"The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues" by HOWLIN' WOLF [featuring Hubert Sumlin and Buddy Guy] (March 2002 (US) April 2002 (UK) Universal/MCA/Chess CD Compilation – 2LPs onto 1CD - Erick Labson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Three Hundred Pounds Of Heavenly Joy..."

'Look what you get' indeed. Don't let that big smiling face fool you. Standing at six foot three inches and with a neck as big as a tree trunk – Chester Burnett could scare the crap out of Beelzebub and out-sing his nastier brother too. But Howlin' Wolf was not just a musical force of nature (the real deal as Sam Phillips said when he first heard his famous vocal growl) – he was a mischievous and often very funny Blues Man. And never is that more evident than on this fabulous twofer that brings together two rare albums in the "Real Folk Blues" series Chess Records put out in the Sixties (1966 and 1967 to be exact). Both are studio sets and contain classics like "Killing Floor" (covered by Zeppelin on "II") and the 'look what you get' song "Built For Comfort". Here are the three hundred pounds of heavenly joy...

US released March 2002 (April 2002 in the UK) – "The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues" by HOWLIN' WOLF on Universal/MCA/Chess 088 122 820-2 (Barcode 008811282028) is part of Universal's "Blues Classics: Remastered & Revisited" CD Series and pans out as follows (66:43 minutes):

1. Killing Floor [Side 1]
2. Louise
3. Poor Boy
4. Sittin' On Top Of The World
5. Nature
6. My Country Sugar Mama
7. Tail Dragger [ Side 2]
8. Three Hundred Pounds Of Joy
9. The Natchez Burnin'
10. Build For Comfort
11. Ooh Baby Hold Me
12. Tell Me What I've Done
Tracks 1 to 12 are the LP "The Real Folk Blues" – released January 1966 in the USA on Chess LP 1502. Tracks 1, 2 and 6 were recorded August 1964 – Track 7 September 1962 – Tracks 8 and 10 are August 1963 – Tracks 11 and 12 are from August 1965 while the remainder are various Fifties recordings.

13. Just My Kind
14. I've Got A Woman
15. Work For Your Money
16. I'll Be Around
17. You Can't Be Beat
18. No Place To Go (You Gonna Wreck My Life)
19. I Love My Baby
20. Neighbors
21. I'm The Wolf
22. Rockin' Daddy
23. Who Will Be Next
24. I Have A Little Girl
Tracks 13 to 24 are the album "More Real Folk Blues" – released January 1967 in the USA on Chess LP 1512

The 12-page booklet features a short essay of The Wolf by the noted Blues Historian Mary Katherine Aldin who did Hip-O Select’s annotation for their magnificent Volume 2 of Muddy Waters' complete Chess recordings "Hoochie Coochie Man..." in 2004. Pages 6, 7 and 8 reproduced the original liner notes to both LPs from Willie Dixon and Paul Williams (of Crawdaddy Magazine) respectively while the rest is taken up with reissue credits. Good names like ANDY McKAIE and BETH STEMPEL have coordinated the series – but the big news is new Remastering by ERICK LABSON at Universal. His credits list runs like a who's who of Chess artists (Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Etta James, The Dells, Rotary Connection) as well as many prestigious Rock catalogues (Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, Mamas and Papas, Neil Diamond, Wishbone Ash and The Who) to name but a few. The Audio on the first album which is mainly in Stereo rocks throughout - but the second LP which features 1953 to 1956 Mono material is only as good as the recordings were – lively and full of rough Blues - but not the sonic blast the first record is. Considering what he had to work with – the Audio overall is great – full of presence.

As you can see from the details beneath the track listing – "The Real Folk Blues” album is made up of tracks from 1963, 1964 and 1965 with a smattering of older Fifties cuts (almost all were American Chess 45s) and it opens with a double from an August 1964 session. "Killing Floor" is a Blues tune probably more famous to Rock fans through Led Zeppelin who naughtily tried to rename it "The Lemon Song" on certain copies of "Zeppelin II" in 1969 (other copies correctly credit it as "Killing Floor" by Chester Burnett). In some ways they were both at it. It's arguable that Wolf's version is a radical update of "Hard Times Killing Floor" by Skip James that dates back to the Thirties. In 1969 Jimmy Page and Robert Plant over in England then take Wolf's re-working and do exactly the same – reshape it into yet another beast called "The Lemon Song". Either way what you do hear in Wolf's opening salvo is the fantastic band. Both Hubert Sumlin and Buddy Guy are on the Guitars, Lafayette Leak plays Piano, Arnold Rogers and Donald Hankins play the Saxophones with Andrew McMahon on Bass and Sam Lay on Drums. "Louise" has wicked guitar work too and a fantastic vocal and Wolf lyrics like "...Louise you'd better come home...somebody's been fishing in your pond...baby since you've been gone..."

"Poor Boy" is an oldie from 1957 where you get to hear the Wolf's underrated Harmonica playing while his cover of "Sittin' On Top Of The World" from the same session gives The Mississippi Sheiks Okeh 78" a run for its 1930 money. The jaunty CB original "Nature" again opens with his shockingly good Harp playing and from there we're back to a 1964 winner "My Country Sugar Mama" (often shortened by future copyists to just "Sugar Mama"). The fab "Sugar Mama" is one of those gem B-sides (Chess 1911 in 1964 with “Love Me Darlin’” was on the A) that once again offers his sneaky Bluesy brilliance - the kind of 'look-out-ladies' hoochie-coochie Blues he was so effortlessly good at. The moaning guitar of "Tail Dragger" was put out as a 45 on Chess 1890 in 1964 (with "Hidden Charms" on its flipside) and features prominent axework from another Chess Records hero Hubert Sumlin. With Johnny Jones on the Piano and J.T. Brown on Tenor Sax, "Ooh Baby, Hold Me" has fantastic Audio - every instrument in your face - and for all the right reasons.

His funniest tune "300 Pounds Of Joy" was issued as a masterpiece double-sided 45 by Chess in 1963 with the equally brill "Built For Comfort" on the flipside (Chess 1870). Both were wickedly hip at the time and remain so to this day – so much so that one or both will surely be flogging some luxury car in the next five years - as it comes sailing out of some wind-tunnel in a slick as snake oil TV advert. Dark and dangerous describes "The Natchez Burnin'" which comes at you with a hurt meanness. But my real crave is the album finisher - the properly Bluesy "Tell Me What I've Done" with Buddy Guy's accomplished guitar playing enriching everything – a fabulous A-side to Chess 1928 in late 1965.

You would have to say that the follow-up album released exactly one year after the first is not nearly as good – but still has moments that warrant purchase. It features old material recorded between 1953 and 1956 with Otis Spann at the Piano and a combo of Hubert Sumlin, Jody Williams and Lee Cooper on the guitars (Willie Dixon on Bass). The whole album is rough and grungy with his huge set of pipes almost distorting the tapes. And once again with tracks like "I'll Be Around" you hear his wicked Harp playing while the keyboard prowess of Otis Spann puts a boogie into "Neighbors". Axeman Lee Cooper gives "I'm The Wolf" and "Neighbors" some chugging riffs and shuffling guitar respectively (what a band they must have been live). "Rockin' Daddy" is barroom boogie too as he growls "...I can rock you all night long..." and means it. The LP ends on the salacious "I Have A Little Girl" where his latest lady love is 18-years old - but you can't help thinking that she isn't as innocent now as she was when she left momma's house...

Born in the Mississippi Delta in June 1910 and finally lost to us too soon in January 1976 – I can only tremble at the thought of Howlin' Wolf in the live environment – wailing like a cross between an alligator and a mad dog – whooping it up as the band tears into "Built For Comfort" (and 'not for speed') - literally climbing the onstage curtains at one infamous gig and driving the audience wild. Wow!

"...I got everything that a good girl need..." he sang. I don't doubt that for a nanosecond Mister Burnett...be with the angels...

Titles in the Universal US-Only 

"Blues Classics - Remastered & Revisited" CD Series are:

(1 and 2 are SUHA GUR remasters, 

3 to 11 are ERICK LABSON remasters and I've reviewed most)

1. Bad News Is Coming - LUTHER ALLISON
(1972 Gordy LP, 2001 CD Remaster + Four Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks) - Universal 440 013 407-2 (Barcode 044001340727)

2. Luther's Blues - LUTHER ALLISON
(1974 USA 9-track LP with 3 Previously Unreleased bonuses, 70:28 minutes)
Universal 440 013 409-2 (Barcode 044001340925)

3. Two Steps From The Blues - BOBBY BLAND
(1961 USA 12-track LP on Duke with 2 bonuses, 35:12 minutes)
MCA 088 112 516-2 (Barcode 008811251628)

4. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - JOHN LEE HOOKER
(October 1966 and September 1991 LPs on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 79:44 minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 821-2 (Barcode 008811282127)

5. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - HOWLIN' WOLF
(January 1966 on Chess and January 1967 on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 66:45 minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 820-2 (Barcode 008811282028)

6. Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions - ETTA JAMES
(January 1968 US 12-Track LP on Cadet - 13-22 being bonuses, 57:11 minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 518-2 (Barcode 008811251826)

7. Live At San Quentin - B.B. KING
(1990 13-Track Compilation on MCA, no extras, 64:09 minutes)
MCA America 088 112 517-2 (Barcode 008811251727)

8. At Newport 1960 - MUDDY WATERS
(1960 US 9-Track LP on Chess with 10-13 being 4 Mono Studio Tracks from June 1960 as bonus tracks, 44:41 minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 515-2 (Barcode 008811251529)

9. Fathers & Sons - MUDDY WATERS (with Paul Butterfield, Otis Spann, Mike Bloomfield, Donald 'Duck' Dunn and Buddy Miles)
(Tracks 1-10 and 15-20 is the August 1969 2LP set on Chess in Full with Tracks 11, 12, 13 being previously unreleased - and 14 previously unreleased in the USA). (77:38 minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 648-2 (Barcode 008811264826)

10. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - MUDDY WATERS
MCA/Chess 088 112 822-2 (Barcode 008811282226)

11. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON
(January 1966 and January 1967 LPs on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 65:28 minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 823-2 (Barcode 008811282325)

"Taj Mahal" by TAJ MAHAL (September 2000 UK Columbia/Legacy CD Reissue with Bob Irwin and Vic Anesini Remasters – Part of the 'Columbia High Fidelity "360 Sound" Series' of CD Reissues) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Wake Up Mama...Turn Your Lamp Down Low..."

I've always had a soft spot for the Blues of Henry Fredericks from New York’s Harlem (Taj Mahal to you and I) - and his stunning 1968 self-titled "Taj Mahal" debut album still ranks in my books as one of the all-time-greats. Like "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac" (1968), John Mayall's "Blues From Lauren Canyon" (1968), Johnny Winter's "Second Winter" (1969) or Shuggie Otis' 1970 debut album "Here Comes Shuggie Otis" - "Taj Mahal" is the kind of good-time hair-shaking bum-waddling Blues-Rock that I adore. And to me it still sounds as fresh as a daisy - with maybe less hair and a wee bit of a middle-aged droop around the tum tum (not mine you understand). Here are the 'Leaving Trunk' and 'E Z Rider' details…

UK released September 2000 - "Taj Mahal" by TAJ MAHAL on Sony/Columbia/Legacy COL 498173 2 (Barcode 5099749817326) is a straightforward CD transfer of his debut LP from 1968 and plays out as follows (33:00 minutes):

1. Leaving Trunk [Side 1]

2. Statesboro Blues

3. Checkin' Up On My Baby

4. Everybody's Got To Change Sometime

5. E Z Rider [Side 2]

6. Dust My Broom

7. Diving Duck Blues

8. The Celebrated Walkin' Blues

Tracks 1 to 8 are his debut album "Taj Mahal" - released February 1968 in the USA on Columbia CL 2779 (Mono) and CS 9579 (Stereo) and in the UK on Direction 8-63279 (Mono) and S 8-63279 (Stereo). The Stereo mix is used in this 2000 remaster and there are no bonus tracks.

The 12-page booklet is a nicely substantial affair reproducing the album’s original rear artwork and liner notes by Tom Nolan on the inner pages. There is then a short essay on Taj Mahal by Stanley Crouch, album and reissue credits – all peppered with a bunch of outtake photos from the recording sessions.

Remastered for CD by the dynamic duo of BOB IRWIN and VIC ANESINI in 2000 and put out as part of the “Columbia High Fidelity “360 Sound” Series” - these are Audio Engineer names I actively seek out. Anesini alone has handled hugely prestigious catalogues like Elvis Presley, Simon and Garfunkel, Carole King, Janis Joplin, Hall & Oates, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Jayhawks, Mott The Hoople, Santana and many more. This CD reissue is part of Sony's "Columbia High Fidelity "360 Sound" Series" – a logo along the spine of the under inlay. When Columbia started issuing their 'Stereo' LPs in the USA in the 60ts they used the "360 Sound" logo on the album's artwork and label as a part of their selling point – best sound – all around - etc. I'm not sure anyone has noticed this CD logo down the spine inlay - but everyone knows that the 'Legacy' moniker on a CD is a mark of their remastering quality. Whatever way you look at it – this CD rocks like a mother and in the very best way.

Taj Mahal’s debut album is the stuff of Blues-Rock legend - an absolute gem. Recorded in August 1967 (released early 1968) and Produced by Dave Rubinson - the band consists of guitarists Ry Cooder (credited as Ryland P Cooder) and Jesse Edwin Davis with veterans James Thomas on Bass and Charles Blackwell on Drums. Taj sang all the tunes and mainly stuck to harp playing except on the brilliant 8-minutes of "The Celebrated Walkin' Blues" where he puts in some great slide-guitar work. Other guests included Bill Boatman on Rhythm Guitar and Sanford Konikoff on Drums.

It opens with a blaster – a cover of a Sleep John Estes classic called "Leaving Trunk" where our hero had better leave before his lady's husband gets home. Immediately you're in the presence of a huge warbling Harmonica and those chucky flicking guitars – it's a fantastic updating of old world Blues – sort of like what Paul Butterfield's band did on Elektra Records a few years earlier (see my review of his "Original Album Classics" 5CD Mini Box Set). Blind Willie McTell provides us with the Boogie of "Statesboro Blues" where Taj wants his woman to "...wake up mama...turn your lamp down low..." Continuing in that wicked rollicking vein – we get another shuffling winner in the shape of "Checkin' Up On My Baby" written by another great Harmonica warbler Taj deeply admired - Chess Records' Sonny Boy Williamson. The perfection of Side 1 ends with another nugget from the pen of Sleepy John Estes - "Everybody's Got To Change Sometime". Once again the audio is magnificent – loud and ballsy but not too trebled to ruin it. Direction Records tried it as a UK 45 on Direction 58-3547 with "Statesboro Blues" as the flipside – but despite the strength of both sides – no one seemed to notice in early 1968.

Side 2 opens with the only Taj Mahal original on the album "E Z Rider" which Direction tried as a 2nd UK 7" single with "You Don't Miss Your Water" as its flipside (Direction 58-4044) but again it failed to raise a ripple. The band counts in that slide-guitar barroom slasher from Elmore James "Dust My Broom" which oddly enough is good only – more workmanlike than great. Things pick up with "Diving Duck Blues" again from the fertile pen of Sleepy John Estes where an inebriated Estes tells us that "...if a river was whiskey...I'd dive to the bottom and never come up..." (thirsty and dangerous work). But it ends on a tour-de-force – the near nine-minute Slow Blues of "The Celebrated Walkin' Blues". It's a Traditional arranged by Taj and it captures everything that was great about his house band – that chugging Cooder Guitar – sweetly complimentary Mandolin plucking while he warbles on the Harp inbetween pleading lyrics. It's brilliant - and by the time the tune hits that Rhythm Section entry about 2:20 mnutes – you’re won over. Great stuff...

Niggles - the original album was also issued in MONO - and as you can see from the playing time provided above - it could easily have been fit on here as a first - but alas. There was a non-album single in 1967 on Columbia 4-44051 with "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" b/w "Let The Good Times Roll" – again both AWOL when there was loads of room. I would also love to one day see a LEGACY DOUBLE DELUXE of this fantastic debut - there must be some outakes in storage somewhere - and live sets with that stellar band...

Selling for less than four quid in most places – a Blues Rock barnstormer you need on your shelf and in your Stereo...all '360' degrees of it...

"Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions" by ETTA JAMES (2001 Universal/MCA/Chess “Blues Classics Remastered & Revisited” CD Reissue – Erick Labson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Do Right Woman..."

It's arguable that all eleven of the 2001 American Reissues listed below in Universal's fabulous "Blues Classics: Remastered & Revisited" CD Series are must-buy winners – guaranteed to put a pep in your step, a glint in your eye and an animated wanton in the trouser area (if I may be so rude on a wet Monday morning). But after spending 57 minutes in the company of their lone Etta James entry "Tell Mama..." - you can’t help feeling that this CD compilation is just a little bit more special than all the others. Here is a proper little sweetheart of a release available to us good Limey folks for notta-lotta wonga. Here are the shimmy-shimmy details...

US released May 2001 – "Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Recordings" by ETTA JAMES on Universal/MCA/Chess 088 112 518-2 (Barcode 008811251826) is a 22-track CD compilation and plays out as follows (57:09 minutes):

1. Tell Mama

2. I'd Rather Go Blind

3. Watch Dog

4. The Love Of My Mind

5. I'm Gonna Take What He's Got

6. The Same Rope

7. Security

8. Steal Away

9. My Mother In Law

10. Don't Lose Your Good Thing

11. It Hurts Me So Much

12. Just A Little Bit

Tracks 1 to 12 are the LP "Tell Mama" – released January 1968 in the USA on Cadet LP 802 (Mono) and Cadet LPS 802 (Stereo). Although the "Tell Mama" album was released in supposed 'Stereo' – Universal's tape research shows that true stereo mixes for Tracks 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 were never made - fake Stereo was used on the issued LP - so they've been replaced here with the true Mono mixes. Bearing that in mind - Tracks 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12 are in STEREO – Tracks 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 are in MONO.

BONUS TRACKS (all in Mono, only Mono Masters exist):

13. Do Right Woman, Do Right Man (recorded 30 Nov 1967)

14. You Took It (recorded 2 Aug 1968)

15. I Worship The Ground You Walk On (1968 USA 7" single on Cadet 5606, B-side of "I Got You Babe")

16. I Got You Babe (1968 USA 7" single on Cadet 5606, A)

17. You Got It (recorded August 1968)

18. I've Gone Too Far (recorded August 1968 – Previously Unreleased)

19. Misty (recorded August 1968 – Previously Unreleased)

20. Almost Persuaded (1969 USA 7” single on Cadet 5630, A)

21. Fire (1968 USA 7" single on Cadet 5620, B-side of "You Got It")

22. Do Right Woman, Do Right Man (Alternate) (recorded 30 Nov 1967 – Previously Unreleased)

This CD will allow fans to sequence the A&B-sides of four US 7" singles using the following tracks:

1. Tell Mama [1] b/w I'd Rather Go Blind [2] (Nov 1967, Cadet 5578)

2. Security [7] b/w I'm Gonna Take What He's Got [5] (March 1968, Cadet 5594)

3. I Got You Babe [16] b/w I Worship The Ground You Walk On [15] (June 1968, Cadet 5606)

4. Almost Persuaded [20] b/w Steal Away [8] (Jan 1969, Cadet 5630)

The four-way foldout inlay has new liner notes by LEE HILDEBRAND (it also reproduces the original Morry Roth LP liner notes) as well as track-by-track annotation. There are colour photos of Etta in the Studio with the seated horn section of James Mitchell, Charles Chalmers and Floyd Newman - another with the rest of the band – Calvin Scott, Billy Foster, Jimmy Ray Johnson and Albert Lowe, Jr. – and a final shot of an smiling Gene "Bowlegs" Miller with Producer and owner of Fames Studios – Rick Hall. It’s nicely done if not a tiny bit slight – but that cannot be said of the fabulous ERICK LABSON remasters. Labson has handled as many as 1000 remasters overt the decades including the vast majority of the huge Chess Records catalogue as well as prestigious Rock catalogues like Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, Neil Diamond, Wishbone Ash and The Who (to name but a few). But his work here is gorgeous – especially on those stunning Stereo cuts.

The LP is very much a product of the 60ts R&B times – fast-slow, fast-slow and so on. A fast belter opens proceedings with the Stereo take of "Tell Mama" putting hairs on your chest – which is followed by the magnificent ache of "I'd Rather Go Blind" (Christine McVie would almost make the song her own with Chicken Shack on Blue Horizon who covered it that year). Etta doesn't appreciate her jealous lover in "Watch Dog" as she tells us "...I don't want no man of mine everywhere I go...he's right behind...he's like the FBI!” You on the other hand will love this groovy shimmy and shake dancer penned by Don Covay. Time for Ed Townshend's "The Love Of My Man" where Etta tells us he's the greatest chap in the whole wide world. Shortly after she’s telling us in uncomfortable sucker-mode that even though 'he beat on me and he cheat on me' her man's ok really because in private he can be so sweet (what a guy).

The chipper Lloyd Webster/Leonard Caston number "The Same Rope" advises that if Etta's man leaves he maybe using that rope to hang himself when he realises what he's done (stunning audio on this especially in the rhythm section). She does a great job with Otis Redding's "Security" and the sexy arrangement she gives Jimmy Hughes' "Steal Away" is refreshing while still retaining the brilliance of that wicked original. Etta has a family itch she needs to scratch in the cautionary "My Mother In Law" where she tells us that she's "...Sick and tired of your mother...always sticking her nose in my business...seems like I married her...instead of you..." (oh dear). And on it goes to her slinky cover of Rosco Gordon's "Just A Little Bit" - a wicked hip-wiggler bound to put your arteritis out to pasture...

The 10 bonus tracks offer three Previously Unreleased (18, 19 and 22) while her single-only cover of Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe" is Previously Unreleased on album. Unfortunately it's easy to hear why her cover of "Misty" was canned – its jazzy arrangement feels dated, out of place and just doesn’t suit her. Better is the boogie of "You Took It", the Don Covay dancer "You Got It" and the chugging Clarence Carter funk of Willie Dixon's "Fire".

A wicked CD Reissue currently retailing at just over three quid from certain sellers. "I'm on fire! I'm hot!" Etta assures us on the funky R&B winner "Fire"...and I think she’s right...

Titles in the "Blues Classics: Remastered & Revisited" CD Series are:

(1 and 2 are SUHA GUR remasters, 3 to 11 are ERICK LABSON - I've reviewed most)

1. Bad News Is Coming - LUTHER ALLISON

(1972 Gordy LP, 2001 CD Remaster + Four Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks) - Universal 440 013 407-2 (Barcode 044001340727)

2. Luther’s Blues - LUTHER ALLISON

(1974 USA 9-track LP with 3 Previously Unreleased bonuses, 70:28 minutes)

Universal 440 013 409-2 (Barcode 044001340925)

3. Two Steps From The Blues - BOBBY BLAND

(1961 USA 12-track LP on Duke with 2 bonuses, 35:12 minutes)

MCA 088 112 516-2 (Barcode 008811251628)

4. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - JOHN LEE HOOKER

(October 1966 and September 1991 LPs on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 79:44 minutes)

MCA/Chess 088 112 821-2 (Barcode 008811282127)

5. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - HOWLIN' WOLF

(January 1966 on Chess and January 1967 on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 66:45 minutes)

MCA/Chess 088 112 820-2 (Barcode 008811282028)

6. Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions - ETTA JAMES

(January 1968 US 12-Track LP on Cadet - 13-22 being bonuses, 57:11 minutes)

MCA/Chess 088 112 518-2 (Barcode 008811251826)

7. Live At San Quentin - B.B. KING

(1990 13-Track Compilation on MCA, no extras, 64:09 minutes)

MCA America 088 112 517-2 (Barcode 008811251727)

8. At Newport 1960 - MUDDY WATERS

(1960 US 9-Track LP on Chess with 10-13 being 4 Mono Studio Tracks from June 1960 as bonus tracks, 44:41 minutes)

MCA/Chess 088 112 515-2 (Barcode 008811251529)

9. Fathers & Sons - MUDDY WATERS (with Paul Butterfield, Otis Spann, Mike Bloomfield, Donald 'Duck' Dunn and Buddy Miles)

(Tracks 1-10 and 15-20 is the August 1969 2LP set on Chess in Full with Tracks 11, 12, 13 being previously unreleased - and 14 previously unreleased in the USA). (77:38 minutes)

MCA/Chess 088 112 648-2 (Barcode 008811264826)

10. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - MUDDY WATERS

MCA/Chess 088 112 822-2 (Barcode 008811282226)

11. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON

(January 1966 and January 1967 LPs on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 65:28 minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 823-2 (Barcode 008811282325)

"Street Corner Symphonies Volume 11: 1959" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (2013 Bear Family CD – Marcus Heumann Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…My Love Must Be A Kind Of Blind Love..."

Hot on the heels of their definitive "Blowing The Fuse" and "Sweet Soul Music" CD Series (15 volumes to each genre of R'n'B and Soul) comes Bear Family’s Vocal Group attack - 15 discs spanning 1939 to 1963. Volumes 1 to 10 hit the shops in batches of 5 (May and October 2012) and the last five in May 2013. And while critics will argue that Vocal Group music has already been done to death by Rhino (3 x 4CD Box Sets across the decades) and a mountain of other cheapo labels taking advantage of the 50-year copyright law - this is the first time someone reputable (other than Rhino) have had a go - and typically these German-issued Bear Family CDs are gorgeous in all the right places - presentation and audio. You get 34 tracks and a format-incredible total playing time of 83:23 minutes. Time for 'A Teenager In Love' to 'Wiggle Wiggle' as 'The Angels Listened In'...

Released May 2013 in Germany - "Street Corner Symphonies Volume 11: 1959" on Bear Family BCD 17289 AR (Barcode 5397102172892) breaks down as follows (I've provided American 7” single catalogue numbers on all tracks – those with two or more catalogue numbers are reissues in the same year – 83:23 minutes):

1. I Only Have Eyes For You – THE FLAMINGOS (End 1946, A)
2. Love Potion No. 9 – THE CLOVERS (United Artists 180, A)
3. This I Swear – THE SKYLINERS (Calico 106, A)
4. The Angels Listened In – THE CRESTS (Coed 515, A)
5. Island Of Love – THE SHEPPARDS (Apex 7750, A)
6. You're So Fine – THE FALCONS (Flick 001/Unart 2013, A)
7. Sorry (I Ran All The Way Home) – THE IMPALAS (Cub 9022, A)
8. My Love Will Never Die – THE CHANNELS (Fury 1021, A)
9. Wiggle, Wiggle – THE ACCENTS (Brunswick 55100, A)
10. Dedicated To The One I Love – THE SHIRELLES (Arranged & Directed by Stan Green) (Scepter 1203, A)
11. Senorita I Love You – THE IMPRESSIONS (Abner 1025, A)
12. A Teenager In Love – DION & THE BELMONTS (Laurie 3027, A)
13. Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko Bop – LITTLE ANTHONY & THE IMPERIALS (End 1060, A)
14. Hushabye – THE MYSTICS (Laurie 3028, A)
15. Moonlight Serenade – THE RIVIERAS (Orchestra Conducted by Al Semola) (Coed 508, A)
16. Who’s That Knocking – THE GENIES (Shad 5002, A)
17. Just To Be With You – THE PASSIONS (Arranged And Conducted by Paul Swain) (Audicon 102, A)
18. Charlie Brown – THE COASTERS (Atco 6132, A)
19. Dearest Darling (You're The One) – HUEY SMITH (and The Clowns) (Ace 571, A)
20. Dry Your Eyes – THE DELLS (Vee-Jay 324, A)
21. (Baby) Hully Gully – THE OLYMPICS (Arvee 562, A)
22. Puppy Love – LITTLE JIMMY & THE TOPS (V-Tone 102/Len 1011, A)
23. Rockin' In The Jungle – THE ETERNALS (Hollywood 68, A)
24. You Were Mine – THE FIREFLIES (Ribbon 6901, A)
25. Good News – THE FIESTAS (Old Town 1074, A)
26. Mope-itty Mope – THE BOSS-TONES (Boss 501/V-Tone 208, A)
27. Sea Of Love – PHIL PHILLIPS with The Twilights (Khoury’s 711/Mercury 71465, A)
28. Let It Please Be You – THE DESIRES (Hull 730, A)
29. There Goes My Love – THE FANTASTICS (RCA Victor 47-7572, A)
30. My Beloved (Without Strings) – THE SATINTONES (Motown 1000, A)
31. Oh Rose Marie – THE FASCINATORS (Orchestra Under The Direction Of Jesse Stone) (Capitol 4247, A)
32. This Broken Heart – THE SONICS (Harvard 801/Checker 922, A)
33. There Goes My Baby – THE DRIFTERS (Atlantic 2025, A)
34. Shout (Parts 1 & 2) – THE ISLEY BROTHERS (RCA Victor 47-7588, A)

The 84-page non-detachable booklet is a feast of indepth liner notes on each release by Grammy-winning writer and lifelong fan BILL DAHL. Let's put it this way - there's a 'Photo Captions' index on Page 82 that tells who's who in the black and white publicity shots that accompany most (not all) of the photos. It actually lists the singer's names  - who else but Bear would do this? The text is peppered with pictures of those old American 45s on long-forgotten labels like Flick, Unart, Scepter, Boss, Ghoury’s, Harvard, Hull and Cub as well as bigger names like Atco, Mercury and even Motown. You get rare 7” picture sleeves for The Accents, The Crests and The Falcons. The CD repros the rare "I Only Have Eyes For You" by The Flamingos on End and the spine makes up a single photograph of the series name when you line up all 15 volumes alongside each other on a shelf. Long-standing and trusted names like Walter DeVenne, Nico Feuerbach, Victor Pearlin, Colin Escott and Billy Vera have been involved in the research - while Audio Engineer MARCUS HEUMANN did the superb mastering (Disc Transfers by Victor Pearlin and Lothar Blank). The sources (as you can imagine) differ wildly but to my ears the sound quality is improved on everything that I've heard before (including some of the Rhino box sets). The audio and presentation are top-class here (a norm for Bear Family)...

With a huge 34 tracks and a format-packed playing time of 83:23 minutes – you certainly can't accuse this CD of scrimping it. Sounding gorgeous and virtually defining Vocal Group bliss – 1959's Volume 11 opens with a genuine masterpiece that I would put close to the top of my Desert Island disc selection – the beautiful "I Only Have Eyes For You" by The Flamingos. What a song – never fails to send me. It may look like Turpentine and taste like India Ink - but "Love Portion No. 9" seems to be doing the babe-pulling business for The Clovers - that is until one of them kisses a cop at 34th and Vine. Strings arrive with "This I Swear" by the white-boys-n'-gal combo of The Skyliners where our hero promises to never make her cry (he even sounds sincere folks).

Things go Dion & The Belmonts pop with The Crests on "The Angels Listened In" where our hero is convinced of heavenly intervention every time he looks at his girl. "Island Of Love" is an excellent slow-dancer as is the decidedly low-fi but emotion-packed "You're So Fine". A great smoocher and a genuinely clever inclusion is "My Love Will Never Die" by The Channels with soaring vocals from Lead Tenor Earl Lewis – as lovely as The Flamingos opener. Coming on like a companion rhythm to "Itty Bitty Pretty One" things gets bop-a-long with the infectious "Wiggle, Wiggle" by The Accents where Lead Vocalist James Jackson advises his lady on what to do with her rather fine posterior (but in a nice way you understand). By the time we reach The Shirelles with "Dedicated To The One I Love" and "A Teenager In Love" by Dion & The Belmonts – you can already feel the racy free-love of the 60ts beckoning.

Although it was huge on the charts - the almost African rhythms of "Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko Bop" by Little Anthony & The Imperials sits a little uncomfortably here. The squeaky clean "Hushabye" by The Mystics (written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman) sounds incredible audiowise. “Moonlight Serenade” feels a little too syrupy for its own good – better is the bopping “Who’s That Knocking” by The Genies which sounds a little like "Rama Lama Ding Dong". The pretty "Just To Be With You" by The Passions impresses but it's kicked into touch by the witty crowd-pleasing R&B of "Charlie Brown" by The Coasters (what a winner). Before they embarked on a staggering 40-year career in R&B and sophisticated 60ts Soul – The Dells gave us the lovely "Dry Your Eyes". Novelty time with "Hully Gully", the organ-driven seaside feel to "Puppy Love" and silly jungle noises for "Rockin' In The Jungle". Far better is the Otis Blackwell written "Good Times" by The Fiestas – a really great shuffling beat that's clearly going after the dancefloor crowd. "Sea Of Love" by Phil Phillips even had an Al Pacino/Ellen Barkin film named after it. "There Goes My Baby" indicates at the Soul to come. And on it goes to musical history with "My Beloved" by The Satintones – a long forgotten single but one that enjoyed the (now) astonishing catalogue number of Motown 1000 – the very first Vocal Group on the label...

To sum up – as 1959 plays you can feel the heyday of Vocal Groups as we've known and loved them already on the wane (and there's four more volumes to go No. 15) – but that doesn't mean that the song quality has gone out the window. I know many of these crossover R&B hits from other compilations – but their clarity here is stunning. You could argue the merits of having the manic Jackie Wilson crowd-pleasing vocal pyrotechnics of The Isley Brothers ending the compilation with both parts of the fabulous "Shout" – but I for one am glad it's here...

Niggles - they're too expensive as singles discs and perhaps they should have been doubles because real collectors will have more than a few titles on offer here. But Bear Family will argue '...not in this sound quality or looking this good...' - and they'd have a point.

Presented to us with love and affection by an independent record company that cares about forgotten voices that shouldn’t be forgotten. What a sweetheart of a compilation and another gold standard from Bear...