Otis Spann - Walkin' The Blues

Album: Walkin' The Blues
Size: 105,5 MB
Time: 45:38
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1972/1989
Styles: Blues, piano blues
Art: Full

1. It Must Have Been The Devil (3:46)
2. Otis' Blues (4:18)
3. Going Down Slow (4:00)
4. Half Ain't Been Told (4:43)
5. Monkey Woman (4:58)
6. This Is The Blues (3:12)
7. Evil Ways (3:52)
8. Come Day, Go Day (4:12)
9. Walking The Blues (4:58)
10. Bad Condition (4:23)
11. My Home Is In The Delta (3:11)

Walking the Blues is arguably the finest record Otis Spann ever cut, boasting 11 cuts of astounding blues piano. On several numbers, Spann is supported by guitarist Robert Jr. Lockwood and their interaction is sympathetic, warm, and utterly inviting. Spann relies on originals here, from "Half Ain't Been Told" to "Walking the Blues," but he also throws in a few standards ("Goin' Down Slow," "My Home Is in the Delta") that help draw a fuller portrait of his musicianship. Most importantly, however, is the fact that Walking the Blues simply sounds great - it's some of the finest blues piano you'll ever hear. /Thom Owens, AllMusic

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Otis Spann - Otis Spann Is The Blues

Album: Otis Spann Is The Blues
Size: 103,4 MB
Time: 44:49
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1961/1989
Styles: Blues, piano blues
Art: Full

1. The Hard Way (5:07)
2. Take A Little Walk With Me (3:27)
3. Otis In The Dark (4:37)
4. Little Boy Blue (3:45)
5. Country Boy (4:36)
6. Beat-up Team (6:01)
7. My Daily Wish (4:29)
8. Great Northern Stomp (4:19)
9. I Got Rambling On My Mind #2 (4:06)
10. Worried Life Blues (4:21)

Although Spann made a name for himself in Chicago by the mid 1940s, it wasn’t until 1960 that he got the opportunity to record an album of his own. Otis Spann Is The Blues is not only the first solo album ever recorded by Otis Spann, it is also the first album ever recorded for the fledgling New York City based Candid Records label. Produced by Candid co-founder, famed music critic and social activist, Nat Hentoff, the album captures not one, but two legends at the peak of their powers - Otis Spann and Robert Lockwood Jr.

Lockwood, Muddy Waters’ guitar player, was an obvious choice to accompany Spann at these sessions in August of 1960. It’s worth noting that Lockwood had been a longtime collaborator of Sonny Boy Williamson, and was the step-son and only student of then virtually unknown blues musician Robert Johnson. (Columbia Records would release Robert Johnson King Of The Delta Blues Singers the following year and change the course of music history forever.)

Stripped down to just the two musicians, this magnificently performed and produced set showcases Spann’s voice as well as piano. With only Lockwood's guitar behind him, Spann stretches out with his pulsing two-handed rhythmic attack, and brings the barrelhouse piano style of his youth in line with the modern Chicago style he embodied. These sessions also produced additional material that ended up on Candid’s Otis Spann album, Walkin’ The Blues, released posthumously in 1972.

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Otis Spann - Archive Of Folk Music

Size: 91,4 MB
Time: 39:27
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1968
Styles: Piano Blues
Art: Front, back
Vinyl rip

1. Good Morning Mr. Blues (3:21)
2. Love Love Love (2:30)
3. Riverside Blues (3:19)
4. Must Have Been The Devil (2:56)
5. Jelly Roll Baker (4:08)
6. Trouble In Mind (3:28)
7. Woried Life Blues (4:06)
8. T.B. Blues (4:11)
9. Spann's Boogie (2:12)
10. Don't You Know (4:34)
11. Goin' Down Slow (4:37)

Spann's biological father Friday Ford was a locally renowned pianist and his mother's name was Josephine Erby, who played guitar and sang. She had played with Memphis Minnie and Bessie Smith, among others. Spann taught himself how to play the piano. Not even 10 years old, he played the piano and organ in his stepfather's church. With his cousin, the pianist Johnnie Jones (1924-1964), who later recorded with Elmore James, he played in bars and parties in his teens. Spann completed his military service in Japan and Germany between 1947 and 1951. After that he was a pianist in Muddy Waters' band for a long time, and in fact he never completely left the band, not even when he formed his own combo. Early in the 1950s he proved himself as the principal studio pianist for Chess Records in Chicago. There he accompanied, among others, Howlin' Wolf, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry. In 1958, Spann and Muddy Waters played with British trombonist Chris Barber's band on a UK tour. In 1960 Spann recorded an LP for Candid Records with Robert Junior Lockwood, which was highly acclaimed by critics and is considered one of his best. During the American-Folk-Blues-Festival tour, he recorded a solo record for Storyville in Copenhagen in October 1963, with only vocals and piano. On the same day he accompanied Lonnie Johnson, who recorded an LP for the same label. In 1965/1966 he recorded under his own name for Testament Records (solo and with the drummer Robert Whitehead). In 1966 he accompanied Johnny Shines, Eddie Taylor and Floyd Jones on their releases with the same label. In 1965, the then line-up of the Muddy Waters Band recorded an album for Prestige Records. Muddy Waters himself performed as Dirty Rivers on these recordings due to an exclusive contract with Chess Records. Although the record was released under Spann's name, James Cotton was an equal frontman. The entire 1960s were very productive for the studio pianist Spann. In addition to working for Chess Records, he recorded under his own name for Vanguard Records with a full band and only drummer S.P. Leary, he recorded LPs with John Lee Hooker for Bluesway and Big Mama Thornton for Arhoolie Records as a member of the Muddy Waters Band. At the latter label he played piano in 1968 on an LP by guitarist and mandolin player Johnny Young. In the late 1960s he played on albums by Buddy Guy, Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac. Since his divorce from Muddy Waters, he has supported his wife Lucille Spann in her singing career. He put his last musical accents on Southside Blues Jam (Delmark Records) by the singer and blues harp player Junior Wells.

Archive Of Folk Music MP3

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Otis Spann - Last Call: Live At The Boston Teaparty

Size: 135,6 MB
Time: 58:49
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2000
Styles: Piano blues, Chicago blues
Art: Full

1. Country Girl (5:15)
2. Get On Down To The Nitty Gritty (4:26)
3. Long Distance Call (10:27)
4. I Got My Mojo Working (4:55)
5. Chains Of Love (7:43)
6. Stomp With Spann (2:34)
7. My Baby (6:53)
8. I Wonder Why (4:10)
9. My Man (5:48)
10. Blues For Otis (Bonus) (6:33)

Essential primarily as a historical document, this album's tapes - recorded in 1970 only three weeks before the pianist's death from liver cancer - were thought to have been destroyed until they were found in a warehouse in 1999. Otis Spann, the classic Chicago bluesman whose work is revered and studied by almost every blues pianist who followed in his wake, was so weak that he couldn't sing, and was clearly not at the top of his form for these shows. Spann's wife Lucille handles the vocals on the majority of the tracks, and her powerful singing seems to push Spann to perform with his classic restraint and style. Still, there's plenty of interest here.

Spann's tinkling work on Big Joe Turner's "Chains of Love" shows that his chops were still sharp, even as he knew he was in death's final throes. Another Muddy Waters sideman, Luther "Snake" Johnson, handles the vocals and guitar duties on workmanlike but unspectacular covers of Muddy's "Long Distance Call" and "I Got My Mojo Working." But the instrumental workout on "Stomp With Spann" and the intro to "My Baby (Sweet As an Apple)," the latter with a vocal from Lucille so gritty and intense it's a wonder it didn't knock the frail pianist from his bench, best exhibit the subtle quality that made Spann's playing so magnificent. His inconspicuous but reliable backup band for these dates was also unusually understated.

The sound, taken from 7" reel-to-reel tapes that had been in storage for almost 30 years, is remarkably clean and only the clunky mix - which isolates Lucille onto one side of the stereo, and the guitar played by this album's producer and label president Peter Malick onto the other - belies the age and raw qualities of the recording. Spann's playing remains classy, modest, yet flexible even during the final shows of his legendary life, making this a short but sweet reminder that the man lived the blues.

A final track, "Blues for Otis," recorded in 1998, is a loving tribute from Malick to Spann and closes the disc out with a sweet, heartfelt coda. Undoubtedly not the place to start your Otis Spann collection, Last Call is still a remarkable album to own for any Chicago blues fan. It shows that the blues ran deep in this musician, and even in his last weeks on earth, his playing plumbed the depth of his soul. /Hal Horowitz, AllMusic

(For personnel details, see artwork included.)

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Otis Spann - The Hard Way: The August 23, 1960 New York Studio Masters

Size: 170,8+142,2 MB
Time: 73:06+60:42
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Chicago Blues, Piano Blues
Art: Full

CD 1:
01. The Hard Way (5:04)
02. Take A Little Walk With Me (3:27)
03. Otis In The Dark (4:36)
04. Little Boy Blue (3:42)
05. Country Boy (4:27)
06. Beat-Up Team (6:00)
07. My Daily Wish (4:28)
08. Great Northern Stomp (4:16)
09. I Got Rambling On My Mind #2 (4:04)
10. Worried Life Blues (4:20)
11. It Must Have Been The Devil (3:43)
12. Otis Blues (4:15)
13. Going Down Slow (3:57)
14. Half Ain't Been Told (4:42)
15. Monkey Face Woman (4:56)
16. This Is The Blues (3:10)
17. Evil Ways (3:51)

CD 2:
01. Come Day, Go Day (4:10)
02. Walking The Blues (4:56)
03. Bad Condition (4:20)
04. My Home Is In The Delta (3:13)
05. Instrumental Boogie (Aka Spann And Bob) (3:21)
06. Cow Cow Blues (4:16)
07. Talkin' The Blues (5:44)
08. Baby Child (4:27)
09. One Doggone Reason (2:42)
10. Strange Woman Blues (3:54)
11. It Hurts Me Too (4:57)
12. The Girl I Love (3:48)
13. It Must Have Been The Devil (Original Version) (2:44)
14. Five Spot (2:46)
15. I'm Leaving You (2:42)
16. I'm In Love With You Baby (2:35)

Personnel:
Otis Spann: Vocals, Piano
Robert Lockwood Jr. Guitar, Vocals
'St. Louis Jimmy' Oden: Vocals

The legendary Otis Spann gained renown as Muddy Waters’ pianist throughout the latter musician’s classic period of electric Chicago blues. Spann was also influential as a member of the Chess label’s house-band, which backed a roster of blues giants and big selling artists. However, Spann’s importance extended beyond his work as a sideman. He showed off his brilliance as a blues vocalist on a series of splendid recordings in a well-lived (though not extensive) solo career.

This quintessential 2-CD set presents Otis’ prolific session in New York City, on August 23rd, 1960. The date was produced by Nat Hentoff, and featured guitar master Robert Lockwood, Jr., with some vocal help from “St. Louis Jimmy” Oden. All of these fabulous numbers have been remastered in this special collector’s edition which also includes 4 bonus tracks. They consist of songs Spann taped as a soloist in the mid-1950s. This is a truly indispensable set for any blues fan.

The Hard Way

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Otis Spann - In Session: Diary Of A Chicago Bluesman 1953-1960

Size: 179,1+164,6 MB
Time: 76:08+70:32
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2019
Styles: Chicago Blues, Rockin' Blues
Art: Front

CD 1:
01. Blow Wind, Blow (Feat. Muddy Waters) (3:12)
02. Mad Love (Feat. Muddy Waters) (3:05)
03. I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man (Feat. Muddy Waters) (2:52)
04. She's So Pretty (Feat. Muddy Waters) (2:18)
05. Rockin' Daddy (3:04)
06. 'Bout The Break Of Day (Feat. Junior Wells) (3:16)
07. Lawdy! Lawdy! (Feat. Junior Wells) (2:41)
08. So, All Alone (Feat. Junior Wells) (3:21)
09. I Got To Find My Baby (Feat. Little Walter) (2:50)
10. Baby How Long? (Feat. Howlin' Wolf) (2:55)
11. Evil Is Goin' On (Feat. Howlin' Wolf) (2:56)
12. You'd Better Watch Yourself (Feat. Little Walter) (3:05)
13. I'll Be Around (Feat. Howlin' Wolf) (3:15)
14. It Must Have Been The Devil (2:43)
15. Five Spot (2:44)
16. I'm A Man (Feat. Bo Diddley) (3:02)
17. Bo Diddley (Feat. Bo Diddley) (2:46)
18. Don't Start Me Talkin' (Feat. Sonny Boy Williamson II) (2:36)
19. All My Love In Vain (Feat. Sonny Boy Williamson II) (2:51)
20. You Can't Catch Me (Feat. Chuck Berry) (2:45)
21. No Money Down (Feat. Chuck Berry) (2:59)
22. Let Me Explain (Feat. Sonny Boy Williamson II) (2:55)
23. Your Imagination (Feat. Sonny Boy Williamson II) (3:01)
24. I'm Leaving You (2:41)
25. I'm In Love With You Baby (2:38)
26. Cops And Robbers (Feat. Bo Diddley) (3:24)

CD 2:
01. Boogie Woogie (2:36)
02. Slow Blues (2:41)
03. Jump Blues (2:54)
04. It's My Own Fault (Feat. John Lee Hooker) (3:53)
05. Maudie (Feat. John Lee Hooker) (3:35)
06. I Wanna Walk (Feat. John Lee Hooker) (4:27)
07. I Wish You Were Here (Feat. John Lee Hooker) (5:37)
08. Great Northern Stomp (4:18)
09. Otis In The Dark (4:38)
10. Worried Life Blues (4:22)
11. Country Boy (4:28)
12. The Hard Way (5:06)
13. Beat-Up Team (6:04)
14. Take A Little Walk With Me (3:29)
15. I Got Rambling On My Mind (4:07)
16. Little Boy Blue (3:44)
17. My Daily Wish (4:26)

Joining Eddie Taylor and Jody Williams in Jasmine's popular 'In Session' series comes this excellent 43 track 2CD set of Otis Spann's sessions that he cut in Chicago between 1953 and 1956 along with live performances at Newport and his legendary first LP release. 'Otis Spann is the Blues'.

This wonderful set kicks off with Muddy Waters and of course includes two of his greatest hits 'Mad Love' and 'Hoochie Coochie Man' and then Otis' takes us through a plethora of fine bluesmen: Howlin' Wolf, Junior Wells, Little Walter, Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy Williamson, Chuck Berry and John Lee Hooker.

In the pantheon of great Chicago blues pianists, Otis Spann stands head and shoulders above most of the competition and this CD is another must have in Jasmine's ever growing blues series.

In Session

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Otis Spann - Good Morning Mr. Blues

Year: 1996
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:45
Size: 115,1 MB
Styles: Blues, piano blues
Scans: Full

1. Good Morning Mr. Blues (3:25)
2. Love, Love, Love (2:31)
3. River Side Blues (3:23)
4. Must Have Been The Devil (2:55)
5. Jelly Roll Baker (4:12)
6. Trouble In Mind (3:31)
7. Worried Life Blues (4:11)
8. T.B. Blues (4:15)
9. Spann's Boogie (2:16)
10. Don't You Know (4:31)
11. Goin' Down Slow (4:44)
12. The Skys Are Blue (3:36)
13. Keep Your Hands Out Of My Pocket (2:53)
14. Boots And Shoes (3:15)

Although Otis Spann will always be known as the piano player in the Muddy Waters band, his solo work should not be overlooked. Possessing a beautifully expressive voice, Spann was also a facile songwriter, and freed of the restrictions inherent in a working electric blues band, his solo sides find him stretching out on piano, as well.

This set was recorded live in 1963 in a Copenhagen studio, and it features Spann mostly solo at the piano, although at least one track, the elegant "Trouble in Mind," adds the great Lonnie Johnson on electric guitar. Spann sounds relaxed and in control here, and his silky smooth piano runs combine with his smoky, soulful singing to create what will be a complete revelation to listeners who only know his work with Waters.

Essentially, this is blues done at the more sophisticated end of the scale, and though it stops short of being true jazz, it has that timeless, airy feel of skillfully arranged improvisation. Highlights include the poignant and graceful "Love, Love, Love," the intriguing "Boots and Shoes," a wonderful rendition of "Worried Life Blues," and a powerful, stomping version of "Must Have Been the Devil," Spann's 1954 single from Chess Records. This same set, with the same running order, is also available from Storyville Records under the title Blues Masters, Vol. 10. /Steve Leggett, AllMusic

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Otis Spann - Cryin' Time

Year: 1969/2005
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:47
Size: 83,1 MB
Styles: Blues, piano blues
Scans: Full

1. Home To Mississippi (3:26)
2. Blues Is A Botheration (4:03)
3. You Said You'd Be On Time (4:46)
4. Cryin' Time (3:11)
5. Blind Man (3:18)
6. Some Day (4:36)
7. Twisted Snake (3:02)
8. Green Flowers (3:45)
9. The New Boogaloo (2:09)
10. Mule Kicking In My Stall (3:30)

Great Chicago blues pianist and singer (the half-brother of Muddy Waters and a stalwart of his band), Cryin' Time caught Otis Spann in the company of the great blues guitarist Luther Johnson and the king of acid-rock guitar Barry Melton (then with Country Joe & The Fish). The results were far better than most of the rock-meets-the-blues efforts of the era as the young guys came to Otis on his own terms with love and respect. The resultant blues are deeply funky affairs brimming with spiky guitar licks, rolling bluesy piano and Otis's emotion-packed, world-weary vocals.

(For personnel details, see artwork included.)

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Otis Spann - Sweet Giant Of The Blues

Year: 1969/2014
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:35
Size: 88,9 MB
Styles: Blues, piano blues
Scans: Full

1. Got My Mojo Working (3:03)
2. Sellin' My Thing (7:23)
3. Moon Blues (4:26)
4. I'm A Dues Payin' Man (3:10)
5. I Wonder Why (4:22)
6. Bird In A Cage (6:06)
7. Hey Baby (5:38)
8. Make A Way (4:23)

When producer Bob Thiele launched Flying Dutchman Records in 1969, he also introduced two other imprints to give his new company depth and breadth: Amsterdam for pop material and Bluestime to concentrate on the developing blues boom. Thiele had been in charge of ABC’s Bluesway label, where he had made records with many vintage blues artists. He opened Bluestime with albums by three of those performers: “The Real Boss Of The Blues” by Joe Turner, “Sweet Giant Of The Blues” by Otis Spann and “Every Day I Have The Blues” by T-Bone Walker.

Genial piano player Otis Spann had been a key member of Muddy Waters’ band. Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Spann moved to Chicago in the mid-40s, working as a plasterer by day and immersing himself in the city’s vibrant music scene by night. Muddy Waters wasn’t looking for a piano player but liked Spann so much he agreed to take him on. Over the next few years Spann played on some of Waters’ best-loved records, including ‘Got My Mojo Working’ and ‘I Just Want To Make Love To You’, also adding his unique style to recordings by Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter and Chuck Berry.

It was this heritage which made Spann a respected figure amongst blues revivalists. Leaving Waters’ group in 1968, he made a flurry of recordings, including an album with Fleetwood Mac as his backing band. It was at this point Bob Thiele invited him to record for Bluestime. In addition to a version of ‘Got My Mojo Working’, his “Sweet Giant Of The Blues” album was largely made up of Spann’s own songs. His playing was as fine as ever and his voice was in good form. Unfortunately, his health had been compromised by years of alcohol abuse and he died a few months later aged just 40. /Dean Rudland

(For personnel details, see artwork included.)

Originally posted by Mat Tiggas on October 27, 2015. Upgraded with complete artwork.

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Otis Spann With Fleetwood Mac - The Biggest Thing Since Colossus

Year: 1969/1994
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:09
Size: 92,9 MB
Styles: Electric blues, piano blues
Scans: Full

1. My Love Depends On You (5:22)
2. Walkin' (2:54)
3. It Was A Big Thing (3:26)
4. Temperature Is Rising (100.2°F) (6:13)
5. Dig You (3:04)
6. No More Doggin' (3:00)
7. Ain't Nobody's Business (5:15)
8. She Needs Some Loving (3:08)
9. I Need Some Air (4:40)
10. Someday Baby (3:02)

In January of 1969, British power blues quintet Fleetwood Mac came to Chess Records studios to jam with the likes of Willie Dixon, S.P. Leary, Honeyboy Edwards, and longtime Muddy Waters' pianist Otis Spann. The sessions were so rich and fruitful that three-fifths of the Mac (specifically bassist John McVie and guitarists Peter Green and Danny Kirwin) impressed Spann enough to cut a record with them at the same sessions.

While the classic "Country Girl" and a seven-minute "Someday Soon Baby" (which features a lengthy intro from Green on which Spann can be heard barely off mic telling the rest of the band to "let him play on") ended up on the Mac's Blues Jam at Chess double set: remaining cuts included "Dig You" and "Walkin'" and are a near perfect match of Spann's exciting, emotive singing and the Mac's youthful muscle.

The Biggest Thing Since Colossus was released on Mac manager/producer/strongman Mike Vernon's London-based Blue Horizon label. /John Duffy, AllMusic

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Otis Spann - Ebony And Ivory Blues (2 CD)

With a style that merged boogie-woogie neatly into the blues, Otis Spann found his first success as the pianist for Muddy Waters, and he played on virtually all of Waters' classic tracks between 1953 and 1969, but as the house pianist for Chicago's Chess Records, he also figured prominently on sides from Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Junior Wells, Etta James, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and countless others. Spann was also a fine singer and leader in his own right, and on his own sides, as well.

This wonderful two-disc set collects Spann's early solo outings for Chess from the '50s, as well as material from his 1960 sessions in New York with Robert Lockwood, Jr. and St. Louis Jimmy Oden, and rounds things into a complete portrait by including sides he did with B.B. King, James Cotton, Hubert Sumlin, and many others. Spann is regarded as Chicago's greatest post-war blues pianist. This set shows why. /Steve Leggett, AllMusic

Album: Ebony And Ivory Blues
Year: 2012
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:41
Size: 181,9 MB
Styles: Blues, piano blues
Scans: Full

CD 1:
1. It Must Have Been The Devil (2:45)
2. Five Spot (2:47)
3. I'm Leaving You (2:43)
4. I'm In Love With You Baby (2:36)
5. Worried Life Blues (4:22)
6. This Is The Blues (3:13)
7. Beat-Up Team (6:05)
8. The Hard Way (5:07)
9. Country Boy (4:28)
10. My Home Is In The Delta (3:15)
11. It Must Have Been The Devil (3:47)
12. Ramblin' On My Mind (4:07)
13. Take A Walk With Me (3:29)
14. Little Boy Blue (3:45)
15. My Daily Wish (4:30)
16. Great Northern Stomp (4:18)
17. Otis In The Dark (4:38)
18. Walkin' The Blues (4:59)
19. Cow Cow Blues (4:20)
20. Spann And Bob (3:19)

CD 2:
1. Monkey Face Blues (4:59)
2. One Doggone Reason (2:43)
3. Strange Woman Blues (3:55)
4. It Hurts Me Too (4:59)
5. Baby Child (4:08)
6. Talkin' The Blues (5:22)
7. Can't Stand Your Evil Ways (3:46)
8. Otis Blues (4:18)
9. Half Ain't Been Told (4:43)
10. Going Down Slow (4:00)
11. The Girl I Love (3:51)
12. Bad Condition (4:24)
13. Come Day, Go Day (4:11)
14. Got My Mojo Working (4:28)
15. Evil Is Going On (2:53)
16. No Money Down (3:00)
17. I'm A Man (3:01)
18. As Long As I Have You (2:40)
19. Let Me Love You Baby (2:53)
20. Don't Start Me Talking (2:36)

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

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Muddy Waters & Friends - Goin' Way Back (Remastered)

Size: 103,8 MB
Time: 44:20
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1997/2019
Styles: Acoustic Blues
Art: Front

01. Gypsy Woman (Remastered) (3:46)
02. Little Anna Mae (Remastered) (4:19)
03. My Home Is On The Delta (Remastered) (4:31)
04. Take A Little Walk (Remastered) (4:51)
05. Mean Disposition (Remastered) (5:49)
06. Laverne (Remastered) (2:47)
07. Leavin' In The Mornin' (Remastered) (3:34)
08. Got A Sweet Little Girl (Remastered) (3:36)
09. Bad Lovin' Trouble (Remastered) (3:41)
10. Nothin' Bother Me (Remastered) (4:06)
11. Crazy 'Bout You Baby (Remastered) (3:15)

Personnel:
Muddy Waters - Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Otis Spann - Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Sam Langhorn - Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
George "Mojo" Buford as "John 'Mojo' Buford - Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica
Luther "Georgia Boy-Snake" Johnson - Acoustic Guitar, Vocals

The acoustic-only mode of GOIN' WAY BACK recalls Muddy's similarly constructed FOLKSINGER album. GOIN' WAY BACK doesn't have FOLKSINGER's deep-seated ominousness, but the intimacy and warmth are comparable to that legendary recording. This album was recorded in a single afternoon during a 1967 Canadian tour. In between shows, Muddy and his band gathered in a living room, armed only with acoustic guitars, for a spirited walk through their collective blues memory. An interesting side-note is that legendary pianist Otis Spann is confined exclusively to guitar here, as are the other members of Muddy's group. As always, Muddy's voice is both authoritative and relaxed, and its depth and warmth find a unique resonance in this acoustic company. Hailing from a time when Muddy was prevailed upon to enter into incongruous musical realms in the name of crossover success, GOIN' WAY BACK is a unique, appealing snapshot of the acoustic Delta roots that the Chicago blues godfather never abandoned.

Goin' Way Back

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Otis Spann - This Is The Blues

Year: 1989/1990
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:30
Size: 142,1 MB
Styles: Blues, piano blues
Scans: Full

1. Country Boy (4:28)
2. Beat-Up Team (6:03)
3. May Daily Wish (4:30)
4. Great Northern Stomp (4:19)
5. I Got Rambling On My Mind (4:06)
6. Worried Life Blues (4:22)
7. The Hard Way (5:07)
8. Half Ain't Been Told (4:41)
9. Monkey Woman (4:59)
10. This Is The Blues (3:08)
11. Evil Ways (3:53)
12. Come Day Come Go (4:12)
13. Bad Condition (4:22)
14. My Home Is In The Delta (3:13)

An integral member of the nonpareil Muddy Waters band of the 1950s and '60s, pianist Otis Spann took his sweet time in launching a full-fledged solo career. But his own discography is a satisfying one nonetheless, offering ample proof as to why so many aficionados considered him then and now Chicago's leading post-war blues pianist. Spann played on most of Waters' classic Chess waxings between 1953 and 1969, his rippling 88s providing the drive on Waters' seminal 1960 live version of "Got My Mojo Working" (cut at the prestigious Newport Jazz Festival, where Spann dazzled the assembled throng with some sensational storming boogies).

The Mississippi native began playing piano by age eight, influenced by local ivories stalwart Friday Ford. At 14, he was playing in bands around Jackson, finding more inspiration in the 78s of Big Maceo, who took the young pianist under his wing once Spann migrated to Chicago in 1946 or 1947. Spann gigged on his own and with guitarist Morris Pejoe before hooking up with Waters in 1952. His first Chess date behind the Chicago icon the next year produced "Blow Wind Blow." Subsequent Waters classics sporting Spann's ivories include "Hoochie Coochie Man," "I'm Ready," and "Just Make Love to Me."

Strangely, Chess somehow failed to recognize Spann's vocal abilities. His own Chess output was limited to a 1954 single, "It Must Have Been the Devil," that featured B.B. King on guitar, and sessions in 1956 and 1963 that remained in the can for decades. So Spann looked elsewhere, waxing a stunning album for Candid with guitarist Robert Jr. Lockwood in 1960, a largely solo outing for Storyville in 1963 that was cut in Copenhagen, a set for British Decca the following year that found him in the company of Waters and Eric Clapton, and a 1964 LP for Prestige where Spann shared vocal duties with bandmate James Cotton. Testament and Vanguard both recorded Spann as a leader in 1965.

The Blues Is Where It's At, Spann's enduring 1966 album for ABC-Bluesway, sounded like a live recording but was actually a studio date enlivened by a gaggle of enthusiastic onlookers who applauded every song (Waters, guitarist Sammy Lawhorn, and George "Harmonica" Smith were among the support crew on the date). A Bluesway encore, The Bottom of the Blues, followed in 1967 and featured Otis' wife, Lucille Spann, helping out on vocals.

Spann's last few years with Muddy Waters were memorable for their collaboration on the Chess set Fathers and Sons, but the pianist was clearly ready to launch a solo career, recording a set for Blue Horizon with British blues-rockers Fleetwood Mac that produced Spann's laid-back "Hungry Country Girl." He finally turned the piano chair in the Waters band over to Pinetop Perkins in 1969, but fate didn't grant Spann long to achieve solo stardom. He was stricken with cancer and died in April of 1970. /Biography by Bill Dahl, AllMusic

(Note: Recorded in New York, August 23, 1960.)

This Is The Blues mc
This Is The Blues zippy

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Luther 'Snake Boy' Johnson With Muddy Waters Blues Band - Chicken Shack (Vinyl)

Source: Vinyl
Size: 72,1 MB
Time: 30:16
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1974
Styles: Chicago Blues
Art: Front & Back

01. Mini Dress (2:27)
02. Remember Me (5:43)
03. Snake (2:39)
04. Comin' Home Baby (2:38)
05. Blues For Hippies (2:33)
06. Chicken Shack (2:58)
07. Love 'N Trouble (3:16)
08. I'm So Glad (3:11)
09. Love Without Jealousy (2:16)
10. Evil (2:35)

Personnel:
Guitar – Luther Johnson, Muddy Waters, Sammy Lawhorne
Piano – Otis Spann
Harmonica – George "Mojo" Buford
Drums – Francis Clay

The confusing plethora of artists working under the name of Luther (nickname here) Johnson can leave even those with a decent knowledge of blues in a major state of confusion. But in this biographical entry, we concern ourselves with the life and times of Luther "Georgia Boy/Snake Boy" Johnson who, to make matters even more confusing, also worked and recorded under the names Little Luther and Luther King. (It turns out his real name wasn't even Luther, but Lucius.) Upon his military discharge, he picked guitar as a member of the Milwaukee Supreme Angels gospel group, working the local church circuit. But the blues bug hit and he soon had his own little blues trio together, eventually settling in Chicago by the early '60s. He played for a while with Elmore James and was a regular fixture in the Muddy Waters band by the mid-'60s. He recorded as Little Luther for Chess in the mid-'60s ("The Twirl") and by 1970 was relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, working as a solo artist. The next five years found him working steadily on the college and blues festival circuit before cancer overtook him on March 18, 1976, at a mere 41 years of age. ~ by Cub Koda

Chicken Shack MP3
Chicken Shack FLAC

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Otis Spann - Someday

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:51
Size: 86.7 MB
Styles: Piano blues
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[2:21] 1. Chicken Shack
[3:26] 2. Country Boy
[2:44] 3. Someday (Acoustic)
[2:34] 4. Come Back Baby
[3:06] 5. Meet Me In The Bottom
[1:42] 6. Spann's Boogie
[3:27] 7. Someday (Electric)
[3:01] 8. Blind Man
[3:03] 9. Back Bay Shuffle
[2:34] 10. St. Louis Blues
[3:22] 11. Cold Feeling Blues
[3:03] 12. Spann's Blues
[3:22] 13. Blues Don't Love Nobody

Nominated by the International Blues Foundation for Blues Music Award for Best Historical Release of 2012!

Born in Jackson, Mississippi Spann became known for his distinct piano style. His father played piano, non professionally, while his mother had played guitar with Memphis Minnie. Spann began playing piano by age of eight, influenced by his local ivories stalwart, Friday Ford. At the age of 14, he was playing in bands around Jackson, finding more inspiration in Big Maceo Merriweather, who took the young pianist under his wing once Spann migrated to Chicago in 1946. Other sources say that he moved to Chicago when his mother died in 1947 playing the Chicago club circuit and working as a plasterer. Spann gigged on his own, and with guitarist Morris Pejoe, working a regular spot at the Tic Toc Lounge before hooking up with Muddy Waters in 1952.

Although he recorded periodically as a solo artist, Spann was a full-time member of the Muddy Waters band from 1952 to 1968. In that period he also did session work with other Chess artists like Howlin' Wolf and Bo Diddley. Spann's own Chess Records output was limited to a 1954 single, "It Must Have Been the Devil" / "Five Spot", which featured B.B. King and Jody Williams on guitars. In the late 1960s, he appeared on albums with Buddy Guy, Big Mama Thornton, Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac. Several films of his playing are available on DVD, including the Newport Folk Festival (1960), while his singing is also featured on the American Folk Blues Festival (1963) and The Blues Masters (1966). Following his death from liver cancer in Chicago in 1970, at the age of 40, he was interred in the Burr Oak Cemetery, Alsip, Illinois. He was posthumously elected to the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980.

Someday

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Johnny Young - Chicago Blues (With Otis Spann, James Cotton, Big Walter)

Size: 154,9 MB
Time: 65:21
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1968/1990
Styles: Chicago Blues
Art: Full

01. Wild, Wild Woman (2:40)
02. Keep Your Nose Out Of My Business (3:20)
03. I'm Having A Ball (2:57)
04. My Trainfare Out Of Town (2:46)
05. I'm Doing All Right (3:34)
06. Stealin' (2:45)
07. Keep On Drinking (3:25)
08. Hot Dog! (2:04)
09. Come Early In The Morning (3:07)
10. Moaning And Groaning (3:20)
11. Crosscut Saw (2:38)
12. Slam Hammer (1:50)
13. Strange Girl (3:40)
14. Ring Around My Heart (4:50)
15. Sometimes I Cry (2:52)
16. Don't You Lie To Me (3:44)
17. On The Road Again (4:55)
18. Waiter's Boogie (3:42)
19. Stockyard Blues (3:25)
20. Drinking Straight Whiskey (3:37)

This is an excellent '60s recording by the down-home urban singer, guitarist, and mandolinist, accompanied by Otis Spann on piano and James Cotton and Big Walter Horton on harmonicas.

Biog by Barry Lee Pearson:
Although the mandolin is not an instrument commonly associated with Chicago blues, it has been used by Chicago-based string bands or on Chicago-made recordings by artists such as Carl Martin, Charles and Joe McCoy, and Yank Rachell. However, the only artist to use it successfully in the later electric blues format was Mississippi-born bluesman Johnny Young.

An important figure in blues history, Young loved the rough-and-tumble string band tradition of the Delta, a style that readily co-existed with blues.

Young's initial 1947 Chicago classic, "Money Taking Women," exhibits the same exuberant down-home sound, fusing blues with the older country breakdown traditions. The string band ensemble sound suited street performance as well, whether in Memphis or in Chicago's open air Maxwell Street Market, where Young and his cronies were brought in off the streets to record. Over the years, Young's mandolin activity declined as Chicago's African-American blues audience demanded a more modern and urban sound. Since Young was also a skilled guitarist and a fine vocalist, he easily weathered the transition.

During the late '60s, an emerging white blues-revival audience proved eager for Young's mandolin styling. Unlike Yank Rachell, whose mandolin playing retained an older string band feel, Young's style was firmly grounded in a more contemporary postwar blues idiom, and he interacted well with other electric blues artists. Throughout his life, he had worked with the major figures of blues history, including Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, Walter Horton, and Otis Spann. He was, he insisted, born to be a musician. When interviewed shortly before he died, he said he had struggled all his life trying to make it in the music business. An emotional man, he hoped he would live long enough to make enough money to buy a house. He never made it.

Chicago Blues

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Muddy Waters & Howlin' Wolf - Muddy & The Wolf

Year: 1974/1983
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:00
Size: 99,3 MB
Styles: Blues, Chicago blues
Scans: Full

1. All Aboard (2:50)
2. Blow Wind Blow (3:36)
3. Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had (3:04)
4. Walkin' Thru The Park (3:18)
5. I'm Ready (3:35)
6. Long Distance Call (6:22)
7. Rockin' Daddy (3:40)
8. What A Woman! (3:01)
9. Who's Been Talking? (3:05)
10. Red Rooster (Rehearsal) (1:28)
11. Red Rooster (3:51)
12. Highway 49 (2:47)
13. Do The Do (2:17)

Waters and Wolf do not perform together on this disc. The first half, recorded in Chicago, features Muddy backed by some of his regular '60s band members plus '60s U.S. blues-rockers Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield. Wolf occupies the second half, taken from the "London Howlin' Wolf Sessions" album. He's backed by British blues-influenced rockers including Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, and the Stones' rhythm section. Despite the booklet's photo of Muddy and Wolf together, the notoriously paranoid Wolf had always regarded Muddy as a rival.

Despite their personal differences, Waters and Wolf were linked by their undeniable status as the prime architects of Chicago blues. The thematic tie here is their interaction with the generation of players who they inspired. As Muddy retains most of his usual band, his cuts differ little from his other late-'60s recordings (which is to say that they are eminently soulful and cathartic). Wolf's cuts are marked by the rock supersession vibe, but the assembled rock royalty manage to keep their egos in check, ably providing their hero with the angular, biting attack that is his trademark sound. This isn't the place to start with either Muddy or Wolf, but it's a more-than-interesting sideline to their careers.

Personnel Muddy Waters tracks (1-6): (Muddy Waters): Muddy Waters (vocals, slide guitar); Michael Bloomfield (guitar); Paul Butterfield, Jeff Carp (harmonica); Otis Spann (piano); Donald "Duck" Dunn, Phil Upchurch (bass); Sam Lay (drums).

Personnel Howlin' Wolf tracks (7-13): Howlin' Wolf (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica); Eric Clapton, Hubert Sumlin (guitar); Jeffrey M. Carp (harmonica); Steve Winwood, Ian Stewart, Lafayette Leake, John Simon (piano, organ); Bill Wyman, Phil Upchurch (bass, shakers, cow bell); Charlie Watts (drums, conga, percussion).

Muddy & The Wolf mc
Muddy & The Wolf zippy

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Floyd Jones, Eddie Taylor - Masters Of Modern Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:31
Size: 115.7 MB
Styles: Chicago blues
Year: 1994/2014
Art: Front

[2:49] 1. Train Fare Home
[2:31] 2. Big Town Playboy
[2:39] 3. Peach Tree Blues
[2:58] 4. Bad Boy
[3:34] 5. Feel So Bad
[2:37] 6. After Hours
[3:06] 7. Take Your Hand Down
[1:59] 8. Bad Boy
[3:20] 9. Rising Wind
[3:37] 10. Dark Road
[3:57] 11. Stockyard Blues
[3:29] 12. Sweet Talkin' Woman
[3:54] 13. Hard Times
[2:53] 14. M & O Blues
[3:33] 15. Playhouse Blues
[3:29] 16. Dark Road

Tracks 1-8 - Eddie Taylor; Tracks 9-16 - Floyd Jones.

Eight priceless 1966 tracks by tragically underrecorded guitarist Floyd Jones are paired for this CD with eight more by sessionmate Eddie Taylor. Produced in both cases by Testament boss Pete Welding with Big Walter Horton on harp, pianist Otis Spann, and drummer Fred Below lending their collective hands, Jones re-creates his dour, uncompromising "Dark Road," "Hard Times," and "Stockyard Blues" with an early-'50s sense of purpose. ~Bill Dahl

Masters Of Modern Blues

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Otis Spann - The Blues of Otis Spann... Plus

File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Source: LL (from CD)
Released: 1964/1993
Styles: Blues
Time: 53:19
Size: 122,8 MB
Art: Full

Musicians:
Otis Spann - piano, harpsichord & vocals
Muddy Waters - guitar
Ransom Knowling - bass
Little Willie Smith - drums

(3:54) 1. Rock Me Mama
(4:25) 2. I Came from Clarksdale
(3:25) 3. Keep Your Hand Out of My Pocket
(2:05) 4. Spann's Boogie
(3:14) 5. Sarah Street
(3:33) 6. The Blues Don't Like Nobody
(3:32) 7. Country Boy
(2:50) 8. Pretty Girls Everywhere
(2:58) 9. Meet Me in the Bottom
(4:29) 10. Lost Sheep in the Fold
(3:32) 11. I Got a Feeling
(2:57) 12. Jangle Boogie
(3:05) 13. T.99
(3:21) 14. Natural Days
(3:22) 15. You're Gonna Need My Help
(2:30) 16. Stirs Me Up

In 1964, Otis Spann toured Engeland for the third time, in company of Muddy Waters, Ransom Knowling and Little Willie Smith. He had a chance to record an album with his friends. And a young Eric Clapton is playing on a couple of cuts. Mike Vernon produced the album for Decca (The Blues of Otis Spann) and was released in 1964. Muddy Waters' name was not mentioned on the sleeve notes, he had to use the pseudonym 'Brother', because his exclusive contract with Chess. In 1980 Black Cat Records reissued the vinyl as 'Half Ain't Been Told'. This 1993 cd-reissue has 2 bonus tracks.

The Blues of Otis Spann... Plus

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Otis Spann - Otis Spann's Chicago Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:30
Size: 97.3 MB
Styles: Piano blues, Chicago blues
Year: 1966/2014
Art: Front

[2:30] 1. Get Your Hands Out Of My Pocket
[3:20] 2. Nobody Knows My Toubles
[3:22] 3. Sarah Street
[2:00] 4. Worried Life Blues
[2:33] 5. You Can't Hide
[2:51] 6. Jack-Knife
[2:24] 7. What's On Your Worried Mind
[4:32] 8. Vicksburg Blues
[2:30] 9. Who's Out There
[2:10] 10. Spann's Boogie Woogie
[2:59] 11. See See Rider
[3:23] 12. Lovin' You
[2:43] 13. One Room Country Shack
[3:02] 14. Mr. Jelly Roll Baker
[2:04] 15. G. B. Blues

Recorded in 1965 and 1966, these 15 tracks are divided between solo piano performances and pieces with a full band, with support from guitarist Johnny Young and members of the Muddy Waters Band. The variation in approach means that this isn't the most consistent Spann album, and the material and performances don't rank among his best either, although they're reasonably solid. Includes some of the rare tracks on which Spann played organ rather than piano. ~Richie Unterberger

Otis Spann's Chicago Blues

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