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CBS Records (now Sony Music) didn't make a concerted effort to woo the black pop marketplace until the early '70s, so its catalog of R&B and soul was fairly thin until the advent of Sly and the Philly Sound. But that's not to say its labels--particularly OKeh--didn't release some true classics of the genre pre-Family Stone. Just because the corporate powers that be allowed great protorockers such as the Treniers and Roy Hamilton to be largely ghettoized in the '50s is no excuse to miss them now. Or that you shouldn't hear balladeer Walter Jackson's towering, elegant, grateful-to-bursting "My Ship Is Comin' In" (1967) due to the company's lousy promotion of the disc at the time. Despite whatever sins are to be atoned for (including Sony's ego-tripping series Soundtrack to a Century, this set's raison d'être, From Doo-Wop to Hip Hop does tickle one's historic imagination by bringing together raucous touchstones such as "I Put a Spell on You" (in its slightly snipped version) and "Bring the Noise" and smooth ones such as "Me and Mrs. Jones" and "Pony." --Rickey Wright ... Read more

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Wonderful
I bought this the other day and listened to it on my way back home. It had songs that I loved and some I had forgotten about. It was certainly worth the money spent. ... Read more

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A Blues Classic!
I first heard this album 25 years ago, thanks to some very good friends. It was a favorite back then, one of those albums you played constantly, always finding something time and again that made it special. It's one of those rare CD's that simply does not have a bad cut on it. You'll find that you not only want a hot dog for your roll, but you'll also want this CD for your Blues/Swing/Jazz collection! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

More than a blues singer
Sorry young man, Jimmy didn't play sax. Back before basie, before Moten Jimmy played a bit of Piano in LA clubs before he ever sang. He must have rocked that box as the saying goes.

Jimme shines as a blues singer, but he never saw himself chiefly as a blues singer. That found him. In fact, when Billie Holiday left the Basie band--some say she was chased out by John Hammond but that's another story--Jimmie protested that they didnt need to add another singer. He was all they needed because he saw himself as a ballad singer.

This CD covers his recordings with the Basie Orchestra during the years Basie was signed with Columbia and its subsidiary Brunswick. There is of course the great blues at which he has no competition, not even from the great Joe Turner in regard to swinging a band. But I love the ballads and satirical songs. "It's the Same Old South" is worth the whole album, a more or less funny protest song standing up for Black rights and the CIO.

What I think Jimmy had that none of the other blues shouters had was a musical nature. He was more than just loud sound and rhythm. He approached the blues and the ballads as a musician. What a powerful voice he had. And how he could swing. With all his size, do you know that Jimmy was renown as a dancer. I've seen him move and swing in movies, and what glory, what soul, what music!

I have heard Jimmy Rushing swing a whole big band. I have heard him swing me. This will swing you.

Jimmy Rushing
Jimmy is a good sax man and a evean better singer. I am doing a report on him and i am glad i chose him. If you don't belive me listen to him! ... Read more

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It's 1967, the winter before the summer of love. And swing-era-born blues shouter Jimmy Rushing's "Berkeley Campus Blues" sported this observation: "We've got sit-ins, drop-outs, and freedom fighters, too/ We've got sit-ins, drop-outs, and freedom fighters, too/ We've got kooks and politicians--everything but kids in school."Rushing laid Everyday I Have the Blues and Livin' the Blues to wax over two days in February of '67, and both cuts appear in their entirety on this spectacular CD. As always, Rushing is a topnotch, peerless shouter, belting it out with a charging band led by arranger Oliver Nelson and fronted by trumpeter Clark Terry and trombonist Dicky Wells. On organ and piano there's Hank Jones, filling the alleys and spaces between Rushing's full-bodied vocal attack. The whole affair is surprising, especially considering that upon their release, these LPs were presented by Impulse!, then known as home to the late-Coltrane-inspired energy jazz of Pharoah Sanders and others. Rushing's seemingly apolitical blues are an anomaly considering the intense political nature of jazz at the time (and the idea that lots of the swing-era cats were somehow no longer cool), but it's vital to remember how powerfully Rushing transcends genres and eras. This is jumping, stirring blues and snappy swing at once. And if anything, Rushing was just a touch old school, expressing in "Berkeley Campus Blues" the idea that the right to education--for African Americans especially--was hard fought and worthy itself of some curricular attendance. Whether there's consensus on the point or not, Rushing's blues is some of the best, and he shines brightly here. --Andrew Bartlett ... Read more

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Just Love This
I stumbled across this reissue in a store and bought it thinking what the hell. What a gem! I love it more each time I play it. It is great to put on late at night when the kids are in bed with a drink in the hand. I usually end up putting it on whenever guests come for dinner and everybody raves about it and it usually gets another listen.
The recording sounds so fresh it could have been cut yesterday.
To appreciate this CD you only need to appreciate great singing.

Everyday I can play Jimmy's blues...
This record is so awesome you can play it everyday...What else can be said about Jimmy Rushing's singing??? Mr. 5x5 is simply the best and he shows it here with a smaller ensemble, as opposed to a Basie's big band. He is simply pure joy to listen... And the ensemble is smooooking behind him with Dicky Well's trombone leading the way... You can't go wrong here...

Excellent value Two-fer
This great reissue combines two of Jimmy Rushing's finest albums from his post-Basie period.

Jimmy's legendary voice is in good form here, and his delivery is clear and lively. There is excellent musicianship throughout.

Some of the songs are re-recordings of tracks he had recorded earlier with Count Basie, which are now regarded as classics of the genre.

Although Rushing achieved his greatest fame during the 15 years he spent in front of the Count Basie Band, the music on this CD is far from second-rate.Indeed, Rushing's post-Basie recordings simply enhanced his reputation as a great jazz singer/blues shouter, and it was during these years that Rushing was named "Best Male Singer" four times by British magazine "Melody Maker" in their annual Critic's Poll, "Best Male Singer" four times by "Downbeat" magizine's International Critic's Poll, and "Best Male Jazz Vocalist" by German magazine "Jazz Podium".

If there is any need for proof that the incredible Mr. Five-by-Five could still put it all together and make it swing in the twighlight of his carear, this release is it. Highly recommended. ... Read more

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Why isn't there more in print from this genius?
Buy everything you can from this man. Mickey's guitar genius is eclipsed by no one. Each song is brilliant. He was playing the best instrumental guitar rock in the 50s but received no accolades in the US. I believe he was more than a little disappointed with the US scene (brilliant black musician in America in the 50s. Pat Boone was the one making money. I'd leave too.) and fled to France.

He virtually invented instrumental guitar rock and was the best. What more can be said? ... Read more

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Roy Gaines Too Much !
ROY GAINES NEW FRONTIER LOVER Severn
CD 0008 Help me, Benjie Porecki KEYES, Steve Gomes BASS, Rob
Struka DRUMS with help from Steve Guyger, Dave Maxwell, & Big Joe
Maher. This is one bad dude INDEED. I don't know ANYTHING this
talented man has ever touched that I didn't just LOVE. Guitar so sweet,
played with style, no stems, no seeds, you don't need, Roy is bad weed.
EVERY song is a Roy. New Frontier Lover is Roy loving the ladies tune.
Pickin' magic folks. THE WORLD'S BIGGEST FOOL, written for yours
truly, is the man cutting loose his past. Be gone man, I found my lady love
and let her slip through my hands. It's whining time again. What a DOPE:)
WHAT'S THE REASON damn dumb man asking the obvious. YOU CAN'T
MAKE NOBODY LOVE YOU, slow, simmering, cooking with Roy's brand
of blues. Crying time tonight. WC HANDY SANG THE BLUES is Roy's
tribute to WC. Father of the BLUES tune, thanks WC. DOUBLE
DEALIN' WOMAN, nice horns, Roy rippin', lay your $$$ down
baby. MY WOMAN, MY BLACKSNAKE & ME Guyger on harp,
Maxwell on keyes, sweet home Chicago.
GREAT CD get it NOW

blues with soul
rot gaines new cd on severin records is a claasic cd of chicago/texas blues,all tracks are originals no covers or fillers. new frontier lover kicks off the cd with a bolt of power that lasts to the last track "roll your own biscuit". if you love the blues with great guitar riffs and vocals with the horns filling in between this is a must buy. great band also with benjie porecki(keyboards) also david maxwell on piano with harp master steve guyger.

Another Super Effort By Blues Guitar Legend
Roy Gaines has a new release on Severn, New Frontier Lover, that may be his best ever. Gaines has ben part of the blues scene since joining his idol T-Bone walker on stage in his native Houston. He was bandleader for the legendary Chuck Willis and later recorded with jimmy Rushing and others. He also spent some time with the Crusdaers.

Severn leabel head David Earl has put together a terrific band behind him including Steve Gomes on bass and Benji Porecki on keyboards and their are some nice horn parts on most tracks. Its a collection of new material, although one can hear echoes of some of the greats, Gaines was a contemporary with and played with. Many of the songs have memorable hooks and some of the catchphrases from the tunes will be lingering in your mind after you listen to this The title track is funky number where Gaines gets to boast about his prowess. It is followed up by my favorite track, "The World's Biggest Fool," a terrific slow blues suggestive of Guitar Slim's "Something to Remember You By," with the band sounding like Slim's band on his Atlantic sessions. "What's the Reason" is a nice shuffle with a Latin tinge to it while Roy is in a T-Bone Walker vein on "You Can't Make Nobody Love You," although Gaines plays with a somewhat dirtier tone here than Walker. "Roy's Theme" is an instrumental evoking classic instrumental shuffles like Gatemouth Brown's "Okie Dokie Stomp." "Hinds Ends & Elbows" is another hook-laden song, with Gaines' hot vocal and guitar evoking the memory of the late Johnny Copeland. Gaines also handles a medium tempo Chicago blues shuffle," My Woman, My Blacksnake and Me," with Steve Guyger adding his harp to the blues stew. Guyger is also present on the rollicking closing number, "Roll Your Own Biscuits."

This release has been one I have been listening to constantly since I got the advance copy of it, and is equal to the other terrific cds Gaines has issued in teh past few years. New Frontier Lover is one that is sure to be on my best of 2000 list. ... Read more

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Great Blues Primer
Wanna learn what the blues is all about? Grab this collection of music from the 60s and early 70s. I bought this tape and a harmonica in 1987 and taught myself to play on Muddy Water's 19 years Old.

Great Music, loads of fun and a great taste of country, jump, delta, chicago and electric blues.

buy buy buy ... Read more

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A revelation
As a fingerpicker and long-time fan of Rev. Gary Davis, Dave Van Ronk, Jorma Kaukkonen I am astounded to learn from this record that virtually everything they did was done not only first by Blind Blake, but better.
Brilliant, beautiful, indispensible!

Guitar picker ambrosia
As a worshipper of Django, Robert Johnson and other guitar legends, I'm ashamed to say that I didn't know about Blind Blake. If you like guitar, this is ambrosia. It's like being a baseball fan and hearing about Shoeless Joe Jackson for the first time.

No way
This music is so complex, so rich, so beautiful that you will not unwind the melody no matter how many times you listen to it. If you play guitar, don't even think about trying to copy this stuff: it'll show you limits your ego will be better off not knowing.

The music is so good it's almost pathological. And it underscores what lovers of this--the early country blues genre--have always known: we've progressed in recording technology, but the old sounds are still unrivaled in the only thing that matters as far as music is concerned, which is to say sound.

Rag-Time Guitar at its Best!
Blind Blake was a master of the acoustic guitar. His rag-time style is clearly one of the most technically difficult to perform; but his natural ability makes it sound so smooth. A musical genius, Blake perfected a sound that can only rarely be imitated. Anyone who appreciates acoustic guitar will fall in love with this classic recording. ... Read more

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There seems to be some confusion...
in the review below, because McTell's "Library of Congress" session was 1940, was not with Curly Weaver, and is not this record. Everything else is right.

A remarkable document
This twenty-track set from Sony Records is a remastered reissue of the set Willie McTell and Curly Weaver cut for the now-defunct Regal Records label in 1950, and it was previously issued in 1993 on Biograph with a different cover (but the same track sequence).

These fine songs have McTell and second guitarist Weaver sharing the vocals. They include remakes of McTell's 1933 singles "Talkin' To You Mama" and "Good Little Thing", as well as more recent material, and this session was left out of many McTell discographies until it resurfaced in 1993. And it's a good thing it did, because it is by far the best-sounding Willie McTell-material available, and the sheer diversity of this wonderful album makes "Pig 'n Whistle Red" an indispensable (and delightful) recording.
It includes country blues, gospel, ballads, and more country blues, and two quite different versions of a 20s pop song, "Pal Of Mine".

The playing is amazingly sharp and crisp, and the vocals wonderfully delicate, and this collection has to be considered essential to any serious acoustic blues collection.
(Pig 'n Whistle Red was a barbecue stand in Atlanta, by the way, and one of the places where McTell and Weaver played for tips. These sides were originally released under that moniker.)

Willie Samuel McTell and Curley Weaver were a legendary duo in Atlanta, Georgia even before World War II. Weaver, known as "The Georgia Guitar Wizard", played a strongly rhythmic, percussive second guitar, often playing full chords behind McTell's finger-picked twelve-string lead guitar. It is a real gift to have these two men still together and in excellent form on this wonderful postwar recording. ... Read more

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It is convenient to describe the guitar and harmonica duo of "Bowling Green" John Cephas and Phil Wiggins as a latter-day version of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee. But they are far more than that, as you'll quickly discover in their fine release Cool Down. Steeped in the Piedmont blues tradition of artists like Blind Boy Fuller and Blind Blake, their music oozes with the kind of authenticity many artists would sell their souls for. This release offers a tour de force of original songs and traditional ballads that will roll through your mind for years to come. For playful front-porch blues there's the churning rhythm of "Action Man" and the dual vocals of "Blues Will Do Your Heart Good." And for blues on the darker side, John Cephas's vocals are at their most bittersweet portraying the "Man Without a Future." The Wiggins-penned "Cool Down" is a heartrending plea against street violence and shows that the duo can effectively focus their talents on contemporary themes as well. --Ken Hohman ... Read more

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Harmonica and Guitar Masters
Cephas and Wiggins are masters of the oldest form of blues, the melodic Piedmont acoustic style that has stylistic links to the black string bands of Colonial America. Here Cephas' resonate vocals and guitar licks are echoed by Wiggins' harmonica pyrotechnics in a program of originals and well-selected older gems. One of their better CDs. ... Read more