Various Artists: Blues, Boogie, & Bop : The 1940s Mercury Sessions - Disc 1 of 7 CD Track Listing

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Various Artists Blues, Boogie, & Bop : The 1940s Mercury Sessions - Disc 1 of 7 (1995)
Originally Released October 1995\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: This seven-CD set is remarkable in several ways. The packaging is quite unique for the box is a plastic reproduction of a 1940s radio. Subtitled "Blues, Boogie & Bop," the music lives up to the billing, giving listeners the complete Mercury output of several top artists. There are 34 songs from pianist Albert Ammons (two featuring blues singer Sippie Wallace) which find Ammons turning everything (including "Red Sails in the Sunset," "Roses of Picardy" and "Margie") into boogie-woogie; a session with his son, tenor-saxophonist Gene Ammons, is a highpoint. Singer Helen Humes is showcased on 16 stomps and ballads, pianist Jay McShann (often with vocalists Jimmy Witherspoon or Walter Brown) has 24 songs and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (on alto and vocals) is heard in a variety of settings on 30 selections. In addition there are nine tunes featuring R&B pianist/singer Professor Longhair, four songs apiece from singers Julia Lee, Myra Taylor and cornetist Rex Stewart, 12 pieces from Buddy Rich's bebop big band and ten by trumpeter Cootie Williams including the Willis "Gator" Jackson R&B hit "'Gator Tail." As if that were not enough, the seventh disc has previously unreleased alternate takes from Ammons, Humes, McShann, Vinson, Cootie and two "new" numbers by pianist Mary Lou W illiams. The 80-page booklet (with notes from several writers including Dan Morgenstern) is definitive. \n\nSince this is a limited-edition release, it should be acquired as soon as possible; there are literally dozens of musical highlights. -- Scott Yanow\n\nReview of "The Best Of B lues, Boogie & Bop : The 1940's Mercury Sessions" AMG EXPERT REVIEW: If the exquisitely packaged - the box is shaped like an old-time radio - limited-edition The 1940s Mercury Sessions is too extravagantly priced or simply unobtainable, this single-disc sampler is the next best thing. For all of the diverse backgrounds and destinations of Mercury's artists, the music on this CD has a distinct identity, conjuring a forgotten time when swing and bop mixed easily with emerging rhythm & blues in bite-sized, under-three-minute slices suitable for every jukebox in every juke joint in the land. The CD leads off with a sampling of the supercharged Albert Ammons piano boogie sessions with a tight little rhythm section (there are more madly swinging choices than these, but you'll get the idea). We hear a pair of Helen Humes blues cuts with loose Buck Clayton-led backup groups, a neat Jay McShann sextet with vintage blues shouting by Jimmy Witherspoon, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson's exuberantly bright blues vocals and alto sax, Professor Longhair 's early blues-drenched incarnation as plain old Roy Byrd, and Cootie Williams leading a hot jump sextet with tenor Willis Jackson blowin' his fool head off. Only the ornery Buddy Rich defies the Mercury jump-blues sound with two unrepentant sides of big-band swing. Above all, this is a most entertaining souvenir of a time when jazz was still a form of popular music. -- Richard S. Ginell\n\nTrack Listing:\n01. Margie performed by Albert Ammons And His Rhythm Kings - 2:38 \n02. Mr. Bell Boogie performed by Albert Hammons And His Rhythm Kings - 2:57 \n03. Oh, Lady, Be Good! performed by Albert Hammons And His Rhythm Kings - 2:33 \n04. Today I Sing The Blues performed by Humes, Helen And Buck Clayton's... - 2:55 \n05. Jet Propelled Papa performed by Humes, Hele n And Buck Clayton's... - 2:44 \n06. Bucktown Boogie performed by James McShann And His Sextet - 2:56 \n07. Voodoo Woman Blues performed by James McShann And His Sextet - 2:37\n08. Kidney Stew Blues performe d by Eddie Vision And His Orchestra - 3:00\n09. Wandering Mind Blues performed by Eddie Vision And His Orchestra - 2:27 \n10. Lazy Gal performed by Eddie Vision And His Orchestra - 2:48 \n11. Hadacol Bounce performed by Roy Byrd And His Blue Jumpers - 3:02\n12. Longhair Stomp performed by Roy Byrd And His Blue Jumpers - 2:45\n13. Quiet Riot performed by Buddy Rich And His Orchestra - 2:51 \n14. Rich-ul Da nce performed by Buddy Rich And His Orchestra - 3:09 \n15. 'Gator Tail performed by Cootie Williams And His Orchestra - 3:08\n16. Mercenary Papa performed by Cootie Williams And His Orchestra - 2:14\n\n
This blues cd contains 26 tracks and runs 72min 12sec.
Freedb: 8b10ea1a

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