VA - Rhythm & Western Vol. 2: Your Cheatin' Heart (KMCD139)

Size: 171.9 MB
Time: 73:07
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2022
Styles: Blues, Rock, R&B
Art: Front & Back

01 Clyde McPhatter - Im Movin On (1:54)
02 Joe Liggins & His Honeydrippers - Whiskey, Women & Loaded Dice (2:45)
03 Damita Jo - Jambalaya (On The Bayou) (2:09)
04 Ike & Tina Turners Kings Of Rhythm - Going Home (2:38)
05 Bobby Hebb - Night Train To Memphis (1:50)
06 Lou Rawls - If He Holds Your Hand (3:24)
07 Mabel Scott - Catch Em Young, Treat Em Rough, Tell Em Nothin (2:50)
08 Cecil Gant - Goodnight Irene (2:58)
09 Billy Bland - Uncle Bud (2:01)
10 Little Mack - Let Hootenanny Blues (Out Of Jail) (2:02)
11 Brook Benton - Got You On My Mind (3:14)
12 Ray Charles - It Makes No Difference Now (3:31)
13 Ivory Joe Hunter - I Almost Lost My Mind (3:12)
14 The Lovers - I Wanna Be Loved (1:55)
15 Richard Berry & The Pharaohs - You Are My Sunshine (2:37)
16 Lazy Lester - I Hear You Knockin (2:12)
17 Esther Phillips - Am I That Easy To Forget (2:46)
18 Arthur Alexander - I Wonder Where You Are Tonight (2:38)
19 Eartha Kitt - Long Gone (3:45)
20 King Curtis - Your Cheatin Heart (2:22)
21 Jimmy Beasley - Dont Break This Heart Of Mine (1:59)
22 Willy & Ruth - Farewell (2:43)
23 The Soul Stirrers - Wade In The Water (3:06)
24 Hank Ballard & The Midnighters - Excuse Me (Ive Got A Heartache) (2:07)
25 Little Esther Phillips - Why Should We Try Anymore (2:08)
26 Elton Anderson - Humpty Dumpty Heart (2:20)
27 Ruth Brown - I Burned Your Letter (2:47)
28 The Big Three Trio - Cigarettes, Whiskey & Wild Wild Women (3:01)

Not a straightforward Country & Western album series, but one with a different take on the genre that sees the categories of rhythm and blues and C&W colliding whether directly in terms of musical representation or purely by song title and words of a song. Saddling up for the next volume of ‘Rhythm & Western’, this one is aimed straight at the emotions and classic Hank Williams territory of that condition known as a broken heart. Far from being a miserable experience in terms of listening, ‘Volume 2 – Your Cheatin’ Heart’ is certainly on the “emotional downside” in terms of its (appropriate) song titles e.g. ‘It Makes No Difference Now’ (Ray Charles), ‘Long Gone’ (Eartha Kitt) and ‘I Wanna Be Loved’ (The Lovers) for example, but when it comes to many of the songs the rhythms are lively. Take for example Clyde McPhatter and his fleet-footed version of Hank Snow’s ‘I’m Movin’ On’, or bigger band representation of ‘Whiskey, Women & Loaded Dice’ by Joe Liggins And His “Honeydrippers”. It’s such songs here that are more in vein of rhythm and blues than C&W but, as mentioned in our review of Volume 1, the album series ‘Rhythm & Western’ is not just a vehicle of direct representation of country music by African American artists because the album series is much more than that. The melding of rhythm and blues and C&W works admirably during ‘Night Train To Memphis’ where you can even hear the influence of gospel during its up-tempo rhythm that is unfussy and vocals that mirror this by Bobby Hebb. There’s a relaxed feel to Lou Rawls’ ‘If He Holds Your Hand’ that is typical of that early 60s country sound where there was a certain gloss to the overall production. The title track, ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’, is left to King Curtis who knows how to turn a song on its head and offer a unique take on the Hank Williams classic that has more in common with Ben E. King’s ‘Stand By Me’. With “Little” Esther Phillips adding the tearjerker ‘Why Should We Try Anymore’ and add to that Ruth Brown ‘I Burned Your Letter’, before finally closing the album with The Big Three Trio and their interesting take on ‘Cigareets, Whuskey & Wild Women’, then you can safely say that all the drama often associated with country music is contained within the grooves of ‘Rhythm & Western Volume 2 – Your Cheatin’ Heart’.

Rhythm & Western Vol. 2: Your Cheatin' Heart (KMCD139)

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