Robert Shaw - The Ma Grinder

File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Source: LL (from CD)
Released: 1963
Styles: Blues
Time: 71:54
Size: 165,5 MB
Covers: Full (12 page booklet)

(4:15) 1. Ma Grinder
(4:40) 2. Hattie Green
(4:12) 3. Fives
(8:46) 4. Black Gal
(4:30) 5. Put Me in the Alley
(4:04) 6. Groceries on My Shelf (Piggly Wiggly)
(3:44) 7. The Clinton
(5:58) 8. People, People
(4:04) 9. The Cows
(3:23) 10. Whores Is Funky
(4:01) 11. Here I Come With My Dirty, Dirty Duckings On
(3:24) 12. Saturday Night Special
(4:15) 13. Jim Nappy
(2:00) 14. Fast Santa Fe
(3:43) 15. Mobile and K.C. Line
(4:40) 16. Going Down to the Gulf
(2:08) 17. She Used to Be My Baby

Robert Shaw was a member of a little tight group of musicians (Black Boy Shine, Andy Boy and Bob Cooper) who, in the 1930's, played hot blues piano in barrelhouses and brothels along the Santa Fe R.R. Line near Houston. Their `Santa Fe' style was characterized by a heavy touch on the keyboard, grinding out stomping, bawdy tunes. Songs were designed to promote free spending, on nights of drinking, dancing, forgetful-ness, and fun. Many of the piano solos are variations of the same musical themes. The lyrics reflect the barrel-house and bordello environments. Shaw said it himself: `When you listen to what I'm playing, you got to see in your mind all them gals out there, swinging their butts and getting the mens excited; I told them to shake when to shake it and when to hold it back. That's what this music is for.' The first 11 cuts here were recorded by Mack McCormick in 1963 and saw first issue in the mid-'60s. The remainder were done by Chris Strachwitz in 1973 and 1977. In 1963, Shaw was 55 and still at the peak of his powers. Songs like `Whores Is Funky,' `Black Gal,' and `The Ma Grinder' are simply staggering Texas piano blues, with Shaw's powerful left hand laying down the rhythm underneath a right hand of amazing dexterity and inventiveness. The '70s, material is a step behind in both power and technique. Still marvelous music by a consummate musician, the later numbers nonetheless rely on reflection and introspection more than the 1963 tunes.

The Ma Grinder
The Ma Grinder artwork

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