Blowing the Fuse 1947

Blowing the Fuse is a killer series of compilation CDs issued by Germany's premier archivist label, Bear Family. Subtitled "R&B Classics That Rocked the Jukebox," each volume is compiled by year. 1947 was a boom year for jukeboxes across the United States. This volume, like most of the others, contains 28 affirmed classics of the early postwar years. Louis Jordan was at the height of his powers in '47 and his "Let the Good Times Roll" opens the set and is followed by Albert Ammons' "Swamp River Boogie," a burning boogie-woogie piano jumper. Sequencing is key in a collection like this, and the folks at Bear Family understand this implicitly. Here, Jack McVea's "Open the Door Richard" is just ahead of Amos Milburn's "Down the Road Apiece," which is followed by Savannah Churchill's "I Want to Be Loved Only by You." Elsewhere the Ravens, the Five Blazes, Julia Lee and Walter Brown make appearances, as do Joe Turner, Hadda Brooks and Roy Milton. In some, the more well-known tunes of the era are given great balance by some nearly forgotten gems. The package is beautiful with Colin Escott's liner notes detailing every cut, accompanied by photographs and a lovely digipack. Sound quality is as good as it can be for archival material making this, and would prove a fine introduction to postwar R&B for the novice, and a killer chronological listen for the connoisseur.