Search - Lightning Hopkins :: Remaining Titles 1950-61 1

Rare Lightnin'

Pitoucat | UK | 08/30/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is an attempt to fill some of the gaps in the reissue of Lightnin's earliest recordings. It kicks off with three tracks from around 1950 which first appeared on a Specialty anthology LP in the 1970s. It's possible that these were recorded in Houston by Bill Quinn. They represent some fine vintage Lightnin', but not quite as good as his subsequent output on the Sittin' In With label, which must represent the high-water mark of his recording career. This is glorious music, with Lightnin' at the peak of his form on tracks like 'Gone Again', 'One Kind Of Favor', and the two versions of 'Worried Life'. Two further tracks from SIW, with Lightnin' backing the singer L.C. Williams on guitar are provided; two other such items were on a Mainstream CD.



Bob Shad, of SIW, also recorded eight other numbers by Lightnin' which appeared exclusively on a series of Mercury singles. Six of these reappeared on the 8-CD Mercury box-set; the remaining two, 'My Mama Told Me' and 'What's The Matter Now', are included here. However, if you don't want to spend over seventy quid on the box-set, you might try the Lightnin' Hopkins/ Memphis Slim CD on the Spectrum label, where seven of the titles are available for less than a fiver.



By the mid-50s, Lightnin' was exploiting the power of the electric guitar. On four sides for the aptly named TNT label his amplifier sounds as if it is about to explode. The session includes the frighteningly good 'Lightnin' Jump' and 'Leavin' Blues'. After the Chart coupling, 'Walkin' The Streets' and 'Mussy Haired Woman', the remainder of the CD mops up odds and ends from Lightnin's early 'rediscovery' years, with items from Folkways, Candid (featuring Lightnin' and Melvin Jackson doing 'The Slop' on piano), and Fire, ending with an unusual private acetate apparently made in answer to a letter from a female fan in Vienna (Evelyn Parth?). All in all, an excellent collection of vintage Lightnin' Hopkins at his very best. Some other gaps in the CD issue of his early recordings come to mind, such as a couple for Aladdin and a batch of Gold Stars and Deccas, but maybe these will appear on subsequent volumes in the series.

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