Blues for Aficionados

Harry Belafonte

BELAFONTE SINGS THE BLUES

RCA / Sony     1958 / 2016

Notes: "I've always had a feeling for the basic blues, but it took several years of removing myself from that predominantly modern Jazz environment and finding myself and my own set of values before I had the courage to attempt an album like this.  Here I can just step out and sing wholly the way I feel."

This man can really sing, and this must be The Blues, because it says so in the title.  With Eldridge and Webster, what could go wrong?

Losing Hand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tHgLXfHBv8

One for my Baby
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObPlEtkLJ_Q

In the Evening Mama
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd1wZN8jg0w

Hallelujah I Love Her So
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyRurphPtqU

God Bless the Child
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFOq4aNAEs0

Cheers

Willie Dixon

THE CHESS BOX

MCA Chess  2CD set     1988

CD 1

18 tracks.  All  songs are written by Dixon, but 14 are performed by other artists.

Little Walter  -  My Babe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3cKJ42HAd0

Jimmy Witherspoon  -  When The Lights Go Out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUrP-E61ohg

Willie Dixon  -   Crazy For My Baby
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DG9lWD8S5w

Willie Dixon  -  29 Ways
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVqb97x-ysI

Willie Dixon  -  Walking The Blues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6RavtCBdDk

Willie Dixon  -  This Pain In My Heart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS3X8jmADaY

Cheers

Bukka White

THE COMPLETE BUKKA WHITE

Columbia Legacy  /  Sony    1994   

Booker T. Washington "Bukka" White was an American Delta blues guitarist and singer. Bukka is a phonetic spelling of White's first name; he was named after the African-American educator and civil rights activist Booker T. Washington. Wikipedia
Born: November 12, 1906, Aberdeen, MS
Died: February 26, 1977, Memphis, TN

Nice informative booklet about White and each song on this disc.

Parchman Farm Blues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4m3z0NmL_s

Shake 'Em On Down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOW3OjQm1Hw

Aberdeen Mississippi Blues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOahtuxo5sc

Fixin' to Die Blues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDjBVQjTfrM

Bukka's Jitterbug Swing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnaVP-xlbqc

Cheers

Willie Dixon

THE CHESS BOX

MCA Chess 2CD set    1988

CD 2

18 Tracks, one performance by Dixon, all songs composed by Dixon.

You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover  --  Bo Diddley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nkw6iZtvyV0

Weak Brain, Narrow Mind  --  Willie Dixon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25O4cNDYUcE

Bring it on Home  --  Sonny Boy Williamson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YF1qYXiN0s

The Same Thing  --  Muddy Waters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ancHn85FGrQ

Three Hundred Pounds Of Joy  --  Howlin' Wolf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UorxEdBEZX8

I can't quit you baby  --  Little Milton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFs1XuCyTrI

Cheers

Snooks Eaglin

COUNTRY BOY DOWN IN NEW ORLEANS

Arhoolie     1955, 1967  /  1991

Notes: "Though Snook Eaglin's sources are diverse, spanning country Blues, spirituals and gospel songs, hillbilly, pop standards, rhythm & Blues, rock and roll, traditional and progressive Jazz, virtually every type of music he was exposed to in his native New Orleans, he transforms them all into something characteristically his own."

Rock Me Mama
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLq0DDC0Pyw

This Train
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5Y1GQf381c

Country Boy Down in New Orleans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L80lxlXybc

Walking Blues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qlo_Vag_Bk

I've Had My Fun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx_E8OPsZDU

Mardi Gras Mambo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5ze5nB0Afk

Cheers