Release Date: 1991.
Recording Time: 66 minutes.
Recording Date: April 14, 1934 - February 26, 1935.
Release Info: Compilation (DOCD-5206) Studio Recording.
Personnel: Tampa Red, vocals, electric guitar, National steel guitar, bottleneck-slide guitar, kazoo.
With contributions by: Henry "45" Scott, piano; And others...
Informative booklet notes by Alan Balfour.
Detailed discography.
Abridged from this album's original booklet notes.
At the sessions of June and October 1934, Tampa Red's repertoire was very much a mixture of what he had recorded for Vocalion (DOCD-5073 - 5076). There were, however, some notable exceptions. For the first three months of 1934 Tampa had been absent from recording and during that time Leroy Carr had found success with his "Mean Mistreater Mama" (DOCD-5137). Perhaps at Bluebird's behest Tampa Red recorded a word for word, vocal inflection for vocal inflection, copy of the song as Mean Mistreater Blues. To his own bottleneck accompaniment and augmented by a jug player and strumming guitarist, the song was driven along by the compelling rhythm that the simple use of such instruments produced. At his next session for Bluebird in October one number, Worried Devil Blues, featured Tampa's Jimmie Rodgers inspired "yodelling" phrases. This affectation may possibly have been occasioned by the popularity of the Mississippi Sheiks who used the technique to great commercial success for Okeh (DOCD-5083-5086) and who early in 1934 had joined the Bluebird roster.Along with Big Bill Broonzy, one of the stand-out figures in the transactional period of pre-war "Country Blues" to post war "City Blues" and on through to the energised, electric "Chicago Blues" of the 1950s is Hudson Whittaker better known as 'Tampa Red'. His recordings influenced many, including Robert Nighthawk, Elmore James and BB King. Volume Six of fifteen volumes dedicated to Tampa's recording career stretching from 1929 to 1953 features 22 tracks recorded at three sessions between June 1934 and February 1935. Experimenting with rhythm lines being underlined by jugs and washboards and kazoo, many of the tracks hail the emergence of a hip, swing influenced Tampa of the mid 30s. Carrying on the successful guitar piano formula that he had with his early recording partner Georgia Tom Dorsey, most of the tracks find him accompanied by piano players Black Bob or Henry "45" Scott plus occasional second guitar. Although Tampa's dreaded kazoo makes an occasional appearance it is mostly his powerful vocals and his distinctive single string slide guitar work that carries the CD along. The material is varied and includes a couple of topical items Christmas And New Years Blues and Stockyard Fire. It is fairly likely that such a fire occurred and Tampa's reference to eating only one meal in three may have been something he and his wife experienced as a result. It is suggested that I'll Get A Break Someday (I'll Be Up Someday") is not by Tampa but Carl Martin who has a session listed right after Tampa's - a fine cut whoever it is though. Tampa returns to the studio in February in chirpy mood the following year, recording a further seven sides. Armed with his guitar and his small but potent kazoo, and accompanied by "probably" Black Bob on piano and "probably" the mysterious Mississippi Sarah on jug he romps his way through Worthy Of You and If It Ain't That Gal Of Mine, a little ditty about Sally, who, on the street, can make more money than Henry Ford. Thankfully, after this number Tampa seems to have mislaid his Kazoo. Or has Sarah slipped it into her jug, if you pardon the phrase? Two takes of Mean Old Tom Cat is a pounding blues with Tampa peppering the accompaniment with the use of some bottleneck licks on his National steel guitar. Both takes are excellent and were worthy of release though the pace is picked up a little more on the second. We're then given a breather with two, very nice, blues including the excellent, rolling, Singing And Crying Blues. But Tampa really is in party mood and falling back onto his Hokum style he leaves volume 6 with the spicy Shake It Up A Little. ~ Alan Balfour (1991 Document Records)
Credits:
Compilation Producer - Johnny Parth;
Guitar - Tampa Red;
Guitar [Prob.] - Carl Martin (tracks: 1 to 7);
Jug - Unknown Artist (tracks: 7);
Jug [Prob.], Speech [Prob.] - Mississippi Sarah (tracks: 16, 17);
Kazoo - Tampa Red (tracks: 1, 2, 8, 9, 16, 17);
Liner Notes - Alan Balfour;
Piano - Henry "45" Scott* (tracks: 8 to 12, 14, 15);
Piano [Poss./Or] - Black Bob (tracks: 3 to 5), Frank Melrose (tracks: 3 to 5);
Piano [Prob.] - Black Bob (tracks: 16 to 22);
Remastered By - Gerhard Wessely;
Speech - Unknown Artist (tracks: 7);
Vocals - Tampa Red, Unknown Artist (tracks: 5, 6);
Yodeling - Tampa Red (tracks: 10).
Tracklist:
01. I'm Just Crazy 'Bout You - Tampa Red
02. I Still Got California On My Mind - Tampa Red
03. Grievin' And Worryin' Blues - Tampa Red
04. Give It Up Buddy And Get Goin' - Tampa Red
05. Somebody's Been Using That Thing (take 1) - Tampa Red
06. Somebody's Been Using That Thing (take 2) - Tampa Red
07. Mean Mistreater Blues - Tampa Red
08. Happy Jack - Tampa Red
09. I'm So Disappointed In You - Tampa Red
10. Worried Devil Blues - Tampa Red
11. Christmas And New Year's Blues - Tampa Red
12. Sweet Woman - Tampa Red
13. Big Time Woman - Tony Hollins
14. Witchin' Hour Blues - Tampa Red
15. Stockyard Fire - Tampa Red
16. Worthy Of You - Tampa Red
17. If it Ain't That Gal Of Mine - Tampa Red
18. Mean Old Tom Cat Blues (take 1) - Tampa Red
19. Mean Old Tom Cat Blues (take 3) - Tampa Red
20. Don't Dog Your Woman - Tampa Red
21. Singing And Crying Blues - Tampa Red
22. Shake It Up A Little - Tampa Red
Recorded in Chicago, 14 June 1934 (tracks 1 to 7), 27 October 1934 (tracks 8 to 12, 14, 15), and 26 February 1935 (tracks 16 to 22).
Blues and gospel records 1890-1943 (Oxford University Press, 1997) list Henry "45" Scott on piano for tracks 1 to 6.
Track 13: Tony Hollins' "Big time woman" (recorded in Chicago, 3 June 1941) was by mistake used instead of the listed Tampa Red song, "I'll Get A Break Some Day"; the Tampa Red song was included on Document DOCD-5276 in 1994.