Apparently the blues had a baby and they named it rock ‘n’ roll, if my historical understanding is correct. The music on this CD dates from the time when the blues was still going steady with jazz and they went dancing together at least twice a week.
Every track but one (from 1957) was recorded between 1951 and 1955 and they range from urban blues to jazz, with a lot of the stuff between that has no name of its own. For most of its length instrumental tracks, often the sort of thing I would call jumping jive, alternate with vocal ones, which tend to be bluesier. Some of the performers are well known, like Junior Wells, Memphis Slim or Della Reese, some are known but not to me (are any of you better informed than I am about Paul Bascomb, Grant Jones or Alfred Harris?), and some are completely unknown, even to the people at Delmark who put this together – in a few places the insert records ‘remainder unknown’ and in one ‘probably from either Red Saunders or Duke Ellington band’.
Most of the instrumentals are under the leadership of ‘honking’ sax players, a few of whose names may be familiar, such as J. T. Brown, Tab Smith and Jimmy Forrest, who may have a claim to the paternity of rock ‘n’ roll. As a member of Ellington’s band he composed what is sometimes cited as the first example of the genre, known both as “Happy-Go-Lucky Local” and more commonly “Night Train”. Here he performs a lovely take on Ellington’s beautiful ballad “Sophisticated Lady”. A curiosity is “Dinah”, credited to ‘Ray McKinstry: all instruments (according to the 78 label)’. This starts like a standard big-band arrangement, then goes into double time, when it sounds as if some of the instruments are played at twice the speed and others are recorded at normal speed then played back at double speed. Hold on, this is 1952!
Bluesier highlights include “Fine And Brown” by Roosevelt Sykes, which gets things off to a suitably swinging start, Morris Pejoe’s “Let’s Get High”, Dennis Binder’s strange story of “The Long Man” and the Four Blazes’ “Raggedy Ride”, all of which I was unfamiliar with, but I was happy to make their acquaintance. And full marks to John Stephens of Johnny Wicks’ Swinging Ozarks for the rare credit of vocal and tuba (although somewhat disappointingly not simultaneously).
There are also nods in the direction of doo-wop with “Goodbye” by the Pastels and its more religious heritage with Robert Anderson and His Gospel Caravans. If Anderson is the lead, what a voice he has!
This is uplifting music, joyous even. The sound is good and a lot of care has gone into the packaging. Put those pills away and give yourself an hour of this instead.
www.delmark.com
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