New York Blues 1945-1956: Rub A Little Boogie (Urban Blues From The Famous And The Forgotten) by Various Artists

Label: JSP Records.

Release Date: August 9, 2010.

Recording Time: 301 minutes.

Recording Date: 1945 - 1956.

Release Info: Compilation (JSP77108).

Styles: Acoustic Blues, Country Blues, Electric Blues, Electric Country Blues, Folk-Blues, Harmonica Blues, Jump Blues, New York Blues, Regional Blues, Urban Blues.

New York City had a varied and vigorous blues scene in the 1940s and 1950s that fed off of several different factors, from the emerging folk revival and the left-leaning politics that accompanied it to the increasing number of clubs and showcases that featured uptown jump blues and jazz bands, and it didn't hurt that the East Coast recording industry was also centered in the city. Aside from Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry, there aren't a lot of recognizable names on this four-disc, 113-track set that surveys the New York blues scene between 1945 and 1956, but that doesn't stop this collection from being a whole lot of fun as well as being a valuable bit of seldom-documented blues history. Names like Big Chief Ellis, Leroy Dallas, Alonzo Scales, Allen Bunn, Bob Gaddy, Bobby Harris, Alec Seward (aka Duke Bayou), and Carolina Slim aren't going to ring many bells with anyone outside of a circle of serious blues collectors and scholars, but the music they deliver is full of a loose vitality. New York didn't define the blues genre a whole lot, as other places like Chicago, Memphis, and New Orleans did, but that doesn't make the tracks collected in this expansive box set any less valuable -- the blues is the blues, wherever you find it. ~ Steve Leggett

Credits: Alec "Duke Bayou" Seward & His Mystic Six - primary prtist; Doc Bagby - organ; Mickey Baker - guitar; Sam Bradley - guitar, vocals; Gene Brooks - drums; Allen Bunn - guitar, primary prtist, vocals; Carolina Slim - primary prtist; Country Paul - primary prtist; Cousin Leroy - guitar, primary prtist, vocals; Larry Dale - guitar; Leroy Dallas - guitar, primary prtist, vocals; Bobby Donaldson - bongos; Champion Jack Dupree - piano; Jack Dupree - piano; Big Chief Ellis - piano, primary prtist, vocals; Wilbert Ellis - piano; Ernest Hayes - piano; Bob Gaddy - piano, primary prtist, vocals; Bob Gaddy & His Alley Cats - primary prtist; Bob Gaddy & His Keys - primary prtist; Leonard Gaskin - bass; Bob Grady - piano; Bob Harris - bass, vocals; Bobby Harris - bass, primary prtist, vocals; Edward P. Harris - guitar, vocals; Milt Hinton - bass; Lonnie Johnson - piano, vocals; Willie Jones - drums; Al King - sax (tenor); Lazy Slim Jim - primary prtist; Brownie McGhee - guitar, primary prtist, vocals; Brownie McGhee & His Jook Block Busters - primary prtist; Brownie McGhee & His Jook House Rockers - primary prtist; Daddy Merritt - piano; Gene Moore - drums; Gene Ramey - bass; Alonzo Scales - guitar, primary prtist, vocals; Alec Seward - guitar, vocals; A. Smith - guitar, vocals; Fletcher Smith - piano; Sonny Boy & Lonnie - primary prtist; Danny Taylor - vocals; Sonny Terry - harmonica, primary prtist, vocals; Sonny Terry & His Night Owls - primary prtist; Sonny Terry and His Buckshot Five - primary prtist; Sid Wallace - bass; Square Walton - guitar, primary prtist, vocals; The Wheels - vocal group; Johnny Williams - bass; Marty Wilson - drums; George Wood - drums; George Woods - drums.

Tracks, Disc 1: 1. Greyhound Bus - Brownie McGhee; 2. Bottom Blues - Brownie McGhee; 3. Brownie's Blues (Lordy Lord) - Brownie McGhee & His Jook Block Busters; 4. I'm 10,000 Years Old - Brownie McGhee & His Jook Block Busters; 5. Don't Dog Your Woman - Brownie McGhee; 6. Daisy - Brownie McGhee; 7. Christina - Brownie McGhee & His Jook House Rockers; 8. Worrying Over You - Brownie McGhee & His Jook House Rockers; 9. Bluebird, Bluebird - Brownie McGhee & His Jook House Rockers; 10. My Confession (I Want to Thank You) - Brownie McGhee & His Jook House Rockers; 11. Cheatin' and Lying - Brownie McGhee & His Jook House Rockers; 12. Need Someone to Love Me - Brownie McGhee & His Jook House Rockers; 13. When It's Love Time - Brownie McGhee; 14. I'd Love to Love You - Brownie McGhee; 15. Love's a Disease - Brownie McGhee; 16. My Fault - Brownie McGhee; 17. The Woman Is Killing Me - Sonny Terry & His Night Owls; 18. I Don't Worry - Sonny Terry; 19. News for You Baby - Sonny Terry; 20. Dangerous Woman (With a 45 in Her Hand) - Sonny Terry and His Buckshot Five; 21. I Love You Baby - Sonny Terry and His Buckshot Five; 22. Doggin' My Heart Around - Sonny Terry & His Night Owls; 23. Harmonica Hop - Sonny Terry & His Night Owls; 24. Hooray, Hooray - Sonny Terry; 25. I'm Gonna Rock Your Wig - Sonny Terry; 26. Hoopin' and Jumpin' - Sonny Terry; 27. Sonny Is Drinking - Sonny Terry; 28. Ride and Roll - Sonny Terry.

Tracks, Disc 2: 1. South West Pacific Blues - Sonny Boy & Lonnie; 2. Wiggle Round Me Baby - Sonny Boy & Lonnie; 3. My Baby Blues - Sonny Boy & Lonnie; 4. The Wide Boogie - Sonny Boy & Lonnie; 5. I'll Water You Every Day - Sonny Boy & Lonnie; 6. Bigheaded Woman - Sonny Boy & Lonnie; 7. Big Moose Blues - Sonny Boy & Lonnie; 8. Talking Boogie - Sonny Boy & Lonnie; 9. I Wonder Who's Holding You - Sonny Boy & Lonnie; 10. Mama Blues - Sonny Boy & Lonnie; 11. Dices, Dices - Big Chief Ellis; 12. Big Chief's Blues - Big Chief Ellis; 13. She Is Gone - Big Chief Ellis; 14. Dices, Dices - Big Chief Ellis; 15. My Baby Don't Allow - Alonzo Scales; 16. Left My Home Blues - Alonzo Scales; 17. I'm Down Now But I Won't Be Down Always - Leroy Dallas; 18. Jump Little Children Jump - Leroy Dallas; 19. Good Morning Blues - Leroy Dallas; 20. I'm Going Away - Leroy Dallas; 21. Your Sweet Man's Blues - Leroy Dallas; 22. Baby Please Don't Go Back to New Orleans - Leroy Dallas; 23. Hard Luck Child - Alonzo Scales; 24. My Baby Likes to Shuffle - Alonzo Scales; 25. We Just Can't Agree - Alonzo Scales; 26. She's Gone - Alonzo Scales; 27. My Kinda Woman - Allen Bunn; 28. Too Much Competition - Allen Bunn.

Tracks, Disc 3: 1. I Believe You Got a Sidekick - Bob Gaddy & His Alley Cats; 2. Bicycle Boogie - Bob Gaddy & His Alley Cats; 3. No Help Wanted - Bob Gaddy & His Keys; 4. Little Girl's Boogie - Bob Gaddy & His Keys; 5. Blues Has Walked in My Room - Bob Gaddy & His Keys; 6. Slow Down Baby - Bob Gaddy & His Keys; 7. Operator - Bob Gaddy; 8. I Love My Baby - Bob Gaddy; 9. Baby You Say You Love Me - Bobby Harris; 10. Up and Down the Hill - Bobby Harris; 11. Drinkin' Little Woman - Bobby Harris; 12. Love, Love, Love - Bobby Harris; 13. Friendly Advice - Bobby Harris; 14. Doggin' Blues - Bobby Harris; 15. Rub a Little Boogie - Alec "Duke Bayou" Seward & His Mystic Six; 16. That's All Right with Me - Alec "Duke Bayou" Seward & His Mystic Six; 17. She Can Shake It - Alec "Duke Bayou" Seward & His Mystic Six; 18. Doomed - Alec "Duke Bayou" Seward & His Mystic Six; 19. Bad Hangover - Square Walton; 20. Gimme Your Bankroll - Square Walton; 21. Fish Tail Blues - Square Walton; 22. Pepper Head Woman - Square Walton; 23. Goin' Back Home - Cousin Leroy; 24. Catfish - Cousin Leroy; 25. Will a Matchbox Hold My Clothes - Cousin Leroy; 26. I'm Lonesome - Cousin Leroy; 27. Highway 41 - Cousin Leroy; 28. Waitin' at the Station - Cousin Leroy; 29. Crossroads - Cousin Leroy; 30. Up the River - Cousin Leroy.

Tracks, Disc 4: 1. Mama's Boogie - Carolina Slim; 2. Come Back Baby - Carolina Slim; 3. Black Chariot Blues - Carolina Slim; 4. Pleading Blues - Carolina Slim; 5. Jivin' Woman - Carolina Slim; 6. I'll Get by Somehow - Carolina Slim; 7. Blues Knoscking at My Door - Carolina Slim; 8. Worry You Off My Mind - Carolina Slim; 9. Blues Go Away from Me - Carolina Slim; 10. Shake Boogie - Carolina Slim; 11. Worrying Blues - Carolina Slim; 12. Slo-Freight Blues - Carolina Slim; 13. Rag Mama - Carolina Slim; 14. Sugaree - Carolina Slim; 15. Carolina Boogie - Carolina Slim; 16. Since I Seen Your Smiling Face - Country Paul; 17. Your Picture Done Faded - Country Paul; 18. Ain't It Sad - Country Paul; 19. One More Time - Country Paul; 20. Mother Dear Mother - Country Paul; 21. Side Walk Boogie - Country Paul; 22. I'll Never Walk in Your Door - Country Paul; 23. Black Cat Trail - Country Paul; 24. Georgia Woman - Lazy Slim Jim; 25. Money Blues - Lazy Slim Jim; 26. Wine Head Baby - Lazy Slim Jim; 27. (Pour Me) One More Drink - Lazy Slim Jim.