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However, Mike Bloomfield had "officially released" material prior to his being recorded for the film And This Is Free (which was later "forked" into the closely related CD set And This Is Maxwell Street). That music was released on the Tacoma label (TAKCD-8905-2) in 1997 as part of the CD The Best of Michael Bloomfield (matl. Some (at the time) non-commercial recordings with Bloomfield on them were made prior to March 1963. The only reason I'm going there is because of what is in the next paragraph.R. He was a major influence on Muddy Waters who broke the gates open for everybody who came after him (or indeed preceded him and then hopefully benefited from those opened gates).
In spite of that I'm going to focus in on where these recordings fit in terms of Michael Bloomfield's discography. That tape recently found its way onto a Westwind Singers compilation CD on the (micro-sized) Balkan Records label. Robert Nighthawk is a featured artist here. The rest of what R.
They are talked about below.Pages that have info about Mandolin Blues---[.].[on the page immediately above search for "Mandolin Blues"]On the [.]. It's doubtful that that tape recording was intended to be commercially released, but you never know.Prior to that Bloomfield was recorded while playing guitar for the Westwind Singers on a short demo tape in 1962 or early 1963. Weinstock said that these recordings "includ[e] a Dust My Broom that includes Mike Bloomfield on guitar (possibly being Bloomfield's earliest recordings)." Yes, there are some super early contributions by Mike Bloomfield recorded on these discs. Weinstock said seems to be right on the money. It is surprisingly difficult to navigate from the lower page to the upper page (to get to FolkMusic2).The Balkan Records label specializes in Croatian / Slovenian / Polish / Lithuanian / Serbian / Hungarian / Macedonian folk music.
And This Is Maxwell Street is an awesome blues document and is highly recommended for people who like early Chicago blues. page above there are two prior recordings, but they appear to have gotten released only within the last decade.The recording immediately prior to the Mandolin Blues album is one with Little Brother Montgomery in a live performance at the Fickle Pickle sometime in the first months of 1963 where Bloomfield plays guitar. The Fickle Pickle was a Chicago "rathskellar-type cafe" that had no liquor license which limited how many people wanted to go there. now also licensed by Fantasy Records). Mike played guitar in March of 1963 on Yank Rachell's Tennessee Jug-Busters : Mandolin Blues. Since the Westwind Singers were a folk group I guess it's a match. It's interesting to see and trace those roots.The stars on these tracks are the folks who had been making a living singing on Maxwell Street a decade (or decades) before Mike Shea made the film And This Is Free in 1964.
Amazingly one of the current Balkan releases is Wehrmacht - Songs Of The German Army 1933 - 45. I don't know if these CDs contain Carey Bell's first vocals or not.Bob Koester of Delmark appears to have released the first LP with Mike Bloomfield on it. The music on And This Is Maxwell Street was recorded in 1964. It appears that the CD is available in very few places.[.].The second link is the home page of Balkan Records. Their most popular offerings seem to be music played on the tamburica.
This is without a doubt, the best live blues CD I have ever heard. The recording quality is outstanding, amazing considering it waas recorded in the 60's. Listening to the CD is as if one was actually there on the street.
That one is an absolute masterpiece. There is a lot of good stuff on this set and the booklet is great. That said, I knocked off one star because I was a little disappointed with this when compared to the Robert Nighthawk cuts that form his "Live On Maxwell St.-1964" CD. This one is not nearly as consistant. Sometimes less IS more.
Also, the (unfortunately truncated) "I Shall Overcome" by singer/guitarist Fannie Brewer is just beautiful.But, again, the main attraction is Robert Nighthawk (or "Night Hawk" as the liner notes call him, and as he probably spelled it himself). booklet includes information about every recording, artist's biographies, interviews, pictures, and all available recording information, and the sound is surprisingly clear and full considering the unusual circumstances. It features all of Nighthawk's recordings, plus another 18 cuts by artists like Johnny Young, Carey Bell and Big John Wrencher, and it is one of the most impressive live blues albums you'll ever come across.The well-written and exceptionally thorough 62-page (). This is one top-notch blues box set.great annotation, great music, nicely packaged. Lenoir's infectious boogie "Mama Talk To Your Daughter" has previously been credited to its composer, the man with no first name, but nothing indicates that Lenoir was present when this music was recorded, and this repacked and expanded edition of the Maxwell Street tapes credits Robert "Big Mojo" Elam as the singer. Nighthawk was as accomplished a lead guitar player as he was a slide slinger, and his single-string picking is pure liquid fire.The slow grind of "Love You Tonight" is another previously unreleased number by Big John Wrencher, and Robert Nighthawk's powerful rendition of Big Joe Turner's "Honey Hush" takes Turner's bouncy jump blues into new territory.The dozen songs by Robert Lee "Nighthawk" McCullum do indeed form the centrepiece of this collection, but literally everything is worth a listen.
No need to program anything out.there is barely the slightest dip in quality along the way.Disc one opens with singer/guitarist Johnny Young's excellent, gritty rendition of "The Sun Is Shining", all clattering drums and simple but effective boogie-styled rhythm guitar, and one-armed harpist Big John Wrencher's tough "Can't Hold Out Much Longer" is equally wonderful. You can just pop the discs in you CD player and turn it up. You can also hear John Wrencher jamming with guitarists Robert Nighthawk and Little Arthur King on his own "Lucille", and inquiring about the drinking habits of his fellow musicians: Tea or coffee. Apparently Robert Nighthawk was a coffee-man ("coffee" meaning whiskey. Even the most casual fans of classic Chicago blues need to own a copy of slide guitarist Robert Nighthawk's 1964 album "Live On Maxwell Street".And those slightly more obsessed will want to check out this wonderful document, the soundtrack, if you will, to Mike Shea's 1964 documentary "And This Is Free". And disc two is equally great. A lively performance of J.B.
He supposedly got his nickname because of his ability to pull off a rousing rendition of Lenoir's "Mojo Boogie". Harpist Carey Bell, who later became a member of the Muddy Waters band (and is still playing), smoulders on the instrumental "Carey'n On", little-known singer/guitarist Arvella Gray does a thoroughly authentic sounding solo performance of "John Henry", and the listener is treated to a couple of gospel numbers: The James Brewer Gospel Group do a wonderful swinging "When The Saints Go Marchin' In", and a rendition of "Fly Away" which is made all the more remarkable by a very enthusiastic harmony vocal by one of the male singers. One is a snippet of Robert Nighthawk doing "That's All Right" (the Jimmy Rogers tune, not the one by Arthur Crudup that Presley recorded); "Honky Tonk" is a swaggering instrumental boogie, and Nighthawk also lays down a thumping "Dust My Broom" which was omitted from previous issues of this material, perhaps because of the flawed mix which allows the repetitive rhythm guitar playing to drown out Nighthawk's fluid leads. You can sometimes hear a car driving by, a street preacher pops up for a few seconds, and the chatter of the crowd is audible in the background.This two-hour collection is a rare treat indeed. Nighthawk's magnificent 8 1/2 minute medley of his two biggest hits and best-known songs, "Anna Lee" and "Sweet Black Angel", has been restored.the previously issued version which edited out two minutes of instrumental bridge, and his single-string solo halfway through the supremely tough "The Time Have Come" [sic].
"Tea" was wine).Other highlights include "All I Want For My Breakfast" by Johnny Young, and pretty much everything by Robert Nighthawk, including the menacing "Cheating And Lying Blues", an up-tempo "Take It Easy, Baby", and a couple of songs not included on Nighthawk's "Live On Maxwell Street". Bit of a shame, that.Still, that's about the only letdown on disc one, and it's a very minor one. is quite mind-boggling. Five stars and no reservations at all.
I am grateful that, in my lifetime, fate has given me the opportunity to discover the pure talent and outstanding blues recordings in AND THIS IS MAXWELL STREET. In researching my family's history, I am overwhelmed by Arvella Gray 's (my father's only male sibling) significant contribution to this genre.
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