20 tracks from the American 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s with the same obsession but different styles.
Bluegrass, blues, hillbilly and rhythm and blues all get a shot. They work well together. There are some tunes here I know well and some I've never heard before. Every one is something special though. There's a raw directness and (on more than one track) clear evidence of the demon's effects. The juxtaposition of genres throws up the occasional insight. Halfway into the Hillbilly fiddle tune "If The River was Whiskey" I suddenly realise it’s "Hesitation Blues". Nice stuff. COLEY JONES (who I hadn’t heard of before this collection does a LEADBELLY styled version of a very old folk song done by (among others) THE DUBLINERS as Seven Nights Drunk .
The best thing about the album is that furious lack of inhibition that gives the whole thing a wild-eyed mad as a mad bastard feel. Even the gracious genius of Billie Holliday lets it a bit further off the leash than usual. Elsewhere, there's the power of HOWLIN' WOLF, as savage as anything you could hear. The dead beat repetition of the word "Drunk" by JIMMY LIGGINS, the enthusiastic sax solo on LOUIS JORDAN's tune, or the blistering finale by PAPA LIGHTFOOT are among the many highlights.
I'm guessing that pretty well everyone has the ROBERT JOHNSON track somewhere in the collection. But it’s always good to hear it again, and the rip-roaring context makes it sound even ghostlier than usual.
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The full listing is worth a look:
Drunk : Jimmy Liggins
Blues In A Bottle : Prince Albert Hunt
Whiskey Do You Stuff : Louis Jordan
If The River Was Whiskey : Charlie Poole With The North Carolina Ramblers
Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee : Stick McGhee & His Buddies
The Gin House Blues : Bessie Smith
Paddy, Won't You Drink Some Cider? : Clayton McMichen And Riley Puckett
C.V. Wine : Howlin' Wolf
Drunkard's Special : Coley Jones
Good, Good, Whiskey : Amos Milburn
Let's Get Drunk Again : Bo Carter
Drunkard's Hiccoughs : J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers
Alcohol : Paul Williams
Drunken Hearted Man (Take 2) : Robert Johnson
Thirsty Mama Blues : Hot Lips Page Trio
The Old Home Brew : The Dixon Brothers
Juiced : Billy Love
Jake Walk Blues : The Allen Brothers
Moonshine Man Blues : Peter Cleighton With Blind John Davis
Wine, Women, Whiskey : Papa Lightfoot
www.the-viper-label.co.uk
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