Dr. Ross - Rockin Blues Essentials

Album: Rockin Blues Essentials
Size: 88,3 MB
Time: 37:58
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Blues, harmonica blues
Art: Front

1. Chicago Breakdown (2:54)
2. The Boogie Disease (2:34)
3. New York Breakdown (2:59)
4. Call The Doctor (3:22)
5. Numbers Blues (2:17)
6. Cannonball (2:56)
7. The Sunnyland (2:37)
8. Cat Squirrel (Mississippi Blues) (2:21)
9. Thirty-Two Twenty (2:44)
10. Industrial Boogie (2:37)
11. Come Back Baby (2:50)
12. Juke Box Boogie (2:31)
13. Country Clown (2:31)
14. Doctor Ross Boogie (2:39)

Isaiah "Doc" Ross was a throwback to a bygone era; a true one-man band, he played harmonica, acoustic guitar, bass drum, and hi-hat simultaneously, creating a mighty racket harking back to the itinerant country-blues players wandering the Delta region during the earlier years of the 20th century. Born Charles Isaiah Ross on October 21, 1925 in Tunica, Mississippi, he took early inspiration from the music of Robert Johnson, Blind Boy Fuller, and Sonny Boy Williamson I; primarily a harpist - hence his nickname "The Harmonica Boss" - he only added the other instruments in his arsenal in order to play a USO show while a member of the Army during World War II. (The "Doc" moniker was acquired because he carried his harmonicas in a doctor's bag.)

Upon his release from the military, Ross settled in Memphis, where he became a popular club fixture as well as the host of his own radio show on station WDIA; during his club residency he was witness to a number of brutal murders, however, and swore off appearances in such venues during the later years of his life. During the early '50s, Ross recorded his first sides - among them "Chicago Breakdown" - for labels including Sun and Chess; in 1954 he settled in Flint, Michigan, where he went to work as a janitor for General Motors, a position he held until retiring.

In 1965 he cut his first full-length LP, Call the Doctor, and that same year mounted his first European tour; as the years passed Ross performed live with decreasing frequency, however, and was infamous for backing out of shows to catch his beloved Detroit Tigers on television. Upon winning a Grammy for his 1981 album Rare Blues, he experienced a career resurgence, and played festival dates to great acclaim prior to his death on May 28, 1993. /Biography by Jason Ankeny, AllMusic

Rockin Blues Essentials mc
Rockin Blues Essentials zippy

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Dr. Ross - Boogie Disease

Album: Boogie Disease
Size: 153,8 MB
Time: 66:12
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1992
Styles: Blues, harmonica blues
Art: Full

1. Boogie Disease (2:36)
2. Going To The River (3:31)
3. Good Thing Blues (5:01)
4. Turkey Leg Woman (2:36)
5. Country Clown (2:38)
6. My Bebop Gal (2:44)
7. Memphis Boogie (2:55)
8. Shake 'Em On Down (2:51)
9. Down South Blues (3:05)
10. Shake A My Hand (2:34)
11. Little Soldier Boy (3:03)
12. Mississippi Blues (2:28)
13. Going Back South (2:36)
14. Dr. Ross (Chicago) Break Down (3:02)
15. Taylor Mae (2:51)
16. Texas Hop (2:50)
17. Chicago Breakdown (3:02)
18. Juke Box Boogie (3:03)
19. Feel So Sad (2:33)
20. Polly Put Your Kettle On (3:06)
21. Industrial Avenue Boogie (4:24)
22. Downtown Boogie (2:32)

This one will make your teeth rattle. A veteran of the early-'50s Sun Studio in Memphis, Ross became known as the "one-man band," a routine gleaned from his mentor Joe Hill Louis. He plays both fine harp (out of the Sonny Boy I mold) and exciting rhythm guitar characterized by churning, mesmerizing rhythms spiced by treble fills. These 22 infectious tracks are the good doctor's very first recordings, and they present him with rhythm section - a style that predates his "one-man" days. /Larry Hoffman, AllMusic

(For personnel and recording details, see artwork included.)

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Boogie Disease zippy

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Archie Edwards & Dr. Ross - Piedmont Blues Meets Mississippi Delta Blues

Size: 109,7 MB
Time: 46:38
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2019
Styles: Acoustic Blues
Art: Front

01. Little Girl (Archie Edwards) (2:16)
02. Biscuit Baking Woman (Dr. Ross) (2:46)
03. Pittsburgh Blues (Archie Edwards) (3:13)
04. She’s Gone And Left Me (Archie Edwards) (2:48)
05. Got Something To Tell You (Dr. Ross) (3:01)
06. Chicago Breakdown (Dr. Ross) (4:07)
07. Meet Me In The Bottom (Archie Edwards) (2:42)
08. The Road Is Rough And Rocky (Archie Edwards) (3:03)
09. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (Dr. Ross) (3:38)
10. Bear Cat Mama (Archie Edwards) (4:14)
11. Baby Please Don’t Go (Dr. Ross) (3:18)
12. Baby Please Give Me A Break (Archie Edwards) (2:53)
13. My Little Woman (Dr. Ross) (5:39)
14. Goin’ Up The Country (Archie Edwards) (2:52)

Doctor Ross:
Doctor Ross (real name Charles Isaiah Ross) was born in Tunica, MS on Oct. 1925 and died on May 1993 in Flint, Michigan. He was a one-man Band, played guitar, harp and drums.
He learned harp at the age of nine and was performing with Willie Love and on radio stations in Arkansas and Mississippi in the 30´s. In the US Army, he made a paramedical training – therefore he got the name “Doctor”. Later he appeared at King Biscuit Time Show with his Jump and Live Band and also played as a one-man band act in the 50´s and 60´s.
He started recording music 1952 and recorded for the Chess Label, one year later for the legendary Label Sun Records in Memphis. For this Label, he recorded “Country Clown” and “Boogie Disease”, then he moved to Flint, Michigan to work in an auto factory. He was a left-handed guitar player and played in open G-tuning.
Later he recorded for different local Labels before he recorded in the middle of the 60´s for the Testament-Label. After that, he was a welcome guest on different Folk and Blues festivals in the US and Europe (especially at the American Folk Blues Festival 1965 and the Montreux Jazz Festival). He recorded a lot more CD´s. Some of the best are on Munich Records, Atlantic and his last CD on JSP.
The roots of his raw, Mississippi Delta Blues Style, was influenced by John Lee Hooker and John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson – but he created his own sound with boogie rhythms and supple harp riffs.
The recording on this CD were made during a tour with Archie Edwards in Greece. On this Live-CD, he recorded great traditional Blues titles like “Biscuit Bakin’ Mama” or “Good morning little Schoolgirl”, but also some songs of his own, like his hit “Chicago Breakdown”.

Archie Edwards:
Archie L. Edwards was born September 4th 1918 and died June 18th 1998. He was a Piedmont Blues Guitar Player, who played several decades and worked with great blues musicians like Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James or John Jackson.
One of his great songs are “The road is rough and rocky” and “I called my baby long Distance”. In the late 50´s he owned a barbershop, where he helped blues musicians to start their career. His style is the old Piedmont style or East Virginia Blues. He was born on a farm near Union Hall, Virginia. He had to share his first guitar with his brothers. He was inspired by Blind Boy Fuller and Blind Lemon Jefferson.
He worked at a sawmill, but he still played music around the camp, where he worked at daytime, but on evening he played at house parties in the 30´s. Then he went to New Jersey, where he worked by chauffeuring and cooking.
During World War II, Edwards served in the military police. In the postwar years, he worked in his own barbershop in Washington D.C. in 1959. But he also played together with Mississippi John Hurt, but also they both had a relationship with Skip James.
He worked with Hurt until his death in 1966 for which he wrote the song “The road is rough and rocky”. After Hurts dead, Archie played at music festivals and in local Clubs. He joined also John Jackson, John Cephs and Phil Wiggins.
He formed the group “The travelling Blues Workshop” together with Flora Molton and Mother Scott. 1982 he joined the American Folk Blues Festival for a tour in Europe and recorded for the L+R Label. When he came back, he toured with Flora Molton and Eleonor Ellis in the US.
Archie died 1998 in Seat Pleasant, Maryland in the age of 79. After his death the CD “Toronto Sessions” was released, which was recorded in 1986 in Canada.
He toured with Doc Ross Greece, where this CD was recorded.

Piedmont Blues Meets Mississippi Delta Blues

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Various - Music Of The World: Blow That Harmonica

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:16
Size: 170.0 MB
Styles: Harmonica blues
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[3:11] 1. Sleepy John Estes - Policy Man
[4:40] 2. Saffire - I'll Be Your Sweet Black Angel
[2:31] 3. Dr. Ross - Juke Box Boogie
[3:02] 4. Harmonica Frank - Rockin Chair
[2:58] 5. Howlin' Wolf - All In The Mood
[2:25] 6. Junior Wells - Messin' With The Kid
[3:40] 7. Billy Boy Arnold - I Wish You Would
[3:12] 8. Big Walter Horton - Little Boy
[3:32] 9. James Cotton - West Helena Blues
[3:57] 10. Charlie Musselwhite - Just You
[4:08] 11. Lazy Lester - Raining In My Heart
[4:48] 12. Carey Bell - Bad Habits
[6:53] 13. Big Mama Thornton - Rock Me Baby
[4:46] 14. Sonny Terry - Sonny's Whoopin' The Doop
[2:34] 15. Coy Love - Harmonica Jam
[2:49] 16. Joe Hill Louis - Boogie In The Park
[3:15] 17. Raful Neal - You Don't Love Me (Anymore)
[1:56] 18. Frank Frost - Crawl Back
[7:30] 19. The Siegel-Schwall Band - Hush, Hush
[2:19] 20. Onie Wheeler - Jump Right Out Of This Jukebox

Beginning sometime in the late 1940s, harmonica players started using amplification in a new way. With a small, portable amplifier and a cheap microphone, they would cup the mic in their hands, together with the harmonica, to create a highly concentrated sound that was loud enough to project over the din on street corners and in small nightclubs. By the start of the 1950s, electric guitars and amplified harmonicas were the rule in Chicago blues bands, backed by drums, bass, and piano.

Early postwar attempts at recording transplanted rural artists reveal an uncomfortable grafting of country blues onto an urbane, jazz-influenced backing that doesn’t serve the direct, earthy character of the featured artists. Small, independent record companies have long been important vehicles for blues artists to get their music to consumers. Some of the better-known regional companies highlighted blues harmonica and promoted early rock-and-roll. This combination later influenced the adoption of the harmonica by rock artists in the 1960s, who heard blues harmonica alongside the latest hits. By the late 1950s, white teenagers were obsessed with rock-and-roll, while black audiences had largely moved on from the blues. The folk music movement of the 1950s presented Americans with an alternative to current popular music. Folk fans began to see blues musicians as a part of the folk movement. European and British music fans, who had been fascinated for several years with American music, especially jazz and blues, began promoting blues concerts in the UK and on the European continent. Young British musicians started emulating the blues records they heard, resulting in British rock bands with notables on the mouth harp.

Musicians worldwide have been bitten by the blues harp bug, and the virus often mutates and starts to interact with its new host. Artists and the stylistic crossbreeding they’ve been working between blues and other styles include jump and swing’s Dennis Gruenling, beatboxing’s Son of Dave, and soul’s Bobby Rush.

Music Of The World: Blow That Harmonica

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Doctor Ross - Blues And Boogie From Detroit

Year: 1991 (Rec. 1972)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:23
Size: 114,1 MB
Styles: One-man band, harmonica blues
Scans: Full

1. Chicago Breakdown (4:23)
2. 30:20 Blues (4:56)
3. Got Somethin' To Tell (3:37)
4. Mama Blues (3:17)
5. Hobo Blues (4:01)
6. Boogie Disease No. 3 (2:58)
7. Trouble, Trouble (4:45)
8. Sweet Black Angel (7:17)
9. China Blues (3:35)
10. Little Schoolgirl (5:00)
11. Biscuit Bakin' Woman (5:29)

Isaiah "Doc" Ross was a throwback to a bygone era; a true one-man band, he played harmonica, acoustic guitar, bass drum, and hi-hat simultaneously, creating a mighty racket harking back to the itinerant country-blues players wandering the Delta region during the earlier years of the 20th century. Born Charles Isaiah Ross on October 21, 1925 in Tunica, Mississippi, he took early inspiration from the music of Robert Johnson, Blind Boy Fuller, and Sonny Boy Williamson I; primarily a harpist - hence his nickname "The Harmonica Boss" - he only added the other instruments in his arsenal in order to play a USO show while a member of the Army during World War II. (The "Doc" moniker was acquired because he carried his harmonicas in a doctor's bag.)

Upon his release from the military, Ross settled in Memphis, where he became a popular club fixture as well as the host of his own radio show on station WDIA; during his club residency he was witness to a number of brutal murders, however, and swore off appearances in such venues during the later years of his life. During the early '50s, Ross recorded his first sides - among them "Chicago Breakdown" - for labels including Sun and Chess; in 1954 he settled in Flint, Michigan, where he went to work as a janitor for General Motors, a position he held until retiring.

In 1965 he cut his first full-length LP, Call the Doctor, and that same year mounted his first European tour; as the years passed Ross performed live with decreasing frequency, however, and was infamous for backing out of shows to catch his beloved Detroit Tigers on television. Upon winning a Grammy for his 1981 album Rare Blues, he experienced a career resurgence, and played festival dates to great acclaim prior to his death on May 28, 1993. /Bio by Jason Ankeny, AllMusic

Blues And Boogie From Detroit mc
Blues And Boogie From Detroit zippy

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Various - Yellow Sun Blues Vol 1

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 31:44
Size: 72.7 MB
Styles: Memphis blues
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[2:57] 1. James Cotton - Cotton Crop Blues
[2:30] 2. Little Milton - Next Time I See You
[2:44] 3. Joe Hill Lewis - Boogie In The Park
[2:28] 4. Roscoe Gordon - T-Model Boogie
[1:56] 5. Frank Frost - Crawl Back
[2:24] 6. Little Junior's Blue Flames - Mystery Train
[2:31] 7. Doctor Ross - Juke Box Boogie
[2:47] 8. Rufus Thomas - Tiger Man (King Of The Jungle)
[2:21] 9. Billy 'The Kid' Emerson - Satisfied
[3:17] 10. Smokey Joe - Signifying Monkey
[2:42] 11. The Prisonaires - Just Walkin' In The Rain
[3:02] 12. Harmonica Frank Floyd - Rockin' Chair Daddy

Founded in 1952 by Sam Phillips, who also founded the recording studio Sun Studio at the same time, Sun Records discovered and first recorded such influential musicians as Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. Presley's recording contract was eventually sold to RCA Victor Records for $35,000 in 1955 to relieve the financial difficulties that Sun was going through. Prior to those records, Sun Records had concentrated on mainly recording African-American musicians, because Phillips loved rhythm and blues and wanted to bring black music to a white audience. It was Sun record producer and engineer, Jack Clement, who discovered and recorded Jerry Lee Lewis, while owner Sam Phillips was away on a trip to Florida. The original Sun Records logo was designed by John Gale
Parker, Jr., a resident of Memphis and high school classmate of Phillips.

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VA - Sun Record's Epic Blues Cuts Pt. 1 & Pt. 2

Album: Sun Record's Epic Blues Cuts
Size: 112,3 MB
Time: 48:00
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2012
Styles: Blues
Art: Front

01 Howlin' Wolf - How Many More Years (2:48)
02 Howlin' Wolf - Wolf Is At Your Door (2:56)
03 Little Junior Parker - Mystery Train (2:28)
04 Rosco Gordon - Do The Chicken Dance With You (2:49)
05 Rosco Gordon - Cheese And Crackers (2:47)
06 Rufus Thomas - Tiger Man (2:51)
07 Eddie Snow - Ain't That Right (2:38)
08 Little Milton - Beggin My Baby (2:23)
09 Billy 'The Kid' Emerson - Move Baby Move (2:43)
10 Billy 'The Kid' Emerson - Red Hot (2:24)
11 Dr. Ross - Juke Box Boogie (2:31)
12 Earl Hooker - Movin On Down The Line Aka Down The Line (2:15)
13 James Cotton - Hold Me In Your Arms (2:48)
14 James Cotton - Straighten Up Baby (2:19)
15 Joe Hill Louis - We All Got To Go Sometime (2:57)
16 Pat Hare - I'm Gonna Murder My Baby (3:11)
17 Willie Johnson - I Feel So Worried (2:34)
18 Frank Frost - Jelly Roll King (2:29)

Sun Record's Epic Blues Cuts

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Album: Sun Record's Epic Blues Cuts Pt. 2
Size: 110,0 MB
Time: 46:50
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2012
Styles: Blues
Art: Front

01 Howlin' Wolf - Oh Red (2:42)
02 Little Jr. Parker - Feelin Good (2:58)
03 Little Jr. Parker - Love My Baby (2:35)
04 Rosco Gordon - Shoobie Oobie (2:55)
05 Rufus Thomas - Bear Cat (2:50)
06 The Prisonaires - Just Walking In The Rain (2:42)
07 Willie Nix - Baker Shop Boogie (2:45)
08 Albert Williams - Rhumba Chillen (2:30)
09 Billy 'The Kid' Emerson - When It Rains It Pours (3:08)
10 Hot Shot Love - Wolf Call Boogie (2:35)
11 James Cotton - Cotton Crop Blues (3:02)
12 James Cotton - My Baby (2:21)
13 Kenneth Banks - High But High (2:38)
14 Pinetop Perkins - Pinetop's Boogie (2:56)
15 Big Walter Horton - In The Mood (3:00)
16 Joe Hill Louis - Hydramatic Woman (2:29)
17 Little Milton - Lookin For My Baby (2:36)

Sun Record's Epic Blues Cuts Pt. 2

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VA - Rare Harmonica Blues

Size: 159,5 MB
Time: 67:44
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Harmonica Blues
Art: Front

01 Coy Love - Harmonica Jam (2:43)
02 Buddy Guy & Junior Wells - High Heel Sneakers (4:56)
03 Sonny Terry - Burnt Child (3:43)
04 Harmonica Frank - Rockin Chair Blues (3:03)
05 Big Mama Thornton - Rock Me Baby (6:53)
06 Big Leon Brooks - Country Boy (4:21)
07 Joe Hill Louis - Boogie In The Park (2:44)
08 Charlie Musselwhite - Cha Cha The Blues (3:08)
09 Lazy Lester - Patrol Wagon Blues (4:46)
10 Raful Neal - Honest I Do (2:58)
11 Billy Boy Arnold - Shake Your Hips (3:25)
12 Dr. Ross - Juke Box Boogie (2:31)
13 Carey & Lurrie Bell - Got To Leave Chi-Town (3:42)
14 The Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet - Love Me Or Leave (3:30)
15 Jimmy & Walter - Easy (2:59)
16 Sons Of The Blues - Prisoner Of The Blues (4:12)
17 William Clarke - A Good Girl Is Hard To Find (5:09)
18 Howlin' Wolf - Well That's Alright (2:55)

Rare Harmonica Blues

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Dr. Ross - One Man Band

File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Source: from LL
Released: 1998
Styles: Rock
Time: 39:00
Size: 90,2 MB
Covers: Full

(1:50) 1. Dr. Ross' Rock
(4:33) 2. My Little Woman
(3:52) 3. Mama Blues
(3:41) 4. 32-20
(6:11) 5. Chicago Breakdown
(3:00) 6. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
(4:09) 7. Hobo Blues
(4:39) 8. Fox Chase
(4:22) 9. Goin' Down Slow
(2:40) 10. The Boogie Woogie

Isaiah Ross was born on 21 October 1925 in Tunica, Mississippi, and was tutored on harmonica by his father, but unlike some other young players he did not move straight into a musical career. Wartime army duties took him to the Pacific in 1944, and then led him to a second army stint in the early fifties after which he moved to Illinois for motor industry work. Another move to Memphis coincided with a return to music and some recording at the famed Sun Studios from which four tracks were issued, two on Sun Records and two on Chess. However, he maintained the motor work to feed his family. He was rediscovered in 1964 by musicologists who arranged a concert at the University Of Chicago on January 30th 1965 at which these live recordings were made. Listening to them now, a half century on, it is hard to believe that the man had not been playing continuously as he is so totally in command of his playing and his stagecraft. Perhaps the most striking thing is that he genuinely sounds like a whole band from the opening groove of ‘Dr Ross' Rock’. He had earlier stated that to play it all himself got around the problems of breaking in new players to a band structure, leading him to become so very sympatico with himself. He uses open tunings for his guitar work, allowing more emphasis on his key harmonica playing. Listen, for instance, to the fabulous and expressive 'conversation' he has with himself on ‘Mama Blues’, or his solo harp work on Sonny Boy Williamson's ‘Good Morning Little Schoolgirl’, the latter being a major influence on him. Like certain far better-known players who came after him, he played the guitar upside down left-handed without restringing, and also flipped the harmonica so the treble was to the left.

One Man Band

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Various - Sun Blues Archive

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:15
Size: 119.6 MB
Styles: Assorted blues styles
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[2:47] 1. Rufus Thomas - Tiger Man
[3:09] 2. Howlin' Wolf - Decoration Day
[2:57] 3. James Cotton - Cotton Crop Blues
[2:22] 4. Little Junior Parker - Mystery Train
[2:30] 5. Albert Williams - Rhumba Chillen
[2:56] 6. Pinetop Perkins - Pinetop's Boogie
[2:29] 7. Mose Vinson - Forty Four Blues
[2:57] 8. Walter Horton - Grandma Told Grandpa
[2:44] 9. Earl Hooker - Blue Guitar
[2:45] 10. Willie Nix - Baker Shop Boogie
[3:12] 11. Sleepy John Estes - Policy Man
[2:31] 12. Little Milton - Next Time I See You Baby
[3:18] 13. Kenneth Banks - Blue Man
[2:41] 14. Joe Hill Louis - Gotta Go Baby (Gotta Let You Go)
[2:58] 15. Jimmy And Walter - Before Long
[3:02] 16. Harmonica Frank - Rockin Chair Blues
[1:56] 17. Frank Frost - Crawl Back
[2:21] 18. Billy The Kid Emerson - Feel So Good
[2:31] 19. Dr. Ross - Juke Box Boogie

The Sun Sound began when Sam Phillips launched his record company in February of 1952. He named it Sun Records as a sign of his perpetual optimism: a new day and a new beginning. Sam rented a small space at 706 Union Avenue for his own all-purpose studio. The label was launched amid a growing number of independent labels. In a short while Sun gained the reputation throughout Memphis as a label that treated local artists with respect and honesty. Sam provided a non-critical, spontaneous environment that invited creativity and vision.

As a businessman, Phillips was patient and willing to listen to almost anyone who came in off the street to record. Memphis was a happy home to a diverse musical scene: gospel, blues, hillbilly, country, boogie, and western swing. Taking advantage of this range of talent, there were no style limitations at the label. In one form or another Sun recorded them all. Sam Phillips was responsible for some of the most legendary and influential rock 'n' roll recordings of all time, but blues was his first and greatest love, and so the Sun Records vaults are full of seminal blues sides from which this collection draws quite the bounty!

Sun Blues Archive

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Dr. Ross - The Memphis Cuts 1953-1956

Size: 170,1+181,1 MB
Time: 71:13+76:14
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Harmonica Blues, Memphis Blues, Acoustic Blues
Art: Front

CD 1:
01. Come Back Baby (2:46)
02. Feel So Sad Tk 1 (2:22)
03. Down Town Boogie Tk 1 (2:20)
04. Shake ‘em On Down Tk 1 (2:45)
05. Tailor Made (Deep Down In The Ground) Tk 1 (2:38)
06. Boogie Disease Tk 1 (2:25)
07. Boogie Disease Tk 2 (2:44)
08. Jukebox Boogie Tk 1 (2:37)
09. Cat Squirrel (Mississippi Blues) (2:16)
10. Little Soldier Boy Tk 1 (2:47)
11. Dr Ross Boogie (2:35)
12. That’s Alright Tk ? (2:19)
13. Industrial Boogie Tk ? (3:00)
14. Texas Hop Tk 2 (2:36)
15. That Ain’t Right Tk 1 (2:44)
16. That Ain’t Right Tk 2 (2:48)
17. Country Clown Tk 2 (2:26)
18. Boogie Disease Tk 3 (2:24)
19. Shake ‘em On Down Tk 3 (2:38)
20. My Be Bop Gal (2:28)
21. Going To The River (3:17)
22. Feel So Sad (Incomplete) (2:33)
23. Chicago Breakdown Tk 2 (2:51)
24. That Ain’t Right Tk 3 (0:30)
25. That Ain’t Right Tk 4 (2:54)
26. Shake A My Hand (2:22)
27. Jukebox Boogie Tk 3 (2:24)
28. Turkey Leg Woman (2:32)

CD 2:
01. Boogie Disease Tk 4 (2:27)
02. Country Clown Tk 1 (2:45)
03. Feel So Sad Tk 2 (2:33)
04. Little Soldier Boy Tk 2 (2:50)
05. Industrial Boogie Tk 1 (4:01)
06. Tailor Made (Deep Down In The Ground) Tk 2 (2:38)
07. Texas Hop Tk 1 (2:37)
08. That Ain’t Right Tk 5 (2:52)
09. That Ain’t Right Tk 6 (3:01)
10. Dr Ross Boogie (2:17)
11. Boogie Disease Tk 5 (2:25)
12. Chicago Breakdown Tk 3 (2:48)
13. Polly Put The Kettle On (2:51)
14. Left Job Boogie (3:38)
15. 1953 Jump (1:30)
16. Industrial Boogie Tk 2 (3:55)
17. Down South Blues (2:47)
18. That Ain’t Right Tk 7 (2:47)
19. That Ain’t Right Tk 8 (2:47)
20. Good Thing Blues (4:39)
21. Shake ‘em On Down Tk 2 (2:37)
22. Jukebox Boogie Tk 2 (2:45)
23. Chicago Breakdown Tk 1 (2:52)
24. Boogie Disease Tk 6 (2:30)
25. Boogie Disease Tk 7 (2:31)
26. Down Town Boogie Tk 2 (2:16)
27. Feel So Sad (2:22)

Dr Ross CDs are like the proverbial buses - you wait ages for one to come out that features his raucous Sun sides of the 1950s and then two come at the same time. Prior to this fine collection arriving, Bear Family had only a matter of a month before put out their own perfectly splendid version of much the same material (see BCD16939AH-Juke Box Boogie - The Sun Years, Plus).

Whichever set you go for, you really owe it to yourself to get one. Housed within both are loads of great sides from Isaiah Ross, born on a farm in Tunica, Mississippi to parents of Native American origin and who became one of the best recorded practitioners of what we now refer to as a ‘one-man band.' His ability to sound like a whole rockin' rhythm & blues band must have been unsettling, playing guitar and harmonica on a rack and adding a chunk of a drum set to his body without adversely affecting the ability to play the other instruments, sing and stay upright at the same time. If this sounds like the kind of behaviour of a nut job, you just might be right in respect of Dr Ross. Neil Slaven's enjoyable sleeve notes to this set quotes the English blues critic Derrick Stewart-Baxter as saying of Dr Ross that ‘he was a nice guy but a strange guy, a bit of a space cadet but a good musician'.

And being a good musician is right on the money and, on this set, you get the very best of him. 55 tracks across 2 CDs featuring just about everything he cut for Sun, both as a solo musician and as part of Dr Ross And His Jump And Jive Boys (the unit he put together as and when he didn't want or need to play all instruments himself). Classics include Dr Ross Boogie, Boogie Disease, Cat Squirrel, Chicago Breakdown, That Ain't Right, Shake ‘Em On Down and many others plus lots of alternate takes, incomplete demos and more.

So do you go for the JSP set or get the Bear Family CD instead? The JSP certainly has more tracks and is a fair bit cheaper. On the other hand, Bear Family are hardly being stingy with 32 tracks and they don't spend too much time on alternate takes, choosing instead to include some later singles cut in Michigan for DIR, Fortune and HiQ. And it also has a 44 page booklet.

Either way, of course, you can't go wrong as both will treat you to enough great 1950s blues to treasure for years.

The Memphis Cuts 1953-1956 CD 1
The Memphis Cuts 1953-1956 CD 2

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VARIOUS ARTISTS - Takoma Blues

Styles: Acoustic & Electric Chicago Blues,
Recorded: mid 1960's
Released: 1998
File: mp3 @ 320 k/s
Size: 157.19 MB
Time: 72:09
Art: Front+Back

01. Hesitation Blues - Little Brother Montgomery - 2:32
02. Minglewood Blues - John Lee Granderson - 1:39
03. Chicago Breakdown - Dr Ross - 5:55
04. I Feel So Worried - Big Joe Williams - 3:00
05. V 8 Ford Blues (Going To Your Funeral In A V-8 Ford) - James Cotton - 3:51
06. Crying Won't Make Me Stay - Maxwell Street Jimmy - 2:56
07. Michigan Water Blues - Little Brother Montgomery - 3:35
08. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl - John Lee Granderson - 2:46
09. Hobo Blues - Dr Ross - 4:36
10. Stack O'Dollars - Big Joe Williams - 2:43
11. Polly Put The Kettle On - James Cotton - 1:50
12. Five Long Years - Eddie Boyd - 2:54
13. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl - Dr Ross - 3:01
14. Alberta - Maxwell Street Jimmy - 2:57
15. I Ain't Got Nobody - Big Joe Williams - 2:57
16. Preachin' Blues - Son House - 4:43
17. I Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down - Rev Robert Wilkins - 3:54
18. Pleadin' Blues - Little Brother Montgomery - 4:21
19. Lend Me Your Love - Sunnyland Slim - 3:57
20. Two Trains Running - Maxwell Street Jimmy - 2:17
21. Whistlin' Pines - Big Joe Williams - 2:20
22. O Lord I Want You To Help Me - Rev Robert Wilkins - 3:25

Personnel: Various Artists - see above

Notes: The Takoma acoustic blues/folk recordings have been extensively reissued and written about in these pages for several years, making available once again those seminal sides by guitar geniuses such as John Fahey and Leo Kottke. To continue with this reissue programme, Takoma now presents a collection of recordings made in Chicago in the early 1960s by performers who, at the time, represented the predominant traditional blues sound of the city.

Recorded in various locations, from small apartments and tucked-away basements to intimate clubs and tiny studios, the selection demonstrates an easy and natural union between the musicians. There is no sense of formality, just a sense of trying to please one another, evoking a very personal and unusual compilation.

Little Brother Montgomery is best known for his dixieland playing in Chicago's larger and noisier clubs. But on 'Hestitating Blues' and 'Michigan Water Blues', accompanied by Michael Bloomfield, was a rare occasion where he played traditional tracks at a smaller club called the Fickle Pickle - the music he loved best.

John Lee Granderson was in his 50s when he recorded his solo contributions. A Tennessee man who had travelled and played all over the South during his younger days, here he recorded in a Chicago apartment were he worked as a janitor. Using the most basic guitar he displays a mastery of the instrument.

Dr Isaiah Ross acquired his nickname "The Doctor" because he obsessively read medical books during his military service. He played guitar and harmonica at the same time, and occasionally interjected with his own vocals. Both 'Chicago Breakdown' and 'Hobo Blue's were recorded in concert at the University of Chicago in 1965.

Big Joe Williams plays in the harsh Delta tradition and is best known for playing the 9-string guitar. Here he plays 6-string and is accompanied by Paul Butterfield on harmonica. Recorded in 1965 in a small film studio the two improvise a session reminiscent of the 1941 Bluebird sessions with Big Joe and Sonny Boy Williamson.

Harpist James Cotton was a pupil of Sonny Boy Williamson. He came to Chicago after a recording stint alongside Howlin' Wolf for Sun Records and joined Muddy Waters' band then went solo. Here he plays with Paul Butterfield, alongside guitarist Elvin Bishop.

Maxwell Street Jimmy's real name was Charles Thomas. He was discovered playing outside his restaurant on Maxwell Street, in his cook's apron. Here he was recorded at the Fickle Pickle on the traditional blues night in 1963.

Finally, Eddie Boyd arrived in Chicago having followed the same route as Cotton, but playing the piano. He left Waters' band saying Muddy didn't play sweet enough for his taste. Having recorded for many small Chicago labels, including J.O.B and Chess, he recorded his blues classic 'Five Long Years' in 1952. This version was recorded 11 years later.

                                                This post dedicated to dreumis :-)
                                                                 Takoma Blues
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