Willie Mabon - I'm Mad: The Early Years Collection 1953-62 (2 CD)

Album: I'm Mad: The Early Years Collection 1953-62
Size: 140,8 + 130,3 MB
Time: 60:24 + 55:47
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2026
Styles: Blues, piano blues, R&B
Art: Front, back

CD 1:
1. It Keeps Raining (2:48)
2. Bogey Man (3:08)
3. Trouble In My Home (3:02)
4. Times Are Getting Hard (2:43)
5. Worry Blues (3:13)
6. I Don't Know (3:08)
7. I'm Mad (2:36)
8. Night Latch (3:22)
9. You're A Fool (2:23)
10. Monday Woman (2:51)
11. I Got To Go (2:46)
12. Cruisin' (3:08)
13. Would You, Baby (2:58)
14. Late Again (2:35)
15. Poison Ivy (2:52)
16. Say Man (2:32)
17. Come On Baby (2:58)
18. Wow! I Feel So Good (2:49)
19. Seventh Son (2:50)
20. Lucinda (2:38)
21. Knock On Wood (2:51)

CD 2:
1. Got To Let You Go (2:36)
2. I Gotta Go Now (2:25)
3. Michell (2:36)
4. I Don't Know (2:40)
5. I Got To Have Her (2:41)
6. Got To Have Some (2:36)
7. Why Did It Happen To Me (2:09)
8. Fannie Mae (2:47)
9. Mean Mistreater (2:29)
10. Early One Morning (2:36)
11. Got To Have It (3:05)
12. Beggar Or Bandit (2:44)
13. Life Could Be Miserable (3:08)
14. I'm Tired (2:43)
15. Lonely Blues (2:51)
16. Willie's Blues (3:02)
17. He Lied (2:41)
18. Someday You Gotta Pay (2:42)
19. Why Did It Happen To Me (2:20)
20. I'm Mad At You (2:20)
21. I Love My Baby (2:29)

Willie Mabon, born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1925, was a blues singer, pianist and songwriter, who was very much of the Chicago school of blues performers, and enjoyed a career peak with two US R&B No. 1s in 1953, although he never reached the long-term heights of some of his more renowned contemporaries. He eventually moved to Europe in the 1970s to become part of the thriving blues scene in France and the UK.

This 42-track 2- CD collection comprises most of his releases during this era on the Apollo, Aristocrat, Parrot, Chess, Mad, Formal & Solar labels, plus other Chess recordings which were not released at the time. It features his two No. 1 R&B hits, “I Don’t Know” and “I’m Mad”, and his 1955 R&B Top 10 hit “Poison Ivy” along with other notable recordings including Willie Dixon’s “Seventh Son”.

As a city blues artist, his songwriting often had a wry, tongue-in-cheek approach to social commentary, and his music had an urbane and stylishly streetwise feel, which comes across through this trawl across the primary era of his career.

I'm Mad: The Early Years Collection 1953-62 (2 CD) mc
I'm Mad: The Early Years Collection 1953-62 (2 CD) gofile

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Willie Mabon - Blues & Rhythm Series 5154: The Chronological Willie Mabon 1949-1954

Size: 294 MB
Time: 58:40
File: FLAC
Released: 2005
Styles: Blues, R&B
Art: Full

01. Bogey Man (3:10)
02. It Keeps Raining (2:50)
03. Worry Blues (3:15)
04. I Don't Know (3:10)
05. I'm Mad (2:37)
06. Got To Have It (3:07)
07. Beggar Or Bandit (2:46)
08. Night Latch (3:26)
09. You're A Fool (2:27)
10. Monday Woman (2:54)
11. I Got To Go (2:49)
12. Cruisin' (3:11)
13. I'm Tired (2:45)
14. Would You Baby? (2:59)
15. Late Again (2:36)
16. Come On Baby (2:59)
17. Lonely Blues (2:53)
18. Willie's Blues (3:06)
19. Poison Ivy (2:55)
20. Say Man (2:34)

Willie Mabon's harp-blowing, talk-singing stripe of piano blues, with honking horns, stop-start rhythms, and loads of cocky, cranky humor, came together in one of the biggest R&B hits of 1952: "I Don't Know." Topping the charts for eight weeks, Mabon's song even crossed over to the pop field via a Top 20 rendition by Buddy Morrow. Mabon followed up "I Don't Know" with the very similar "I'm Mad" and reached the number one spot once again. When copycat singles such as "Would You Baby?" failed to move, Mabon broke out with "Poison Ivy," his final hit, which features a stomping rhythm and straightforward singing. 1949-1954 collects Mabon's three hits and 17 other cuts originally recorded for Apollo, Parrot, and Chess Records that reveal Mabon to be more versatile than "I Don't Know" and "I'm Mad" might suggest. He serves up a variety of loping boogies ("Bogey Man"), urban blues jams ("Night Latch" and "Cruisin'"), raucous shouters with call-and-response vocals ("Say Man"), and the occasional slow blues. Anyone compiling the biggest R&B hits of the early '50s would be certain to encounter Mabon, and 1949-1954 rounds up his hard-to-find hits and misses in a chronological package with good sound quality and session information but not much in the way of liner notes. ~Greg Adams

The Chronological Willie Mabon 1949-1954

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The Aces - Chicago Beat

Size: 142,0 MB
Time: 61:47
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1976/1999
Styles: Chicago Blues
Art: Full

01. Tell Me Mama (2:50)
02. Hoo Doo Man (3:59)
03. Take A Little Walk With Me (3:17)
04. Whole Lot Of Lovin' (3:30)
05. Got My Mojo Workin' (3:40)
06. Ace's Shuffle (2:55)
07. Blues For Marcelle (5:17)
08. Kansas City (6:05)
09. Early In The Morning (4:10)
10. Money, Marbles And Chalk (4:15)
11. Route 66 (4:56)
12. Blue Shadows (3:38)
13. Wee Wee Baby (3:23)
14. Fannie Mae (2:44)
15. Ace's Shuffle (3:56)
16. Stop, Stop, Stop (3:02)

Personnel: Louis Myers (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Fred Below (vocals, drums); Eddie Taylor, Jimmy Rogers , Mickey Baker (guitar); Willie Mabon (piano).

Common wisdom says that Muddy Waters was the man responsible for turbo charging the Delta blues and creating what we now call Chicago blues. Waters' importance is inestimable, but to lay all the credit at his feet is to ignore the contributions of those who quite literally used Waters' music as a jumping-off point, and blazed historical trails of their own. Of all the great musicians who passed through Waters' bands, perhaps the most important of all was harmonica player and singer Little Walter Jacobs. Jacobs left Waters' band at the age of 22 already a seasoned veteran of the road and the recording studio. He quickly recruited his own superb band, and came very close to eclipsing his former boss' success during the heyday of Chicago blues in the '50s, with two number one hits among his ten appearances on the nationwide Billboard R&B charts; Waters himself had 12 songs reach the Billboard charts, but he never scored a number one hit. Much of Little Walter's success can be attributed to the fact that he was doing something new, different, and thoroughly urban; where Waters' appeal lay heavily with Southern emigres longing for familiar sounds, Walter's swinging, modern, jazz-inflected style found favor with a younger generation of city blues fans not so closely tied to the "down-home" sounds of the South.

But Little Walter couldn't have done it alone -- he needed accompanists who shared his desire to push the edge of the blues envelope, so he recruited his band from among the most accomplished and forward-thinking blues musicians available in Chicago. His first recording and touring band in 1952 was one that he'd sometimes sat in with while still with Waters -- The Aces, featuring brothers David and Louis Myers on guitars. The Myers brothers were born in Byhalia, MS, and had learned the rudiments of guitar from their father before the family relocated to Chicago in the early '40s while both brothers were still in their early teens. There their musical tastes were formed by equal doses of the big-band swing that was popular at the time, pop ballads they heard on the radio, and the blues that was being played all around their southside neighborhood. By the late '40s they had assumed the roles they'd play for much of their musical careers: older brother Dave providing basslines and chords into which Louis wove his tastefully jazzy blues riffing. Their rock-solid musical foundation provided the perfect base for the veteran bluesman they soon found themselves backing, but their musical precociousness drove them to eventually form the Aces, which incorporated some of the more modern and sophisticated influences that had raised eyebrows with the older blues crowd. The Aces were rounded out by schooled jazz drummer Fred Below, a Chicago native for whom the rough Southern blues rhythms were almost completely foreign; after his first gig with the group he was so musically disoriented that he decided to quit the band, but was persuaded to stick it out and adapt his jazz techniques to the blues, ultimately becoming the most in-demand blues drummer in Chicago (in addition to putting the beat to many of rock & roll pioneer Chuck Berry's early hits). Little Walter approached his harmonica like a jazz saxophone player, and the Aces provided the propulsive backing of a swinging big band. It would have been near impossible at the time to find three musicians who were better suited to providing the solid foundation for Walter's musical innovations than the Aces, who had the musical and dynamic range, swing sensibilities, and melding of individual strengths that made them the standard by which all of Little Walter's later ensembles -- and most harp-led blues bands since -- have been measured.

Unfortunately this band was not to last; the Aces had been establishing their own name around town, but when their first records with Little Walter were released by the Chess Records subsidiary Checker as by "Little Walter and His Night Caps" or "...and His Jukes" (to capitalize on the popularity of his first hit "Juke," recorded during a session while he was still with Waters), there was dissension in the ranks. The first to leave was Louis, who was replaced by Robert Jr. Lockwood in 1954. Almost 40 years old at the time, Lockwood's roots were in the Delta; as Robert Johnson's stepson, he had a firm handle on the deepest of blues, but had been studying jazz guitarists since at least the '30s, and had been recording since before WWII. He proved to be an adept foil for Walter's harp excursions, and many of Walter's jazziest adventures were supported and driven by Lockwood's sophisticated guitar riffing.

Dave Myers was the next to leave, joining his brother Louis in 1955 in a re-formed Aces that featured Junior Wells (who had played with them pre-Walter) and later Otis Rush. Dave was replaced by 19-year-old guitar prodigy Luther Tucker, who had been hanging around the band and occasionally sitting in with them, as well as with other local blues acts. Although Tucker's role was initially the same as Dave's -- thumping out basslines on his guitar and providing chordal fills behind Lockwood -- he soon distinguished himself as one of the flashiest of the new breed of guitarists in Chicago. When given the chance to take the lead, Tucker's fleet-fingered bursts of nervous energy helped push Little Walter's music in new and exciting directions. The first wave of rock & roll was cresting, aggressively played electric guitar was moving to the forefront of popular music, and Luther Tucker was among the blues guitarists at the leading edge.

It was around this time that Fred Below vacated the drum seat, although as was the custom at Chess/Checker Records, he continued to be brought in for recording sessions for the next several years. Replacing him on the road for a time was his old drum school classmate Odie Payne, Jr., who had been playing and recording in Chicago since the late '40s with the likes of Tampa Red, Memphis Minnie, Memphis Slim and Elmore James, and later worked as the house drummer at Cobra Records, playing behind Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, Otis Rush and others. Payne's slightly more orthodox but still distinctly jazzy style was by all accounts ideally suited to Walter's music, although there's no documentation of him ever appearing on any of Walter's records.

After a short time with a still young and rambunctious Little Walter and the even younger Luther Tucker, Lockwood was began to tire of the grind, and he left Walter's band, although he continued to appear on records with him (and also notably with Sonny Boy Williamson) until the late '50s. In 1956 Jimmie Lee Robinson joined Little Walter's band, pushing Luther Tucker into the lead role that Lockwood had vacated. Robinson was another Chicago native, who had grown up around the blues-rich Maxwell Street Market area, and knew Walter from his escapades there during his earliest years in Chicago. Robinson's formative years included musical apprenticeship on Maxwell Street, followed by formal music lessons for a time, and then time spent with guitarists Freddie King, Elmore James, Eddie Taylor, and others in the early '50s. His guitar style had similarities to Tucker's, and eventually their roles carrying the top and bottom of the music melded to the point where they would trade back and forth even during songs. Unfortunately there are only a few examples of Jimmie Lee's years with Walter on record, due to the record label's insistence on not tampering with the successful studio formula that had been established by the Tucker/Lockwood/Below ensemble (usually augmented by Willie Dixon on string bass).

By the end of the '50s, Little Walter's hit-making days were behind him, and his bands soon became a revolving door through which a number of local musicians passed. In 1959 guitarist Freddie Robinson joined the band for a time (replacing Jimmie Lee Robinson, a move that has caused much confusion among discographers over the years), during which he sometimes played electric bass. Odie Payne left the band after a short time to be replaced by the solid if less musically adventurous George Hunter. During sessions over the next few years the drum throne (on sessions, at least) was also occupied by Billy Stepney, session ace Al Duncan, and even the return of Fred Below for a 1960 session. But blues tastes were changing, and his great ensembles of the past had all scattered and moved on to other pursuits with varying degrees of success. ~by Scott Dirks

Chicago Beat

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Various - I Got Woman

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:44
Size: 166.5 MB
Styles: Assorted blues styles
Year: 2015
Art: Front

[3:56] 1. Brownie McGhee - I Got A Woman
[2:49] 2. The Blues Caravan - Train Train Blues
[3:17] 3. Sonny Boy Williamson II - Insurance Man Blues
[2:55] 4. Good Lewis - Pelican Jump
[3:13] 5. Lonnie Johnson - Another Woman Booked Out And Bound To Go
[2:49] 6. Charles Brown - Groovy
[2:30] 7. Tiny Davis - How About That Jive
[3:12] 8. Washboard Walter - Narrow Face Blues
[2:48] 9. Sonny Boy Williamson II - Rainy Day Blues
[2:39] 10. Freddie Mitchell - Mr Freddie's Boogie
[3:31] 11. Brownie McGhee - Hold Me In Your Arms
[2:52] 12. Harold Burrage - Hi-Yo Silver
[3:22] 13. Washboard Walter - Insurance Man Blues
[2:55] 14. Lonnie Johnson - Wrong Woman Blues
[2:58] 15. Charles Brown - Googie's Boogie
[2:46] 16. Sunnyland Slim - She Ain't Nowhere
[2:56] 17. Slim Barton - It’s Tight Like That
[2:24] 18. Jessie Allen - Let's Party
[3:20] 19. Sonny Boy Williamson II - The Right Kind Of Life
[3:17] 20. Lonnie Johnson - When You Fall For Some One That’s Not Your Own
[2:21] 21. Charles Brown - Peek A Boo
[2:34] 22. Willie Mabon - I'm Mad
[4:29] 23. Brownie McGhee - The C.C.& O.Blues
[2:40] 24. Eddie Boyd - Five Long Years

Song History: "I Got a Woman" (originally titled "I've Got a Woman") is a song co-written and recorded by American R&B and soul musician Ray Charles. Atlantic Records released the song as a single in December 1954, with "Come Back Baby" as the B-side. Both songs later appeared on the 1957 album Ray Charles (subsequently reissued as Hallelujah I Love Her So).

The song builds on "It Must Be Jesus" by the Southern Tones, which Ray Charles was listening to on the radio while on the road with his band in the summer of 1954. He and a member of his band, trumpeter Renald Richard, penned a song that was built along a gospel-frenetic pace with secular lyrics and a jazz-inspired rhythm and blues (R&B) background. The song would be one of the prototypes for what later became termed as "soul music" after Charles released "What'd I Say" nearly five years later.

I Got Woman mc
I Got Woman zippy

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Willie Mabon - I'm The Fixer: The Best Of The USA Records Sessions

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:30
Size: 108.7 MB
Styles: Chicago blues
Year: 1968/2013
Art: Front

[2:29] 1. Got To Have Some
[2:03] 2. Why Did It Happen To Me
[2:34] 3. Just Got Some
[2:32] 4. That's No Big Thing
[2:29] 5. Too Hot To Handle
[3:00] 6. I'm The Fixer
[2:54] 7. Don't Let That Music Die
[2:53] 8. Lover Gal
[2:24] 9. I'm Hongry
[2:43] 10. Ruby's Monkey
[2:29] 11. Some More
[2:32] 12. New Orleans Blues
[2:21] 13. Somebody Gotta Pay
[2:32] 14. Harmonica Special
[2:54] 15. Lonesome Blue Water
[2:49] 16. Some Time I Wonder
[2:57] 17. Something For Nothing
[2:46] 18. Baby Sweets

Of all the Chicago blues stars populating the Chess Records roster in 1953-Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Rogers, Little Walter-none were any more commercially potent than Willie Mabon. The piano man held down the top spot on the R&B hit parade for a good portion of the year with his sly, streetwise "I Don't Know" and its ominous followup "I'm Mad." A decade later, Mabon had cooled off bigtime. His Chess reign ended during the mid-'50s, and the labels he recorded for after that were for the most part considerably less prestigious. But when he landed at Paul Glass' U.S.A. Records in 1963, the firm issued eight of his singles, the most he'd had out anywhere since Chess. Every one of them was a quality effort. This is the first CD compilation of Willie's U.S.A. sides.

I'm The Fixer: The Best Of The USA Records Sessions

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Willie Dixon - Mr. Dixon's Workshop

Size: 135,8 MB
Time: 57:55
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2001
Styles: Chicago Blues
Art: Front

01 Otis Rush - I Can't Quit You Baby ( 2:57)
02 Harold Burrage - I Don't Care Who Knows ( 2:26)
03 Charles Clark - Hidden Charms ( 2:37)
04 Jessie Fortune - Too Many Cooks ( 2:50)
05 George 'Wild Child' Butler - Axe And The Wind ( 2:29)
06 Willie Mabon - Just Got Some ( 2:36)
07 Magic Sam - Easy Baby ( 2:44)
08 Lee Jackson - Fishin' In My Pond ( 2:39)
09 Junior Wells - Two-Headed Woman ( 2:38)
10 Walter 'Shakey' Horton - Have A Good Time ( 2:17)
11 Buddy Guy - Sit And Cry (The Blues) ( 3:00)
12 Betty Everett - My Love ( 2:17)
13 Buster Benton - Spider In My Stew ( 3:30)
14 Harold Burrage - Satisfied ( 2:56)
15 Mickey Gilley - My Babe ( 2:15)
16 Magic Sam - All Night Long ( 2:45)
17 Junior Wells - She's A Sweet One ( 3:01)
18 Otis Rush - My Love Will Never Die (Alternate Take) (11:51)

As a handy compilation of the prolific producer/songwriter/musician/A&R man's work for his non-Chess label clients, Mr. Dixon's Workshop is a captivating exploration into how productive Willie Dixon was on the '60s Chicago blues scene. While many of these tracks have appeared on other anthologies, specifically The Cobra Records Story box set, and some, like Otis Rush's "I Can't Quit You Baby," are ubiquitous, others are far more rare, making this a terrific collection of some relatively difficult to find music from one of post-war blues' most essential musicians. Charles Clark's pre-Howlin' Wolf version of "Hidden Charms," along with Jessie Fortune's "Too Many Cooks" ---the latter featuring young guitarist Buddy Guy and Big Walter Horton on harp -- popularized later by Robert Cray, are just two of the dusty gems found here. Guy also shows up on an early, earthy 1958 solo recording of "Sit and Cry the Blues." The fascinating final track, a previously unreleased studio session, is comprised of three alternate takes and shows the development of Otis Rush's "My Love Will Never Die" from a stark, solo piano-based ballad to the raging slow blues with horns it became, which puts the listener in an intriguing fly-on-the-wall position. Magic Sam, Junior Wells, and even a young Betty Everette are here, but it's the deep catalog items from obscure bluesmen like Harold Burrage, Lee Jackson, and Buster Benton (whose fiery "Spider in My Stew," featuring Carey Bell on eerie harp, is one of the album's highlights) that are the most welcome finds. Interestingly, a very Jerry Lee Lewis-sounding Mickey Gilley romps through a rockabilly version of "My Babe." Dixon's own rubbery standup basslines, along with his distinctive songwriting, are the constants that tie these rather diverse artists together. Liner notes from the knowledgeable Bill Dahl provide pertinent background information; however, clear notation of who plays on each song is sadly missing. You have to search through the five pages of text in the poorly designed booklet. Otherwise this is a wonderful single-disc compilation exhibiting just how multifaceted and talented Willie Dixon was, even beyond his groundbreaking and better-known work for Chess. ~Review by Hal Horowitz

Mr. Dixon's Workshop

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Various - Paula Records Presents Chicago Blues Of The 1960s

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:15
Size: 142.5 MB
Styles: Chicago blues
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[2:48] 1. Homesick James - Crossroads
[2:14] 2. T.V. Slim - You Can't Love Me
[2:15] 3. J.B. Lenoir - I Feel So Good
[2:19] 4. Koko Taylor - Honky Tonky
[2:43] 5. Detroit Junior - The Way I Feel
[2:58] 6. Detroit Junior - Call My Job
[2:55] 7. Jesse Fortune - Too Many Cooks
[2:47] 8. Jesse Fortune - Good Things
[2:58] 9. Jesse Fortune - Heavy Heart Beat
[2:49] 10. Lillian Offitt - Oh Mama
[2:32] 11. Harold Burrage - I Cry For You
[2:42] 12. Various - Say Your're Leavin
[3:28] 13. Willie Mabon - New Orleans Blues
[2:35] 14. Willie Mabon - Some More
[3:01] 15. Willie Mabon - Something For Nothing
[3:18] 16. Mighty Joe Young - Hard Times
[3:30] 17. Big Moose - Ramblin Woman
[2:59] 18. Andrew Brown - You Better Stop
[2:29] 19. Willie Mabon - Somebody Gotta Pay
[2:56] 20. Willie Mabon - Some Time I Wonder
[3:01] 21. Homesick James - My Baby's Sweet
[2:47] 22. Koko Taylor - Like Heaven To Me

This 22-track collection brings together many of the rare singles from the seldom-anthologized USA label from Chicago. The only exceptions to this are the inclusion of a TV Slim track ("You Can't Love Me") from the Speed label, Lillian Offitt's "Oh Mama" from Chief and Harold Burrage's Cobra recording of "I Cry For You." Kicking off with Homesick James' interpretation of "Crossroads," the compilation also features equally stellar tracks from J.B. Lenoir ("I Feel So Good"), Koko Taylor ("Honky Tonky" and "Like Heaven to Me," her first single), Detroit Junior ("Call My Job"), Jesse Fortune, Fenton Robinson ("Say You're Leavin'"), Big Moose Walker, Mighty Joe Young, Andrew Brown and five tracks from Willie Mabon. The other side of Chicago's heyday away from the Chess studios. ~Cub Koda

Paula Records Presents Chicago Blues Of The 1960s mc
Paula Records Presents Chicago Blues Of The 1960s zippy

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Various Artists - Don't Worry 'Bout the Bear

This compilation contains 33 tracks of rare 1970s blues, courtesy of the long-lost Big Bear label! Includes sides by Homesick James, Doctor Ross. Eddie "Playboy" Taylor, Lightnin' Slim, Snooky Pryor, Billy Boy Arnold, Mickey Baker, Billy Emerson and others.

File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Source: LL (from CD)
Released: 2003
Styles: Blues
Time: 60:02
Size: 138,4 MB
Covers: Front, CD, Tray, Inside

Album: Don't Worry 'Bout the Bear Disc 1
(3:20) 1. Snooky Pryor - Shake Your Boogie
(3:55) 2. Homesick James & Snooky PryorAfter You There Won't Be Nobody Else
(3:48) 3. Homesick James - Crossroads
(4:19) 4. Homesick James - Highway 51
(2:18) 5. Big John Wrencher - Honeydripper
(4:00) 6. Eddie Taylor - Seems Like a Million Years
(3:29) 7. Eddie Taylor - Ready for Eddie
(5:29) 8. Doctor Ross - Don't Worry 'Bout the Bear
(4:14) 9. Doctor Ross - I'm a Mannish Boy
(4:12) 10. Doctor Ross - Got Something to Tell You
(2:01) 11. Erwin Helfer - Sneaky Pete
(2:56) 12. Erwin Helfer & Bob Hall - Homage to AA and PJ
(3:47) 13. Whispering Smith - Texas Flood
(2:27) 14. Lightnin' Slim - Walkin' in the Park
(2:25) 15. G.P. Jackson - 12th Street Boogie
(7:13) 16. Johnny Mars & Boogie Woogie Red & Baby Boy Warren - Meet Me in the Alley

Album: Don't Worry 'Bout the Bear Disc 2
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Source: LL (from CD)
Released: 2003
Styles: Blues
Time: 61:58
Size: 142,8 MB
Covers: Full

(4:33) 1. Eddie 'Guitar' Burns - She's in L.A.
(3:29) 2. Eddie 'Guitar' Burns - Do It If You Wanna
(1:58) 3. Boogie Woogie Red - Viper Song
(3:42) 4. Billy Boy Arnold - I Wish You Would
(6:03) 5. Johnny Mars - It's My Own Fault
(2:29) 6. Johnny Mars - I've Been Down So Long
(3:54) 7. Willie Mabon - Klickety Klock
(3:48) 8. Mickey Baker - Blues Fell This Morning
(3:29) 9. Mickey Baker - I'll Always Be in Love With You
(4:32) 10. Tommy Tucker - Alimony
(3:51) 11. Billy 'The Kid' Emerson - Buzzard Luck
(5:24) 12. Charles Brown - Blues for My Baby
(3:02) 13. Gene Connors - So Tired
(3:51) 14. Gene Connors - Let the Good Times Roll
(4:22) 15. Gene Connors - Honky Tonk
(3:23) 16. Cousin Joe - When a Woman Loves a Man

Don't Worry 'Bout the Bear Disc 1
Don't Worry 'Bout the Bear Disc 2
Don't Worry 'Bout the Bear Disc artwork

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Willie Dixon/Muddy Waters - Python: Snakebite III

Year: 2009
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:09
Size: 119,2 MB
Styles: Blues
Scans: Full

1. Little Walter - My Babe (2:39)
2. The Big Three Trio - Violent Love (2:20)
3. Eddie Boyd - Third Degree (3:13)
4. Willie Mabon - Seventh Son (2:51)
5. Willie Dixon - Crazy For My Baby (2:49)
6. Willie Dixon - Pain In My Heart (3:17)
7. Muddy Waters - (I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man (2:44)
8. Howlin' Wolf - Evil (2:52)
9. Little Walter - Mellow Down Easy (2:40)
10. Jimmy Witherspoon - When The Lights Go Out (2:49)
11. Muddy Waters - Young Fashioned Ways (2:58)
12. Bo Diddley - Pretty Thing (2:49)
13. Muddy Waters - I'm Ready (3:01)
14. Lowell Fulson - Do Me Right (2:53)
15. Muddy Waters - I Just Want To Make Love To You (2:52)
16. Lowell Fulson - Tollin' Bells (3:04)
17. Willie Dixon - 29 Ways (2:08)
18. Willie Dixon - Walking The Blues (3:01)

The first two volumes of the Snakebite series highlighted the work and contribution that Willie Dixon made in setting up the Cobra label at Jewel Paul after he left Chess Records. As a prequel to this we present a collection of material written by Willie Dixon for himself and other artists such as Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Witherspoon and Bo Diddley amongst others.

Python: Snakebite III mc
Python: Snakebite III zippy

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Little Mack Simmons - Blue Lights

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:09
Size: 130.8 MB
Styles: Chicago blues
Year: 2002/2008
Art: Front

[3:52] 1. Help Me
[2:43] 2. You Mistreated Me
[4:36] 3. Blue Lights
[4:07] 4. Killing Floor
[4:22] 5. Mystery Train
[5:17] 6. Last Night
[3:19] 7. So Unhappy
[3:03] 8. Mother-In-Law Blues
[3:08] 9. Poison Ivy
[4:16] 10. Sad Hours
[2:16] 11. Messin' With The Kid
[6:12] 12. Last Night
[2:41] 13. Talk To You Baby
[3:21] 14. Driving Wheel
[3:49] 15. Juke

Bass – Dave Myers; Drums – Fred Below; Guitar – Hubert Sumlin, Lonnie Brooks; Harmonica, Vocals – Mack Simmons (tracks: Little Mack Simmons); Piano – Willie Mabon. Recorded December 8 & 22, 1975 in Paris, France, except 12 to 15 recorded live November 18, 1975 in Reims, France.

In his remarkable 47-year career, Little Mack Simmons — Chicago vocalist and harpman extraordinaire — has performed with the some of the brightest lights of the blues world, including Robert Nighthawk, Sunnyland Slim, Eddie Boyd, Willie Mabon, Detroit Junior, Jimmy Dawkins, Lonnie Brooks, Luther Allison, Magic Sam, J.B. Lenoir and Howlin' Wolf.

Malcolm Simmons was born on January 25, 1933, in the small cotton-farming community of Twist, Arkansas. He was a childhood friend of James Cotton, who was serving as an apprentice of Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller) at the time. The two boys persisted in skipping school together for the more enticing lure of jamming on their harmonicas, and Cotton taught Simmons the harp techniques he was learning from the master. Soon school was dropped completely, and Mack picked cotton and drove a tractor full time. Then at 18, he left for St. Louis, where he lived for two years while working on the railroad. It was here that Simmons met the renowned Robert Nighthawk and made his club debut on Nighthawk's stage. In 1954 Little Mack moved on to Chicago, where he formed his own band and held down a five-year stand at Cadillac Baby's, as well as performing regularly at Pepper's Lounge and at Sylvio's. In 1959 he began his recording career, initially at Carl Jones's C.J. label, then he cut tracks for Cadillac Baby and Chess Records. Over the next three years, he laid down more sides for the Palos, Bea & Baby and New Breed labels.

By the late 1960s, Simmons had redefined his musical style, incorporating an intriguing mix of gospel, country and western, funk, soul and rock influences into his blues. From the mid to late 1970s, he owned and operated the Zodiac Lounge in Chicago. He also owned a studio and recorded for his own labels: PM Records and Simmons Records. In addition he cut blues tracks for Biscayne and Dud Sound, and in the 1980s he recorded for Sky Hero Productions, in which he was a partner.

Blue Lights

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Willie Mabon - 2 albums: Willie Mabon / The Comeback

The sly, insinuating vocals and chunky piano style of Willie Mabon won the heart of many an R&B fan during the early '50s. His salty Chess waxings "I Don't Know," "I'm Mad," and "Poison Ivy" established the pianist as a genuine Chicago blues force, but he faded as an R&B hitmaker at the dawn of rock & roll. Mabon was already well-grounded in blues tradition from his Memphis upbringing when he hit Chicago in 1942. Schooled in jazz as well as blues, Mabon found the latter his ticket to stardom. His first sides were a 1949 78 for Apollo as Big Willie and some 1950 outings for Aristocrat and Chess with guitarist Earl Dranes as the Blues Rockers.

But Mabon's asking price for a night's work rose dramatically when his 1952 debut release on powerful Windy City DJ Al Benson's Parrot logo, "I Don't Know," topped the R&B charts for eight weeks after being sold to Chess. From then on, Mabon was a Chess artist, returning to the top R&B slot the next year with the ominous "I'm Mad" and cracking the Top Ten anew with the Mel London-penned "Poison Ivy" in 1954. Throughout his Chess tenure, piano and sax were consistently to the fore rather than guitar and harp, emphasizing Mabon's cool R&B approach. His original version of Willie Dixon's hoodoo-driven "The Seventh Son" bombed in 1955, as did the remainder of his fine Chess catalog. Mabon never regained his momentum after leaving Chess. He stopped at Federal in 1957, Mad in 1960, Formal in 1962 (where he stirred up some local sales with his leering "Got to Have Some"), and USA in 1963-1964. Mabon sat out much of the late '60s but came back strong after moving to Paris in 1972, recording and touring Europe prolifically until his death. ~bio by Bill Dahl

Album: Willie Mabon
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:08
Size: 119.4 MB
Styles: R&B, Piano blues
Year: 1979
Art: Front

[4:17] 1. Little Red Rooster
[4:37] 2. Lonely Blues
[5:58] 3. It's A Shame
[6:17] 4. Moanin' Blues
[4:59] 5. Monday Woman
[6:27] 6. Louise
[3:49] 7. Seventh Son
[4:20] 8. I'm Mad
[2:49] 9. A Change Is Gonna Come
[3:30] 10. Lonesome Train
[5:01] 11. Mabon's Boogie

Willie Mabon mc
Willie Mabon zippy

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Album: The Comeback
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:37
Size: 97.6 MB
Styles: R&B, Piano blues
Year: 1980
Art: Front

[3:54] 1. Klickety Klock
[2:54] 2. Lonely Blues
[2:41] 3. Come On Baby
[3:29] 4. Keep My Lover With Me
[3:34] 5. Shake That Thing
[3:22] 6. I Don't Know
[5:15] 7. The Comeback
[3:11] 8. I Don't Know
[3:33] 9. My Baby Won't Write To Me
[4:26] 10. Boogie Woogie Special
[3:09] 11. I'm Hungry
[3:06] 12. I'll Keep On Hurtin'

The Comeback mc
The Comeback zippy

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Willie Mabon - Shake That Thing

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:44
Size: 150.5 MB
Styles: Piano blues
Year: 1975/2007
Art: Front

[4:37] 1. Shake That Thing
[2:37] 2. Poison Ivy
[3:56] 3. Got To Have Some
[5:47] 4. Riverboat
[3:54] 5. Worry Blues
[3:44] 6. Hungry
[4:48] 7. Hey Girl
[3:07] 8. I Enjoyed Myself In Pau
[3:15] 9. I'm Mad
[4:30] 10. Lover Girl
[4:01] 11. Got To Have Some
[4:33] 12. Shake That Thing
[0:20] 13. Monologue By Dave Myers
[4:18] 14. I Don't Know (Feat Koko Taylor)
[0:07] 15. Monologue
[5:07] 16. Cold Chilly Woman (Feat Koko Taylor)
[6:56] 17. Shake That Thing (Feat Koko Taylor)

Another classic Black & Blue recording seeing the light of day in the States. This album was recorded in Toulouse, France and Amstelveen, Holland in 1973 and shows Willie Mabon in top form on vocals, piano, and harmonica playing all originals. He's backed by The Aces (Louis Myers, lead guitar; Dave Myers, bass; Fred Below, drums) and Jimmy Rogers (rhythm guitar) and what a great band they make!

Solid performances throughout, and the recording quality is superb. The disc ends with 3 songs recorded with Koko Taylor on vocals on another version of the title track. Also presented are alternate takes of "Got to Have Some" and "Shake That Thing" which were previously unavailable. All said, a must have album. ~C.E. Ivy

Shake That Thing mc
Shake That Thing zippy

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Willie Mabon - 2 albums: Cold Chilly Woman / The Comeback

Album: Cold Chilly Woman
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 67:24
Size: 154.3 MB
Styles: Piano blues
Year: 1973/2008
Art: Front

[3:55] 1. 'round For You
[3:46] 2. Cold Chilly Woman
[4:09] 3. Michelle
[3:57] 4. Guilty Blues
[4:19] 5. Why Did It Happen To Me
[3:51] 6. Baby, Why Don't You Write To Me
[4:32] 7. Lucinda
[5:18] 8. Mary-Ann
[5:42] 9. Blue Piano In Bordeaux
[4:00] 10. Michelle-Take 1
[6:12] 11. Shakin' The Boogie
[5:03] 12. Why Did It Happen To Me-Take 1
[3:34] 13. Sad Feeling
[5:58] 14. Mabon's Best
[3:01] 15. You Rascal You

After a decade-long sabbatical (circa 1963-1973), Chicago blues pianist Willie Mabon (piano/vocal/harmonica) resurfaced in the early to mid-'70s. Cold Chilly Woman (1973) contains post-retirement sides, recorded in (of all places) Bordeaux, France, circa December of 1972. The 2003 import CD version doubles the original seven-song release, boasting eight previously unavailable tunes. Mabon is presented accompanying himself on piano and harmonica as well as in a trio setting, backed by Emmett Sutton (bass) and Bill Warren (drums). The leader is also credited on 13 of the 15 new selections. "'Round for You" sports a bopping ensemble arrangement that Sutton and Warren eagerly jump into. They support Maybon's refined and stylish piano vamps, maximizing the phrasing with their own flourishes. A similar approach fills out the gritty 12-bar shouter "Guilty Blues," as Mabon's harmonica interjections link the verses. The cover of Brother Ray Charles' "Mary-Ann" is given a rousing workout and may be the best example of the combo in full flight. Arguably, the real meat of these sessions is on Mabon's solos, such as the title track, "Cold Chilly Woman," recalling the authentic Chicago blues stylings that he became known for in the '50s. Although the melody is undeniably simple, he cranks things up a notch, sporting tasty piano licks that vacillate from a rather strident accompaniment to an otherwise amiable delivery. "Michelle" is an R&B-flavored ballad that allows Mabon's playing to take on a percussive feel, helping to augment the rhythm. "Why Did It Happen to Me" is of particular note, as it stands out for Mabon's spoken vocals, sustained by his barrelhouse ivories and once again demonstrating an impressive Chicago and Delta vibe. Interested parties are encouraged to give Cold Chilly Woman a spin, especially considering the additional cuts included on the CD. ~Lindsay Planer

Cold Chilly Woman mc
Cold Chilly Woman zippy

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Album: The Comeback
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 42:35
Size: 97.5 MB
Styles: Piano blues
Year: 1973/1980
Art: Front

[3:53] 1. Klickety Klock
[2:54] 2. Lonely Blues
[2:40] 3. Come On Baby
[3:29] 4. Keep My Lover With Me
[3:34] 5. Shake That Thing
[3:21] 6. I Still Don't Know
[5:15] 7. The Comeback
[3:10] 8. I Don't Know
[3:33] 9. My Baby Won't Write To Me
[4:27] 10. Boogie Woogie Special
[3:09] 11. I'm Hungry
[3:05] 12. I'll Keep On Hurtin'

Rec. & mixed January - March 1973 at Chalk Farm Studios, London, England. Willie Mabon, voc, p, hca; Mickey Baker, g; Colin Smith, tpt, Johnny Barnes, bs; Dan Armstrong, b; Pete York, dr; Dyan Birch, Frank Collins, Paddie McHugh of "Kokomo", backing voc; prod. by Jim Simpson.

The Comeback mc
The Comeback zippy

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Various - The USA Records Blues Story

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 70:17
Size: 160.9 MB
Styles: Chicago blues, Detroit blues
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[2:44] 1. Lonnie Brooks - Figure Head
[2:24] 2. Eddy Clearwater - The Duck Walk
[2:55] 3. Willie Mabon - Some Time I Wonder
[2:58] 4. Fenton Robinson - From My Heart
[3:12] 5. Ricky Allen - Going Or Coming
[2:34] 6. Jimmy Burns - Forget It
[3:06] 7. Detroit Junior - It's Bad To Make A Woman Mad
[2:53] 8. Andrew Brown - You Better Stop
[3:12] 9. Mighty Joe Young - Hard Times (Follow Me)
[2:36] 10. Koko Taylor - Like Heaven To Me
[2:13] 11. J.B. Lenoir - I Feel So Good
[2:45] 12. A.C. Reed - I'd Rather Fight Than Switch
[2:38] 13. Willie Mabon - Just Got Some
[2:48] 14. Jesse Fortune - Too Many Cooks
[2:44] 15. Homesick James - Crossroads
[2:58] 16. Ricky Allen - I Have Made A Change
[2:59] 17. Junior Wells - She's A Sweet One
[2:14] 18. Jimmy Burns - Through All Your Faults
[2:53] 19. Detroit Junior - Call My Job
[2:24] 20. Eddy Clearwater - Momee, Momee
[2:05] 21. Andrew Brown - Something Can Go Wrong
[2:34] 22. Lonnie Brooks - I'm Not Going Home
[2:37] 23. Fenton Robinson - Say You're Leavin'
[2:55] 24. Homesick James - My Baby's Sweet
[2:05] 25. Koko Taylor - Honky Tonky
[2:40] 26. Jesse Fortune - Good Things

More than a decade before Alligator Records began reviving the careers of Koko Taylor, Fenton Robinson, Lonnie Brooks, and Detroit Junior, among others in the 1970s, these cats were cutting killer sessions for little labels that you probably have never heard of, including USA Records (not to be confused with Leonard Allen's twin labels United and States from the '50s). Recorded between 1963 and 1966, The USA Records Blues Story captures a dozen of Chicago's best at their peak, often in the midst of some kind of historic transition artistically -- witness Koko Taylor a couple years shy of "Wang Dang Doodle," Fenton Robinson a couple years shy of "Somebody Loan Me a Dime," and Junior Wells a couple years shy of his Hoodoo Man Blues breakthrough. But USA also lured more bankable talent, including Willie Mabon and J.B. Lenoir, who were both still going strong long after their stints with Chess Records. If USA Records ever cut any duds, you wouldn't know it from the way Bill Dahl compiled the reissue; this one hits the jackpot all the way through. ~Ken Chang

The USA Records Blues Story

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Hubert SUMLIN - Blues Anytime!

Styles: Modern Electric Chicago Blues
Recorded: 1964/1980/1981
Released: 1994
File: mp3 @ 320 k/s
Size: 153.50 MB
Time: 65:43
Art: Full

1. It's You Baby - 2:30
2. Love You, Woman - 3:12
3. Everytime I Get To Drinking - 3:05
4. When I Feel Better - 3:48
5. Blues Anytime - 5:17
6. I Love - 3:08
7. Levee Camp Moan - 5:07
8. My Babe - 3:10
9. Hubert's Blues - 3:50
10. We Gonna Jump - 3:31
11. Big Legged Woman - 2:39
12. Too Late For Me To Pray - 3:50
13. Mabon's Boogie - 3:34
14. I Don't Know - 5:15
15. Woodchopping Blues - 5:45
16. I Love - 4:15
17. Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky - 3:30

Personnel: Hubert SUMLIN - Guitars, Electric and Acoustic on all track, Vocal tr.2,4,6,9,16,17

tracks 1-12 recorded 1 November 1964 at Amiga Studio, Berlin, East Germany
SUNNYLAND SLIM - Piano, Vocal tr.1,3,7,10,12;
Willie DIXON - Acoustic Bass and Piano, Vocal tr.5,8,11
Clifton James - Drums tr.1-12

on tracks 13,14 recorded on April and May 1980 in Germany are:
Willie Mabon - Piano, Vocals;
Eddie Taylor - Guitar;
Robert Stroger - Bass; Odie Payne - Drums

on tracks 15-17 recorded on May 1981 in Germany are:
Louisiana Red - Acoustic Guitar, Vocal tr.15,17
Lurrie Bell - Guitar;
Robert Stroger - Bass; Odie Payne - Drums

Notes: Sumlin's primary contribution to this collective enterprise (the album is credited to him, Sunnyland Slim, Willie Dixon and Clifton James) is four solo tracks with acoustic guitar, four vocal and two instrumental. On the former he sounds fleetingly like Lightnin' Hopkins, but his guitar playing, though clever, is unassertive. Most of the rest of the album is by quartet, with vocals by Slim or Dixon. Sumlin plays electric guitar but still sound rather lame. Slim is the chief contributor, playing on seven tracks, singing on five. 'Levee Camp Moan', with just piano and bass, is a believable evocation of a field holler.

After the American Folk Blues Festival tour of 1964 had played its last concert, most artists returned back to the USA, however Howlin' Wolf, Sumlin, Dixon, Slim and James stayed on to do the first extended tour of any American blues artist in two socialist countries, Poland and the German Democratic Republic. Under the impact of the sensational success of this tour, Wolfgang Kahne of VEB Deutsche Schallplatten and Horst Lippmann (promoter of AFBF) decided that a recording should be made. Therefore on the afternoon of November 1st, 1964 group went into Amiga studios.

This was to become the first album ever recorded of American post-war blues in a socialist country!

Album was released (track1-12) on LP by German Democratic Republic, Amiga label in 1964; on West Germany by Scout label in 1969, and by L+R label in 1981, and in different couplings.

On CD he was released in Europe with 5 bonus tracks by L+R label in 1994, and on US, by Evidence label without bonus tracks and different art work. With that 1964 recording session Hubert Sumlin's career began in Europe like so many other American blues musicians. But it lasted a long time till 1980 and 1981, that Sumlin was again an important part of AFBF '80.

                                                                  Blues Anytime!

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