Label: Story Of Blues
Release Date: May 1, 1991
Recording Time: 01:03:40
Piano Blues / Regional Blues / Texas Blues / Acoustic Texas Blues / Country Blues
This is a good collection of piano-accompanied vocals sporting bluesmen who worked the lumber camps and oil fields of rural Texas, as well as the red-light districts of cities like Galveston and Houston. Big Boy Knox shows a strong city influence in his decorative right-hand work, as does Robert Cooper, whose playing points to the influence of Fats Waller. Joe Pullem is on board with his hit, "Black Gal," which is perhaps overstated by three takes and a variation. The vocals are good, however, and the piano playing is uniformly excellent. Stylistically, this music falls somewhere between ragtime, blues, and vaudeville.
by Larry Hoffman
Credits: D.K. Baker - composer; Big Boy Knox - primary artist; Blind Norris - guitar; Chester Boone - trumpet; Andy Boy - piano; Rob Cooper - piano; Perry Dixon - accordion, performer, primary artist, vocals; Tommy Dorsey - composer; Coley Jones - guitar; Richard M. Jones - composer; Mance Lipscomb - composer; Melvin Martin - guitar; Whistlin' Alex Moore - cover photo, piano, primary artist, vocals; Nick Nichols - accordion, performer, primary artist, vocals; Johnny Parth - composer, producer; Joe Pullum - accordion, composer, cover photo, primary artist, vocals; Traditional - composer.
Tracks: 1) Rugger Blues - Nick Nichols; 2) Riverside Blues - Nick Nichols; 3) Frankie and Johnny (The Shooting Scene), Pt. 1 - Nick Nichols; 4) Frankie and Johnny (The Courtroom Scene), Pt. 2 - Nick Nichols; 5) Back to Georgia Blues - Perry Dixon; 6) Be Mean to Your Baby - Perry Dixon; 7) Blue Man Blues - Big Boy Knox; 8) Poor Man Blues - Big Boy Knox; 9) Eleven Light City Blues - Big Boy Knox; 10) Texas Blues - Big Boy Knox; 11) Cwa Blues - Joe Pullum; 12) Black Gal, What Makes Your Head So Hard? - Joe Pullum; 13) Black Gal - Joe Pullum; 14) Black Gal - Joe Pullum; 15) Telephone Blues - Joe Pullum; 16) Bedroom Blues - Joe Pullum; 17) Hattie Green - Joe Pullum; 18) My Woman, Pt. 1 - Joe Pullum; 19) I Want My Mary - Whistlin' Alex Moore; 20) Miss No Good Weed - Whistlin' Alex Moore.