Men Are Like Street Cars is far from last word on female blues singers -- how could it be without anything by Bessie Smith, Mamie Smith, Ida Cox, Ma Rainey, Lucille Bogan, or Sippie Wallace?. But then, MCA never claimed that it was, and one can state without a moment's hesitation that this two-CD, 46-song collection covers a lot of ground, and that MCA put a great deal of time and effort into assembling it. Spanning 1928-1969, Street Cars starts out with some late-'20s recordings by classic blues singers Jenny Pope and Bertha "Chippie" Hill before treating us to the country blues of Memphis Minnie (who is heard on 1930's "Bumble Bee" and 1952's "Me and My Chauffeur Blues"), the jump blues of Big Mama Thornton and the blues-influenced swing or swing-influenced blues of Billie Holiday (who is represented by "I Got a Right to Sing the Blues" and "T'aint Nobody's Business If I Do"), Blue Lu Barker, Rosetta Howard, Ella Johnson, Dinah Washington, Helen Humes, and Alberta Hunter. It is on Disc two that Street Cars ventures into electric urban blues and soul with classics by Katie Webster ("I Feel So Low"), Etta James ("Something's Got a Hold on Me"), Koko Taylor ("Wang Dang Doodle"), Irma Thomas ("Good to Me"), and Ike & Tina Turner ("Three O'Clock Blues"). Major praise should go to Mary Katherine Aldin, who selected all of the material for MCA and provides exhaustive, incredibly detailed liner notes -- she certainly did her homework. From excellent digital remastering and good or excellent material to first-rate liner notes and attractive art work, Men Are Like Street Cars treats its subject matter with the reverence it deserves. Blues lovers should make a point of obtaining it.
by Alex Henderson
Liner Note Author: Mary Katherine Aldin.
Compilation producers: Mary Katherine Aldin, Andy McKaie.
Includes liner notes by Mary Katherine Aldin.
Digitally remastered by Erick Labson (MCA Music Media Studios, North Hollywood, California).
Illustrator: Mike Fink.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Jo Ann Frederick; Charles Drayton.
Personnel: Mattie Delaney, Memphis Minnie, Sister Rosetta Tharpe (vocals, guitar); Georgia White, Katie Webster (vocals, piano); Dinah Washington, Donna Hightower, Ella Johnson, Etta James, Gwen Johnson, Helen Humes, Irma Thomas, Gladys Hill, Jenny Pope, Lavelle White, Lillian Offitt, Alberta Adams, Alberta Hunter, Lovey Lewis, Mabel Scott, Margie Day, Marie Adams, Mildred Jones, Nora Lee King, Rosetta Howard, Rosetta Perry, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Tina Turner, Trixie Smith, Victoria Spivey, Bertha "Chippie" Hill, Betty James, Big Mama Thornton, Billie Holiday, Koko Taylor, Blue Lu Barker, Esther Phillips (vocals); Ike Turner (guitar, piano); Chuck Norris , Charlie McCoy , Danny Barker , Jimmy Johnson , Ernest Lawlars, Floyd Smith , Kansas Joe McCoy, Johnny Copeland, Les Paul, Albert Collins, Matt Murphy, Mickey Baker, Pete Lewis, Tampa Red, Teddy Bunn, Mundell Lowe, Billy Mackel, Jimmy McLin, Buddy Guy (guitar); Little Walter (harmonica); Eddie Barefield (clarinet, alto saxophone); Odell Rand, Jimmy Hamilton, Sidney Bechet, Barney Bigard, Buster Bailey (clarinet); Donald Hankins, Gene Barge (saxophone); Freddie Simon (alto saxophone, baritone saxophone); Pete Brown , Frank Domнnguez, Herbie Fields, Ted Smith, Porter Kilbert, Al Robinson, Rudy Powell, Riley Hampton, George Dorsey (alto saxophone); Leon Washington, Bumps Myers, Kenneth Hollon, David Van Dyke, James Von Streeter, Johnny Board, Noble "Thin Man" Watts, Arnett Cobb, Bill Harvey, Budd Johnson (tenor saxophone); Palmer Williams, Fred Ford, Sol Moore, Teddy "Cherokee" Conyers (baritone saxophone); Dizzy Gillespie, Emmett Berry, Willis Nelson, Joe Scott , Don Johnson, John Anderson , Frankie Newton, Frank Royal, Andrew Wood , Gail Brockman, Henry "Red" Allen, Jimmy Brown, Wendell Culley, Jimmy Nottingham, Dick Vance, Buck Clayton, Charlie Shavers (trumpet); Dicky Wells, William Harrison, George Washington , Bernard Archer, Al Grey, George Matthews (trombone); Devonia Williams, Georgia Tom, Gerald Wiggins, Horace Malcolm, Horace Henderson, R.J. Jones, Freddie Johnson, Paul Monday, John Mehegan, John Young , Lafayette Leake, Lil Armstrong, Sam Price, Sammy Benskin, Sonny White (piano); Lionel Hampton (vibraphone); John Lindsay, Richard "Dick" Fullbright, Wellman Braud (double bass); Chico Hamilton, Elga Edmunds, Eddie Dougherty, Fred Below, Fred Flynn, George Jones, Leard Bell, Emmanuel Simms, Jimmy Crawford , Al Duncan , Paul Barbarin, Roger Hawkins, Shadow Wilson, Big Sid Catlett, Belton Evans (drums); Willie Dixon (background vocals).
Director: Buster Harding.
Recording information: Chicago, IL (1928-1969); Crowley, LA (1928-1969); Houston, TX (1928-1969); Los Angeles, CA (1928-1969); Memphis, TN (1928-1969); Muscle (1928-1969); Nashville, TN (1928-1969); New York, NY (1928-1969).
Photographers: Norman Seeff; Michael Wilson.
Spin (6/99, p.138) - 9 (out of 10) - "...It's a gas, uniformly pleasurable and frequently miraculous. Aldin mixes obscurities with greats such as Rosetta Tharpe and Big Mama Thornton, emphasizing brassy musicality and infectious spirit..."
Mojo (Publisher) (1/00, p.31) - Included in Mojo Magazine's "Best Blues Albums" of 1999.
Recording Date: 1928 - 1969
Release Date: February 23, 1999
Duration - 02:10:22