Time: 40:37
File: Flac
Released: 1963
Styles: Blues
Art: Front
01 - Memphis Slim – Wish Me Well
02 - Memphis Slim – I Wrote This Song
03 - Memphis Slim – All By Myself
04 - Sonny Boy Williamson II – 99
05 - Sonny Boy Williamson II – Bye Bye Bird
06 - Memphis Slim – In The Evening
07 - Matt 'Guitar' Murphy – Groovin' On Bounce
08 - Matt 'Guitar' Murphy – Taking Off
09 - Sonny Boy Williamson II – All My Love In Vain
10 - Sonny Boy Williamson II – Your Funeral And My Trial
11 - Sonny Boy Williamson II – Don't Start Me To Talkin'
Now the music on this album is being played by what can only be described as an “all-star lineup band”.
Sonny Boy Williamson [II] – Harmonica & vocals
Matt “guitar” Murphy – Guitar
Memphis Slim – Piano & vocals
Willie Dixon – Bass
Billy Stepney – Drums
So just how did all this come together? The 1963 American Folk Blues Festival toured across Europe and the music from this tour was released originally on the Fontana label.
However the concert played at Oberhausen, located in what was then West Germany, remained largely unheard, except for bootleg tracks played on a small French radio station in 1985.
cream of the crate: album review # 174 - various artists: the unissued 1963 blues festival
Willie Nixon, Memphis Slim, Matt Murphy & Billie Stepney: European Tour – [CLICK to enlarge]
I’m uncertain as to why it took some 23 years for this album to be released, but that performance at Oberhausen is captured on this album.
The one distracting thing is the “hum” on various tracks. According to the liner notes this hum was recorded along with the music and was due to a faulty microphone lead.
I ran the tracks through some cleaning software and it has removed some of it, but anymore and it would have seriously compromised the recording, so we grin and cope with it because the music is worthwhile.
The Unissued 1963 Blues Festival FLAC
