Search - Paula Watson, Mabel Scott :: Swing Time Sisters

A companion piece to Night Train's fine Swing Time Shouters series, Swing Time Sisters salutes the unsung female boogie-woogie artists of the postwar era. These ladies could not only belt out the blues with the best of them, but they could also set the 88s on fire. Frantic Faye Thomas earns her title and then some with her rollicking piano and chirping vocals. Paula Watson could be mistaken for Ruth Brown on songs like "You Broke Your Promise" and "A Little Bird Told Me." Joan Shaw's romantic "Rain in My Eyes" was featured in the great 1995 movie Devil in a Blue Dress. And most enjoyable of all, there are two (!) theatrical murder songs. The one with singer Dell Graham and ubiquitous blues legend Lowell Fulsom entitled "Goodbye Baby" contains what must be the only played-out double homicide in the history of song. All told, Swing Time Sisters is a boogie-woogie ball. --Ken Hohman