Various - Worried Life Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:45
Size: 111.6 MB
Styles: Folk/Gospel/Blues, Acoustic blues
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[2:58] 1. Sonny Boy Williamson II - Good Morning School Girl
[2:20] 2. Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup - My Baby Left Me
[2:53] 3. Big Maceo - Worried Life Blues
[3:11] 4. St. Louis Jimmy - Going Down Slow
[3:05] 5. Memphis Slim - Grinder Man Blues
[3:21] 6. Big Joe Williams - Baby Please Don't Go
[3:05] 7. Lead Belly - Midnight Special
[2:56] 8. Tampa Red - Sweet Little Angel
[3:35] 9. Tommy Johnson - Canned Heat Blues
[2:51] 10. Robert Petway - Catfish Blues
[3:15] 11. Alberta Hunter - Beale Street Blues
[2:50] 12. Big Bill Broonzy - Keep Your Hands Off Her
[2:56] 13. Lilgreen - Why Don't You Do Right
[2:55] 14. Sleepy John Estes - The Girl I Love, She Got Long, Curly Hair
[3:25] 15. Bessie Smith - Down Hearted Blues
[3:01] 16. Johnny Moore's Three Blazers - How Blue Can You Get (Downhearted)

In the year of blues, amid the Martin Scorsese films and their requisite 30 CDs of material, other labels with substantial blues holdings got in on the act to (over)saturate the market. The good news is that a lot of material came out on CD for the first time, interesting anthologies abounded, and even the harder to find works by major and mid-level artists came to the fore. Worried Life Blues is just such a collection from BMG's massive Bluebird vaults. These 16 recordings are a who's who of the pre- and WWII era (only one cut, "Sweet Little Angel" by Tampa Red, was recorded after 1948). From Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," Big Maceo's "Worried Life Blues," Bessie Smith's "Downhearted Blues," and Leadbelly's "Midnight Special" to Tommy Johnson's "Canned Heat Blues," Big Joe Williams' "Baby, Please Don't Go," Big Bill Broonzy's "Keep Your Hands Off Her," and Alberta Hunter's "Beale Street Blues," this collection runs the gamut of prewar blues. There are a couple of real surprises here, tracks not usually included on blues compilations -- though they should be: Robert Petway's "Catfish Blues," Lil Green's "Why Don't You Do Right," St. Louis Jimmy's "Goin' Down Slow," and Johnny Moore's Blazers read of "How Blue Can You Get." In all, this is a fine-sounding, well-compiled set with great notes by no less than Colin Escott. ~Thom Jurek

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Various - That's All Right

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 71:15
Size: 163.1 MB
Styles: R&B, Chicago blues
Year: 2002
Art: Front

[3:01] 1. Peter Clayton - Pearl Harbor Blues
[2:47] 2. The Five Breezes - My Buddy Blues
[2:54] 3. Big Maceo Merriweather - Worried Life Blues
[2:45] 4. The Cats & The Fiddle - I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water
[3:05] 5. Memphis Slim - Grinder Man Blues
[2:48] 6. Albert Ammons - Walkin' The Boogie
[2:56] 7. Lil Green - Why Don't You Do Right
[3:02] 8. Robert Lockwood - Little Boy Blue
[3:03] 9. Peter Clayton - Angels In Harlem
[3:12] 10. Sunnyland Slim - Illinois Central
[2:49] 11. Little Eddie Boyd And His Trio - Chicago Is Just That Way
[2:52] 12. Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup - That's All Right
[2:41] 13. Henry 'Red' Allen - Get The Mop
[3:05] 14. Bill Jazz Gillum - Look On Yonder Wall
[3:12] 15. Roosevelt Sykes - Anytime Is The Right Time
[2:59] 16. Tampa Red - When Things Go Wrong With You (It Hurts Me Too)
[2:35] 17. Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup - Dust My Broom
[3:05] 18. Washboard Sam - Soap And Water Blues
[2:30] 19. Piano Red - Rockin' With Red
[2:56] 20. Tampa Red - Sweet Little Angel
[2:20] 21. Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup - My Baby Left Me
[3:01] 22. Johnny Moore's Three Blazers - How Blue Can You Get (Downhearted)
[2:39] 23. Piano Red - Right String, But The Wrong Yo-Yo
[2:31] 24. Sonny Terry - Ride And Roll
[2:16] 25. Little Richard - Get Rich Quick

When Muddy Waters declared that the blues had a child and they named him rock & roll, he knew exactly what he was talking about -- rock & roll was very much an outgrowth of the blues. Country, jazz, and gospel all influenced early rock & roll, but the blues were the most important influence of all. And no discussion of rock & roll's blues heritage would be complete without some mention of Chicago, which is where many of the songs on When the Sun Goes Down, Vol. 4: That's All Right were recorded. Not everything on this 72-minute compilation (which spans 1939-1955) was recorded in Chi-Town, and not all of the artists had a Windy City address -- in the '30s, '40s, and '50s, Southern bluesman sometimes traveled to Chicago to record. But it is safe to say that Chicago-style blues is a high priority and that all of the artists helped pave the way for the rock & roll revolution of the '50s -- artists like Memphis Slim, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, Tampa Red, Roosevelt Sykes, and Big Maceo Merriweather. This disc has its share of songs that became standards, including Merriweather's "Worried Life Blues," Austin Powell's "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water," and Crudup's "That's All Right" (which became a hit for Elvis Presley in the '50s). Other highlights of the disc range from Lil Green's 1941 version of Joe McCoy's "Why Don't You Do Right" (which Peggy Lee didn't embrace until 1943) to Little Richard's 1951 recording of "Get Rich Quick." The latter is downright fascinating. Although "Get Rich Quick" was recorded four years before Richard's commercial breakthrough and isn't as guitar-oriented as his subsequent work, he already had a recognizably flamboyant vocal style. Blues and rock & roll enthusiasts are both advised to give this fine CD a close listen. ~Alex Henderson

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Various - West Coast Blues Nuggets

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 63:30
Size: 145.4 MB
Styles: West Coast blues
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[3:45] 1. Johnny Otis - Big Time Scoop
[2:32] 2. Big Jay Mcneely - Nervous, Man, Nervous
[3:54] 3. Guitar Shorty - A Hurt So Old
[5:26] 4. Big Mama Thornton - Special
[2:50] 5. Linda Hayes - Yes! I Know (What You're Putting Down)
[2:58] 6. The Robins - School Girl Blues
[2:20] 7. Big Joe Turner - Jumpin' Tonight
[3:30] 8. Jimmy Witherspoon - Ain't Nobody's Business (From Devil In A Blue Dress )
[2:09] 9. Esther Phillips - Cherry Wine
[3:04] 10. Johnny Moore's Three Blazers - What Does It Matter
[2:41] 11. Floyd Dixon - A Dream
[2:59] 12. Joe Liggins & His Honeydrippers - Pink Champagne
[2:51] 13. Lloyd Glenn - Old Time Shuffle Blues
[4:50] 14. Johnny Heartsman - Let Me Love You, Baby
[1:58] 15. Pee Wee Crayton - Little Bitty Things
[2:20] 16. T-Bone Walker - Lonesome Woman Blues
[2:45] 17. Jimmy Mccracklin - She Felt So Good
[5:21] 18. Joe Louis Walker - Black Girls
[2:42] 19. Roy Milton - Big Fat Mama
[2:26] 20. Johnny Guitar Watson - Highway 60

The West Coast blues is a type of blues music characterized by jazz and jump blues influences, strong piano-dominated sounds and jazzy guitar solos, which originated from Texas blues players relocated to California in the 1940s. West Coast blues also features smooth, honey-toned vocals, frequently crossing into urban blues territory.

The towering figure of West Coast blues may be guitarist T-Bone Walker, famous for the song "Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just As Bad)", a relocated Texan who had made his first recordings in the late 1920s. During the early 1940s Walker moved to Los Angeles, where he recorded many enduring sides for Capitol, Black & White, and Imperial. Walker was a crucial figure in the electrification and urbanization of the blues, probably doing more to popularize the use of electric guitar in the form than anyone else. Much of his material had a distinct jazzy jump blues feel, an influence that would characterize much of the most influential blues to emerge from California in the 1940s and 1950s.

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Johnny Moore's Three Blazers - The Very Best Of

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 97:07
Size: 222.3 MB
Styles: R&B, Electric blues
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[2:52] 1. Misery Blues
[2:34] 2. Shuffle Shuck
[2:45] 3. Los Angeles Blues
[2:39] 4. Gee, It's Rough
[2:42] 5. Merry Christmas Baby
[2:47] 6. Johnny, Johnny
[2:57] 7. Competition Blues
[2:50] 8. Crazy With The Blues
[3:00] 9. How Blue Can You Get
[2:53] 10. Nightmare Blues
[2:52] 11. A New Shade Of Blues
[2:51] 12. Rock With It
[2:40] 13. Forever
[2:51] 14. Blues In My Heart
[2:51] 15. Drifting Blues
[2:28] 16. Too Bad
[3:16] 17. Lonesome Train
[3:25] 18. Johnny's Guitar Blues
[3:16] 19. False Love
[3:19] 20. My Song
[2:35] 21. Dragnet Blues
[2:38] 22. The Jumping Jack
[2:54] 23. Walkin' Blues
[3:03] 24. What Does It Matter
[2:51] 25. Lonesome Gal Blues
[2:44] 26. Fire, Fire, Fire
[2:54] 27. How Could I Know
[2:55] 28. There Is No Greater Love
[2:36] 29. Bop-A-Bye Baby
[2:38] 30. I Don't Know, Yes I Know
[2:53] 31. Melody
[2:15] 32. Playing Numbers
[2:45] 33. Be Cool
[3:21] 34. If You Don't Love Me

b. John Dudley Moore, 20 October 1906, Austin, Texas, USA, d. 6 January 1969, Los Angeles, California, USA. The elder brother of guitarist Oscar Moore, Johnny began playing guitar with his violinist father’s string band in 1934 and moved to the west coast, where Oscar joined Nat ‘King’ Cole’s Trio and Johnny Moore joined a group called the Blazes. Fired by that group in 1942, Moore decided to form his own group, which he named the Three Blazers. This featured Eddie Williams on bass and, briefly, pianist Garland Finney. When Finney left the trio the following year, Moore hired Charles Brown, a singer and pianist he had seen at an amateur talent show, and the Three Blazers began recording in 1944 for the small Atlas label. This was followed in 1945-48 by extensive recording for Exclusive, Philo/ Aladdin Records and Modern Records. During this period the Three Blazers became a household name with huge hits such as ‘Driftin’ Blues’, ‘Merry Christmas Baby’, ‘Sunny Road’ and ‘More Than You Know’. When Oscar Moore joined the group in 1947, it was the start of several major problems that ultimately resulted in a split, and Moore tried to replace Charles Brown with a succession of soundalikes. The most successful of these was Billy Valentine, who took the Three Blazers back to the R&B charts with RCA - Victor Records’ ‘Walkin’ Blues’ in 1949. After his 1949-50 association with Victor, Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers recorded for the gamut of Los Angeles labels, but were successful only with 1953’s novelty ‘Dragnet Blues’ on Modern and 1955’s morbid ‘Johnny Ace’s Last Letter’ on Hollywood. Johnny Moore and Charles Brown were reconciled in the mid-50s and the real Three Blazers reunited for records on Aladdin, Hollywood and Cenco; however, by that time, Moore’s cool, sophisticated, melodic blues guitar was out of favour with R&B fans. He was an inspiration to most of the electric blues guitarists of the late 40s and early 50s (he is numbered among B.B. King’s Top 10 guitarists of all time), and his solos on recordings by Ivory Joe Hunter, Floyd Dixon and Charles Brown, as well as tracks with his own group, bear witness that he was one of the unsung greats of his instrument. ~bio from AMG

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