Huary Perry Wilson's given name soon mutated into the easier to pronounce U.P. Born in Louisiana, he began playing around Dallas and Fort Worth as a teenager, in company with Zuzu Bollin, Nappy Chin and Robert Ealey. With the latter he formed a guitar-and-drum duo, the Boogie Chillun Boys. In the '80s Wilson's tough music acquired a new audience in Europe. U.P. Wilson's music incorporates many elements of South-western blues, among them the juke-joint rowdiness of Frankie Lee Sims, high-speed note-spinning which recalls Pee Wee Crayton, and the more sophisticated sounds of Lowell Fulson and T-Bone Walker. Nevertheless, Wilson was an original whose music, songwriting and showmanship had been honed by years of competitive gigging in the rougher parts of town, and he made few concessions to the expectations of white audiences.
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Album:
Wild Texas Guitar
Styles: Modern Electric Texas Blues
Recorded: 1988/1989
Released: 1989
Bitrate: 320k/s
Size: 137.38 MB
Time: 59:18
Art: Full
1. Country Girl - 6:32
2. Is That Your Woman - 8:16
3. Checkin' On My Baby - 5:20
4. Off The Bo - 9:28
5. Things I Do For You - 6:19
6. Everyday I Have The Blues - 6:23
7. U.P. Express - 3:46
8. Mean Old World - 4:16
9. Bluebird Shuffle - 3:55
10. Cold Cold Feeling - 5:01
Personnel: U.P. WILSON - Lead Guitar, Vocals on tr.2,6,8,10
on track 1-6 live-1989 with:
Paul Orta - Harmonica tr.3,5,6, Vocals tr.3,5
Ted Roddy - Harmonica tr.1,4, Vocals tr.1
Marc Pollock - Rhythm Guitar
Eddie Stout - Bass;
Steve Fulton - Drums
Joe Rios - Saxophone tr.6
on track 7,8-1988 with:
Matt McCabe - Keyboards
Eddie Stout - Bass;
Freddie Walden - Drums
on track 9,10 live-1988 with:
Paul Orta - Harmonica
Eddie Stout - Bass;
Freddie Walden - Drums
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Album:
On My Way
Styles: Modern Electric Texas Blues
Recorded: 1988
Released: 1999
Bitrate: 320k/s
Size: 123.37 MB
Time: 53:37
Art: Full
1. U.P. Express - 3:41
2. Crosscut Saw - 3:34
3. Reconsider Baby - 5:13
4. Bluebird Boog-A-Loo - 4:22
5. Hold On Baby - 2:36
6. Mean Old World - 5:04
7. Como Station - 4:16
8. I'll Be Coming Home - 4:10
9. 7 Comes 11 - 3:34
10. On My Way - 4:01
11. Cold, Cold Feeling - 6:34
12. Slice 'N' Dice - 6:07
Personnel: U.P. WILSON - Guitar, Vocals
Hook Herrera - Harmonica;
Bill Eden - Saxophone
Matt McCabe - Keyboards;
Eddie James Stout - Bass;
Freddie Walden - Drums
Wilford Sims and 'Worm' - saxophones tr.1,6
on tracks 11,12 recorded live with:
Paul Orta - Harmonica;
Mike Kinred - Keyboards
Notes: Indeed, 'On My Way', originally released for local consumption on the bassist's label Pee Wee Records and this same year (1988) by British label Red Lightnin', has more covers, and of more obvious songs, than do later releases. It's a respectable effort - U.P. even manages to inject passion into 'Mean Old World' - but it's also the first of several CDs to prove that horns and keyboards do Wilson's music no favours. His aggressive playing and singing are best heard fronting a bare-bones rhythm section, not reclining on a bed of harmonies. To the original album, Fedora have added two live tracks recorded with the band of Texas harmonica ace Paul Orta, the churning shuffle and a staple of U.P.'s live act, where he keeps his guitar on the back burner, giving full rein to the power of his vocals.
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