Time: 48:04
Size: 109.9 MB
Released: 1997
Styles: Jug Band, Memphis blues, Folk blues, Modern acoustic blues
Art: Front
1. Shake That Thing! (2:35)
2. Last Chance Blues (3:15)
3. Kansas City Blues (4:42)
4. Write Me A Few Lines (3:58)
5. Who Pumped The Wind In My Doughnut? (2:40)
6. King And Queen Blues (4:26)
7. Let Me Squeeze Your Lemon (4:46)
8. Beale Street Dandy (3:13)
9. Mississippi River Blues (3:03)
10. Poor Boy Long Way From Home (2:45)
11. Mister Crump (5:02)
12. The Judge He Pleaded (Viola Lee Blues) (4:16)
13. Time Is Winding Up (3:19)
Assembled to update the sound of the old Memphis jug bands of the 1920s and 1930s, the Last Chance Jug Band is led by David Evans, a scholar, field researcher, and director of the ethnomusicology department at the University of Memphis. This isn't an academic project in re-creating times past, though, but a real attempt to translate the sound of the old jug bands into a contemporary setting, which means, in a word, drums. So Shake That Thing rocks out with a wonderfully ragged and loose sound complete with jugs, washboards, and kazoos, all centered 'round Evans' slightly shaky (but very effective) high vocals. The end result is a Memphis street-corner party disc that is unbelievably fun. Highlights include "Last Chance Blues," the loopy "Who Pumped the Wind in My Doughnut," "Mississippi River Blues," and a solid cover of "Viola Lee Blues," here entitled "The Judge He Pleaded." ~Steve Leggett
Shake That Thing!