Rock, Mr. Blues!
Josh P. | 08/01/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"So who really first sang those words "I heard the news/There's good rockin' tonight"? Not Elvis. It was one of his many influences: Mr. Blues himself, the great Wynonie Harris. Collectables, a big oldies reissue company like Rhino Records, has done an excellent job with this, perhaps the best single-disc set of Wynonie Harris. 25 great platters from his King years (the cream of the crop in his recorded material) are presented in an amiable sound quality lasting over an hour. Highlights of this disc include the title track, "All She Wants To Do Is Rock", "Sittin' On It All The Time", "Rock Mr. Blues", "Oh Babe", "Lovin' Machine", and a "Lawdy Miss Clawdy"-sounding number called "Christina." All of them are mid-tempo or fast songs and have that good ol' boogie-woogie beat and swing feel that you can dance to. Crank the volume way up and people will think you have a party right in your home when they hear the thumping bass, the driving drums, the wailing horns, and Wynonie's raucous vocals along with the sharp responses of the backing vocalisits. These are great examples of what early R&B music was in America when late-night listeners were discovering tunes like these during the few years following World War II. The jump blues formula, evident in all of these songs, was one of the key elements for forming what they called "rock'n'roll". King Records was one of the most prominent indie labels in the late '40s and throughout the '50s along with Atlantic and Chess; Wynonie Harris played an important role in helping to create the early R&B sound that would catch on. This is absoultely worth listening to and checking out. By the way, if you look at the album cover while listening to the music, especially the fast songs, try not to laugh. Smiling is contagious. You know he must have had some fun making this music, and you'll have fun discovering it."
Track Listings (25) - Disc #1