VA: - Modern Downhome Blues Sessions Vol. 4 Southern Country Blues

Tuotetiedot

• Condition New
• Type CD
• Vendor Ace Records
• SKU 29667010429
• Artisti VA:
• Lyhyt kuvaus Reaching Volume Four of The MODERN DOWNHOME BLUES SESSIONS represents the realisation of a long-held dream for this writer. There have been many happy experiences in putting this series together, not the least being the excellent working relationship that series supervisor and co-compiler John Broven, annotator Jim O'Neal and myself have achieved during its preparation. More or less creating our own little web chat room, discussion and thoughts have flowed back and forth and many surprising discoveries have been made in the process. But by far the happiest aspect has been the enthusiastic reception with which the series has been greeted. The aim has been to present the unique downhome blues music that Modern Records recorded in programmes that entertain as well as preserve vitally important music. The series has predominantly concentrated on collecting the results of Joe Bihari and Ike Turner's early 50s field trips, together with sides that emerged out of Sam Phillips' legendary studio. There is more to follow but this volume concentrates on guitar-based country blues plus a couple of very fine small combo sessions, basically covering the territory attempted on Kent's 12-track LP "Blues From The Deep South"" but realised here in its entirety. We are finally able to include a take of each piece recorded by Big Charley Bradix at his 1948 Dallas, Texas session, as well as Alexander Moore's complete session recorded in the same city three years later. The latter's original RPM 78 is so obscure that it was one of the very few omitted from the pioneering Blues Research listing. Moore recorded in the 30s and later reached a folk and blues audience but his one post war commercial session represents the finest that he ever recorded. The storming Neglected Woman is followed by a superior unissued version of If I Lose You Woman and the unissued Carolina. Smokey Hogg's supporting guitar shows his capabilities in a new light with riffs and boogie patterns on the fast pieces and a wonderful walking bass on the slower ones. The Bradix date was another fine rough-and-tumble session which is quite similar in feel, with the guitar predominating over the singer's piano work. When it came to imaginative lyrics, Bradix wasn't too far behind Moore's and hearing the full session makes for excellent listening. After Boogie Like You Wanna was released in 1948 on the Colonial subsidiary, dubs of the unreleased Modern sides Wee Wee Hours and Numbered Days somehow found their way from the Sellers Studio, Dallas to appear for about five minutes on the very last (and insanely rare) Aristocrat release. This double dealing sparked off the first volley in the well-documented Modern-Chess wars. Joe Bihari arranged his first remote session as far back as 1948 after seeing Pinetop Slim performing on an Atlanta street. With two very different versions of the phenomenal Applejack Boogie and the remaining six titles of the session, including unissued material, the listener will hear exceptional slide guitar work in pre-Robert Johnson style, the like of which is almost totally absent from post war recording. Just as skilled but offering a complete contrast of approach, we also hear carefully chosen ultimate takes (several of which were too long for 78 rpm release) of the entire Jesse Thomas 1949 date. Like the Dixie Blues Boys, whose full session was featured on Volume 3, Thomas recorded on the West Coast but, like them, remained a Southern musician. His haunting guitar and vocal style represented a creation all his own as his solo pieces strove for musical perfection in the very best sense of those words while he steps up the tempo with the unique boogie Meet Me Tonight Along The Avenue. Jim O'Neal's usual immaculate research reveals that Big Bill Dotson was probably operating out of Louisville, Kentucky when he was recommended to the Bihari brothers at Modern Records. His two intense pieces, long favourites with collectors, were released on the short-lived Blues & Rhythm label. This is as good an opportunity as any to emphasise the value of Jim's sleuthing and research throughout this series, even though I am divulging little of his findings in this brief summary. Suffice it to say that you will find new and fascinating unpublished information in each volume of the series. But one question has to be asked. Just who was Lane Hardin? In around 1950 a group of artists sent in a batch of unlabelled acetates that were discovered at Modern in 1970. These recordings have remained a focal point for intense discussion ever since. Kent required names for the ""Blues From The Deep South"" LP, so Arkansas Johnny Todd and Leroy Simpson were invented for two sides released. This time around we hear all four performances including ""Simpson's"" unissued Bluebird Blues and the totally superb 13 Highway. His perfect diction and the intense double tempo guitar heard behind the voice always seemed to hint that he only sang, while several commentators noted that ""Todd"" sounded uncannily like Lane Hardin who recorded just two sides for Bluebird in 1935. While ""Todd"" performs very different hokum-styled pieces here, the guitar behind Simpson is identical to that heard on Hardin's mesmerising California Desert Blues (now available via a BMG reissue) which has a vocal that is clearly identical to our ""Todd"". Jim offers more evidence and insights but clearly ""Todd"" is Hardin while ""Simpson"" (still an unknown) is accompanied by Hardin. To all this has been added the overlooked and quite untypical Little Son Jackson Modern 78 with his take on the patented John Lee Hooker style and Milford Blues, an unlikely title which disguises the prototype of his popular Rockin' and Rollin' which - via Muddy Waters and B. B. King - went on to be come the evergreen Blues anthem Rock Me Baby. If your eyes are glazing over a little, simply sit back and enjoy the great unvarnished music on offer. After all, this is not an anoraks' edition by matrix number nor is it a haphazard mishmash or sampler. Listeners of all persuasions will be satisfied as a happy middle ground is achieved while providing much needed coverage of the selected sessions. Ace has covered a lot of vital ground in the field of Southern blues and if you stay with us more will be forthcoming in the near future. It may be a clich?© but anyone with the slightest interest in blues and American vernacular music in general simply cannot afford to be without this series. These recordings are among the crown jewels of the Modern catalogue and this series will be the comprehensive final word on this music for many years to come probably forever."
• Julkaisuvuosi 2,005