Amazon.com essential recording

One of the more woefully underappreciated blues artists of the last three decades, Taj Mahal has consistently made great records that combine his extensive knowledge of roots music with a refreshingly non-elitist sensibility. Giant Step/De Ole Folks At Home from 1969 was Taj's commercial high point, and it's easy to understand why. The first half of the album (originally released as a two-record set) features Taj and band blending rock, pop and blues on songs like "Take a Giant Step," "Give Your Woman What She Wants" and "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl." The second half is more laid-back and down-home, with Taj essaying solo renditions of "Fishing Blues," "Stagger Lee" and "Light Rain Blues" on banjo, harmonica and acoustic guitar. The most effortlessly enjoyable record of an effortlessly enjoyable career. --Dan Epstein ... Read more

Reviews (4)

A Great American Album
Taj at his best with a GREAT band , but Jesse Ed Davis III ,-alone-, is reason enough to need this cd. His perfect string bending solos and fills are backed up by his own keyboard work,(Taj himself makes -no- apparent instrumental contribution on tracks such as the classic re-working of 'Six Days On The Road'), and the songs are marked down in the liner notes in his artful handwriting. He manages to use modern effects,(for the time,such as guitar through a Leslie speaker), and still sound down-home all the while, and played impossibly difficult riffs with such grace,relaxation, and musicality that he could easily be taken for granted. Davis is a great forgotten American treasure,(perhaps best known for the fills and solos on Jackson Brown's 'Doctor My Eyes', {but even -that- was thirty years ago}, he was favorite of Eric Clapton and George Harrison).

A Unique Experience
If you've never heard him before, it's hard to describe Taj's music. He's usually labelled as a blues man - but his music is a mixture of all kinds of folk traditions - including american, african, and caribbean. I've seen him live several times - he's intelligent, articulate, warm, and has a great sense of humor. He plays a wide range of instruments - most often guitar or banjo. There is something truly special about him. His songs are usually playful and infectious - you just can't help tappin' your toes and humming along. He's recorded a number of great albums, but Giant Step has always been my favorite. The CD includes both albums in the original vinyl release, Giant Step and De Ole Folks At Home. On Giant Step, Taj is backed by a small group of electric blues musicians (featuring Jesse Ed Davis on lead guitar). On the more down-home De Ole Folks At Home, he plays solo, accompanying himself on guitar, banjo, and harmonica. My favorite song is "Take a Giant Step" - it's a tender look at rediscovering love. There's something about this song that captures Taj's essence - it's simple and direct and honest. Taj is a unique soul - his music always makes me feel good.

Landmark Recording
Taj has contributed a lot of great music over the years he's recorded music but I keep coming back to this one. A lot of critics have termed it a "blues" recording but it's really more than that. I see it as a very enduring document of American folk music...not Dylan...more like an audio history of rural southern America...the subjects he deals with are those dealt with daily in the rural south by the common man living there. There are a number of songs that work their way into your mind...simply irresistible tunes...you find yourself humming them at the oddest moments... If you only buy one Taj Mahal recording, make it this one.

Still A Classic After 30 Years!
Originally released in 1969 as a 2-album set, this is one of Taj's best discs! Now it's all together on 1 CD, so no more album flipping and swapping. The first 9 tracks are electric blues band based, with Jesse Ed Davis on lead guitar. Some of the excellent tracks on this portion are: "Keep Your Hands Off Her", "Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond", Dave Dudley's "6 Days On The Road", "Give Your Woman What She Wants", "Bacon Fat", and a great bluesy version of The Monkees' hit "Take A Giant Step". The "De Old Folks" portion of the disc is solo Taj singing & playing banjo on such classic turn-of-the-century "down home" country-fied black tunes as "Colored Aristocracy", "Fishin' Blues", "Cluck Old Hen", "Stagger Lee" and "Candy Man". A wonderful disc by one of the most underrated blues artists of the past 30 years. Loads of fun to listen to, and the band plays in great ensemble on the electric stuff. Still a classic after 30 years, and still one of my favorites by Taj, or any blues artist. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great collection offers the real history!
Typically, we're asked to believe that rock and roll started with Elvis. Or that rock and roll was, more than anything else, an evolutionary variation on country music. Or that rock and roll represented (and continues to represent) a white-black fusion.

Certainly, this collection lays waste to the first two notions. In his informative liner notes, Pete Grendysa tells us that rock and roll existed long before the main (i.e. middle-class white) record-buying public knew about it. And the country examples are relatively few. I'd have been happy if they were none, but I can live with the well-chosen examples here.

In particular, Hank William's "Move It On Over," while not exactly rock and roll (a two-beat pulse doesn't qualify as such, to my ears), does feature a verse identical to the first four bars of "Rock Around the Clock." And, like Hank Snow's "I'm Movin' On" (Disc 2, track 4), it is a hillbilly boogie in standard twelve-bar blues form. It's not far from the mark.

And The Delmore Brother's "Freight Train Boogie," from 1946, turns into pure Carl Perkins near the end, easily out-rocking anything Elvis recorded at Sun. Having heard other Delmore Brothers sides that aren't anything like rock and roll, I was surprised and delighted by this number.

But the black recordings are the real, and whole, point of this collection. Such sides have far too often been disgracefully dismissed by too many rock historians as primitive, artistically-incomplete efforts by African-American musicians struggling toward something higher--"something higher" meaning, of course, Elvis. But listen for yourself. Most of these African-American numbers rock with the force of a thousand Elvises. And these are not performances striving to become whole; they are more than whole. The musicianship, for the most part, is assured and aggressive and infinitely more competent than some of what was to come after rock and roll had conquered the pop charts.

Many thanks to the genius who thought to include Lionel Hampton's 1946 if-it-ain't-rock-and-roll-what-the-heck-is-it masterpiece "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop" (with its wonderful, be-boppy jazz piano chords in eight-note triplets at the start). Many more thanks for Jimmy Preston's 1949 recorded-in-an-insane-asylum "Rock the Joint" (however did Bill Haley manage to tame this tune down so drastically?). More thanks, even, for Hal Singer's proto-surf "Cornbread" (1948), Percy Mayfield's masterful "Please Send Me Someone to Love" (1950), and Ruth Brown's superbly soulful "Teardrops from My Eyes" (1950, again--a great year for Soul).

The best compilation of its kind. If you want to know the real Story of Rock and Roll, you've got to hear the records. And they're here.

"big backbeat and some simple chords"
This rare glimpse into the early beginnings and became today's music, could be called "The Roots of Rock 'N' Roll 1946-1954", just when we thought we knew everything about this genre ~ nothing can be any further from the truth ~ what you will hear in the next sixty tracks is the very heart and soul of the early days ~ music that changed America and the rest of the world followed suit.

Featuring an astounding group of musicians ~ Johnny Ace, Faye Adams, Hank Ballard & The Midnighters, Tiny Bradshaw, Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats, Roy Brown, Ruth Brown, Roy Byrd & His Blues Jumpers, The Chords, The Clovers, Pee Wee Crayton & His Guitar, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, Five Keys, Delmore Brothers, Fats Domino, The Drifters, Five Royales, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Jimmy Forrest, Rosco Gordon, Guitar Slim, Bill Haley & His Comets, Lionel Hampton, Peppermint Harris, Wynonie Harris, Ivory Joe Hunter, Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five, B.B. King, The Larks, Joe Liggins, Little Junior's Blue Flames, Little Richard (w/Johnny Otis Orch), Little Willie Littlefield, Willie Mabon, Percy Mayfield, Steve McGhee & His Buddies, Amos Milburn, Wild Bill Moore, The Orioles, Johnny Otis Orchestra (w/Mel Walker & Little Esther), Jimmy Preston & His Prestonians, Lloyd Price, The Ravens, Johnnie Ray (w/Four Lads), The Robins, Hal Singer, Hank Snow, Sister Rosetta Tharpe & Marie Knight, Big Mama Thornton, Merle Travis, Big Joe Turner, T-Bone Walker, Billy Ward & The Dominoes, Muddy Waters, Hank Williams, Paul Williams, Chuck Willies, Howlin' Wolf ~ each track strongly rooted into the classic genre that will last forever ~ showcasing various sub-genres like country, blues, soul and even big band, yes this new music from the undercurrent of what was going to be bigger than anyone had expected ~ the youth loved and craved every tune that came out during the mid '40s and '50s ~ it came out of nowhere and was gaining steam and coming up fast!

Each selection has been re-mastered with that original sound, works so well with todays collectors of lost music ~ entire 3-CD set is uniquely, so personal and chuck full of wonderful memories ~ regardless of the time or place, this compilation is the ultimate of talent weaving a timeless tapestry that we've come to love and appreciate ~ and you know we gotta love it!

Total Time: 3-CD-Set ~ Hip-O Records 62006 ~ (4/13/2004) ... Read more

Reviews (8)

John Mayall's 70th Mott Breakers
On the occasion of John Mayall's 70th Birthday, the father of the British blues boom held a special concert at Liverpool docks on July 19th, 2003. Thankfully the concert was recorded for posterity, as it is - without doubt - the finest British blues album in decades.

The music kicks off with a couple of numbers from the Bluesbreakers minus their illustrious leader. Although this sets the standards for the rest of the night already very high, things really start to cook when the great man arrives and whips out his harmonica for their third song. After a few more numbers the festivities truly begin with the introduction of Mick Taylor on lead guitar. Now remember, Mick Taylor originally made his name with the Bluesbreakers before he was poached away by the glimmer twins for a five year stint as a Rolling Stone. Mick Taylor has certainly lost none of his chops and leads the ensemble through a riotous collection of blues and boogie.

Then Mick Taylor leaves the stage to give space to John Mayall's most famous protégé, a certain Mr. Eric 'Slowhand' Clapton. The selection of songs from the seminal John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers album featuring Eric Clapton, let's one step back and wonder with awe.

Next up is the inspired inclusion of Chris Barber on trombone, who sets up some wonderful duels with Clapton. In the late fifties Chris Barber was responsible for bringing over to the British shores such artists as 'Big Bill Broonzy', Sister Rossetta Tharpe, Sonny Terry, and the great Muddy Waters. So, who knows what state the British music would be in without the introduction of these American greats to further inspire the likes of 'The Beatles', 'The Kinks', and 'The Pretty Things'?

Although all these great musicians are on stage, the actual Bluesbreakers are never overawed. In the contrary, they leave the featured artist space to excel, none more than to the man himself - John Mayall. Mayall, entering his eighth decade, shows no sign of slowing down or losing his amazing abilities.

The concert is brought to a climax with twenty-five minutes of encores with the entire cast on stage. Everybody fights for space to solo, but usually politely await their turns. The whole thing really rocks.

At just over two and a half hours there is not a moment on this two disc set that is not covered in magic. The concert was recorded for DVD, which is also available.

It is quite fun to have a look at all the artists who could of been invited to this show, who have at one time or another passed through the ranks of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. There's Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton's old running buddy in Cream. The third part of that particular trio, Ginger Baker, also played with the Bluesbreakers once, but only sitting in for a jam on the drums. Peter Green; John McVie; Mick Fleetwood, who left Mayall to form Fleetwood Mac; Aynsley Dunbar; a fifteen year old Andy Fraser of Free fame, and Micky Waller. John Hiseman, Tony Reeves, and Dick Heckstall-Smith who all sneaked off together to form Colosseum. Keef Hartley; Hughie Flint.... Oh! the list is endless, but it does go to show how important John Mayall and his Bluesbreakers are to British blues.

After a particularly brilliant interchange between Clapton and Barber, which brings 'Have You Heard' to a dramatic finish, John Mayall shouts from the stage "The blues does not get better than that". The man is correct.

Bluesed by Mott the Dog
Slid past by Ella Crew

The Mottbreakers
On the occasion of John Mayall's 70th Birthday, the father of the British blues boom held a special concert at Liverpool docks on July 19th, 2003. Thankfully the concert was recorded for posterity, as it is - without doubt - the finest British blues album in decades.

The music kicks off with a couple of numbers from the Bluesbreakers minus their illustrious leader. Although this sets the standards for the rest of the night already very high, things really start to cook when the great man arrives and whips out his harmonica for their third song. After a few more numbers the festivities truly begin with the introduction of Mick Taylor on lead guitar. Now remember, Mick Taylor originally made his name with the Bluesbreakers before he was poached away by the glimmer twins for a five year stint as a Rolling Stone. Mick Taylor has certainly lost none of his chops and leads the ensemble through a riotous collection of blues and boogie.

Then Mick Taylor leaves the stage to give space to John Mayall's most famous protégé, a certain Mr. Eric 'Slowhand' Clapton. The selection of songs from the seminal John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers album featuring Eric Clapton, let's one step back and wonder with awe.

Next up is the inspired inclusion of Chris Barber on trombone, who sets up some wonderful duels with Clapton. In the late fifties Chris Barber was responsible for bringing over to the British shores such artists as 'Big Bill Broonzy', Sister Rossetta Tharpe, Sonny Terry, and the great Muddy Waters. So, who knows what state the British music would be in without the introduction of these American greats to further inspire the likes of 'The Beatles', 'The Kinks', and 'The Pretty Things'?

Although all these great musicians are on stage, the actual Bluesbreakers are never overawed. In the contrary, they leave the featured artist space to excel, none more than to the man himself - John Mayall. Mayall, entering his eighth decade, shows no sign of slowing down or losing his amazing abilities.

The concert is brought to a climax with twenty-five minutes of encores with the entire cast on stage. Everybody fights for space to solo, but usually politely await their turns. The whole thing really rocks.

At just over two and a half hours there is not a moment on this two disc set that is not covered in magic. The concert was recorded for DVD, which is also available.

It is quite fun to have a look at all the artists who could of been invited to this show, who have at one time or another passed through the ranks of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. There's Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton's old running buddy in Cream. The third part of that particular trio, Ginger Baker, also played with the Bluesbreakers once, but only sitting in for a jam on the drums. Peter Green; John McVie; Mick Fleetwood, who left Mayall to form Fleetwood Mac; Aynsley Dunbar; a fifteen year old Andy Fraser of Free fame, and Micky Waller. John Hiseman, Tony Reeves, and Dick Heckstall-Smith who all sneaked off together to form Colosseum. Keef Hartley; Hughie Flint.... Oh! the list is endless, but it does go to show how important John Mayall and his Bluesbreakers are to British blues.

After a particularly brilliant interchange between Clapton and Barber, which brings 'Have You Heard' to a dramatic finish, John Mayall shouts from the stage "The blues does not get better than that". The man is correct.

Bluesed by Mott the Dog
Slid past by Ella Crew

70th Birthday Concert Brings Back the Mayall Magic
John Mayall was already the elder statesman of the British blues revival when Eric Clapton, a refugee from the Yardbirds, joined Mayall's Bluesbreakers in 1965. Mayall celebrated his 70th birthday in 2003 and this two disc, 19 song compliation is a persuasive reminder that Mayall still can righfully claim his royalty as leader of the most enduring British blues band and a singular performer in his own right.

Mayall performs a set of music with his current line-up, a short set with Mick Taylor, and final set with Eric Clapton and Chris Barber. Tribute concerts, like this, look good on paper but frequently are mediocre because the guest musicians usually play on autopilot and sleep walk their way through a set-list of songs they hoped to never play again, or, worse, had just plain forgotten the chops. This is not the case with Mayall and this Bluesbreaker 70th Birthday Tribute. These highly esteemed musicians pull out all the stops for the man who, in most cases, mentored them, offered his guidance and showcased each of these great musicians at the threshold of their lifelong devotion to playing American blues.

When Clapton launches into his early blues signature song,"Hideaway", a Freddy King instumental, it's elementary observation that Clapton is nearly incapable of playing anything without using his searing slow-handed tension/release style he prefected as a Bluesbreaker. I always thought Mick Taylor should have never played second guitar to Keith Richards in the Rolling Stones. Taylor was just too good a guitarist to play second fiddle to anyone. Mick has stayed under the radar since leaving the Stones in 1975. It's great to reappreciate Mick Taylor's enternally lingering single note sustains and expressive tonality of his Fender slide guitar, as he plays with as much conviction as he did at 19 years old in his debut on John Mayall's Bluesbreaker Crusade album. You will not hear any better sixties British blues revival music than the 19 live-wired perfomances on "70th Birthday Concert".

The band plays so many encores that a gaggle of cops show up to cite the band for breaking curfew law. The Bluesbreaker crew plays on in defiance of the constabulary, and Mayall wryly remarks to the crowd, "It's okay we'll pay all the fines latter." That's what the blues is all about, folks. It's John Mayall's best album in thirty years and is highly recommended as one of the best live music performance CDs of the new millenium.

Pinnacle Of British Blues!!
Anyone who is a fan of Mayall's music or the 60's & 70's British Blues Scene (Yardbirds, Ten Years After, Fleetwood Mac, Savoy Brown etc...) will find this two disc set to be "white boy blues" nirvana (for the uninitiated, before you get on my case about the previous term "white boy blues", enter it in the music search box and see what comes up, okay?). Having Clapton & Taylor on the same stage is pure magic. Eric must feel the need to show he's still got the "slowhand", because his playing here is 10 times better than any of his recent, more commercial albums. The guitar playing on this album also reminds me of the "guitar battle" scene from the movie "Crossroads". The players just don't sit back and go through the motions (even Eric), they rip away with abandon and a sense of real competition. Not necessarily trying to upstage one another, but to show each other they mean business and have killer chops too. My favorite moment is during the solos of "Blues For The Lost Days".
Buddy Whittingham rips off a solo with playing that would make Stevie Ray look down and smile. Mick Taylor's solo follows; and it's as if Mick is talking thru his Les Paul to Buddy saying "is that all you got big boy?". Taylor follows with a solo for the blues history books that ends with a "fuzz-wah" pedal flurry that left me stunned. Mayall's singing is also really good, better than most of his studio releases.
So I get a little carried away! You almost have to with this set. Two discs of music at a reasonable price. My only regret is the absence of Peter Green; his contribution to Mayall's legacy is as great as any.
Regardless this is a must, add to cart!

Best I have heard in long time
With out a doubt, some of the best British Blues I have heard, Mick Taylor, and Eric Clapton just add to the wonder of it all. This cd is worth being in anyone's collection if you love the Blues. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

pastures of plenty
I am impressed by this CD. It contains the Asch Recordings of the great American Folk Singer Mr Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (1912-1967). To my ears, these are distinctly American in flavour. This collection includes a large variety of his songs including social protest, songs written for the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), college drinking songs, cowboy songs, sentimental parlour songs, talking blues and Southern African-American blues. My favourites are the ones which betray a sense of humour. "Talking Hard Work", "Talking Fishing" and "The Biggest Thing Man Has Ever Done" are bragging songs sung tongue in cheek. The children's songs, "Car Song" in which Mr Guthrie imitates the sounds of an automobile, and "Why, Oh Why" are delightful. Smithsonian Folkways has maintained its reputation with thorough notes which span more than 30 pages. Mr Guy Logsdon writes about Moses Asch, Folkway Records, and annotates each song with meticulous detail. Of particular interest to me is the song "Jesus Christ". Mr Logsdon writes, "Woody was a religious man, but not in the conventional sense". Mr Guthrie may not have been conventional, even so, his observations are poignant. He tells that his inspiration for the song came when "I saw how the rich folks lived, and the poor folks down and out and cold and hungry..." He sings that the working men believed what Jesus said while the rich and powerful fought against it. "If Jesus was to preach as he preached in Galilee, they would lay him in his grave." In an honest expression, Mr Guthrie is preaching the gospel message. Namely, the good news of salvation. He is also identifying an age old truth. The gospel proclaimed meets a two-fold response, (1) some believe and dedicate their life, while (2) others reject it and those who preach it. I am impressed with the brilliance of Mr Guthrie as he combines so much into a simple song. If you are interested in songs by a musician who "played a major role in developing the foundation for the song and social movement" or in fun songs that are distincty "American", this CD will interest you.

Absolutely the place to begin discovering Guthrie
I had the four-CD set a few years ago, but my home was burglarized and all my CDs were stolen. When it came time to replace them, I opted to choose just CD1 of the Guthrie collection. Volumes 2-3 and OK, but the cowboy songs of Volume 4 just wasn't my cup of tea. Volume One, however, is easily on my list of the 10 best albums/CDs ever released. I've loaned it out to several friends who were not familiar with Guthrie and each has returned it with a, "Wow! That's great! I'm going to get that myself." The album opens with one of three (!) versions of This Land is Your Land that are on the CD. The same song closes the CD. In between are classics, such as Do-Re-Mi, Rambling Round Your City, the humorous Car Song, some great examples of Guthrie's talking blues that would so profoundly influence Bob Dylan, and, well, just a treasure trove of material. The CD clocks in at over 70 minutes, so there's not much "dead air" on this CD. If you're an old Guthrie fan, this CD blows away some of the other CDs out there (although the remastered "Dust Bowl Ballads" is classic, too) and you will really enjoy this. If you're new to the folk, or folk-rock scene, or Americana, and you want an introduction to the "Big Daddy" of 'em all, then this CD is absolutely the best place to begin. It's worth every cent that you pay for it!

dont like his voice
My daddy showd me a better singer of This land is your land much better then woody and sounds better too. His name is Cisco Houston. woody sounds to hicky.

This Land is Your Land: The Asch Recordings, Vol. 1
I had heard of Woody Guthrie, and Arlo, and knew they were related somehow, but it wasn't until I had a child of my own and purchased Woody's songs for children, that my curiousity was aroused. After listening to his other work, and reading the marvelous biography "Ramblin' Man" by Ed Cray, I now realize Woody Guthrie's music is nothing less than a national treasure. This c.d. will transport you back to a time when America was a simpler place, but no less troubled than today's world. His social conscience was inspiring and humbling at the same time. His voice is often soothing with a touch of melancholy. I think he is still greatly under-appreciated... kids should learn about Woody Guthrie in school; he wasn't Roosevelt, but his simple songs described the common man's plight during the Depression like no one else. You won't find any Hollywood escapism in his music; this is the real thing. Bob Dylan doesn't even come close.

Great for traveling
I bought this CD because I was very tired of the same old kids music as we traveled. This is a nice collection of songs. Some of them are upbeat, some of them are nice even tempo and some of them are slow. There is a nice combination of songs. My children (ages 2 and 4) have really enjoyed the music. I will admit it's not their favorite CD, but they enjoy it and will sing along with some of the songs. Woody is truly a classic in music and well worth introducing children to and well worth revisiting as an adult.

Enjoy. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential recording

Why you'd want to limit yourself to owning just one Ray Charles album is a question only you can answer, but if that's the case, The Genius is a strong contender for the slot. Half big-band settings of tunes as diverse as "Let the Good Times Roll," "When Your Lover Has Gone," and "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and half string-drenched ballads like "Just for a Thrill" and "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'," this 1959 disc lives up to its title in more ways than there's room here to count. Suffice it to say that the album finds Charles at a peak of musical and emotional energy, working in thoroughly sympathetic settings with perfectly matched soloists like tenor men Paul Gonsalves and David "Fathead" Newman and arrangers on the order of Quincy Jones and Ralph Burns. And the closing cut, "Come Rain or Come Shine," may be Charles's single greatest performance. --Rickey Wright ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Soulful ballads from Ray Charles's breakthrough album
Ray Charles passed away today and the reason everybody is talking about him as the creator of soul music is because no other musician did more to develop the form. There is no argument that other singers, such as Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson, were influential in pioneering soul music but it was Ray Charles who merged 1950's R&B with gospel-powered vocals into a new form of black pop music. This 1959 album produced by Atlantic Records lives up to its title, but you have to remember that this was originally a record album. That is not because "The Genius of Ray Charles" sounds old but because there are clearly two distinct sides to the album.

The "A" side has the Ray Charles band being complemented by members of the bands of Count Basie and Duke Ellington (such as David "Fathead" Newman and Paul Gonsalves on tenor sax and Marcus Belgrave on trumpet) playing a half-dozen songs arranged by Quincy Jones. "It Had to Be You" and the old Irving Berlin standard "Alexander's Ragtime Band" are the most familiar songs, but the two best on the first half of the album are "Let the Good Times Roll" and "Deed I Do."

The "B" side consists of six ballads, arranged by Ralph Burns with the backing of a string orchestra. The two standout tracks here are "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'" and the final track, the truly outstanding version of Mercer & Arlen's "Come Rain or Come Shine." With all the orchestration Charles' piano playing is lost in the mix but what stands out is his voice. In terms of the vocal phrasing he displays on these ballads this is really a breakthrough album in terms of the singing.

How good is "The Genius of Ray Charles"? Well, listen to the classic saloon songs of Frank Sinatra's 1958 album "Only the Lonely," and Charles doing "Come Rain or Come Shine" does not suffer in comparison. Of course the fact that Ray Charles was that good is not news to anybody who loved listening to that man sing for almost fifty years. There are lots of hit collections that you can pick up to honor his memory, but there is something to be said for complete albums and in that regard "The Genius of Ray Charles" would be on anyone's short list.

The peak
This album boldly declares Ray Charles' genius. I've never heard anybody argue with the appelation. When this came out, he was established as a brilliant R&B singer, songwriter and performer. Here he hooks up (on what was side one) with an all-star jazz big band, featuring players from both Basie and Ellington, to make music that is hard to categorize as anything other than Ray. His piano envelopes the whole group in his R&B style, so while it's a lot of jazz players displaying their jazz chops, the result is something else. Then, on what was side 2, he takes another turn, playing with a small combo and a huge orchestra--pointing the way, with cuts like "You Won't Let Me Go" toward his brilliant take on country & western, and toward his (recently-unearthed) collaboration with Jimmy Scott on his timeless version of "Come Rain or Come Shine."

You can't really review this album, because it puts to shame all the other 5-star ratings I've given on Amazon. Every cut on here is a classic, a pathbreaker, a rich emotional experience, and a swinging time will be had by all.

One of his best
Several great musical traditions flow through this album. How many albums have songs by Percy Mayfield as well as Irving Berlin, or big band arrangements by Quincy Jones as well as strings arranged by Ralph Burns? Nobody could bring it all together like Ray Charles; in his hands, it's all just great American music.

A MUST Have
this album is solid all the way through.Ray Charles is a Genius he handles all types of styles.he is a true Musical AMbassador.you can hear the Soul&Honesty in his voice.as well in his Piano Playing.

a perfect mix of popular and soul stylings from the genius
C'mon - you won't find a better renedering of these standards anywhere than by the greatest ever, Ray Charles. Perfect for an introduction to the artist or as a way to see him capture his smoother side after he invented soul music. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

****½ - one of Winter's best
Inexplicably listed by Amazon as a Muddy Waters-album (Winter's association with Muddy Waters didn't start until the mid-70s), this 1969 album is one of the Texan's best and bluesiest.

Here he is at 25, backed by Tommy Shannon (Stevie Ray Vaughan's bass player in the 80s), drummer John Turner, and occationally his brother Edgar (Winter's brother, not Turner's!) on piano and saxophone. Chess stalwart Willie Dixon even pays a visit, as does harmonica ace Walter Horton who blows the harp on a great "Mean Mistreater".
And while most every other white blues singer in the late 60s was trying to make the blues more palatable to the mainstream pop audience by toning it down a little, Winter makes no concessions to pop sensibility at all. His guitar playing is pure and savage, yet he never resorts to meaningless shredding, and his prowess on the acoustic slide guitar is impressive...just listen to his self-penned "Dallas", a perfectly authentic slice of Delta blues.

This exquisitely remastered 2004 reissue adds three bonus tracks, including a slightly longer version of the aforementioned "Dallas" which finds Winter backed by bass and harmonica (the version originally issued is a solo performance). "Country Girl" is a gritty mid-tempo boogie, and "Two Steps From The Blues" is a surprisingly sleek, soul-flavoured rendition of the Bobby "Blue" Bland number. It clashes a bit with the rest of the album, but it also gives Johnny Winter a chance to show off his non inconsiderable abilities as an R&B-crooner.

There is barely a weak track on this fine record. Contained here is some of the best and certainly most authentic blues ever recorded by a white bluesman, and "Johnny Winter" is the perfect introduction to the albino bluesman, as well as being one of his two or three best albums. And this expanded edition features a newly written essay in addition to the original liner notes, as well as the best sound ever.
4½ stars - highly recommended.

Where it all began
This is the record that started the Johnny Winter storm and this beautifully expanded edition is what this cd deserve. Amazing sound and great enhaced booklet, what else could you ask for?! I hope they reissue all Johnny's album this way!!!!!!!! I don't waste time talkin' about Johnny cause if you're reading this you already know the guy and if you don't you'd better start from here. See you all!! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Ellington's band had more grace and sophistication, but no big band swung harder than the incomparable Basie band. Recorded between 1937 and 1939, these 63 classics feature a cornucopia of legendary musicians: Herschel Evans' big-toned, earthy tenor balances Lester Young's ethereal tenor. Harry "Sweets" Edison's soaring blares complement Buck Clayton's muted trumpet. Jimmy Rushing's nasal, booming operatics contrast with Helen Humes's precise elegance. The Freddie Green-Walter Page-Jo Jones rhythm section flawlessly anchors the driving 4/4 rhythm. And, of course, there's the leader's minimalist piano, using just the right, essential mix of boogie-woogie and stride. These three CDs are peppered with what would become jazz standards and should be a cornerstone of any music library. --Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Reviews (10)

A must have for your jazz collection...
...this one. The definitive first half of the Basie "Old Testament Band" studio catalogue. Good-quality sound, for the era, as well as excellent remastering of the source material. These versions of these songs are what took Basie from a mid-western regional band status to national prominence. Better material than the 3 discs extant comprising most of the second half of the "Old Testament" studio catalogue ("Essential" series, V.1-3 from Columbia Records), as well (if one must choose). I give this one 6 stars from a strictly swing-era only perspective.

Fabulous!
This box collection of early recordings by the Basie Band is wonderful. The sound quality is remarkable considering these were recorded in 1937-39. The solos are bright and energetic and the band play with a loose fury that swings so hard. This is a must pick up for the jazz fan looking to hear where the big bands got their swing.

for all who have ears
If you have ears and do not have this set, something is wrong!

Basie's band is here fresh from Kansas City. Its approach is simple. The greatest rhythm section in the history of Jazz, Basie, Walter Page, Joe Jones, and (first Claude Williams followed by the classic) Freddie Green set the tempo, lightly to hardly swinging, the sections come in, and then the great soloists of this orchestra Buck Clayton, Herschel Evans, and the great Genius Lester Young come in to make some of the greatest performances in Jazz history. The tunes, particularly on the first CD are triumphs of the blues based "head arrangements" that were the stock in trade of Kansas City Jazz.

We aksi gave the magnificent singing and swinging of the incomparable Jimmy Rushing and later the singing of Helen Humes.During the first year or so of the Decca contract Billie Holiday was Basie's female singer. However, because she was already signed with Columbia-Brunswick she never recorded with the band. What a tragedy that we only have three air checks from radio of Billie with this band, none on this CD.

It should be noted that on the last set of recordings here after Herschel Evans died, the great Tenor man Chu Berry joined the band to later be replaced by Buddy Tate. The competition between Evans and Young was the stuff of legends, but the blowing battles that triumph between Berry and Young on Cherokee and Lady Be Good on the last CD here is as good as it gets in 1930s Jazz.

How can you choose between the tracks or selections with the smaller collections of Decca Basie do you select One o'clock Jump over Jumpin' at the Woodside, Texas Shuffle over Good Morning Blues, no you can't. There are a lot of gems here that aren't as widely known and do nto appear in smaller compilations. The most import are the many sides with only Basie's piano supported by the rest of the rhythm section. If you are serious about playing, jazz, blues, or swing or just music, particularly if you play a rhythm instrument, program these sides on your CD and try to play along. Just listening without playing is a real education in blues and swing.

The rhetoric is of course that later the band got to be more and more of an arranged band and less swinging than this. I don't agree with that at all. However, there is a gritty bluesy magic here that does tend to float away after they left Decca.

Of course, the sad history of these recordings is that Decca signed Basie to the three years of these recordings for 700 bucks before Basie got to New York and realized what the orchestra could mean. It took the union and lawyers John Hammond found to get Decca to pay the band members union scale for these classic sides. It's also evident if you compare the last of these Decca sides to the first Columbia sides that Decca wasn't as concerned with the recording quality of these records as Columbia. But that's life under capitalism, great art getting ripped off by big money.

There is simply no excuse for anyone with ears not to have this collection. The sides aren't just great art or necessary history, they are fun, they are moving, and they are going to put a song in your heart and a smile on your face!

Superb, and great sound.
This is an excellent recording, obviously mastered by some masterful recording engineers. My only wish is that I could've been in the recording studio or dance hall myself, but this is about the next best thing. Duke Ellington I adore and will forever, but this selection puts jazz band music in a whole different perspective. Smoke is coming out of my speakers. The whole house is shaking. The roof is buckling. Don't say you weren't warned!

Lively, humorous and energetic!
I recently suffered a loss of nearly 1/2 of my cd collection, and when I realized that this set wasn't stolen, I literally cried tears of joy!

I love jazz and swing and the blues and Basie et. al. know what they're doing, and go at it with zest and a sense of fun. Track 7 on Disc 2, "Mama don't want no peas 'n' rice 'n' cocnut oil", never fails to make me smile and often laugh. It's a great story, concept and song. If only for this track, the collection would be worthwhile.

The trick of it is, I'd easily give you a list of 50% of the songs that right off, you're likely to love and find essential to your quality of life. But then again, the other 50% give life balance.

The clarity of the recordings is a pleasure not just because of the absence of pops, clicks or hiss (some tracks have a wee bit, but compared to other period re-releases, this is about as good as it gets), but the recordings have a sense of a "clean, open" headspace, no bounce or reverb or other additions. It's very much as if you're listening to them in a studio or small, empty club. Just you and them and the music. Maybe a pack of smokes and a drink and your best guy/gal.

Close your eyes and smile! ... Read more

Amazon.com essential recording

This 1976 effort contains some of Cooder's most compelling work and findshim reexploring some of the fundamental influences on a musician known forremarkable eclecticism.Most notable are "Always Lift Him Up," "Smack Dab in theMiddle," and a beautiful adaptation of "Stand By Me" (which includes Flaco Jimenez onaccordion.) The album opens and closes with covers of Leadbelly, namely "TheBourgeois Blues" and (you guessed it) "Goodnight Irene." Also notable is a fine reworking of the traditional number "I Got Mine." --Wayne Pernu ... Read more

Reviews (13)

slack key playing will leave you slack jawed
Ry Cooder should get some kind of U.N. award for 'world music' just for his efforts to record with treasured 'world' musicians over the years. This session includes Flaco Jiminez cutting up on the conertina and Gabby Pahinui (who's since passed) playing Hawaiian slack key guitar. Oh...you don't know what slack key sounds like? Pilgrim, here's your chance to get hep, it's not too late. Great backup vocals, and guitarplaying that would the angels weep. Great album.

A Combination of Conviction and Zeal
The cover art is vulgar and absurd, and 'Chicken Skin Music' is a bizarre title. Those who aren't frightened by atherosclerosis know well that the tastiest part of fried chicken is the skin. And one of the most tasteful guitarists in popular music is Ry Cooder. He can make the instrument cry with jealousy (He'll Have To Go) or sing praises of joy (Always Lift Him Up). And as absurd as the cover and title, Cooder's Hawaiian treatment of the blues and R&B sounds like a foolish endeavor. Few musicians could pull off such a combination with conviction and zeal - Cooder does both.

For those unfamiliar with Ry Cooder, he sings like a Southern black man. His "white boy singing the blues" voice is natural and convincing, as convincing as, say Randy Newman. His treatment of the blues and R&B is, by all standards, traditional. Cooder makes no attempt to add a contemporary shine to 'Chicken Skin Music.' 'The Bourgeois Blues' is loose and ragged: Cooder's combined banjo-bottleneck guitar break is dazzling. The pro-gambling song 'I Got Mine' features a clever horn arrangement. The R&B 'Smack Dab In The Middle' has plenty of spunk and funk. Cooder plays tiple and slack-key guitar on the light dance number 'Chloe.' I don't recognize either of the instruments, but in Cooder's hands, they're luscious. Overall, 'Chicken Skin Music' sounds like Ry Cooder got together with a couple of his buddies to "make" not "sell" music. Cooder and the boys make some terrific music.

Cooder's Vision of American Roots Music
Ry Cooder is one of my all-time favorite artists. [One of my first amazon.com reviews back in 1999 was for Cooder's classic PARADISE AND LUNCH.] And CHICKEN SKIN MUSIC is right there at the top of my list of favoirte Cooder albums. While he's spent the better part of the last two decades doing soundtrack work, this album displays his encylopedic knowledge of musical styles. He's also a gifted mulit-instrumentalist (bajo sexto, mandola, mandolin, even accordion, in addition to being a superb guitarist. Also, Cooder relies on a wealth of talented session musicians, including Jim Keltner, drums; Flaco Jimenez, accordion; and Chris Ethridge, bass.

The album opens and closes with a couple classic Leadbelly songs, "The Bourgeois Blues" and "Good Night Irene." In between he covers gospel ("I Got Mine"), Tex-Mex ("He'll Have to Go," "Stand By Me"), Hawaiian ("Yellow Roses, "Chloe"--both actually recorded in Hawaii, with native musicians Gabby Pahinui and Atta Isaacs), and all of it filtered though Cooder's vision of what constitutes the roots of American music.

In his liner notes, Cooder states, "For me, this album reaches a level of real understanding and mutuality in music." It is one of Cooder's most satisfying albums. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Polaroid
A very nice effort from one of the most respected guitar players around. I'd say this resembles hawaiian folk music with strong US blues/rock influences, allthough the voice and guitar-playing of Ry Cooder and his companions really takes it all to another level. There's nothing new, nothing exceptional to be found here - it's this record's spirit that really drives it forward.
Oh, and just a comment to the previous reviewer; I think the cover art of this album fits the music quite nicely. It's a picture of a skeleton having a go with what seems to be a hawaiian woman - giving the record an edge while still justifying some of the more strange fusion stuff going on here.
Just my 2 cents off course.

A child's intro to his parents' music
I'd read a concert review of Ry Cooder in Rolling Stone; sounded fascinating, so I bought this Chicken Skin thing that'd just come out. Here I was tryin' t'stay hip with Dylan & Beatles solo mat.

He'll Have to Go was such a tear-jerker, you wished he could've recorded it with Jim Reeves. Always Lift Him Up: later this would be called world music (as opposed, I'd reckon, to non-world music), but back then it was just a loving confluence of modern pop & creaking standards.

This was basically a child's intro to my parents' music, although I think they thought Cooder was making fun of it, because of his off-kilter & animated singing. It was also my intro to jazz, really, & I never again looked to Dylan or Beatles for hip. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Fairly good songs, sad production . . .
Clarence Carter has a wonderful voice that really oozes soul of the Southern variety, and he's in not really in bad form here. The songs (for the most part) are solidly written and veer from heartfelt ballads of love ("I Was In The Neighborhood") to his infamous lustful tales ("Strokin'") - not all are great, but there are several good ones.

Many of these songs were big hits, particularly with older fans of R&B. Unfortunately, they were recorded in the 80's and suffer greatly from the production sins of that decade. Linn drums, drum machines in general, synth basses, MOR synth strings, you name it, it's here. Perhaps the most offensive aspect of it is that his vocals are buried in the mix, below layers of drums, and even the backing vocalists have more oomph behind them than Carter's voice. While this is truer with some songs than others ("Dr CC" is one of the more flawed tunes, for example), none of the songs are entirely free from it.

Given that Carter's brand of soul is so innately organic, the heavily-dated machine-oriented production style found throughout is much more offensive than similarly produced records from the 80's. I suppose Men Without Hats or the Fixx or Kajagoogoo used these same production techniques to their advantage, it's just not what I want to hear on a Clarence Carter record. You can't fault most of the songs here, but fans of southern soul are better directed to "Snatchin' It Back", a compilation of Carter's material for Atlantic, recorded in they heyday of southern soul and with an appropriate sound for the music.

Koch deserve demerits for including nothing in the way of liner notes or release date information for these songs. It's almost as if they knew people would stay away if they knew. I would have!

Party Blues CD...
....if you have just one Clarence Carter CD in your collection, it's gotta be this. These are great, great tunes from his 80's and 90's Big C/Ichiban records days that are bluesy and funky and fun. From the street risque numbers "Strokin'", "Grandpa Can't Fly his Kite", "Love Me With A Feelin" (all of which has benefitted from a word of mouth hyping--you probably won't ever hear these on radio) to the Dr's jams "Dr. CC" and "I'm Not Just Good" to "Slip Away" (Redux)...in a phrase, they are near masterpieces. Mark my words, people are gonna catch on and catch up with these jams and make them their greatest medicine for whatever ails them. They are just that good. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential recording

A harrowing classic, Billie Holiday's personal favorite among her '50s albums captures the singer 17 months before her death, her once honeyed voice, scarred and weakened from punishing life, its ravages highlighted by the 1958 session's crisp sonics and the contrasting "satin" of Ray Ellis' sleek string arrangements. Yet it is that very contrast that explains the power of these performances: In revisiting its torchy standards, Holiday reduces them to their core of pain and longing, transforming "I'm a Fool to Want You," "You Don't Know What Love Is," and "You've Changed" into naked declarations as mesmerizing and unsettling as a horrific accident.Any postrocker that presumes pop standards and string sections automatically translate to "easy listening" hasn't listened to this. This 1997 version adds unreleased takes and a beautiful 20-bit digital transfer to extract every shivering pang of Holiday's music. --Sam Sutherland ... Read more

Reviews (55)

The start of a love affair
I admittedly was never particularly drawn to Billie Holiday for various skewered reasons (too legendary, too long ago, too sad). But after seeing her story on an A&E Biography, curiosity got the best of me, especially with respect to Lady In Satin. I remember having run across this album in the stores; it was the only Holiday offering that looked like an actual album, as opposed to the endless profusion of latter-day compilations.

I haven't wanted to listen to anything else since I bought it last week. It's just that good! There's something to be said for an artist's so-called "declining period". Though even for someone like myself who's largely unfamiliar with Lady Day's early work, this album can make for difficult listening. But her worn out, often fractured voice only adds to the material's emotional honesty. Be prepared to have your heart ripped out by "Glad To Be Unhappy"; her voice has a whimsical trace that somehow manages at times to pierce through the sadness.

Placing singers with less-than-perfect voices into lush pop arrangments tends to make for very appealing contradictions.
It's very easy to see why this was Holiday's personal favorite album. The well-documented liner notes only serve to make the album and the Lady all the more compelling. This one will haunt you...and you'll be glad.

I finally got it..
Writing an review for Billie Holidays "Lady in Satin"... Not an easy task.. Because you just can't explain this one... I could say that the lyrics are good (wich they are), or that the arrangments by Ray Ellis are beautifull (wich they are)... But it just won't do. This CD is pure magic, I absolutely love it.. To hear Billies voice so scarred, so.. for lack of a better word.. weak, a far cry from the once cornett-like instrument, is in itself a powerfull experience. But the raw emotion, passion, sorrow and heartache that she puts into theese performances.. It just makes you want to cry. Wich is exactly what I do each time I listen to this album. I just can't help it. If you know anything about Billies life, listen to the lyrics.. Lady Day really knows what she is singing about. It is one of those moments in life where life imitates art, or art imitates life, as the case may be. Listen to it.. Really listen, because it is one of the most powerfull albums you will ever hear..

Admittedly, this is not an "easy" album in anyway. Billies shaky voice does not make for easy listening. The first time I heard it, I did not se what all the fuss was about.. But then I tried listening to it again.. and again.. And the third time, I got it. I finally got it..

The Best Ever.
This is my first review on Amazon. I have never felt the need to do a review on Amazon before. Simply because someone would have always said all that I would have wanted to say.
56 people have reviewed this album before me. Pretty much every good reviewer has said what I am going to say. And yet I feel compelled to review this album. No one, I repeat no artist has ever sung from the depth of his/her heart like Billie Holiday in this album. The music pacifies you, and Lady Day's voice fills you with the deepest sorrow. And yet, in the end you emerge as if transformed by a divine experience.
Now, I will be fair. I had first heard this record 2 months back. And as it turned out, it was the first record of Billie Holliday that I had heard. Naturally, I was surpried, as people who know their stuff regarded her as one of the greats, and this record of her's as the best of all. But I was disappointed.
Eventually, I went back and heard more of her earlier recordings, read about her life, and again came back to this record. And now I truly believe that no artist has ever sung from his/her heart like the way Billie Holiday did in this CD. This album is truly beautiful. And the beauty is hidden underneath a sratchy and haggard voice of a lady tormented by physical and emotional distress.
If you do not know much about Jazz don't buy it.
If you haven't heard Lady Day before, wait till you have heard some of her other stuff.
If you have heard her before and haven't heard this album, then you are missing out on something no words can describe.
And as a tip to those who do not "get" this album. Like Ray Ellis said it, hear it emotionally and not musically.

an essential classic ?
Having just read an article entitled the most essential jazz music of the past century I went and purchased ths Lady in Satin. This was an album that was professed to be one of the great ones. Powerfull and essential in Holiday's catalogue.
I placed it into the CD palyer with great anticipation, first was the orchestration, big full and accurate. Then the horrific, screatching, off key shaky voice of the singer.
I went onto the next track and more of the same. Fantastic big band orchestrations marred by this scared vioce. One track is an outtake and she speaks as if she was drunk ! I understand she had her hard times but at least the recording engineers could have taken the bottle out of her hands.
This was a horrible let down.

Altisimo nivel emocional
Es curioso la controversia que este disco despierta. Razonable porque la voz de Billie Holliday está ya muy deteriorada, como si tuviera 80 años. Pero para mi su interpretación es mejor que nunca, trasciende sus propias posibilidades vocales y la emoción desborda, el dolor empapa los deliciosos arreglos de Ray Ellis y los sentimientos se apoderan de un disco impagable e irrepetible.
Este disco aparece aproximadamente 1 año y medio antes de su muerte, y es su mejor legado, una colección de hermosas viñetas de amor y desamor, desgarrado pero no exento de un pequeño rayo de esperanza a veces (for heaven's sake).
Entre las canciones del disco, mis preferidas son I'm a Fool To Want You (entre las mejores de su repertorio), For Heaven's Sake, You Don't Know What Love Is, You've Changed o The End Of A Love Affair.
Disco especial e irrepetible, joya atemporal, testamento de una de las mejores y expresivas voces del universo jazz, pop. Este disco no merece menos de un 10. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The Putumayo label is known for its easily recognizable packaging and accessible collections of music from around the world. Here the label takes a broad survey of one of the most storied music towns in the world. Household names like Louis Prima, Louis Armstrong and Dr. John do their version of some Crescent City classics. Local favorites like trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and singer Topsy Chapman offer up traditional flavor as well. Music fans knowledgeable about the local scene will likely be happy about the inclusion of the swingin' December-May collaboration between trumpeters Doc Cheatham (who was 91 when he recorded "I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues") and Nicholas Payton (who has 23). Highlighting a vibrant diversity of old and new talent, this album is a musical and cultural tour of a town filled with French Creole culture, a Spanish tinge and some good old American jazz and blues. –-Tad Hendrickson ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Captures the essence of the city, past and present!
Wow!What an irresistible collection this is. It celebrates New Orleans' ever-evolving musical world by intermingling the legends (like Louis Armstrong, Topsy Chapman and Doc Cheatham) with current local favorites who are injecting new energy and new ideas (like Kermit Ruffins and Dr. Michael White.)

Unlike most CDs, where I skip around to my favorites, I play this one straight through because there's not a single cut I don't love.But if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Dr. Michael White's "Give it Up (Gypsy Second Line)"with its Klezmer influenced clarinet.

Highly recommended to anyone who likes a musical good time! ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Great Blues playing and historical value
Croassroads the soundtrack is an invaluable source for early blues afficianados.Ry Cooder has surpassed himself with this soundtrack for the equaly engrossing movie.
Pity though that the duel between Macchio and Vai is also not on the soundtrack, as this would have made it even better and more popular.
The soundtrack is rather short clocking in at around 37 min.
Maybe one day some bright spark may reissue it with the missing tracks added.

What the f**K
One of the previous reviewers was going on about real blues and all that but im just guessing people weren't buying a film soundtrack for real blues they were buying it for what you expect to get - music from the film. The complaints arent about the type of music but that fact that a piece music that plays a big part towards the end of the film was missing. If people wanted real blues theyed have ended up buying albums by BB King etc (if they didnt already own a few).

Ah, the wonders of marketing!
Just wait until August, and buy the DVD. The 'soundtrack' only has just over 30 minutes of music on it, and omits some of the good stuff! If you simply MUST HAVE it, by all means, go ahead. As for me, I'm using my copy for a coaster right this minute.

The missing "Cuttin' Heads" Guitar Duel
This soundtrack is an excellent display of Ry Cooders considerable talents. But to own the final guitar showdown between Cooder and Steve Vai, purchase Vai's Elusive Light and Sound Volume 1 to hear one of the greatest examples of blues and rock guitar.

Disappointment
The soundtrack was a total disappointment since I purchhased it entirely for the last track featuring some awesome guitar. I will be returning it tomorrow. ... Read more

Album Description

This Album includes All versions of Stand Up In It which hit #1 on Billboard for several weeks and as of 2004 April is still #1.All includes Stand Up In It Part 2. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Theodis Finally Gets His Due
The single "Stand Up In It" has been Number 1 for months on Southern Soul charts + charting Number 1 in Billboard's R & B sales charts and number 68 on the Billboard R & B Hot 100 chart. It joins Clarence Carter's "Strokin", Marvin Sease's "Candy Licker", Mel Waiter's "Hole iN The Wall" & others as one of the biggest songs on the "chitlin circuit". Finally Theodis' label got around to releasing a full album containing "Stand Up In It" (in three verions, clean, explicit & "Stand Up In It Pt. 2"). First the good news: This album is excellent througout- Grade A soul & blues songs like "Bluesman Lover", "Lil Brown Eyes", "All My Baby Left Me Was A Note, My Guitar & A Cookie Jar", plus new songs like the dancers "Move With The Motion", "If You Keep Rockin'", "Don't You Wanna Party". There's also duets with Francene Reed ("Baby You Got What It Takes") and Chick Willis ("You've Got To Hurt Before you Heal"). The only (semi-) bad news is that if you bought his 2002 cd IT'S A REAL GOOD THANG you already have half the songs on STAND UP IN IT. Nevertheless, the remaining songs make it a necessary purchase. ... Read more

Reviews (28)

Johnny rocks the blues
If you like hot electric blues and great rock and roll by a dual lead guitar band, it doesn't get any better than this classic live album. Johnny and Rick compliment each other better than any other two lead guitarists that I've heard. They really play together, and you can just about feel the electricity between them. The album kicks off with Good Morning Little Schoolgirl. It's a blues standard, and Johnny cranks up the heat on this rockin' version. Next up is a lengthy (but worth every minute) version of the slow blues number It's My Own Fault. Johnny does a fiery solo, followed by a subdued solo by Rick. (I think he did it that way for a contrast.) The Stones' Jumpin' Jack Flash is given the Johnny treatment, and rocks hard. Number 4 is the Rock & Roll Medley, which is Rick's showcase. He covers Great Balls of Fire, Long Tall Sally, and Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On all within one tune, with split-second tempo changes. I'm sure the place really was shakin'! Johnny's Mean Town Blues is next, done at hyperspeed when compared to the studio version. In this one he features his slide guitar expertise. The album closer is Johnny B. Goode, which is the perfect song for Johnny Winter. When he belts out "Rock and Rolllll" you know what's coming! I was fortunate enough to see this band live in Chicago in 1970, and it was one of the best concerts that I can recall. Johnny and the band were much better than Goode, as this CD shows.

Great Balls of Fire on fire
Due to a simmering feud between Derringer and Winter, Johnny only appreciates the energy on this album. Fact is,even when he released another live album of similar material with Edgar just a few years later, this whiplash energy wasn't there. Johnny's gone on to make a lot of great music and the three times I've seen him play have been great. But not this great. Age and drugs have slowed him down but when these performances were recorded - nothing and nobody was slowing Johnny Winter down. This is rock and roll and blues played like there would be no tomorrow. This is the greatest guitar album of all time!

Decent but predictable live album
At just under forty minutes, this is one pretty short CD, but it does include an 11-minute B.B. King cover, and a 9-minute "Mean Town Blues", and it is from the LP-age, so I suppose that part can be excused ;o)

If you prefer Johnny Winter's most "Old-time-rock-n-roll" styled albums, you'll probably love this, but if you are looking for samples of his bluesier and more musically diverse material, there isn't that much here to get excited about.
The up-tempo "Good Morning Little School Girl" is quite good, and Winter's renditions of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "It's My Own Fault" are excellent, but the rest is predictable, generic and sometimes slightly hysterical rock n' roll ("Long Tall Sally", "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" etc.), and a mediocre "Mean Town Blues" which belies its title.

Some really good stuff, including a lot of fine guitar playing, but too many mediocrities for "Johnny Winter And" to deserve a better than average rating.

An Overlooked Gem
Until I bought this CD a week or two ago, I had not heard this album in ages. I had forgotten how much energy and passion Johnny once put into his live sets. While there is only one original song here ("Mean Town Blues" - and it comes off sounding like a blues classic), the choice of covers is exceptional - from Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis to the Rolling Stones.

I had also forgotten how important Rick Derringer was to this band. He is the perfect foil for Johnny - matching J.W. lick for lick on guitar, playing flawless rhythm, and even singing lead on some of the Rock & Roll Medley. This is an excellent band - probably the best Winter ever toured with. Randy Jo Hobbs (bass)and a young Bobby Caldwell(!)on "percussion" make a terriffic rhythm section.

All in all, this is a solid set. I too am in favor of this title joining the "re-mastered and expanded" club. Since two shows were taped for this album there's got to be lots of stuff they didn't use the first time around. Come on, Columbia! Dig in those vaults and give us a beefed up version. This album deserves it!

A Whole Lotta Shaking Indeed
This is the fourth copy of this recording I've owned. I had the Album, the 8 track, the casset, and now the CD.....My only complaint is that no one re-mixed it to digital. None the less this is some of the finest blues guitar out of Texas prior to Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Chris Duarte.

The high energy level Johnny Winter brings to such gems as Good Morning Little School Girl, and Whole Lotta Shakin really puts you in front and center of the stage as if you're right there live. Most of the songs in "Live" are on his other recordings, but no matter how well you like them elsewhere you'll soon discover he vamped them up here. A ride well worth the small admission.... ... Read more

Album Description

"Raw blues does not get any better than this"

The essential album by dynamic guitarist Kirk Fletcher, "Shades of Blue" can only be described as classic electric Chicago, Delta, and West Coast blues played with passion and fire by one of the best blues guitarists in the business, with a little help from some high-profile friends.

This is the first time that "Shades of Blue" has been available in the US, newly re-mastered and with 3 previously unreleased tracks!

The album also features a powerhouse of blues talent including: Kim Wilson, Janiva Magness, Finis Tasby, Ronnie James Weber, and more!

With a total 17 tracks this album is a must have for music lovers worldwide. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The blues lives on
In a world infatuated with hip hop, young African-American blues guitarists are a rare commodity. Rarer yet are those whose touch, tone, and vibe recall such Chicago blues greats as Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, and Otis Rush in their youth. Meet Kirk Fletcher: Still in his '20s, he plays with the conviction and authority of a seasoned vet, yet burns with a young man's fire. Fletcher favors toothy Strat tones, stinging bends, and flurries of tight, staccato riffs that seem to pop from his fretboard like little firecrackers. His touch is supple and his fingering fluid, yet his phrases never sound slick or contrived. Fletcher and his no-B.S. band cover blues classics by B.B. King, Willie Dixon, and Magic Sam; toss in some R&B (including Percy Mayfield's "The River's Invitation" and a funky take on Booker T. & the MG's "Hip Hug Her"); and cap things off with modern offerings from the likes of the Fabulous Thunderbirds' Kim Wilson. Fresh, vital blues.

A real talent to watch
Every now and when someone is able to emerge from the crowd of very good blues musicians out there and demonstrate that he has something special that distinguishes himself. I think that this is exactly the case of Kirk Fletcher. This album is a real gem that shouldn't be missed by any serious blues fan. With the help of veterans like Kim Wilson, Finis Tasby and Janiva Magness sharing vocal duties and the support of a fantastic band Mr. Fletcher delivers 17 strong blues songs that deserve to be listened. His guitar work is outstanding in every track and, even though very close to the style of the great players of the past, he brings something new into the mix. Fantastic tone control and fluid phrasing are, from my point of view, his main assets that together with is innovative way in creating music progression, make his sound fairly unique and very personal. Not a bad tune to be spotted, this is the classic CD that you would listen from start to finish and when it is over, well... you will play it again! ... Read more

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Gentle, graceful, subtle, sweet--these aren't descriptions generally applied to the blues, but they offer a sense of Mississippi John Hurt's uniqueness and enduring legacy. Rediscovered during the 1960s folk boom after last recording in the late 1920s, Hurt cut the three albums compiled here when he was in his early 70s. His conversational phrasing sounds as natural as breathing, while his ragtime-tinged fingerpicking on acoustic guitar reveals more complexity the closer you listen. Beyond blues classics like "Candy Man" (the sly sensualist wasn't referring to lollipops), Hurt's range encompasses everything from folkish narratives ("Talking Casey," "Spike Driver Blues") to Southern spirituals ("Nearer My God to Thee," "Farther Along"). Though Hurt died in 1966, shortly after the last of these sessions, the music still sounds so fresh, you can almost hear the twinkle in his eye. --Don McLeese ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Intimate, Powerful, and Melodic
This collection has all of the studio recordings done by John Hurt for Vanguard in the early '60's, after he was "rediscovered" by folk blues enthusiasts. Hurt's legendary finger-picking style, which inspired the likes of Doc Watson, simply blows me away. His voice is a little weaker on this album than on the 1928 Okeh recordings, but he still has a commanding presence. He lets his guitar do a lot of the talking for him. Hurt is, quite simply, a musical genius. Don't pass by the chance to hear him loud and clear!

Smooth as sweet wine.....
Mississippi John Hurt is one of the great blues man whose story seems to fit that romantic myth of what the blues and blues man are all about. He recorded music into the late 1920's (see 1928 Sessions released by Yazoo and Avalon Blues : Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings) and then disappeared back into the misty roads of Mississippi to be all but forgotten like so many others.

Then in 1963, Tom Hoskins and Mike Stewart, two young blue musicians from Washington, D.C. came across Hurt's 1928 Okeh recordings and decided to try to find some of the great old blues men, including Mississippi John Hurt. Using his song Avalon Blues as a starting point, they searched all the maps looking for Avalon, Mississippi. However, no town was found. Finally, an 1878 atlas listed Avalon as a rural road in Mississippi between the small towns of Greenwood and Grenada. Taking a chance, they went to Mississippi to find John Hurt. Stopping at a gas station near the area where Avalon was supposed to be, they asked the attendant if by chance he knew John Hurt. The attendant said sure, "about a mile down the road, third mailbox up the hill." Sure enough, they found him. John Hurt went with them back to Washington, D.C. and recorded and toured during the GREAT Blues revival of the 1960's until his death in 1966.

What a story!!! However, the music is the real treasure. Mississippi John Hurt possessed one of the truly great voices in Blues/Country music. Full of warmth, gentleness and power, he tells stories of times and events long since gone. Mixed with his crisp and attractive guitar work, Mississippi John Hurt is one of the GREAT storytellers of all time.

The packaging of three albums, Today!, The Immortal Mississippi John Hurt and Last Sessions, together for around $20 is an absolute steal. You will love these albums. Close the doors, turn out the lights and just listen and enjoy. Then check out the other recordings of this great artist.

Smooth as Silk...but Twice as Durable
It's hard to imagine acoustic finger-picking blues being any smoother, yet heartfelt, than this. This fabulously mastered collection assembles the three studio albums MJH recorded in the 70's following his "rediscovery". The music, sound, and feeling is all there - and it's an absolute PLEASURE to listen to - pop and scratch free - as it was recorded with relatively modern equipment in the 70's.
MJH's intricate and beautifully styled finger-picking represents a degree of confidant mastery that perhaps could only be created by 40 years of playing in relative obscurity working to please only yourself...and his engaging vocals compliment seamlessly.
These three disks are like a favorite sweater on a cool night, comfortably warm, and the fit is just right.

Outstanding music and remixing
Not only is this the definitive box set of the definitive 20th century blues man, but it's exceeedingly well mastered. Every facet of the guitar sound comes through clear as crystal. This is a must have for any blues or rock aficionado.

The best...buy this *and* the 1928 Okeh sessions
MJH was a wonderful singer and fluid fingerstyle guitarist. I can't think of another artist where the guitar and voice are so perfectly matched. It sounds so natural and organic, but of course it took MJH years of practice to perfect his style. During that time, he played mostly for his own enjoyment and that of his neighbors -- he knew he was good, but he had no idea that anyone was interested in his songs. The fact that his 1928 recordings didn't sell well probably confirmed in his mind that his music would be made just for his own enjoyment.

I have just about everything released by MJH. He is my favorite country blues artist. To my ears, these Vanguard studio recordings are his best-sounding, best-produced, and best-performed material. These are the recordings I go back time and time again. [...]

Also check out his 1928 Complete Okeh Recordings to find out the birth of the legend. Terrific performances -- MJH played a little faster in his younger days -- and great sound quality for the era. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Jerry Reed The most underappreciated country rock 'n' roller
A killer songwriter, amazingly skilled guitar player, and a charismatic singer and performer, Jerry Reed is sickenly underappreciated. This is a great collection to use to acquaint yourself with this no-nonsense classic awesome musician. From the country funk of "Ko Ko Joe", and the beauty of the ballad "A Thing Called Love", to the unbeleivable acoustic guitar work on the instrumental "The Claw" or the groovy "Guitar Man", hear Jerry do it all with style and originality. This is a must have CD that will have you digging around for Jerry's LP's in old record shops (which all fully deserve to get reissued on CD!)

The Outrageously Talented Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed's talents as a singer and songwriter have long been a source of wonder for me. Listen to any of his albums, including this one, and find out for yourself. His sense of humor in such
original songs as "When You're Hot, You're Hot," "Lord, Mr. Ford" and "Another Puff" are highly entertaining, and his way with a ballad can truly touch the heart.
On a personal level, being a professional musician AND a guitar
player, I have constantly been blown-away by Mr. Reed's awesome capabilities on the guitar. His instrumental compositions such as "The Claw" and the lesser-known "Lightning Rod" are terrific examples of his mastery of the instrument. In this respect, he has been a tremendous inspiration in making me a better musician. Does anyone know that he was once praised by Jazz critic Gene Lees in Downbeat Magazine? And did I mention that ole Jer is a pretty good actor, as well? Just check out his Bama McCall role in "Gator." A real natural.
But I agree with another reviewer, in that a CD Boxed Set is called for. Having once had a complete collection on vinyl, there are just too many gems missing from what is currently available on CD. And lest we forget, we all owe a great deal of thanks to the great, and sad to say, late Chet Atkins for having discovered this good ole Georgia boy.

Surprisingly good--and what a picker!
Jerry Reed has good chops on the guitar, a great singing voice, and nice songs to sing. Sure it's "country," but it's more like Willie Nelson country, i.e., it cuts across musical boundaries. He sings with great personality; I like the man. A real good time.

Country singer-guitarist of the seventies
Jerry wrote A thing called love, which was a big hit for Johnny Cash and was also covered by Elvis, and he also wrote Guitar man and US male, both big hits for Elvis. His own versions of A thing called love and Guitar man are included here. Other great songs include I love you what can I say and You took all the rambling out of me. So, he could do conventional songs, but what I particularly like are his comedy songs.

My favorite comedy song is The bird (about a creature who could sing like George Jones and Willie Nelson), but this collection also includes Lord Mr Ford (about the problems caused by cars), She got the goldmine I got the shaft (about a divorce settlement) and Another puff (about trying to give up smoking).

You can also find a couple of songs from the two Smokey and the Bandit movies - East bound and down, Texas bound and flying - and many other good songs.

This is an interesting collection by somebody who could have made a comfortable living as a session guitarist, but who had more to offer than that.

Underrated and Overtalented
Forget the comedy persona Jerry developed for the movies, this gut can write music and his fingerpicking is extraordinary! This best-of is truly a gem, with every song a winner. Pick it up and enjoy! ... Read more

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Few blues artists have achieved as much crossover success as Robert Cray. Though it's not infrequent for blues purists to proclaim a dislike for his work, his skillful blend of blues, R&B, and soul has undeniable appeal. Heavy Picks is the first retrospective of Cray's recording career, tracing the route from his early, semi-independent recordings through his final dates for Mercury Records. The collection includes some of Cray's best material, including "Smoking Gun," "Playin' in the Dirt," and "Bad Influence," which testify to his strengths as a songwriter. One of the few blues musicians to have videos on MTV, Cray's style has a consistency that's helped ensure his longevity in the pop and blues arenas. At 14 tracks, Heavy Picks is also a nonintimidating introduction for newer fans. --Genevieve Williams ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Robert Cray: Blues for the masses
I was 14 when Strong Persuader hit the stores, and after seeing the video for 'Smoking Gun,' I ran out to the store and got my very first blues album. Since then I've expanded my taste in Blues (and music) considerably, but I still really enjoy the plucky stacatto riffs that poor, unlucky Bob treats his listeners to.

Lots of purists dismiss Cray. They shouldn't. Cray's guitar work - especially on his earlier tracks - is fantastic. The arrangements worked out betweeen the four piece band and the Memphis Horns are balanced and attentively performed. And best of all, Cray makes the blues accessible and enjoyable to all of his listeners. Not everyone can listen to Muddy Waters, or Howlin' Wolf, or even Buddy Guy without getting an introduction to the genre first. Cray provided that introduction for me, and these days I hear those three artists (and others) lurking in the background of Cray's work.

So, if you're new to the blues, or want to turn a friend on to the blues, this would be a great choice for you. And if you're not new to the blues, this would be a great choice for you, too; as long as you could give poor lonesome Bob a chance.

Good Compilation
This fine compilation covers Cray's career from 1980 to 1997. "Blues-Oriented R&B" is how Cray labels his music in the excellent liner notes, and that's what you'll get. Add Cray's superb guitar playing and you have a prime sample of the above musical phrase. At 14 songs this hits all but one of his albums up to 1997's Sweet Potato Pie. Oddly, one album is missing representation: 1995's fine Some Rainy Morning. Surely, Mercury could have included a track like "Never Mattered Much" as this CD clocks in at just under 60 minutes. Still, if you think you're interested in Cray and aren't sure where to start, this is the one. Then go and buy other CD's like Strong Persuader, I Was Warned, False Accusations and Don't Be Afraid of the Dark.

Too slick for my taste
"It's not infrequent for blues purists to proclaim a dislike for [Cray's] work", the editorial review says.

Well, that's probably because Robert Cray's bland and watered-down take on the blues is so far removed from the sweaty, swaggering power of Muddy Waters and the intensity of Howlin' Wolf and Elmore James that it barely qualifies as blues.

I must admit I never made it all the way through this album. Sure, there is a good moment or two, like Cray's take on Willie Dixon's "Too Many Cooks", but most of these songs sound so slick and so similar, more like the kind of MTV pop that some people have the audacity to call "soul" than actual blues.

I'm probably being unfair (no, I'm not). But I just have to warn people who associate the word "blues" with men like Robert Johnson and Son House that this ain't it.

Deep Pockets
Heavy Picks is a 14-track retrospective that spans Robert Cray's brilliant recording career. Early independent label cuts like Phone Booth, Too Many Cooks, Bad Influence, and Playin' in the Dirt provide wonderful insight into the amazing song writing potential of "Young Bob" and demonstrate why the Robert Cray band was a college radio favorite. The 1986 release of Strong Persuader on the Mercury label marked an important milestone in Robert's recording career; more importantly, it helped spark a major blues revival. Cray's blend of blues and Memphis soul, combined with the Fabulous Thunderbirds straight ahead, Gulf Coast style and Stevie Ray Vaughan's merciless intensity, brought blues to the MTV generation. While hair bands like Quiet Riot, Motley Crüe, and Poison were prancing around stage in women's clothing, singing about the clichés of adolescence, Robert Cray released overtly adult themed songs like Smoking Gun, Strong Persuader, and I Guess I Showed Her. With the Grammy Award winning Strong Persuader, Robert's ability as a guitarist became the talk of every guitar-geek magazine on the newsstand - and rightly so. His percussive attack, amazing timing, and hip phrasing landed him a deal with Fender guitars that resulted in the production of the "Robert Cray" model Stratocaster. With both critical and commercial success under his belt, Cray was free to developed as an artist. With each recording subsequent to Strong Persuader, Robert has made the story the most important aspect of the song; consequently, the guitar has often been cast in a supporting role. Robert Cray is brilliant as a songwriter and often genius as an instrumentalist but what makes him special is his ability to deliver lyrics. Tracks like I Shiver, the Dream and Forecast (Calls for Pain) are testaments to Cray's awe-inspiring talent as a vocalist. Robert's dynamic voice effortlessly produces the hollers, moans, and melismatic leaps characteristic of the great gospel singers in the Southern tradition. As a result, Cray is able to confidently approach songs like the Otis Redding classic, Trick or Treat and deliver it with an earnest authority. I was Warned, the final track of the album, is perhaps the best, most defining tune on Heavy Picks. This dark and brooding minor rumba is Robert Cray at his very best. Layers of guitars frame the poignant melody as Cray recalls the warnings of his friends regarding the love of his life. In a classic moment of irony, Cray sings, 'whether they're right or wrong, at least the mystery is gone.' Throughout his career, Cray has suffered from categorization. His music is found under the category of blues in most record stores but purists more often than not scoff at this classification. They insist that his music is not the blues in a traditional sense but, while they may have a point, it is a shame to overlook the casual brilliance of Robert Cray as a singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist. Cray may not be the torchbearer of the blues as many had hoped following his work with Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland on the Alligator release, Showdown, but he certainly represents a continuation of the legacy created by soul singers like O.V. Wright, Ottis Redding, and Marvin Gaye. Heavy Picks is not the shining jewel of the Robert Cray collection but it does provide listeners with a nicely packaged summation of the man's career.

A CONVERT'S review: The soul, the blues and the passion...
To me, 'Heavy Picks' is something very, very special: it's the best blues album in my quite extensive collection, both on vinyl and on CD.Robert has selected these outstanding tracks from a wealth of material to choose from. It contains the best of his songs - among them the superb 'I shiver' and 'I was warned'. The sound quality -the tracks have been remixed- and the overall production are excellent. One example: the drum sounds are perfect on all selections. Through the years, Robert has transformed the classical structures of the blues into something very much his own: an inimitable mixture of blues and soul. Can you name to me a better blues singer than Robert Cray? I love the -very 'un-Claptonesque'- punchiness of his guitar playing, too. To me, buying 'Heavy Picks' was coming back to Robert Cray after quite a long time. When I listened to his very first album quite a few years ago I was disappointed because I listened from a purist's point of view - I wanted blues, blues and nothing else. Robert didn't seem a faithful enough scholar of the blues. Of course, I was wrong - if you want the essence, the passion and the soul of the blues - go for Robert Cray! This compilation is an excellent introduction to Robert Cray's music, and a disc to cherish for anyone who loves good blues and soul music. I made an interesting discovery: this is a record that also sounds excellent if you play it at a very low volume, as background music, because the rhythmic patterns keep shifting and the punchy guitar solos come like flashes of lighting. ... Read more

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Mardi Gras remains one of America's most other-worldly cultural riots, never more exotic than in the beaded, feathered spectacle of New Orleans' black "Indian" tribes. Each year they stir the city's African, Native American, and European influences into an intoxicating gumbo roiling with syncopated rhythms and coded with their own sense of the festival's competitive spirit. It's that tradition that explains this deliriously infectious 1976 project, which magnifies the Tchoupitoulas' fanny-shaking bravado with a formidable studio crew helmed by producer Allen Toussaint, who enlisted the Neville Brothers and the Meters to give these tracks a kinetic R&B push-and-pull. With the Nevilles' choral vocals fleshing out traditional chants, this is funky prancing of the highest order, from the infectious "Brother John" to a ripe remake of the Meters' "Hey Pocky A-Way." One need only hear the tough bragging of "Meet the Boys on the Battlefront," with its promise that "the Wild Tchoupitoulas gonna stomp some rump," to get the outrageous picture. --Sam Sutherland ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Big Chief says buy this handsome CD
The only complaint I have of this otherwise perfect New Orleans album is that it is too short, only 30 minutes or so. Every song is Big Easy Mardi Gras fun though. The Meters(who made and still make great funky solo albums) provide the music, the soon to be Neville brothers provide backing vocals, produced by Allen Toussaint, and the Tchoupitoulas(you'll know how to pronounce it after hearing them chant it) chant the lead vocals. Party music cajun style, southern tribal funk and all with a great sense of humor and fun. The Wild Tchoupitoulas along with Prof. Longhair and of course Dr. John belong in all record collections of any spicy depth.

Tchoupitoulas Stomp Rump !
Good goshamighty it's good to see this out on CD. This magnificent testament to the power of the Mardi Gras Indian music scene featured all four Neville Brothers performing together for the first time. Throw in The Meters fonky rhythm section and guitarist and you've got one heck of a backing band. The Tchoupitoulas themselves were older gentlemen, most of whom, their leader and the Neville's uncle George Landry included, have passed away since the record was cut. But luckily for us, in addition to spawning The Neville Brothers band, they left behind this butt burnin' document to remember them by. Do the songs all sound kind of the same? Yeah, but what a sound it is! New Orleans funky gumbo and war chants that'll have your party guests up and dancing in milliseconds. Put away the good china. Warning! Play this one in your car and your right foot starts to tap to that irresistable beat and pretty soon your car's doin' a stop and go rhumba down the road, and you'll have to explain why to the state trooper. But if he's got ears at all he'll hear it for himself and tear up the ticket. It's contagious after all. This one's another desert island disc cuz on my island we like to groove.

Ultimate Killer Dance Music!
When I first heard this as I wandered through the Harvard Coop, I thought my feet would stomp a hole in the floor, and I bought it at top speed. 25 years later, I am still stomping! You NEED this. it is music to which to go crazy, in the best possible way, and I suggest you wear feathers and paint. Be careful you do not hurt yourself dancing.

JOYOUS BLEND OF STYLES
Although they're from New Orleans, The Wild Tchoupitoulas sounds almost like a hybrid of World Music and R&B. The excellent rhythm section drives the music in a wild mutation of New Orleans R&B, funk and what sounds like early Jamaican influences. The harmonies are great throughout and the songs all blend into each other in an undulating festive stream of sound. When listening, I often recall early R&B like Sugarboy Crawford's "Jock-O-Mo" that later became the standard "Iko Iko." But it's rough and raw vocals, very unlike the polished sound of the Neville Brothers on eg. their version of "Bird on a Wire." This is a joyful and seamless blend of styles that lifts the spirit.

Great voices and harmonies
An amazing blend of voices that hit the right notes every time. Each song is unique and what a slow build-up some of them have with a tremendous finale of frenzied musical mayhem. Truely superb! A must for anybody's collection if you enjoy bluesy/zydeco. But it now!! ... Read more