Jerry's Saloon Blues

Something old from our dear Unky Cliff. While most of the Flyright material has made a web appearance at some point or another, this one has remained stubbornly unavailable despite being consistently mentioned in books about this period's recordings. Problem solved!

"This chapter presents an account of a 1940 field recording trip by John and Ruby Lomax. The account, which initially appeared as the liner notes for Flyright Album 206 (1975), focuses on an encounter with Oscar “Buddy” Woods, two other local black musicians named Kid West and Joe Harris, as well as members of Lead Belly’s extended family. West and Harris demonstrated their lively and varied repertoire for Lomax, who recorded older ballad and country dance material such as “Railroad Rag,” “Bully of the Town,” and “Old Hen Cackled and Rooster Laid an Egg.” Paul Oliver

Katie Webster - The Flyright Years

Unkie Cliff offers up a follow-up to Poppachubby's recent Katie Webster post with her classic Flyright recordings from 1958-61.

Webster is at her full bayou-bred boogie-blues best here, when she was the queen of south Louisiana's swamp sessioneers. Webster's own late-'50s/early-'60s output for producer J.D. Miller was no less captivating; her self-named dance number "The Katie Lee" and "Mama Don't Allow" -- which uproots the Gary U.S. Bonds party vibe to New Orleans -- are two of the best items on the 20-track disc. There's also her blues-drenched "No Bread, No Meat" and a nice version of "Sea of Love" (Webster added the gently rolling piano to Phil Phillips' original hit). AMG