Another Listen

King Curtis & Champion Jack Dupree - Blues At Montreux (Atlantic SD 1637)

Although King Curtis got top billing on this live LP, originally released by Atlantic in 1973, it is in reality a Champion Jack Dupree album. Jack was in fine form at his Montreux Jazz Festival appearance on June 17, 1971, delivering strong vocals and outstanding piano playing superbly supported by Curtis, Dupree, Jemmott and Jackson. A thoroughly enjoyable album that deserves another listen.

Tracklist:

01. Junker's Blues 08:04

02. Sneaky Pete 06:15

03. Everything's Gonna Be Alright 05:26

04. Get With It 03:31

05. Poor Boy Blues 09:24

06. I'm Having Fun 05:18

Credits:

Champion Jack Dupree - Piano, Vocals  

King Curtis - Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone 

Cornell Dupree - Guitar 

Jerry Jemmott - Bass  

Oliver Jackson - Drums   

Recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux, Switzerland on June 17, 1971.

Reviews:

This live set from the 1971 Montreux Jazz Festival was co-led by tenor saxophonist King Curtis, who tragically would be killed three months later, and veteran blues pianist/vocalist Champion Jack Dupree. With guitarist Cornell Dupree, bassist Jerry Jemmott and drummer Oliver Jackson laying down the foundation, Curtis and Dupree find a great deal of common musical ground. Dupree has quite a few witty vocals, particularly the classic "Junker's Blues", while taking choruses of irregular length that keep his sidemen continually guessing. Curtis' distinctive tenor is also heard from, making one truly regret that this was his final recording.

One of the last albums that King Curtis ever recorded, and an unusual session of mostly blues-based material, recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1971 with Champion Jack Dupree. In a way, the setting really unlocks some of Dupree's more jazz-oriented modes, in a group that features Curtis on tenor and alto, Jack on piano and vocals, and rhythm from Cornell Dupree on guitar, Jerry Jemmott on bass, and Oliver Jackson on drums. Things start out rootsy, but really take off as the record moves on, and the setting actually gives Curtis a chance to stretch out a lot more than most of his previous recordings for Atlantic.

https://pixeldrain.com/u/HJkWmyWV

 The Best Of Country, Pre-War & Acoustic Blues Vol 50

Texas Special Vol 2 - Buck Dance Boogie

01. Lightnin' Hopkins - Buck Dance Boogie 

02. Lightnin' Hopkins - Shine On Moon 

03. Lightnin' Hopkins - Unpredictable Woman 

04. Mercy Dee Walton - Pull 'Em And Pop 'Em 

05. Mercy Dee Walton - Love Is A Mystery 

06. Washington Phillips - Mother's Last Word To Her Son 

07. Blind Willie Johnson - Sweeter As The Years Roll By 

08. Blind Willie & Angeline Johnson - Jesus's Coming Soon 

09. Blind Willie & Angeline Johnson - I'm Gonna Run To The City Of Refuge 

10. Texas Alexander - Blue Devil Blues 

11. Smokey Hogg - I Want My Baby For Christmas 

12. Smokey Hogg - Good Morning Little Schoolgirl 

13. Ramblin' Thomas - No Job Blues 

14. Ramblin' Thomas - Hard To Rule Woman Blues 

15. Blind Lemon Jefferson - Blind Lemon's Penitentiary Blues 

16. Blind Lemon Jefferson - Gone Dead On You Blues 

17. Blind Lemon Jefferson - That Crawlin' Baby Blues 

18. Whistling Alex Moore - West Texas Woman 

19. Whistling Alex Moore - From North Dallas To The East Side 

20. Whistling Alex Moore - Whistling Alex Moore's Blues

https://pixeldrain.com/u/TSfZcU9w

 Albums That Deserve Another Listen

Elmore James - The Blues In My Heart, The Rhythm In My Soul (United Superior US 7716)

01. Dust My Blues 

02. Sunnyland 

03. Mean And Evil 

04. Dark And Dreary 

05. Standing At The Crossroads 

06. Happy Home 

07. No Love In My Heart 

08. Blues Before Sunrise 

09. I Was A Fool 

10. Goodbye Baby

Originally released in 1960 as "Blues After Hours" by Elmore James & The Broom Dusters (Crown Records CLP 5168), this LP contains 10 tracks recorded between 1953-1955, with supporting musicians such as Maxwell Davis, Little Johnny Jones, J.T. Brown, Ransom Knowling, Earl Palmer, Boyd Atkins, Willard McDaniel & Odie Payne. It was the first Elmore James LP I ever owned, though my copy was the United Superior edition, released in 1963 and retitled "The Blues In My Heart, The Rhythm In My Soul".

They say that when the Rolling Stone Brian Jones first heard Elmore James it was as if the world tilted on its axis, and Brian was never the same again. I understand fully the effect hearing Elmore for the first time had on Brian because my own experience was very similar. I came home with this LP, put it on my turntable and stood there stunned as Elmore launched into "Dust My Blues". I listened to side one, flipped it over, then back again. I think I listened to the entire album at least 2 or 3 times that evening. It instantly became a top favorite blues LP and I remember bringing it with me to my friends' homes telling them they just had to hear it.

But all that was back in the late 1960s. Of course today everything Elmore ever recorded has been issued, and re-issued, and issued again. Nonetheless "The Blues In My Heart, The Rhythm In My Soul" remains my favorite Elmore James album, one of my most favorite blues LPs, and is most definitely an album that deserves another listen.

https://pixeldrain.com/u/1DugP37t

 The Best Of Country, Pre-War & Acoustic Blues Vol 46

Cross Road Blues

01. Robert Johnson - Cross Road Blues 

02. Robert Johnson - I Believe I'll Dust My Broom

03. Big Bill Broonzy - Key To The Highway  

04. Hambone Willie Newbern - Roll & Tumble Blues 

05. Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe - When The Levee Breaks 

06. Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe - What's The Matter With The Mill

07. Big Joe Williams - Baby, Please Don't Go 

08. Robert Petway - Catfish Blues 

09. Sleepy John Estes - The Girl I Love, She Got Long Curly Hair 

10. Barbecue Bob - Motherless Chiles Blues 

11. Tommy Johnson - Canned Heat Blues 

12. Tommy McClennan - Whiskey Head Woman 

13. Skip James - I'm So Glad 

14. Sonny Boy Williamson I - Good Morning Little Schoolgirl 

15. Sonny Boy Williamson I - Check Up On My Baby Blues 

16. Arthur Big Boy Crudup - That's All Right Mama 

17. Bukka White - Fixin' To Die Blues 

18. Kokomo Arnold - Milk Cow Blues 

19. Blind Lemon Jefferson - Matchbox Blues 

20. Leadbelly - The Gallis Pole

https://pixeldrain.com/u/j4S66VkB

 Bob's Favorites

Red Hot, Down & Dirty Blues Guitar Tracks Vol 02 (1949-1970)

01. Albert King - Ooh-Ee Baby (1959) 

02. Albert King - The Hunter (1967) 

03. B.B. King - Sweet Little Angel (1957) 

04. Cal Green - The Search Is Over (1956) 

05. Freddie King - Have You Ever Loved A Woman (1960) 

06. Freddie King - Going Down (1970) 

07. Clarence Gatemouth Brown - Okie Dokie Stomp (1954) 

08. Pete Guitar Lewis With Johnny Otis Orchestra - Midnight In The Barrel House (1949)

09. Otis Rush - So Many Roads, So Many Trains (1960) 

10. Magic Sam - Love Me With A Feeling (1957) 

11. Magic Sam & Shakey Jake Harris - Roll Your Moneymaker (1958) 

12. Pat Hare - I'm Gonna Murder My Baby (1954) 

13. Buddy Guy - Stone Crazy (1961) 

14. Johnny Guitar Watson - Hot Little Mama (1955)

15. Johnny Guitar Watson - Three Hours Past Midnight (1955)  

16. Guitar Slim - Guitar Slim (1954) 

17. Pee Wee Crayton - Don't Forget To Close The Door (1959) 

18. Pee Wee Crayton - Things I Used To Do (1970) 

19. Larry Davis - Texas Flood (1958) 

20. Albert Collins - Dyin' Flu (1965) 

21. Albert Collins - Conversation With Collins (1969) 

22. Goree Carter - Rock Awhile (1949) 

23. T-Bone Walker - Strollin' With Bones (1950) 

24. Earl Hooker - Going On Down The Line (1956) 

25. Earl Hooker - Blues In D Natural (1960)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/cDxC3Yyt

 Bob's Favorites

Red Hot, Down & Dirty Blues Guitar Tracks Vol 01 (1951-1974)

01. Guitar Slim - The Story Of My Life (1954) 

02. Little Joe Blue - You Keep My Nose To The Grindstone (Live 1974)

03. Albert Collins & His Rhythm Rockers - Freeze (1958) 

04. Ike Turner - Cubano Jump (1954) 

05. James Cotton & Pat Hare - Cotton Crop Blues (1954) 

06. B.B. King - She Don't Move Me No More (1952) 

07. B.B. King - 3 O'clock Blues (1950) 

08. Sly Williams - Boot Hill (Mid-Late 1950s) 

09. Fenton Robinson - The Getaway (1970) 

10. Magic Sam & Shakey Jake Harris - Call Me If You Need Me (1958) 

11. Magic Sam - Magic Rocker (1957) 

12. Pee Wee Crayton - You Know Yeah (1954) 

13. Pee Wee Crayton - Runnin' Wild (1955) 

14. Pee Wee Crayton - The Telephone Is Ringing (1956) 

15. Freddie King - I'm On My Way To Atlanta (1962) 

16. Freddie King - Low Tide (1965) 

17. Earl Hooker - Guitar Rag (1969) 

18. Earl Hooker - Earl's Boogie Woogie (1953) 

19. Clarence Gatemouth Brown - She Winked Her Eye (1951) 

20. Clarence Gatemouth Brown - Dirty Work At The Crossroads (1953) 

21. Clarence Gatemouth Brown - Ain't That Dandy (1956) 

22. Albert King - Travelin' To California (1962) 

23. Albert King - Cold Feet (1968) 

24. Johnny Guitar Watson - Those Lonely, Lonely Nights (1955) 

25. John Lee Hooker Jr. & Charlie Grimes - Superlover (Live 1972)

Note: Track 10 "Magic Sam & Shakey Jake Harris - Call Me If You Need Me" I made a mistake with the year of this track. I originally had it at 1964, which was the year it was released as a single by Vivid Records (Vivid 100) forgetting that the track was initially recorded in Chicago for Artistic in 1958 (Artistic 1502) 

https://pixeldrain.com/u/y6esX6Qn

This is a missing blues collection I compiled over 8 years ago. I recently shared it with another blog, so I though I may as well put it up here too in case any of you would like it. There's a text file in the folder that explains what it's all about and where the various tracks came from. Enjoy! 

Capitol Blues Collection - The Missing Vol 18 - Rediscovered Blues Vol 2

There are 22 volumes in the Capitol Blues Collection series: Vols 1-17 and Vols 19-23. Whatever happened to Volume 18? 

Vol 18 was intended for release. It was to be a 3 CD set titled "Capitol Blues Collection Vol 18 - Rediscovered Blues Vol 2" with 56 tracks by 4 blues artists: Roosevelt Sykes, Bumble Bee Slim, Sunnyland Slim, and Arthur Big Boy Crudup. The track lists and album artwork were prepared (only a thumbnail of the front cover exists) but for reasons unknown to us today production of Vol 18 ceased and the 3 CD set never saw the light of day. As many of the tracks planned for Vol 18 are available to us today on several albums, I decided to gather as many as I could and put together a homemade (almost complete) copy of "Capitol Blues Collection Vol 18 - Rediscovered Blues Vol 2".

https://pixeldrain.com/u/ynEci7cm

 Albums That Deserve Another Listen

Jimmy Reed Plays 12 String Guitar Blues (Vee-Jay LPS 1073)

The Blues Fan's Ultimate Singing In The Shower Album

Jimmy Reed Plays 12 String Guitar Blues is an album by blues musician Jimmy Reed released on the Vee-Jay label in 1963. The album contains instrumental versions of several of Reed's best known songs. It was promoted by Vee-Jay as being a brand new Jimmy Reed session, recorded in Chicago in 1963, and featuring Jimmy playing the 12-string guitar. The truth however soon emerged that only one of the 12 tracks was a new recording, the remainder were merely earlier recordings with Reed's vocals replaced by a 12-string guitar.

At that time Jimmy Reed LPs were not hard to find. Many were readily available at local record stores all over UK, Europe, USA, Australia, and any serious blues collector already had the originals of these Jimmy Reed songs. Therefore, 'Plays 12 String Guitar Blues' initially stirred little interest among the blues aficionados of the mid-late 1960s.

However, for many of us, this LP soon became a big favorite. We already knew all the lyrics to Jimmy Reed's biggest hits, having heard 'Big Boss Man' & 'Bright Lights Big City' & 'Baby What You Want Me To Do' & 'Take Out Some Insurance' numerous times, by Reed himself, and all the covers by countless other artists. So one by one we began to discover that 'Jimmy Reed Plays 12 String Guitar Blues' was a great sing-a-long album, especially in the shower, or while relaxing with a glass of wine in a hot tub at night. Furthermore, many of us fancied ourselves as harp players, and here we had instrumental backings to some of the best known blues songs, to play along with. The cherry on the cake was a harmonica is probably the only instrument one can take into the shower or bathtub and play away without ruining the instrument. In fact, quite the reverse, a wet harp sounds louder, cleaner, sharper. With 'Jimmy Reed Plays 12 String Guitar Blues' the bathroom blues singers of the late 60s/early 70s had struck gold.

01. Bright Lights Big City

02. St. Louis Blues

03. Blue Carnegie

04. New Chicago Blues

05. Big Boss Man

06. Hush Hush

07. Blues For Twelve Strings

08. Baby What You Want Me To Do

09. Boogie In The Dark

10. Take Out Some Insurance

11. Aw, Shucks

12. Close Together

Personnel:

Jimmy Reed – guitar, harmonica

Lefty Bates or Eddie Taylor – guitar

Marcus "Benjy" Johnson – bass

Earl Phillips or Morris Wilkerson – drums

Unknown musician - 12-string guitar

Note: Included in the folder are text files with the lyrics for most of these tracks, plus the song keys and harp keys. So now there's no excuse. Put this album on, grab your A & Bb harmonicas, jump in the shower or bathtub, and sing away to your heart's content.

"I'm going up, I'm going down, I'm goin' up, down, down, up, anyway ya wanna, let it roll, yeah, yeah, yeah..."

And a special thanks to BluzBug for providing a copy of the 2000 CD Reissue Collectables COL-CD-7127.

https://pixeldrain.com/u/FecRfazF

 The Best Of Country, Pre-War & Acoustic Blues Vol 38

Texas Special

01. Oscar Woods - Lone Wolf Blues 

02. Blind Willie Johnson - God Moves On The Water

03. Blind Willie Johnson - Trouble Will Soon Be Over 

04. Juke Boy Bonner - Look Out Lightning 

05. Juke Boy Bonner - Texas Zydeco 

06. Smokey Hogg - Good Mornin' Little School Girl 

07. Smokey Hogg - You Can't Tell Them Where I'm Goin' 

08. Lightnin' Hopkins - Tap Dance Boogie 

09. Lightnin' Hopkins - Jake Head Boogie 

10. Mercy Dee Walton - Rock And Roll Forever 

11. Mercy Dee Walton - Lonesome Cabin Blues 

12. Mercy Dee Walton With Lady Fox - Whatcha Gonna Do 

13. Black Boy Shine - Back Home Blues 

14. Texas Alexander - 'Frisco Train Blues 

15. Texas Alexander - No More Women Blues 

16. Texas Alexander & The Mississippi Sheiks - Days Is Lonesome 

17. Blind Lemon Jefferson - Long Distance Moan 

18. Blind Lemon Jefferson - All I Wants Is Pure Religion 

19. Black Ace - Black Ace 

20. Frankie Lee Sims - I'll Get Along Somehow 

https://pixeldrain.com/u/nFKaZHQF

 Albums That Deserve Another Listen

The Great Original Recordings Of Harmonica Frank (1951-1958)

01 Swamp Root (Chess 1475)
02 Step It Up and Go (Chess 1475)
03 Rock A Little Baby (F&L 100)
04 Howlin' Tomcat (Chess 1494)
05 Goin' Away Walkin' (Chess 1475)
06 The Great Medical Menagerist (Sun 205)
07 She Done Moved (Chess 1494)
08 Monkey Love - vocals by Larry Kennon (F&L 100)
09 Howlin' Tomcat (Alt Take) 2:41
10 Rockin' Chair Daddy (Sun 205)

Frank Floyd, known as Harmonica Frank (October 11, 1908 – August 7, 1984) was an American country/blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was born in Toccopola, Mississippi, the son of itinerant parents who separated before giving him a name, though he is recorded in the 1910 census as Shankles Floyd. He was raised by his sharecropping grandparents, who died while he was a teenager. He taught himself to play harmonica when he was 10 years old, and he eventually learned guitar. He gave himself the name Frank Floyd, and began performing in the 1920s for traveling carnivals and medicine shows. 

He learned many types of folk music and became an accomplished mimic, effortlessly switching from humorous hillbilly ballads to deep country blues.

With his self-taught harmonica technique, he was a one-man band, able to play the instrument without his hands or the need for a neck rack. While also playing guitar, he perfected a technique of manipulating the harmonica with his mouth while he sang out of the other side. He could also play harmonica with his nose and thus play two harmonicas at once, a skill he shared with blues harp players Walter Horton, Howlin' Wolf and Noah Lewis.

After years of performing on the medicine-show circuit, Harmonica Frank began working in radio in 1932. His first records were made in 1951, recorded by Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee, thus Harmonica Frank became the first white musician to record at Sun studios. The songs, "Swamp Root", "Goin’ Away Walkin'", "Step It Up and Go", "Howlin’ Tomcat", and "She Done Moved", were licensed to Chess Records. Phillips put out another single on Sun Records, "Rockin' Chair Daddy" / "The Great Medical Menagerist" in 1954. And in 1958 Floyd and Larry Kennon released a shared single, "Rock-A-Little Baby" / "Monkey Love" on their own record label, F&L.

Harmonica Frank's songs also mistakenly appeared on several all-black blues compilations in the 1960s. "She Done Moved" (Chess 1494) appeared on 1966's Memphis On Down - The Post-War Blues Volume 2. "Howlin' Tomcat" (Chess 1494) on Blues Classics Volume 3, and Goin' Away Walking (Chess 1475) appeared on 1968's "Memphis And The Delta - 1950s". This was at a time when the blues record collectors who compiled the reissue series would never knowingly include a white artist on any of their albums. Frank's country blues sounded so authentic that record collectors were unable to distinguish his race and presumed he was a black artist. It wasn't until his 1972 rediscovery that photos of him appeared, and blues researchers then realized that Harmonica Frank was in fact a whiteman. 

Following his 1972 rediscovery by Steve LaVere, Frank recorded two albums for the Adelphi and Barrelhouse labels. This compilation of his early material came out on Puritan 3003 in 1973. Additional full albums were recorded before his death in 1984, many of which have become available on CD, though these vintage recordings (1951–1958) remain mostly out of print and unavailable aside from occasional tracks on compilations.

Frank Floyd died in Blanchester, Ohio, on August 7, 1984, from lung cancer, along with complications from Type II diabetes, which had previously cost him his leg.

https://pixeldrain.com/u/7Sm77Uuz

 Albums That Deserve Another Listen

Elmore James & The Broom Dusters

Blues After Hours (Crown Records CLP 5168)

01. Dust My Blues (1955) (3:12)
02. Sunnyland (1955) (3:19)
03. Mean And Evil (1955) (2:16)
04. Dark And Dreary (1954) (2:48)
05. Standing At The Crossroads (1955) (2:47)
06. Happy Home (1955) (2:46)
07. No Love In My Heart (1955) (2:24)
08. Blues Before Sunrise (1955) (2:45)
09. I Was A Fool (1955) (2:51)
10. Goodbye Baby (1955) (2:59)

Bonus Tracks:

11. Late Hours At Midnight (1955) (2:48)
12. Quarter Past Nine (3:31)
13. Strange Kinda Feeling (Take 1) (2:32)
14. Make My Dreams Come True (Take 2) (2:44)
15. So Mean To Me (Take 4) (2:28)
16. Long Tall Woman (1956) (2:55)
17. Wild About You Baby (1956) (2:42)
18. Elmo's Shuffle (1956) (2:34)

Blues After Hours, originally released on LP by Crown in 1960, was Elmore James' first long-playing record. Made up of singles released on the Modern imprints Meteor and Flair, for many it was their first introduction to the fiery slide guitarist, and the crunchy garage sound of James' arrangements (backed variously by the Broom Dusters in Chicago, the Maxwell Davis Orchestra in Los Angeles, and the J&M Studio house band in New Orleans), coupled with his passionate edgy vocals, quickly made him one of the most influential blues artists of his time. Mastered from the original LP tapes and augmented with eight bonus tracks (which include three additional singles relevant to the LP and five tracks from the Chicago sessions), this expanded version of Blues After Hours has great sound, and the rough explosive nature of James' music is front and center and never lets up from the second he steps into the famous slide riff on "Dust My Blues," which opens the set. That roaring riff is repeated many times on this disc, since labels constantly demanded it, and James delivered it under a range of different titles, and amazingly, no one ever seems to get tired of it. But James was more than a one-trick pony, and he didn't just play slide. He was also an impassioned singer, and gifted enough to trade lines (both vocally and on guitar) with horn sections, giving songs like "Dark and Dreary" the illusion of being both raw and smooth at the same time. Truthfully, James never recorded a lame track (even if dozens of them were variations on "Dust My Broom"), always pouring all his energy into the performance, so it really doesn't matter which collection of his you pick up, but this one has the advantage of being a fleshed-out facsimile of his very first album (right down to the cover art), giving it a kind of historical and archival appeal. 

https://pixeldrain.com/u/B8yUxaHL