Blind Dog Radio

When The Sun Goes Down (Vol. 3) That's Chicago's South Side by Various Artists

Label: Bluebird Records.
Release Date: August 20, 2002.
Releases: 2002 (Bluebird RCA / RCA).
Recording Time: 76 minutes.
Release Info: Studio Recording.
Recording Date: September 28, 1931 - February 13, 1942.

Styles: Acoustic Blues, Acoustic Chicago Blues, Chicago Blues, Country Blues, East Coast Blues, Piano Blues, Piedmont Blues, Pre-War Blues, Pre-War Country Blues, Regional Blues, St. Louis Blues.

Ask a rock & roller to discuss Chicago's contributions to the blues, and he/she is likely to talk about Chess Records and electric post-World War II greats like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, Little Walter, Buddy Guy, and Junior Wells. But the Windy City had a healthy blues scene long before the rise of Chess -- one that went back to the days of Al Capone and Prohibition. Spanning 1931-1942, When the Sun Goes Down, Vol. 3: That's Chicago's South Side spotlights the acoustic pre-Chess, pre-Muddy Waters era of Chicago blues -- an era that helped pave the way for Chess Records as well as rock & roll. The recordings on this excellent CD point to fact that, long before Chicago became synonymous with electric blues, the city had its own unique blues sound. Gems like Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning, Schoolgirl" (1937), Roosevelt Sykes' "Devil's Island Gin Blues" (1933), and Tommy McClennan's "Bottle It Up and Go" (1939) are quite different from the blues that were coming from the Deep South in the '30s and early '40s -- these artists offer an acoustic sound, but a harder, tougher acoustic sound than the Southern country blues that were coming from Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee back then. Of course, some of the artists who blues fans associate with Chicago blues were originally from the South; Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, for example, were born in Mississippi. But when Southern bluesmen moved north and interacted with Chicago-based musicians, their music could easily take on a more urban outlook. And an urban outlook definitely prevails on this CD, which underscores the richness of Chicago's pre-Chess blues scene. - Review by Alex Henderson.

Credits: Harry Armstrong - guitar; Louis Armstrong - composer; Bernard Besman - composer; Scrapper Blackwell - guitar; Ted Bogan - guitar; Big Bill Broonzy - composer, guitar, primary artist, vocals; Robert Brown - composer; Leroy Carr - composer, piano, primary artist, vocals; Clifton Chenier - composer; Al Collins - bass; Lee Collins - trumpet; Robert Cooper - piano; Walter Davis - composer, piano, primary artist, vocals; Amos Easton - composer, primary artist; Alfred Elkins - bass; Colin Escott - liner notes, producer; Dr. David Evans - producer; Barry Feldman - producer; Jazz Gillum - composer, primary artist; Jimmie Gordon - piano; Andrew Harris - string bass; Will Hatcher - mandolin; John Lee Hooker - composer; Black Bob Hudson - piano; Lil Johnson - primary artist, vocals; Lonnie Johnson - composer, guitar, primary artist, vocals; Merline Johnson - composer, primary artist; R.J. Jones - piano, vocals; Richard M. Jones - composer, primary artist; Gary Kelley - cover art; Meade "Lux" Lewis - composer, piano, primary artist; Sheryl Lutz-Brown - design; Horace Malcolm - piano; Tommy McClennan - composer, guitar, primary artist, vocals; Minnie McCoy - composer, primary artist; Robert Lee McCoy - composer, guitar, primary artist, vocals; Punch Miller - trumpet; William Mitchell - bass; James Oden - composer; St. Louis Jimmy Oden - primary artist; Walter O'Keefe - composer; Rufus G. Perryman - composer; Doug Pomeroy - mastering, restoration, transfers; Joe Pullum - composer, primary artist, vocals; James "Yank" Rachel - composer, guitar, primary artist, vocals; Bill Settles - bass, string bass; Joshua Sherman - series producer; Randi Alyssa Sherman - production coordination; Aaron "Pinetop" Sparks - composer, piano, primary artist, vocals; Speckled Red - primary artist;Roosevelt Sykes - composer, piano, primary artist, vocals; Tampa Red - primary artist; Sandi Tansky - creative director; Johnny Temple - composer, guitar, primary artist, vocals; Sam Theard - composer, primary artist, vocals; Jack Towers - source material; Henry Townsend - guitar; Aaron Walker - composer; Washboard Sam - primary artist; Casey Bill Weldon - guitar (steel); Peetie Wheatstraw - piano, primary artist, vocals; James Wiggins - composer; Big Joe Williams - guitar; Clarence Williams - composer; Sonny Boy Williamson I - composer, harmonica, primary artist, vocals; Elizabeth A. Wright - editorial supervision.

Tracks: 1) That's Chicago's South Side - Sam Theard; 2) Peetie Wheatstraw - Peetie Wheatstraw; 3) Devil's Island Gin Blues - Roosevelt Sykes; 4) Sail on, Little Girl, Sail On - Amos Easton; 5) Black Gal, What Makes Your Head So Hard? - Joe Pullum; 6) I Lost My Baby - Lil Johnson; 7) Keep Your Hands Off Her - Big Bill Broonzy; 8) When the Sun Goes Down - Leroy Carr; 9) Selling My Pork Chops - Minnie McCoy; 10) Every Day I Have the Blues - Aaron "Pinetop" Sparks; 11) Sweet Sixteen - Walter Davis; 12) Honky Tonk Train Blues - Meade "Lux" Lewis; 13) Trouble in Mind - Richard M. Jones; 14) He Roars Like a Lion - Merline Johnson; 15) Prowling Night Hawk - Robert Lee McCoy; 16) Good Morning School Girl - Sonny Boy Williamson I; 17) You Got to Fix It - Speckled Red; 18) Bucket's Got a Hole in It - Washboard Sam; 19) Bottle It Up and Go - Tommy McClennan; 20) Key to the Highway - Jazz Gillum; 21) Don't You Lie to Me - Tampa Red; 22) What Is That She Got - Johnny Temple; 23) Going Down Slow - St. Louis Jimmy Oden; 24) Hobo Blues - James "Yank" Rachel; 25) He's a Jelly Roll Baker - Lonnie Johnson.