Blind Dog Radio

The New King of the Blues by Buster Brown

Label: Fire Records, Collectables / P-Vine Records, Collectables, P-Vine Records
Release Date: 1961
Releases: 1994; February 19, 2003; March 14, 2006; 
Recording Time: 46 minutes
Recording Date: 1959 - 1961

Styles: Early R&B, Electric Harmonica Blues

If blues musicians took up residency in Vegas during the late '50s, it might come out sounding like this. Brown's gleeful run through myriad blues related styles (gospel, R&B, doo wop, New Orleans, early rock & roll) casts a vaudevillian sheen over many of the 16 tracks here, placing the performance squarely in the realm of Louis Jordan's own showy style. The fact Brown had a very brief hour in the sun with his unexpected 1959 hit "Fannie Mae" further indicates his pop approach to blues probably was better suited to the lounges of the chitlin circuit than the main venues of blues and rock & roll. His almost perfunctory versions of war horses like "St. Louis Blues" and "Blueberry Hill" reveal the downside the situation. But he does have his moments, particularly when he plies a hard, Chicago blues groove a la Little Walter on cuts like "Don't Dog Your Woman"; his harmonica sound borrows from both Walter and Sonny Terry while his singing is punctuated with timely whoops taken straight from Terry's animated vocal style. Even with more than just a few bright moments here, the good amount of watered down material ultimately makes this Brown collection a secondary choice next to prime titles by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Wynonie Harris, and even Big Jay McNeely.
by Stephen Cook

Includes original release liner notes by Jack Walker.
Liner Note Authors: Kerry Kudlacek; Jack Walker. 
Personnel: Buster Brown (vocals, guitar). 

Billboard Singles:
1960, Fannie Mae (R&B Singles #1)
1960, Fannie Mae (The Billboard Hot 100 #38)
1960, Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby (The Billboard Hot 100 #81)

Credits: Bill Austin - composer; Buster Brown - composer, guitar, primary artist, vocals; Shirley Eikhard - composer; Alan Freed - composer; Harvey Fuqua - composer; Waymon Glasco - composer; W.C. Handy - composer; Elmore James - composer; Louis Jordan - composer; Marc Klauber - composer; Kerry Kudlacek - liner notes; Al Lewis - composer; Clarence Lewis - composer; Morgan Robinson - composer; Vincent Rose - composer; Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart - composer; Larry Stock - composer; Harry Stoddard - composer; Traditional - composer; Jack Walker - liner notes.

Tracks: 1) Fannie Mae; 2) John Henry; 3) Madison Shuffle; 4) St. Louis Blues; 5) When Things Go Wrong; 6) Lost in a Dream; 7) Gonna Love My Baby; 8) Blues When It Rains; 9) Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby?; 10) Don't Dog Your Woman; 11) Blueberry Hill; 12) Sincerely; 13) I'm Going, But I'll Be Back; 14) Good News; 15) Raise a Ruckus Tonight; 16) Doctor Brown.