SEALED NEW MINT GREAT BLUES CD BY LEGENDARY "VARIOUS ARTISTS" TITLED "AMERICAN FOLK BLUES FESTIVAL 1962 - 1969 VOLUME 2" ON THE GREAT HIPO LABEL 2004. WILLIE DIXON WORKED WITH PRODUCERS HORST LIPPMAN AND FRITZ RAU TO EACH YEAR BRING A GROUP OF HAND PICKED AMERICAN BLUES ARTISTS TO EUROPE TO TOUR AS "THE AMERICAN FOLK BLUES FESTIVAL" EACH YEAR THERE WERE DIFFERENT ARTISTS, AND EACH YEAR IT WAS A SMASH SUCCESS. THESE RECORDINGS WERE ORIGINALLY ONLY AVAILABLE AS EUROPEAN IMPORTS. HIPO HAS REMASTERED AND COLLECTED SOME GREAT HIGHLIGHTS FROM 1962-1969 WITH DETAILED LINER NOTES. CLASSIC SONGS AND PERFORMANCES. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. PLEASE CHECK OUT THE INFORMATION, REVIEWS AND MY OTHER CDS.
REVIEW:
The second volume of American Folk Blues Festival: 1962-1969 was originally recorded by German promoters and blues fanatics Horst Lippmann and Fritz Rau, who originally booked the tours through Europe. These 16 tracks have been deemed highlights and it's hard to argue with that assessment, especially when the musicians present include Howlin' Wolf, Magic Sam, Skip James, Earl Hooker, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Bukka White, Koko Taylor, Big Joe Turner, Big Mama Thornton, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Hound Dog Taylor, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Son House. These highlights will please both the collector and the casual fan.
Recommended
REVIEW:
Collectors and casual blues listeners should be equally pleased by this delightful companion volume to "The American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1966". Released to coincide with volume three in the similarly titled (and equally magfinicent) DVD series, this disc includes 16 performances recorded by German promoters Fritz Rau and Horst Lippmann who originally booked the "American Folk Blues" tours through Europe. And the sound is very, very good, crisp and clear. Big Mama Thornton opens the festivities, doing a tough, salacious "Hound Dog" which can wipe the floor with Elvis's version any day. She is backed by an all-star combo which includes Buddy Guy, pianist Eddie Boyd, and the wonderfully muscular rhythm section of Fred Below and bassist "Lonesome" Jimmy Lee. This version is faster than Big Mama's other officially issued recording from the 60s Blues Festivals, but no less great, and it is followed by a fine rendition of Sonny Terry's and Brownie McGhee's swinging acoustic "Stranger Blues", and the spooky-voiced Nehemia "Skip" James doing his version of "Pony Blues" titled "All Night Long". Two 1963 performances by the ageing Sonny Boy Williamson (version 2.0, Rice Miller) are among the absolute highlights: A slow, gritty performance of "Keep It To Yourself", and a weary but wonderful "Your Funeral And My Trial", both of which feature Memphis Slim on piano. Then comes Joseph Vernon Turner, Big Joe himself, swinging his way through a delightfully funky, jazz-flavoured "Flip, Flop And Fly", and Howlin' Wolf's fine performance of the slow "I'll Be Back Someday". Wolf is backed by a superb combo, the same one with which he first toured Europe in his own: Sunnyland Slim, Willie Dixon, Hubert Sumlin, and drummer Clifton James. Willie Dixon's "Nervous" is a bit of a novelty item, albeit a clever one, but there is nothing lightweight about Bukka White mauling his National steel guitar and growling his way through a five-minute "Got Sick And Tired", or the great Son House doing a slow, somber six-minute rendition of his razor-edged "Death Letter". Slide slinger Hound Dog Taylor is in higher spirits for the Elmore James-derivative "Wild About You", tearing through the fiery 2 1/2-minute boogie with harpist Little Walter Jacobs in staunch support, and Walter remains onboard for a great take on Koko Taylor's "Wang Dang Doodle". Muddy Waters does a slow, mournful "Long Distance Call", one of the "bluesiest" of all this 16 blues tunes. He is backed by teenaged harpist Paul Oscher and the core of his own band, guitarists Luther "Snake Boy" Johnson and James "Pee Wee" Madison, and bassist Lawrence "Lil' Sonny" Wimberly. Slide guitarist Earl Hooker greets the crowd with a cheeful "Thank the Hell outta ya", before launching into a scorching "Walking The Floor Over You"/"Off The Hook" instrumental medley, and Magic Sam Maghett is captured shortly before his premature death of heart failure, doing a terrific "All Your Love" as part of a lean, mean, three-piece combo. The final song, an improvised "Bye Bye Blues", gathers the entire 1963 cast for a "sing-along", including Memphis Slim, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, Otis Spann and several others. You can catch the same performance on the DVD. One of them. I think it's the first one, but I'm too lazy to check. Anyway. This CD is attractively packaged, with good liner notes and thorough recording information, and generally excellent fidelity. A find for diehards and casual listeners alike. Highly recommended.
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