Alberta Hunter - Downhearted Blues: Live At The Cookery

Size: 315 MB
Time: 70:24
File: Flac
Released: 2001
Styles: Blues
Art: Front

1. My Castle's Rockin' (3:48)
2. The Love I Have for You (4:00)
3. I Got Rhythm (3:25)
4. Downhearted Blues (6:02)
5. Time Waits for No One (3:22)
6. I'm Havin' a Good Time (3:20)
7. Two-Fisted Double-Jointed Rough and Ready Man (5:03)
8. The Darktown Strutter's Ball (4:17)
9. Sometimes I'm Happy (3:09)
10. I've Got a Mind to Ramble (4:50)
11. Old Fashioned Love (4:14)
12. You Can't Tell the Difference After Dark (3:34)
13. Remember My Name (3:44)
14. When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You) (2:57)
15. Georgia on My Mind (3:20)
16. Handy Man (4:10)
17. Never Knew My Kisses (3:08)
18. You're Welcome to Come Back Home (3:52)

Born in Memphis in 1895, and having been an early blues innovator in the 1920s, Alberta Hunter became a living link to the jazz-age and stars like Bessie Smith, Paul Robeson and Ma Rainey. In the late `50s she started a second career as a nurse, and mostly retired from music, but by the mid-70s was lured back to live performances at The Cookery in NYC for over 6 years before her passing in 1984.

Downhearted Blues: Live At The Cookery FLAC

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Alberta Hunter - Remember My Name (OST)

Size: 88.9 MB
Time: 38:08
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1978/2013
Styles: Blues Jazz, Soundtrack
Art: Front & Back

01. Workin' Man (aka I Got Myself A Workin' Man) (3:43)
02. You Reap Just What You Sow (4:03)
03. The Love I Have For (3:39)
04. I've Got A Mind To Ramble (2:38)
05. Remember My Name (3:37)
06. My Castle's Rockin' (3:08)
07. Downhearted Blues (5:40)
08. Some Sweet Day (4:20)
09. Chirpin' The Blues (4:01)
10. I Begged And Begged You (3:14)

Although the cover on this album makes it look as if this is a soundtrack album (the singer had written several songs for the film "Remember My Name"), this is actually an important studio set. Alberta Hunter, a veteran of the 1920's who was 82 at the time, was at the beginning of a remarkable comeback after having been out of music for 20 years (working as a nurse). The singer is absolutely delightful and often saucy on such numbers as "You Reap Just What You Sow," "I've Got A Mind To Ramble," "My Castle's Rockin'" and "Downhearted Blues," making this her definitive late-period album. In addition to Hunter and a fine rhythm section (pianist Gerald Cook, guitarist Wally Richardson, bassist Al Hall and either Connie Kay or Jackie Williams on drums), three veteran horn players (trumpeter Doc Cheatham, trombonist Vic Dickenson and tenorman Budd Johnson) help out with short solos. Highly recommended. ~Scott Yanow

Remember My Name (OST) MP3
Remember My Name (OST) FLAC

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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

Worried Life Blues mc
Worried Life Blues zippy

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Various - Songs We Taught Your Mother

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:52
Size: 95.9 MB
Styles: Classic female blues
Year: 1961/1992
Art: Front

[3:15] 1. Alberta Hunter - I Got Myself A Workin' Man
[3:30] 2. Lucille Hegamin - St. Louis Blues
[4:07] 3. Victoria Spivey - Black Snake Blues
[2:40] 4. Alberta Hunter - I Got A Mind To Ramble
[2:57] 5. Lucille Hegamin - You'll Want My Love
[4:45] 6. Victoria Spivey - Going Blues
[2:41] 7. Alberta Hunter - You Gotta Reap What You Sow
[3:38] 8. Victoria Spivey - Arkansas Blues
[3:07] 9. Victoria Spivey - Got The Blues So Bad
[3:33] 10. Alberta Hunter - Chirpin' The Blues
[4:35] 11. Lucille Hegamin - Has Anybody Seen My Corine
[2:58] 12. Victoria Spivey - Let Him Beat Me

Although Alberta Hunter, who had briefly come out of retirement, gets first billing on this CD reissue, in reality she shares the spotlight with two other veterans of the 1920s: Lucille Hegamin and Victoria Spivey. Each of the singers is featured on four songs apiece while backed by such top players as clarinetist Buster Bailey, trombonist J.C. Higginbottham, and Cliff Jackson or Willie "The Lion" Smith on piano. Hunter is in superior form on such numbers as "You Gotta Reap Just What You Sow" and "I Got a Mind to Ramble," although she would soon be out of music for another 15 years, continuing her work as a nurse. Hegamin (who had not recorded since 1932) was having a brief last hurrah, despite sounding good, and Spivey, reviving her "Black Snake Blues," would soon be launching her own Spivey label. This is a historic and enjoyable set recommended to both classic jazz and blues collectors. ~Scott Yanow

Songs We Taught Your Mother

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