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CD Amazon UK £11.99 Book Amazon UK £11.20 paperback

The Story of the Blues Sony Columbia/Legacy 510728 This 2CD set was compiled by Paul Oliver, to complement his book The Story of the Blues (1969)

 

 

Disk 1

Origins of the Blues

1. Yarum Praise songs – Fra-Fra Tribesmen
2. Stack O’Lee Blues – Mississippi John Hurt
3. Travelin’ Blues – Blind Willie McTell
4. Stone Pony Blues - Charley Patton
5. Black snake Moan – Blind Lemon Jefferson
6. Pigmeat – Leadbelly
7. Broken Yo Yo – Texas Alexander
8. Broke & Hungry Blues – Peg Leg Howell
9. It Won’t Be long Now – Barbecue Bob & Laughing Charlie

Blues & Entertainment

10. Georgia Crawl – Henry Williams &Eddie Anthony
11. Dangerous Woman – Mississippi Jug Band
12. Gator Wobble – Memphis Jug Band
13. In the House Blues – Bessie Smith
14. Shake It Down – Lillian Glinn
15. Pratt City Blues – Bertha ‘Chippie’ Hill
16. What It Takes To Bring You Back – Butterbeans & Susie

The Thirties, Urban & Rural Blues

17. Midnight hour Blues – Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell
18. East St Louis blues – Faber Smith & Jimmy Yancey
19. Good Whiskey Blues – Peetie Wheatstraw
20. WPA Blues – Casey Bill Welton & Black Bob
21. Sorry Feeling Blues – Bukka White
22. Me and My Chauffeur Blues - Memphis Minnie

Disk 2

World War II And after

1. I want Some Of Your pie – Blind Boy Fullerton & Sonny Terry
2. Million Lonesome Women – Brownie Mcghee
3. Wild Cow Moan – Joe Williams & Sonny Boy Williamson
4. All By Myself – Big Bill Broonzy
5. Roll ‘Em Pete – Joe Turner & Pete Johnson

Bonus Tracks

6. Bald Headed Woman – Lightnin’ Hopkins
7. You Shook Me – Willie Dixon
8. Mannish Boy – Muddy waters
9. She Caught the Katy & Left Me a Mule to Ride – Taj Mahal
10. I Ain’t Superstitious – Jeff Beck Croup
11. Killing Floor – The Electric Flag
12. One Good Man – Janis Joplin
13. Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen – Santana
14. Highway 61 Revisited – Johnny Winter
15. Texas Flood – Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
16. Dangerous Mood – Keb’ Mo’
17. Cry A While – Bob Dylon
18. Ride On – Little Axe

This two CD set comes with a most interesting booklet written by Paul Oliver, which gives a first class background to the music on offer. Listening to these recordings has certainly whetted my appetite to read Paul Oliver’s book ‘The Story of the Blues’.

It is quite interesting how jazz and blues really started out from the same point and it would be fair to say that at the start they were all one. Over the years two separate kinds of music have emerged and the Blues audience is almost entirely different to the jazz audience. Listening to these tracks which tell the story of the development of the blues, it is easy to see that there is still a lot of overlap. There also seems to be an overlap between blues and folk and blues and country, they probably all have an influence of the blues. The blues has also had a strong influence on pop music, particularly Black American pop music.

Paul Oliver must have carried out a lot of research to come in with this compilation and a combination of this and his book, will certainly put the blues in place for future generations. Highly recommended!

 

Don Mather

 

 

 

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