Albert Washington - Step It Up And Go

Size: 327 MB
Time: 53:19
File: Flac
Released: 1992
Styles: Blues/Soul
Art: Front

1. step it up and go (4:35)
2. since i fell for you (4:34)
3. things are getting bad (4:07)
4. hold on to a good woman (5:37)
5. way 'cross town (4:42)
6. everything seems brand new (4:10)
7. hard days (5:16)
8. leave them drugs alone (4:01)
9. you're too late (6:10)
10. keep on walking (4:23)
11. the good old days (5:41)

In the seventies, Albert Washington was a good soul singer - Albert Washington Blues & Soul ,and Sad and Lonely . But, the best was yet to come. At the end of his life, he has recorded two gorgeous soul blues cds : this one and Brighter Day . On both of them, you can hear that incredible voice singing marvelous self-written songs : "it's too late" on this one, or "brighter day" and "keep on singing the blues" on the other one. There've been many boring soul-blues cds recorded for the last twenty years, but these two are amazing exceptions.

Step It Up And Go FLAC

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Albert Washington - Sad And Lonely

Album: Sad And Lonely
Size: 102,1 MB
Time: 44:21
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1973/2004
Styles: Soul, soul-blues
Art: LP front & back

1. No Matter What The Cost May Be (3:31)
2. You're Messing Up My Mind (3:44)
3. Wings Of A Dove (6:02)
4. Sad And Lonely (4:12)
5. Feel The Need (3:30)
6. My Mother's Prayer (4:30)
7. Mischievous (4:02)
8. If I Lose Your Love (3:37)
9. I Can't Stand It No More (3:25)
10. Do You Really Love Me (3:45)
11. Steal Away (Bonus Track) (3:57)

It comes as little surprise to hear that Albert Washington's 1973 album, Sad and Lonely, combines blues and soul, much as his slightly earlier sides for Fraternity did. The only difference is that the music sounded a little bit more polished, in an early-'70s sort of way. It was perhaps also tweaked a bit by being recorded in Memphis, some of the arrangements including backing by the Memphis Horns and backup vocals by the woman singers the Girls.

However, in all it's a respectable but ordinary set, without the songs or the quite top of the line vocal and guitar to lift Washington above journeyman status. "You're Messing Up My Mind" bears the heavy influence of James Brown's funk, and there are echoes of the Memphis soul of the likes of Otis Redding here and there. But for the most part it's a more relaxed endeavor, "My Mother's Prayer" making the artist's gospel leanings most explicit.

Indeed, the album probably came along a few years too early for Washington to fully benefit from it - his somewhat laid-back blues-soul fusion wasn't terribly widespread at the time, but would become more commonplace in blues music in the final decades of the 20th century. The 2004 CD reissue on Westbound adds a previously unreleased outtake from the sessions, a cover of Jimmy Hughes' classic "Steal Away." /Richie Unterberger, AllMusic

Sad And Lonely mc
Sad And Lonely gofile

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Albert Washington - Blues & Soul Man

Album: Blues & Soul Man
Size: 173,1 MB
Time: 74:26
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1999
Styles: Soul/Blues
Art: Full

1. Doggin' Me Around (2:16)
2. A Woman Is A Funny Thing (2:41)
3. Tellin' All Your Friends (2:47)
4. Rome, GA (2:36)
5. You Got To Pay Your Dues (2:45)
6. Jealous Woman (3:06)
7. These Arms Of Mine (2:22)
8. I'm The Man (2:43)
9. Woman Love (2:11)
10. Bring It On Up (2:29)
11. Turn On The Bright Lights (3:15)
12. Lonely Mountain (2:56)
13. Hold Me Baby (6:03)
14. I'm Gonna Pour Me A Drink (4:21)
15. He's Got The Whole World (In His Hands) (2:44)
16. Having A Good Time (2:19)
17. Crazy Legs (Part 1) (2:23)
18. Crazy Legs (Part 2) (2:17)
19. Mischievous Ways (2:51)
20. Hour Of Power (2:07)
21. Case Of The Blues (3:00)
22. Go On And Help Yourself (3:04)
23. Loosen These Pains And Let Me Go (3:44)
24. If You Need Me (3:57)
25. Love Is A Wonderful Thing (3:19)

Washington may have been a journeyman at what he did, but he was at the very top of the journeyman class, and what he did - play a hybrid of blues and soul - is not as overmined a genre as many blues styles are. That means that if you like blues-soul crossover, you will almost certainly like this compilation of late-'60s and early-'70s sides, which represent the peak of Washington as a recording artist. Most of these were done for Fraternity from 1967-1970, and show him comfortable in deep gospel-like Southern soul grooves ("Doggin' Me Around"), quasi-Sam Cooke pop-soul ("A Woman Is a Funny Thing"), and party-tempo blues-soul hybrids that sometimes show a B.B. King influence.

The material is more soul than blues; the blues bite is usually supplied by the sharp guitar licks (sometimes played by the great Lonnie Mack), the soul embellished by Washington's cheery, uplifting vocals. The exact tracks featuring Mack are not precisely identified, but his burning, slightly distorted tone is certainly on "Turn on the Bright Lights." Three of the 25 tracks were previously unissued, and in addition to the Fraternity material there are a couple of subsequent singles on Jewel from 1971 and 1973. /Richie Unterberger, AllMusic

Blues & Soul Man mc
Blues & Soul Man gofile

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Albert Washington - A Brighter Day

Size: 133,0 MB
Time: 56:26
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1994
Styles: Blues Soul
Art: Full

01. A Brighter Day (4:22)
02. I Just Can't Stay Away From You (5:16)
03. The Day Before We Were Married (6:29)
04. Rolling Along (4:02)
05. You're Gonna Lose The Best Man You Ever Had (5:11)
06. Standing Here All Alone (5:21)
07. He's My Brother (5:20)
08. I Walked A Long Way (4:46)
09. Travelin' (3:40)
10. Don't Drink And Drive (4:17)
11. Keep On Singing The Blues (4:26)
12. Coming Home Tomorrow (3:08)

Singer and songwriter Albert Washington spent most of his career singing in the blues clubs around Cincinnati, Ohio and his home in Long Island, N.Y. Washington, who is blind, released two recordings for Iris Records in the 1990s, Step It Up and Go in 1993 and A Brighter Day in 1994.

One of four children of Jerry and Helen Washington, Albert's love of blues and gospel made itself known at a very early age. Washington remembers wanting to play his uncle's guitar at age five. At seven, he made his own guitar out of a gasoline can using rubber bands as strings. After losing his father at age nine, Washington got a job washing dishes after school to help his mother with the bills. After moving to Newport, Kentucky with his family while in his teens, Washington was encouraged by his mother to continue his gospel singing, but not his blues singing. At 16, he joined the Gospelaires, then recording for Don Robey's Duke and Peacock labels out of Houston. A few years later, he formed his own gospel group, the Washington Singers. In his late teens, Washington would sneak into blues clubs in nearby Cincinnati every chance he had, and there he was first exposed to the music of artists like Sam Cooke, Big Maybelle, Charles Brown, and Amos Milburn.

Washington cited B.B. King as most influential on his style of singing and guitar playing, which was heavily sprinkled with his gospel singing roots. Shortly after his mother died, he began singing blues as often as he could at the Vet's Inn in Cincinnati, where he worked with a house band for 16 years. In 1962, he recorded his first single for the Finch label in Cincinnati, and it was later released on the Bluestown label. His 1964 singles for the VLM label, including a song he wrote called "Haven't Got a Friend,'' got him noticed in England, and this in turn led to a deal with Fraternity Records in 1966. Lonnie Mack joined Washington on several singles for Fraternity recorded in 1969. In 1970, he recorded two singles for the Jewel label before finally recording his first LP for the Detroit-based Eastbound Records in 1972.

Because of complications from diabetes, Washington lost his sight, and his career fell into a trough from the mid-'70s to the early '90s.

But despite the crippling effects of diabetes and the tragedies that befell him over the course of his life, Washington remained an upbeat, positive figure.

In January, 1993, Long Island-based Iris Records released his first recording in two decades, Step It Up and Go. He began touring regionally again, and frequented clubs in Long Island. His 1994 follow-up album, A Brighter Day, was named one of the top three blues recordings of 1994 by France's Academie Du Jazz. Washington continued to perform in blues clubs around Long Island prior to dying of complications from diabetes on October 23, 1998. ~by Richard Skelly

A Brighter Day

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