Various Artists - Blues Piano Orgy

Artist:

Various Artists

UPC:

038153062620

Description:

BLUES PIANO ORGY Contains several previously unreleased tracks. Performers include: Otis Spann, Little Brother Montgomery, Sunnyland Slim, Roosevelt Sykes, St. Louis Jimmy Oden, Speckled Red, Curtis Jones and Memphis Slim. Personnel: Memphis Slim (vocals, piano); St. Louis Jimmy Oden (vocals); Homesick James Williamson, Matt "Guitar" Murphy (guitar); Ernest Cotton, Neil Green (tenor saxophone); Little Brother Montgomery, Otis Spann, Roosevelt Sykes, Speckled Red (piano); Otto Allen, Fred Below (drums). Liner Note Author: Robert G. Koester. Recording information: Decca Studios, Chicago, IL (??/??/1947-12/30/1969). Photographer: Ray Flerlage. Thanks in part to the luridly alluring title and the enthusiastically informative liner notes by Bob Koester, this solid collection was many a young musician`s introduction to the men who pioneered blues piano in the first half of the 20th century. Roosevelt Sykes is the best represented artist here, and his leering vocals are hard to resist: After hearing the ribald metaphor of "Dresser Drawers," you`ll never view furniture quite the same way again. His "Kickin` Motor Scooter" is truly a marvel of smiling euphemism, with the song devoted to boasts of how he`s "A dangerous motor scooter...A tricky motor scooter!" Other artists, while not always as inventive lyrically, show a wide range of piano styles, from the bouncing syncopated jazz of "Stendahl Stomp" to the trickling upper registers and restrained bass coaxed by Curtis Jones from a battered old piano in "Tin Pan Alley Blues #2." Not every track is unaccompanied piano, though. "Every Time I Get to Drinking," a blues dirge to the bottle, revolves around the elastic pull of an upright bass. The closing instrumental, Otis Spann`s "Three-in-One Blues," features ominous bass chords wracked by a scattershot backing of drums. Despite being essentially a glorified soundcheck, and by far the least structured piece on the album, it`s also the most primally satisfying. ~ Paul Collins

Track Listing:

DISC 1

1. Blues Hurt My Tongue to Talk - Speckled Red
2. Dresser Drawers - Homesick James Williamson/Roosevelt Sykes
3. Concentration Blues - Homesick James Williamson/Roosevelt Sykes
4. Kickin` Motor Scooter - Roosevelt Sykes
5. (New Year`s) Resolution Blues - Roosevelt Sykes/St. Louis Jimmy Oden (previously unreleased)
6. My Baby`s Coming With a Marriage License - Homesick James Williamson/Sunnyland Slim
7. Poor Boy - Homesick James Williamson/Sunnyland Slim (previously unreleased)
8. Everytime I Get to Drinkin` - Homesick James Williamson/Sunnyland Slim
9. Depression Blues - Homesick James Williamson/Sunnyland Slim (previously unreleased)
10. Stendahl Stomp - Little Brother Montgomery
11. Tremblin` Blues - Little Brother Montgomery
12. No Special Rider Blues - Little Brother Montgomery
13. Bass Key Boogie - Little Brother Montgomery
14. Five O`Clock Blues - Otto Allen/Ernest Cotton/Neil Green/Curtis Mosley/Matt "Guitar" Murphy/Memphis Slim
15. Nat Dee Special - Otto Allen/Curtis Mosley/Matt "Guitar" Murphy/Memphis Slim (previously unreleased)
16. Lonesome Bedroom Blues - Curtis Jones (previously unreleased)
17. Takin` Off - Curtis Jones (previously unreleased)
18. Tin Pan Alley - Curtis Jones
19. Three-In-One Blues - Otis Spann

Album Information

Release Date:

09/10/1996

Type:

Collection

Genre:

Blues

Subgenre:

Chicago Blues

Label:

Delmark

Producer:

Robert G. Koester

Catalog Number:

626

Original Release Year:

1972

# of Discs:

1

Studio/Live:

Studio

Mono/Stereo:

Mixed

Runtime:

59 : 22

Portions copyright 2005 Muze Inc. All rights reserved.