this is a tasty little one here: While Cal Green is included for a pair of tracks, this one is all about two Johnny Otis guitar players, Pete "Guitar" Lewis and his successor Jimmy Nolen (later of James Brown fame).
"A sumptuous feast o' hot 'n greasy Texas jump blues guitars, these 22 Federal recordings (waxed between 1952 and 1958) showcase three of the best '50s T-Bone Walker devotees tearing off punchy li'l swirls o' swing on their fat axes. Johnny Otis's band backs stellar Otis-sideman Pete "Guitar" Lewis on eight performances, three of which showcase Lewis's harp chops (he was also a fine singer, a talent never displayed on his Otis sideman sides). Jimmy Nolen would invent the "chicken scratch" funk guitar style behind James Brown in the '60s, but the dozen mid-'50s performances here (supported by Chuck Higgins's combo) are solidly in the Walker tradition. Midnighter guitarist Cal Green is represented by a pair of instrumentals ("The Big Push" is a vamp around "Annie Had a Baby"). Ten tracks are strictly instrumental, ranging from moody "after hours" blues to high-octane rompers, all delivered with that full-bodied blend of grit and sheen that made the best Texas-gone-California blues such an unparalleled gas. Great sound, 'n if you love fat, horn-like guitars (anchored by fat horns 'n solid rhythm sections); here's an earful." AMG
4 comments:
Great choice, KC. All guitar players (and guitar lovers) should listen hard to these masters. Their finesse and skill has seldom been matched.
Staggering larger collections in smaller tranches makes sense to me. More easily digestible. Gumbo McNuggets?
The rain of high-quality goods and goodies is insistent, welcome, and occasionally overwhelming for me. I don't want to ask you to stop or slow down, quite the opposite, but I am often struggling to keep up. I mean, I just downloaded this "Scratchin'" at PresLives recommendation - but I know I have four other downloads accumulated from you which I haven't had a moment to listen to yet. So maybe smaller bites at the cherries are a way to go - maybe like the Blowing The Fuse series and the way my mouth is hanging open ready for each one as they have come.
The Bob Geddins collection was one such that I steered around because his name meant nothing to me and it looked disconcertingly weighty and time-consuming - yet I feel ok about taking a chance on something equally unknown but even more unlikely like Bigg Robb, or Gus's country duet challenge.
Many thanks for all of it.
definitely looks my cup of tea, KC!
thank you!
This looks incredible. I am the same as Lazz at the moment. I was just able to seriously listen to Dan Penn last night. Definitely fallen behind which isn't the worst thing, but it makes commenting in real time difficult. By the time I am ready to comment everybody has moved on, which sucks.
In any event, I know that there's many who can listen all day long and probably wish there was more material coming quicker. Keep on keepin on...
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