Label: Trikont Records.
Release Date: 2000.
Releases: 2000, 2005.
Recording Time: 73 minutes.
Recording Date: May 11, 1926 - March 5, 1940.
Styles: Acoustic Chicago Blues, Classic Female Blues, Dirty Blues, Early Jazz, Pre-War Blues, Regional Blues, Vaudeville Blues, Western Swing.
There have been numerous collections that boast the title "Copulation Blues" or "Copulatin' Blues," but none of them holds a torch to this Trikont compilation that features 25 bawdy tales of well, you know, doin' it. If you slap this slab on the stack at a bash, things will get moist and steamy very quickly. The dancers will be grinding a little more slowly, the corners will fill up nice and cozy, and the bushes outside will be crawling with anxious, agitated lovers. The platter opens with Alberta Hunter's lament for sex by telling her suitor that it doesn't matter if she's black or white because in the dark you can't tell anyway. It's all a slippery slope from there, to say the least. But aside from the topical concerns of the disc, it's the quality of the tracks that sets it apart, from the better-known jams of the sort (Louise Bogan's "Shave 'Em Dry," Clarence Williams' "Organ Grinder Blues," Victoria Spivey's "Black Snake Blues," Mae West's "A Guy What Takes His Time," etc.). But there are other lesser-known blues, R&B, and pop classics as well that are sparkling in their spirited excellence, such as Buddy Burton and Irene Sanders' "Electric Man," Bea Foote's "Try and Get It," Art Fowler's "No Wonder She's a Blushing Bride," and Halfpint Jaxon with Tampa Red doing "My Daddy Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll)." And this is just to list a few. There's over an hour of sweltering hokum blues and risque rhythms on this set guaranteed to make the most serious person on earth laugh and the most amorous person on earth blush. What could you ask for in a "roots" music collection? Take a cold shower -- or don't -- after spinning this wondrous blast form the past. Now these folks know what the word "raunchy" meant: Eminem, Nelly, Kid Rock, Missy Elliot, please take note. - Review by Thom Jurek
Credits: Fulton Allen - composer - Black Bob - performer, primary artist; Eubie Blake - composer; Lucille Bogan - primary artist, vocals; Jim Boyd - guitar (rhythm); Buck Buchanan - violin; Buddy Burton - performer, primary artist; Butterbeans & Susie - performer, primary artist; Cab Calloway & His Orchestra - performer, primary artist; Muryel "Zeke" Campbell - guitar; Ramon de Arman - bass, vocals; Mary Dixon - primary artist, vocals; Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey - composer; Jody "Butterbeans" Edwards - vocals; Ernie Erdman - composer; Bea Foote - primary artist, vocals; Art Fowler - primary artist, ukulele; Blind Boy Fuller - primary artist; Georgia Tom - piano; Frankie Griggs - primary artist; Harlem Hamfats - performer, primary artist; Susie Hawthorne - vocals; The Hokum Boys - performer, primary artist; Bobby Howe - performer, primary artist; Black Bob Hudson - piano; Alberta Hunter - composer, primary artist, vocals; Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon & His Hot Shots - vocals; Bill Johnson's Louisiana Jug Band - bass; Lil Johnson - composer, primary artist, vocals; Richard M. Jones - composer; Gus Kahn - composer; Ransom Knowling - bass; The Light Crust Doughboys - performer, primary artist; Mary Mack - vocals; Horace Malcolm - piano; Jack Meskill - composer; Billy Meyers - composer; Marvin Montgomery - composer, tenor banjo, vocals; Herb Morand - trumpet; Arnett Nelson - clarinet; Oscar's Chicago Swingers - performer, primary artist; Kenneth Pitts - violin; Ralph Rainger - composer; Odell Rand - clarinet; Andy Razaf - composer; Carl Reid - jug; Irene Sanders - performer, primary artist; Elmer Schoebel - composer; Victoria Spivey - primary artist, vocals; State Sweet Swingers - performer, primary artist; Tampa Red - primary artist; Tampa Red's Hokum Jug Band - performer; Sam Theard - vocals; Traditional - composer; Sophie Tucker - composer, primary artist, vocals; Washboard Rhythm Kings - performer, primary artist; Ethel Waters - primary artist, vocals; Mae West - primary artist, vocals; Clarence Williams - composer, piano, primary artist; Pearlis Williams - drums.
Tracks: 1) You Can't Tell the Difference After Dark - Alberta Hunter; 2) New Rubbing on That Darn Old Thing - Oscar's Chicago Swingers; 3) He Hadn't Up 'Til Yesterday - Sophie Tucker; 4) I Wonder Who's Boogiein' My Woogie Now - Oscar's Chicago Swingers; 5) Bring It on Home to Grandma - Richard M. Jones; 6) Wet It (Let the Good Work Go On) - Harlem Hamfats; 7) Nobody's Sweetheart - Cab Calloway & His Orchestra; 8) Daddy, You Got Ev'rything Wrong - Mary Dixon; 9) My Handy Man - Ethel Waters; 10) Elevator Papa, Switchboard Mama - Butterbeans & Susie; 11) Press My Button, Ring My Bell - Black Bob / Lil Johnson; 12) Try and Get It - Bea Foote; 13) Don't Tear My Clothes No. 2 - State Sweet Swingers; 14) Black Snake Blues - Victoria Spivey; 15) Street Walkin' Blues - Washboard Rhythm Kings; 16) My Daddy Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll) - Tampa Red; 17) Caught Us Doin' It - The Hokum Boys; 18) Organ Grinder Blues - Clarence Williams; 19) Electric Man - Buddy Burton / Irene Sanders; 20) Shake It, Baby - Blind Boy Fuller; 21) The Hottest Stuff in Town - Frankie Griggs / Bobby Howe; 22) Pussy, Pussy, Pussy - The Light Crust Doughboys; 23) A Guy What Takes His Time - Mae West; 24) No Wonder She's a Blushing Bride - Art Fowler; 25) Shave 'Em Dry - Lucille Bogan.
Tracks: 1) You Can't Tell the Difference After Dark - Alberta Hunter; 2) New Rubbing on That Darn Old Thing - Oscar's Chicago Swingers; 3) He Hadn't Up 'Til Yesterday - Sophie Tucker; 4) I Wonder Who's Boogiein' My Woogie Now - Oscar's Chicago Swingers; 5) Bring It on Home to Grandma - Richard M. Jones; 6) Wet It (Let the Good Work Go On) - Harlem Hamfats; 7) Nobody's Sweetheart - Cab Calloway & His Orchestra; 8) Daddy, You Got Ev'rything Wrong - Mary Dixon; 9) My Handy Man - Ethel Waters; 10) Elevator Papa, Switchboard Mama - Butterbeans & Susie; 11) Press My Button, Ring My Bell - Black Bob / Lil Johnson; 12) Try and Get It - Bea Foote; 13) Don't Tear My Clothes No. 2 - State Sweet Swingers; 14) Black Snake Blues - Victoria Spivey; 15) Street Walkin' Blues - Washboard Rhythm Kings; 16) My Daddy Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll) - Tampa Red; 17) Caught Us Doin' It - The Hokum Boys; 18) Organ Grinder Blues - Clarence Williams; 19) Electric Man - Buddy Burton / Irene Sanders; 20) Shake It, Baby - Blind Boy Fuller; 21) The Hottest Stuff in Town - Frankie Griggs / Bobby Howe; 22) Pussy, Pussy, Pussy - The Light Crust Doughboys; 23) A Guy What Takes His Time - Mae West; 24) No Wonder She's a Blushing Bride - Art Fowler; 25) Shave 'Em Dry - Lucille Bogan.