CD Review
Roosevelt Sykes
Chicago Boogie
(Delmark DD-773)
by Gordon Baxter
Review date: August 2004
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Rossevelt Sykes (aka The Honeydripper) was one of the best respected and most prolific blues pianists of the 1930's. His recording career, though, spanned from 1929 up until his death in 1983. Renowned as a highly sophisticated player--he claimed he was more jazz based until Lee Green taught him how to play the blues--Sykes was also popular for his songs and his singing. Born and raised in Arkansas and St Louis, Sykes subsequently relocated to Chicago (and later to New Orleans). "Chicago Boogie" brings together tracks from his two sessions for Chicago's Regal label (March 14, 1950 and April 10, 1951, both previously unissued on CD) with those from an unissued 1963 (May 17) session for Delmark.
The album opens with a brace of tracks from 1950, starting with a very fine version of Sykes' classic "Driving Wheel." The second of the tracks is the equally excellent "Mail Box Blues"--the liner notes show it as "West Helena Blues," but these tracks have been swapped on the CD--where Sykes does his thing with only Jump Jackson supporting on drums.
Of the six tracks from the Delmark session, four of them are St Louis Jimmy (Oden) numbers. Appropriately enough, the man himself showed up to deliver the lyrical twists in person. On "Monkey Face Blues," for example, he lightheartedly teases his sweetheart by suggesting that she has a face like a monkey, whilst on "Complete This Order" he sets a very tall order to be carried out in order for his lover to prove her love for him.
Elsewhere, there are plenty of decent examples of Sykes' talents, such as "Wonderin' Blues," (from 1951 where J.T. Brown blows sax, Ransom Knowling is on bass, and Jackson in the drum seat again), and "Rock It" (which appears with an alternate take, too). The album also closes out with a few more clever lyrics on "Kickin' Motor Scooter" which turns out to be Sykes take on the Dirty Dozens (aka "Dirty Mother FOr You").
Whilst the purists may point out that the tracks on "Chicago Boogie" are not the best things that Sykes recorded, they are still good. It is also nice to have them available on CD at last, so three cheers for Delmark's Bob Koester for that. "Chicago Boogie" shows that Roosevelt Sykes was still worth listening to more than 20 years after he set out on his recording career, and even in the early 1960's he was still capable of cutting the mustard. So, maybe not the best place to start your Roosevelt Sykes collection, but once you get started you will want to add this one to your list.
www.delmark.com
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