Release Date: April 29, 1997.
Recording Time: 134 minutes.
Recording Date: Apr. 3, 1936 - Mar. 14, 1938.
Release Info: 2 x CD, Compilation, Bluebird - 07863 66722-2, RCA - 07863 66722-2.
By the mid-'30s, Tampa Red was a famous blues singer and guitarist, when he suddenly did an artistic about-face. The records Tampa Red made for the Bluebird label between 1936 and 1938 were certainly unlike anything he made before or after in his long recording career. His fabled guitar was relegated to the back burner, and he cut in two modes: first as a bandleader/vocalist fronting a small jazz-pop band, and secondly as a solo pianist/vocalist working the recently departed turf of Leroy Carr. All of these were cut at the same sessions, following a seamless thread except for a lone appearance of that patented slide guitar on two cuts from a 1937 date. Certainly not the place to start with Tampa, but an interesting sidebar for sure. Excellent notes by Jim O'Neal enhance the package. ~ Cub Koda
Credits:
Bass – Unknown Artist (tracks: 1-3 to 1-7, 1-10 to 1-15, 1-18 to 1-23)
Bass [String Bass (Possibly Imitation String Bass)] – Unknown Artist (tracks: 2-13 to 2-20)
Clarinet – Arnett Nelson (tracks: 1-3 to 1-15)
Clarinet [Probably] – Arnett Nelson (tracks: 1-18 to 1-23)
Compilation Producer – Vince Caro
Design – Nicky Lindeman
Drums – Unknown Artist (tracks: 2-3 to 2-6)
Engineer [Digital Restoration] – Paul Brizzi
Executive-Producer – Michael Omansky
Guitar – Tampa Red (tracks: 1-3 to 1-7, 1-10 to 1-15, 1-18 to 1-23, 2-3 to 2-6, 2-11 to 2-18), Willie Bee James* (tracks: 1-1, 1-2, 1-8, 1-9, 1-16 to 2-2, 2-7 to 2-12, 2-19 to 2-22)
Guitar [Poss.] – Willie Bee James* (tracks: 1-3 to 1-7, 1-10 to 1-15)
Kazoo – Tampa Red (tracks: 1-3 to 1-7, 1-10 to 1-15, 1-18 to 11-23)
Liner Notes – Jim O'Neal
Piano – Black Bob (tracks: 1-3 to 1-7, 1-10 to 1-15, 1-18 to 1-23), Tampa Red (tracks: 1-1, 1-2, 1-8, 1-9, 1-16, 1-17, 2-1, 2-2, 2-7 to 2-10, 2-18 to 2-22)
Piano [Probably] – Blind John Davis (tracks: 2-3 to 2-6, 2-13 to 2-18)
Tenor Saxophone – Unknown Artist (tracks: 2-3 to 2-6)
Tenor Saxophone [Possibly] – Bill Owsley (tracks: 2-13 to 2-18)
Transferred By, Remastered By – Dennis Ferrante
Trumpet – Unknown Artist (tracks: 2-3 to 2-6, 2-13 to 2-18)
Vocals – Tampa Red
Written-By – Hudson Whittaker
Tracklist:
- 1-01. Stormy Sea Blues - Tampa Red
- 1-02. Nutty And Buggy Blues - Tampa Red
- 1-03. You Stole My Heart - Tampa Red
- 1-04. You Got Me Worryin' - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 1-05. All Night Long - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 1-06. That's The Way I Do - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 1-07. I Hate Myself - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 1-08. I Need You By My Side - Tampa Red
- 1-09. Blue And Evil Blues - Tampa Red
- 1-10. If It Wasn't For You - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 1-11. Right Or Wrong - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 1-12. Stop Truckin' & Suzy-Q - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 1-13. Cheatin' On Me - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 1-14. Your One & Only - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 1-15. My Za Zu Girl - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 1-16. Someday I'm Bound To Win - Tampa Red
- 1-17. Taking It & Making My Getaway - Tampa Red
- 1-18. She Said It - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 1-19. It's Hard To Believe It's True - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 1-20. When Love Comes In - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 1-21. You Got To Learn To Do It - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 1-22. I Give My Love To You - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 1-23. I See You Can't Take It - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 2-01. My Gal Is Gone - Tampa Red
- 2-02. When The One You Love Is Gone - Tampa Red
- 2-03. You're More Than A Palace To Me - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 2-04. Harlem Swing - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 2-05. Oh Babe Oh Baby - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 2-06. I'm Gonna Get High - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 2-07. Delta Woman Blues - Tampa Red
- 2-08. Deceitful Friend Blues - Tampa Red
- 2-09. Wrong Idea - Tampa Red
- 2-10. Whoopee Mama - Tampa Red
- 2-11. Travel On - Tampa Red
- 2-12. Seminole Blues - Tampa Red
- 2-13. The Most Of Us Do - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 2-14. We Gonna Get High Together - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 2-15. Happily Married - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 2-16. A Lie In My Heart - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 2-17. Heck Of A How-Do-You-Do - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 2-18. That May Get It Now - Tampa Red And The Chicago Five
- 2-19. That Don't Matter Now - Tampa Red
- 2-20. Grouchy Hearted Woman - Tampa Red
- 2-21. Why Should I Care? - Tampa Red
- 2-22. Got To Leave My Woman - Tampa Red
Recorded at RCA Studio C, Chicago, IL, April 3, 1936 (tracks 1-1, 1-2), and December 21, 1936 (tracks 1-10 to 1-17)
Recorded at RCA Studio A, Chicago, IL, August 5, 1936 (tracks 1-3 to 1-9)
Recorded at Leland Hotel, Aurora, IL, May 4, 1937 (tracks 1-18 to 2-2), October 11, 1937 (tracks 2-3 to 2-12), and March 14, 1938 (tracks 2-13 to 2-22)