| Product Summary | | Label: Folkways | | UPC: 00093074019627 | | Release Date: 6/24/2008 | | Buy.com Sku: 208155024 | | Item#: M46LXH | Format:  CD |
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| Song Listing |  |
Disc 1
| | Song Title | Sample | | 1. Dedication To Pete Johnson - Memphis Sun ~ Various Artists |  | | 2. Early In the Morning - Booker T. Laury ~ Various Artists | | | 3. How Long Blues - Speckled Red ~ Various Artists | | | 4. Yellow Dog Blues - Katherine Handy Lewis/James P. Johnson ~ Various Artists | | | 5. Key To the Highway - Jazz Gillum/Memphis Slim ~ Various Artists | | | 6. Medium Blues - Meade Lux Lewis ~ Various Artists | | | 7. Black Wolf Blues - Champion Jack Dupree ~ Various Artists | | | 8. Dices Blues - Big Chief Ellis ~ Various Artists | | | 9. Big Fat Woman - Leadbelly ~ Various Artists | | | 10. Harlem Parlor Blues - Sammy Price ~ Various Artists | | | 11. Little Drops of Water - Edith North Johnson/Henry Brown ~ Various Artists | | | 12. Pinetop's Boogie Woogie - Little Brother Montgomery ~ Various Artists | | | 13. Pinetop's Boogie Woogie - Clarence "Pinetop" Smith/Speckled Red ~ Various Artists | | | 14. Wish Me Well - Memphis Slim/Willie Dixon ~ Various Artists | | | 15. All My Money's Gone - Henry Towsend ~ Various Artists | | | 16. You're My Man - Victoria Spivey ~ Various Artists | | | 17. On My Way To See Moe Asch - Champion Jack Dupree ~ Various Artists | | | 18. Sweet Old Chicago - Roosevelt Sykes ~ Various Artists | | | 19. No Special Rider Blues - Little Brother Montgomery ~ Various Artists | | | 20. Hesitation Blues - James P. Johnson ~ Various Artists | |
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| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Folkways might be most known for recording traditional folk and ethnic music, but the label did cut a good deal of blues and jazz while it was in operation. Classic Piano Blues has 20 blues songs in which the piano is the most prominent instrument in the arrangement, and while recording dates are not given for all of the tracks, it seems reasonable to assume they roughly span the early '40s to the mid-'70s. A bunch of major names in the blues field are here, including Memphis Slim, Meade "Lux" Lewis, Champion Jack Dupree, Henry Townsend, Victoria Spivey, Roosevelt Sykes, Little Brother Montgomery, James P. Johnson, and Leadbelly (not a misprint; on his selection "Big Fat Woman," he sings and plays piano, though he's primarily known as a guitarist). Because Folkways was one of the least overtly commercial labels of the mid-20th century, some listeners might find some of this too dryly recorded, as if it's done with at least some concern for folkloric preservation rather than popular appeal. Certainly a high percentage of this features only piano and vocal (and sometimes only piano), though some other accompanists do get in on the act on some selections. But while it might not be the most dance-oriented of collections (though there are some pretty fast-paced cuts), there's a decent variety of material by good blues piano players, ranging from instrumentals to boogies, ballads, laments, jazz blues, and near R&B. Spivey's "You're My Man" and Johnson's "Hesitation Blues" are highlights of a respectable collection, though those with less specialized blues tastes might grow weary of the emphasis on numbers with basic melodic progressions and arrangements. ~ Richie Unterberger |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 06/24/2008 | | Original Release Date : 2008 | | Catalog ID : 40196 | | Label : Smithsonian Folkways Recordings | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00093074019627 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Dirty Linen (p.47)
- "Stride pianist James Johnson explores the roots with an orchestra-accompanied rendition of the traditional tune 'Hesitation Blues'..."Living Blues (p.78)
- "Such a roster suggests a wide divergence of styles, from the primitive blues piano of Dupree and Speckled Red to the more polished performances of Lewis, Price, and stride pioneer Johnson." |
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