Search - Various :: Rediscovered Blues II

This may or may not exist, but cover art and track listing a

Gordon B. Neavill | 06/08/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This 3-CD set may or may not exist, but the cover art and track listing can be viewed on Half.com. My guess is that Capitol released information about the set but canceled it before copies were manufactured. The tracks projected for release are as follows:



CD1: Tracks 1-8 are Roosevelt Sykes' 1955 recordings for Imperial, including two previously unreleased tracks. These are fine recordings backed by a small band. Six of these were previously reissued on Wolf LPs 004 and 005, Roosevelt Sykes, The Postwar Years vols. 1-2. They may also be available on CD.



CD1: Tracks 9-18 are Bumble Bee Slim's Back in Town LP on Pacific Jazz, with no unissued tracks. This is an appealing but not essential album with Bumble Bee Slim backed by Les McCann and Leroy Vinnegar on three tracks and on the rest by a small band including Curtis Amy on tenor sax (great!), Richard Holmes on organ, and Joe Pass on guitar. Curtis Amy's Pacific Jazz recordings as a leader (but not this Bumble Bee Slim date) have been reissued on Mosaic Select.



CD2 (19 tracks) and CD3 (tracks 1-5): This is Sunnyland Slim's World Pacific LP, "Slim's Got His Thing Goin' On" (11 tracks) plus 13 unissued tracks. The 24 tracks were recorded in 4 sessions in early and late October 1968. The great George Smith is featured on harmonica on most tracks; other musicians vary by session but include Luther Allison, Mick Taylor, Alan Wilson, Henry Vestine, Lowell Fulson, Big Mojo Elem, Larry Taylor, Shakey Jake, and (on one track) Big Mama Thornton on drums. I've never heard the unissued tracks. The LP has some decent tracks but as a whole sounds dated and overproduced -- not Sunnyland at his best. I hadn't listened to it for years before putting it on the turntable for this review and don't anticipate returning to it anytime soon.



CD3 (tracks 6-19): This is Arthur Crudup's Roebuck Man LP recorded in London in 1970 backed by a band of English admirers, including a sometimes intrusive saxophonist. These were Crudup's last recordings; they are appealing and listenable but may be his least essential. Roebuck Man was reissued on CD in 1992 by Sequel Records and is currently available from Amazon sellers.



Les Fancourt and Bob McGrath's Blues Discography 1943-70 (published 2006) lists the unissued tracks as having appeared on Capitol CDP 36284. I don't know whether that is based on promotional information about the projected CD set or examination of actual copies."

Does Anyone Know If This Product Exists?

James Zinn | Kansas City, MO | 02/01/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I heard this may be the rumored last of EMI's Capitol Blues series, as Pete Welding suddenly died upon around the time this was to be released around 1998.



It appears that it was scheduled for release but may not have ever come out. Any existing copy is a rarity, indeed.



My information leads me to believe this is a multi-disk set that featured Sunnyland Slim, Roosevelt Sykes, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, & Bumblebee Slim. My guess it was a reissue of Liberty Records sub-label World Pacific Jazz albums from the 1960's.



Ive never seen a copy..."