Steppin [CD-single] [Import]

Track Listings

1. Radio Version

2. Full Crew Remix

3. NJ Remix

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
The second single off sophomore album 'Unconditional' from soul artist compared to Luther Vandross & Alexander O'Neill. The radio version, full crew remix, NJ remix.

Steppin,Dennis Taylor,Dome,5"CD Singles,R&B/Soul

Tracks:

Is She Really Going Out With Him
Sunday Papers
One More Time
Got The Time
Look Sharp!
Fools In Love
On Your Radio
It's Different For Girls
I'm The Man
Friday
Don't Wanna Be Like That
The Harder They Come
Enough Is Enough
Beat Crazy
One To One
Biology
Someone Up There
Jumpin' Jive
Real Men
A Slow Song

Tracks:

Another World
Steppin' Out
Breaking Us In Two
Memphis
You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)
Happy Ending
Be My Number Two
Right And Wrong
Home Town
Precious Time
Down To London
Me And You (Against The World)
Rant And Rave
Nineteen Forever
Obvious Song
Stranger Than Fiction
The Man Who Wrote Danny Boy
Stranger Than You

Amazon.com

The two-CD Steppin' Out trawls the recorded career of an ambitious artist whose work has ranged from reggae-inflected new wave to classical crossover. Cosmopolitan even at his most punky, former Royal Academy of Music student Joe Jackson found his greatest success with Night and Day, a blend of pop and Latin flavors that produced highly memorable tracks such as this retrospective's title song, "Another World," and "Breaking Us in Two." That very sophistication, however, has often proven the downfall of some Jackson discs and ultimately blurred his musical identity beyond the focus that, say, Elvis Costello has maintained through many stylistic shifts. Even powerful early music--such as several cuts from 1980's dub-wise Beat Crazy--is marred by sledgehammer irony, while excerpts from later albums are anything from tastefully bland to downright irritating. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews:

All Joe All the Time.......2007-04-12

This is the definitive Joe Jackson cd. It's all his performance songs and hits rolled into a great double cd set. Every time I think to see if I would skip the next song I change my mind, it's like I just ran into an old best friend and I spend the night sit, drink coffee and talk all night.

Amazing!.......2006-11-08

Joe Jackson is really underrated artist. Very mid-english timeless feeling (pubs, clubs, broken hearts, endless struggle for better life, football hooligans and finally - everything around us full of beauty).
The songs touched by a lot of eclecticism and sometimes remind you The Police, Todd Rundgren's Utopia, Billy Joel and Elvis Costello.
Musthave item for all music fans.

He's the man.......2006-08-26

This is a 2 CD retrospective on Joe Jackson 1979-2000 studio works (no live cuts). Rightfully so, it focuses on his more popular early work while just sampling his later more experimental works.
His earlier rock LPs were great cut for cut and the many cuts featured from these LPs bear this out. There's a few rarities included here for the serious fans and the later cuts will give a flavor of those efforts while not getting into great depth. In his varied career, Jackson has had many highlights and this set does as good a job as possible of featuring his best.

Steppin' Out / Very Best of Joe Jackson.......2006-08-24

Great CD, I had never owned any of His work before, I had only heard the radio hits. Very strong songs with good lyric and great groove..

Fantastic collection.......2005-08-29

Joe Jackson can be something of an acquired taste, but apart from his regrettable experiment in big band (Cab Calloway retired 'Jumpin Jive'; no-one else should attempt it), this is a fantastic collection. The 'Stepping Out' stuff aside, I really enjoyed reliving the frenetic energy of the new wave stuff with 'Got the Time', 'I'm the Man', and other songs of that type. This is an extremely solid collection.

Average customer rating:

Like a Nova
Strong Debut
Unpretentious swing from an upstart performer...
Great CD - Club Version Not what you Expect
Just the usual- catchy, classy, sultry

Steppin' Out
Diana Krall
Manufacturer: Justin Time Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Only Trust Your Heart
All for You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio
Love Scenes
When I Look in Your Eyes
From This Moment On

ASIN: B0000071FS
Release Date: 2000-02-22

Tracks:

This Can't Be Love
Straighten Up And Fly Right
Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
I'm Just A Lucky So And So
Body And Soul
42nd Street
Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
Big Foot
Frim Fram Sauce
Jimmie
As Long As I Live
On The Sunny Side Of The Street

Amazon.com

For years singer-pianist Diana Krall has been bringing new lifeblood to jazz via her dual knockout talents. And while her later recordings reveal a consistently maturing artist, this 1992 debut album shows that the Nanaimo, British Columbia, native had the goods right from the get-go. In her mid-20s here, Krall sings with honesty, subtlety, and persuasion while playing the piano with head-shaking authority, both as accompanist--she offers amazing asides in between vocal phrases--and as an absolutely A-one improviser. Indeed, it is remarkable to hear her weave her gifts into a wondrous whole. Working with bass ace John Clayton and the superb drummer Jeff Hamilton, Krall presents one winner after another. "This Can't Be Love" is typical, a selection where it is all but impossible not to tap your foot. After a nicely enunciated vocal--she slides into phrases much like Sarah Vaughan--the pianist cooks in her Oscar Peterson-meets-Gene Harris style, playing hip ideas that fall easily on the ear, underwritten by her rock-solid feel for time. "As Long as I Live" is another example of Krall's ability to sing and swing a standard with a nonstop groove. "Straighten Up and Fly Right" is slower and features a deeply bluesy vocal; "I'm Just a Lucky So and So" is equally sultry. The classic ballad "Body and Soul" finds her singing with intimacy and playing with a caressing touch. A very impressive start for a very impressive artist. --Zan Stewart

Album Description

The esteemd Canadian jazz pianist's 1993 debut album, her sole release before signing to GRP in the U.S. 'Stepping Out' features John Clayton on bass, Jeff Hamilton on drums and Krall both singing & playing the piano. The 11 tracks consist of both originals & covers, including 'This Can't Be L ove', 'Straighten Up And Fly Right', 'Between The Devil An d The Deep Blue Sea' and 'I'm Just A Lucky So And So'. De leted in the U.S.! 1993 release.

Customer Reviews:

Like a Nova.......2007-03-04

Ms Krall is simply the most talented young jazz artist to arrive in this venue in the past 3 decades. This opening entre is a balanced rendition of her brilliant skills as an improvisational pianist and her imaginative vocal stylings, either of which are deserving of the highest praise, and in combination are almost unbelievable. Her more recent CDs and DVDs are more polished, with more sophisticated accompaniment, but this is an up front, powerful presentation of one remarkably talented performer.

Strong Debut.......2006-09-26

This is Diana's first release and I feel it's one of her best!, this is a swinging set of jazz vocals and some fine piano playing instrumentals. While I do enjoy her later cd's, this one has more swing to it then her later ones. If your just discovering Miss Krall make sure you add this cd to your collection!

Unpretentious swing from an upstart performer..........2006-08-01

This offering gives us Diana's first CD, from back around 1992. A mix of instrumentals and vocals, it really does swing. Her voice does not sound much like her 2003-2006 instrument, being a bit rougher around the edges. If you are a fan already, of course you will want it. If you like her more recent stuff, this demonstrates her origins. If you dislike her recent releases, this gives you another facet of a very talented woman. Mainly, this is just fun, and it makes you want to move your lips and your body and sing and dance yourself. (Even if, like me, you can't dance a step or sing a note without screwing it up.)

Great CD - Club Version Not what you Expect.......2005-12-01

In regards to this album, I'm simply going to say that it is great, but I love everything Diana sings. I'm really adding this comment because I am disappointed in the "Club" version that I bought, expecting there was nothing to lose but paying a few extra dollars to buy it that way - I was wrong! The "Club" version turns out to be a "Manufactured for BMG Direct" release and it does not include the bonus track "Sunny Side of the Street" listed here. I may be wrong, but unless it was hidden somewhere in the fine print, Amazon does not reveal either of these discrepancies when placing an order for the club version and I'm not very happy about it.

Just the usual- catchy, classy, sultry .......2005-03-16

This is one of the early albums of Ms. Krall and sets the tone for all that is to come - the choice of tunes, the low-key but striking arrangements, the elegant piano, the mix between longing and bopping. But most of all it is about that fabulous voice that continues to enchant. It is not so clear as, say, Cheryl Bentyne, but its sultriness and throatiness are what we have come to look for and love.

Most of the songs have been heard before (and since) and yet they are worth repeating even from one CD to another. "Straighten Up and Fly Right" is understanded but undeniably affecting. "I'm just a Lucky So and So" seems sculptured just for her in both body and spirit. The other tunes were all gems...a winner.

Average customer rating:

Steppin'
best Pointer Sisters album ever
Rhythm & Soul
The Early Pointer Sisters

Steppin'
The Pointer Sisters
Manufacturer: Hip-O Select
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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That's a Plenty
Live at the Opera House
The Pointer Sisters
Yes We Can Can: The Best of the Blue Thumb Recordings
Having a Party

ASIN: B000BPN1VY
Release Date: 2006-12-01

Tracks:

How Long (Betcha Got a Chick on the Side)
Sleeping Alone
Easy Days
Chainey Do
I Ain't Got Nothin' but the Blues: A Medley in Tribute to Duke ...
Save the Bones for Henry Jones
Wanting Things
Going Down Slowly

Product Description

Anita, Bonnie, Jean and Ruth Pointer formed their eponymous band in Oakland, California in the Seventies and proceeded to draw quite successfully upon a remarkably wide variety of musical influences, from Tin Pan Alley to soul to country. Their fourth album, Steppin, came out in the summer of 1975 and launched with a classic: How Long (Betcha Got A Chick On The Side), a funk-laden groove that soared to the top of the R&B charts and just grazed the Top 20 on the pop side. The other tune that got a little traction on the pop charts was another funky track, this time from the pen of Allen Toussaint: Going Down Slowly. The sisters pay tribute to Duke Ellington in a medley called I Aint Got Nothin But The Blues, and then take a page from the Andrews Sisters stylebook in Save The Bones For Henry Jones.. But perhaps the emotional core of the album is the ballad Wanting Things, a sweet and evocative interlude between the albums high energy pop and funk tracks. Producer David Rubinson, who had worked extensively with Herbie Hancock during the early Seventies, brought the jazz keyboardist in to guest on clavinet, and the nearly ubiquitous Wah Wah Watson added his trademark guitar sound to the mix. Lastly, you gotta love the covers illustration of hi-heel sneakers, Seventies style. It would be two more years before the country was full-on in the throes of Saturday Night Fever, but the Pointers were definitely fashion-forward.

Customer Reviews:

Steppin'.......2007-05-12

I had bought this when it first came out on a 33 1/3 record, so I was happy to see it come out on CD. If you're a Pointer Sisters fan and enjoy a bit of blues, you'll love this CD.

best Pointer Sisters album ever.......2007-03-15

I've been trying to get this album on CD for years. It's been available as an import for awhile, and I ordered it as such from several venues, including Amazon, only to be told after waiting 6-8 weeks that it was unavailable. Well, Amazon vendors finally listed it (and the other truly great PS album, live at the Opera House) and I ordered both albums. They are both far better than the pile of albums the PS recorded later of all covers, but Steppin' with its Duke Ellington medley, Stevie Wonder cut and everything else, is a really great album. Now if I could only find LaBelle's album Phoenix on CD, life would be good.

Rhythm & Soul.......2007-02-08

The summer of 1975 sets the Pointer Sisters in a stylish R&B mode. Most people don't think of this album's lead song "How Long(Betcha Got A Chick on the Side)" when remembering the Pointer Sisters, and unfortunately so as this #1 R&B hit(which made it to #20 on the pop charts)is undoubtedly one of their best with signature funk grooves and an extended ending consiting of the tightest harmonies ever recorded on vinyl. Next comes "Sleeping Alone," another soulful classic laced with a jazzy piano solo by Stevie Wonder and featuring Anita's sweet yet agonizing lead backed by the vocal collage of Ruth, Bonnie, & June. "Easy Days" features Bonnie taking lead with her silky rich vocals, while "Chainey Do," sets all the sisters in motion and is supported by Herbie Hancock and his jazz band playing a set that sounds like it came straight from a New Orleans festival. If you prefer nostalgic jazz, as the Pointers always included on their early releases, then you'll also enjoy a Duke Ellington tribute in which all the sisters trade leads, followed by a classic by The Andrew Sisters in "Save the Bones for Henry Jones," which I find as the album's only weak point. The album closes with another funk classic as Ruth takes the lead with her deep vocals on "Going Down Slowly," but the real surprise is the late June Pointer's beautiful solo turn on the ballad "Wanting Things." June sings the song with such a pensiveness as if she identified with the words right away, and one song where she reminds listeners of jazz greats like Billie Holiday. Despite the attempted redistribution of a couple of the older jazz songs(just not a personal favorite)I still give this release five stars as it shows how the sisters were heading in more of a dance and funk format in their career.

The Early Pointer Sisters .......2006-06-17

I owned this LP back in the late 70's and recall the June Pointer solo "Wanting Things" so I was happy to have finally located this on CD since that song is so beautifully written and showcases the late June Pointer's vocal talents. The rest of the songs are mostly jazzy songs including a tribute to Duke Ellington. I always thought the cover art was so funky and unique so grab a copy of this rare CD before it disappears.

Average customer rating:

Fred and Oscar
Dancer AND Singer
Fresh
A Bridge Between the 1930's and 1950's
A brilliant collaboration

Steppin' Out: Astaire Sings
Fred Astaire
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Top Hat, White Tie & Tails

ASIN: B0000046V0
Release Date: 1994-06-21

Tracks:

Steppin` Out With My Baby
Let`s Call The Whole Thing Off
Top Hat, White Tie, And Tails
They Can`t Take That Away From Me
Dancing In The Dark
`S Wonderful
The Way You Look Tonight
They All Laughed
I Concentrate On You
Night And Day
A Fine Romance
Nice Work If You Can Get It
The Continental
I Won`t Dance
You`re Easy To Dance With
Change Partners
Cheek To Cheek

Amazon.com

In 1952 Fred Astaire joined Oscar Peterson and some of Verve's best sidemen to lay down jazzy, laid-back versions of songs he had made famous in his Broadway and film career. Those 38 tracks, released as The Astaire Story, have been condensed into this collection, Steppin' Out: Fred Astaire Sings. While Astaire was not blessed with great vocal chops, the best American songwriters including George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter loved him for his unerring sense of rhythm and sympathetic treatment of lyrics, qualities that are well displayed here. Tony Bennett hit the pop mainstream with his 1994 album of jazzy Astaire standards. Here's the original. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews:

Fred and Oscar.......2007-06-27

This disc gives a good sample of the 4 LP set called "The Fred Astaire Story". Fred is in fine fettle with the small group of Jazz at the Philharmonic musicians, and the recording is of such quality that you can really hear his style. Also, Oscar Peterson's accompaniment gives the lie to those who say that he plays too many notes or that he doesn't swing. All is understated, in aid of putting Fred into the best light. Of course, you have a selection of some of the great popular songs associated with Fred's career.

Dancer AND Singer.......2006-11-12

Beyond the nostalgia of an eighty year old, "Steppin' Out: Astaire Sings" teamed with some of the great jazz players reveals a fine, gentle singer whose dancing overshadowed his singing in the original movies.

Fresh.......2006-09-05

For something recorded in 1952, this is some of the freshest music today. These songs from stage and movies are given new life by putting show tunes to the take-your-time, more sensitive, less hackneyed rhythms of jazz. Lacking the necessity to carry a movie, Astaire's phrasing and intonations have a very different quality than the original versions.

A certain subtlety comes through and the lyrics are freed from sentimentality, as Astaire masterfully burnishes a deeper and more heartfelt thoughtfulness. "Steppin' Out With My Baby" and "I Won't Dance" have a simpler, carefree quality, and the accompaniement by greats such as Oscar Peterson on piano and Charlie Shavers, Flip Phillips, Barney Kessel, Ray Brown and Alvin Stoller are first rate. This is a must have for not only Fred Astaire afficionados, but also for anyone who really wants to hear how to take an old hit, change it around and come out with something totally fresh.

Fans will like his interview on the final track, "Cheek to Cheek." As it says in the cover note, Tony Bennett proclaimed Fred Astaire our national treasure. Fred Astaire's versatility and willingness to risk putting these standards to a new rhythm should stand as both proof and inspiration.

A Bridge Between the 1930's and 1950's.......2005-09-09

The Great American Song Book reached its highest point in the 1950's with Verve's Jazz recordings of the classic American music of the 1930's. All the Jazz greats stepped back twenty years and breathed new life into the works of Irving Berlin, Rogers and Hart and Cole Porter.

"Steppin' Out" is brilliant because it serves as a link between the Broadway and Hollywood Music of the 1930's and the new Jazz interpretations of the 1950's. Many of the songs covered in this album were written for and first performed by Fred Astaire.

Verve had a first rate idea in asking Fred Astaire to work with Oscar Peterson. The arrangements show all the brilliance that Peterson was capable of achieving and Astaire stepped up to the musical challange. The jazz pace and phrasing worked perfectly for Astaire. His voice and delivery had only improved with time. In my opinion, his voice in the 1930's had a tinny quality to it. But by the 1950's he had matured and there is deepness to his voice that works well in a jazz setting.

There can be little argument that Fred Astaire was one of the great dancers of the Twentieth Century. Although not as well respected as a vocalist, this album quite clearly shows that Astaire could do it all.

A brilliant collaboration.......2004-11-07

If you like Astaire, Jazz or the American songbook you will love this. The understated virtuoso arrangements let the songs shine and Astaire is the real thing.

Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead: England '72

Average customer rating:

Another Great Live Document
"Some Folks Look For Answers, Others Look For Fights..."
Greatness
Good set... but certainly not perfect.
Very Good Recording

Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead: England '72
Grateful Dead
Manufacturer: Grateful Dead / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0002T2Q7O
Release Date: 2004-08-31

Tracks:

Cold Rain and Snow
Greatest Story Everr Told
Mr. Charlie
Sugaree
Mexicali Blues
Big Boss Man
Deal
Jack Straw
Big Railroad Blues [Live]
It Hurts Me Too [Live]
China Cat Sunflower
I Know You Rider/Happy Birthday to You
Playing in the Band

Tracks:

Good Lovin'
Ramble on Rose
Black-Throated Wind [Live]
Sitting on Top of the World
Comes a Time
Turn on Your Love Light
Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad
Not Fade Away
Hey Bo Diddley
Not Fade Away

Tracks:

Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu
Black Peter
Chinatown Shuffle
Truckin' [Live]
Drums [Live]
Other One [Live]
Paso [Live]
Other One [Live]
Wharf Rat [Live]
One More Saturday Night [Live]

Tracks:

Uncle John's Band
Stranger (Two Souls in Communion)
Dark Star [Live]
Sugar Magnolia [Live]
Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks) [Live]
Brokendown Palace

Customer Reviews:

Another Great Live Document.......2007-04-24

This 4 cd set is superbly recorded and the band is fearless. It is also poignant, as this was the last overseas tour that Pigpen played. Listen to him perform here, and you'd never know.

Oh yes, some great jams too.

"Some Folks Look For Answers, Others Look For Fights...".......2006-03-25

Steppin' Out (along with Hundred Year Hall) is probably the greatest example of how powerful the Dead were in 1972. This set contains, in my opinion, the greatest Dead lineup, minus Mickey Hart.

What is actually great about this set is that fans of the early Live/Dead era stuff or fans of the Post-Pigpen years will get the best of both worlds, here. You get Pigpen's B3 organ, Soulful Voice and astounding harp blowing wrapped up with Keith Godcheaux's stinging grand piano (he used the Helpinstill piano pickup system, that's why the piano always had somewhat of an electric feel to it, which you couldn't get with microphones; piano players and/or Helpinstill enthusiasts, take note).

Steppin' Out contains so many definitive Dead moments that were never released. Disc 1 and 2 contain superb performances of the shorter songs, especially "Greatest Story Ever Told", "Deal", "Black-Throated Wind", and "Playing In The Band". Speaking of "Playing In The Band", I really think that this is the best version that the Dead had ever done of the song. I really don't think that any hour-long jams that this song bookended after 1974 really captured the essence of the song, as well as this version does.

Speaking of hour-long jams, the "Truckin'-Drums-The Other One-El Paso-The Other One-Wharf Rat" jam on Disc 3 is the true defining moment of this set. However, "Dark Star-Sugar Magnolia-Caution (Don't Stop On The Tracks)" on disc 4 is just as deserving of the same title. But the only problem I have with it is that Donna Jean Godcheaux doesn't get up and harmonize on the "Sunshine Daydream" section with Bob Weir. She did that so well when you heard it on "Europe '72" (although I read that Donna's part was later added during studio overbuds for "Europe '72", so that answers my question). After mayhem of "Caution", Disc 4 and the entire experience in general, ends with the best closing song ever imaginable, "Brokedown Palace". It just sums up everything that has been experienced throughout the duration of the set.

Getting down to the musicians, Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh's lead guitar-bass guitar interplay has never been performed so well, especially in the cerebral modal crosstalk throughout "The Other One" and "Dark Star". Whenever Jerry plays low notes on guitar or Phil plays high notes on bass, they sound so similar, it's almost impossible to tell them apart. Bob Weir's solid rhythm guitar has never sounded so rich and full and hasn't since (during the tune up between "Ramble On Rose" and "Black-Throated Wind", he plays the opening guitar lick from "Weather Report Prelude", which makes you wonder what other things they may have needed these tapes for). Billy Kreutzmann's drumming is just so solid , especially on "Drums" where he rings in "The Other One" in true rhythmic splendor. Along with Kreutzmann, McKernan's random moments of backup percussion (tambourine [audible on "Deal", "Jack Straw", "Wharf Rat", and "Black Throated Wind"] maracas/shakers ["Sugar Magnolia", and "Playing In The Band"], guiro ["Uncle John's Band"]) really does at least make up for parts that were originally played by Mickey Hart in the studio. Still the double drumset crosstalk is sadly absent, and in a way was never the same again after Hart's departure and return, being that both Hart and Kruetzmann changed their drum sounds and styles radically after 1972.

Basically to summarize, any body who even likes the Dead a little bit, should get this set just to here really good live versions of their short songs, but any devoted Dead fanatic who followed the band in it's later years, but couldn't get over to England in time for the recordings of these shows (or you weren't born yet), should get this for the metaphysical/psychological rush of musical mayhem that is the jams, that encapsulate the ends of discs 2, 3, and 4.

The Dead sound very powerful, yet very natural. In later years, they would expand their stage setup with so much percussion equipment and amplifiers that the music seemed to become less original and astounding. This is why, in many respects, this was The Dead at their pinnacle, with Pigpen on his way out and Keith and Donna on their way in. Pretty much the only thing that could've made this better would've been a surprise appearance by Mickey Hart, but unfortunately that was never to be (at least with Pigpen still in the group).

So please, do yourself a favor and buy the album. I promise that a fan of The Dead on any level will love it.

Greatness.......2005-08-10

Judging solely on the basis of DARK STAR, Steppin' Out
is a no-brainer 5 stars. If you program for Dark Star plus
the two OTHER ONE tracks, you have a full hour of brilliant
jamming with a bare minimum of vocals. Now you may wonder,
the Rockin' The Rhein release, ALSO from 1972, ALSO has a
long DARK STAR that is over-the-top fantastic; so the question
becomes: is the 1972 Steppin' Out DARK STAR different enough from the 1972 Rockin' The Rhein DARK STAR to justify purchase?
Hell yes!!! In fact, it's COMPLETELY different! To my ears,
Jerry's guitar tone throughout Steppin' Out has a much sharper tone to it...I'm guessing it's because he was using a Stratocaster
guitar? Anyway, the long DARK STAR tracks on Steppin' Out and
Rockin' The Rhein are very different jams...both GREAT.
Also, if you search around, Steppin' Out has some definitive
vocal tracks as well...Sugaree, Deal, Ramble On Rose, Comes A Time, Brokedown Palace, etc., and after all, I believe it's best to buy Grateful Dead CDs for favored "definitive" tracks you program for, rather than playing the CDs from start to finish. Incidentally, Steppin' Out has some cool pictures in the little book. No "touch of gray" in Jerry's hair here!

Good set... but certainly not perfect. .......2005-03-28

I bought this 4 CD set because I was curious about the early 1972 era of the dead and Europe '72 didn't quite satisfy me. While many people give it loads of praise and it was a fairly good album considering the time it was made (hour-long jams just don't fit onto vinyl), current stereo technology has progressed to the point where a set like this is probably a better buy.

I must say that there is truly something for every kind of Dead fan on here. Fans of "good old rock 'n roll" will find plenty of what they want on here, as will people who like long, spaced-out jams and casual listeners who want to hear popular songs such as "Uncle John's Band" and "Sugar Magnolia." As a general rule, this CD's get more interesting as they increase in number; disc 1 is mostly short rock songs, while disc 4 is a transcendant voyage through one's inner psyche that is up there with Live/Dead and Anthem of the Sun as my favorite disc of Grateful Dead material in my collection.

Probably the most interesting musical ideas on this set are presented by the two keyboardists: Keith and Pigpen. By this time, Keith is fully integrated into the band's sound; sometimes, he can sound so dominant that I wonder why Pigpen isn't back home, nursing his health. Then the band launches into one of Mr. McKerman's songs or the organ kicks in with a funky groove and I realize just how important he is to the group. His finest moments appear on disc 4. "The Stranger" is arguably the finest song he ever sang, featuring some incredible lyrics and a great solo from Jerry. It would have been a great substitution for the somewhat lackluster "You Win Again" and "Ramble on Rose" on Europe '72. The "Caution" on here is probably the strongest jam I've herd from the Dead at this point, perhaps excepting the "Dark Star" on Live/Dead. Every band member gets a chance to shine and contribute to the sinister brew that follows an extremely high-energy "Sunshine Daydream," with screams from Bob Weir and Pigpen to drive up the intensity. At one point, the dying maniac in the cowboy hat sings a line as he plays the same melody on the organ... which is probably the highlight of the entire jam. Just as the song fades out, angry and distorted guitar breaks the silence, prompting two more minutes of additional jamming. THIS is what chaos sounds like. THIS is the sound of war, of panic and confusion, of lost souls heading to their doom and screaming in pain.

Needless to say, the entire set isn't nearly as intense or even as interesting. Quite frankly, some songs ("Sugaree," "Mexicali Blues," "Deal") sound quite boring to these ears. Perhaps that's why I'm giving this four stars; although there are some great recordings on here, a three disc set would serve the same purpose only without the occational track you have to skip. Were I reviewing the downloadable version of this on the iTunes music store, which is about ten dollars cheaper, I might decide to go for the full five stars.... however, this is the physical copy and is thus priced differently (although you do get a nice color booklet with an essay and pictures of the band). I reccomend this for people who already like the Dead and are interested in what REALLY went on in Europe in 1972. As I mentioned earlier, any kind of Dead listener will find something to like about this, although probably not the whole thing.

Very Good Recording.......2005-03-05

This is a great era in the Dead's music as we all know. If your a fan of the Godchaux's then get this now if you dont have it already! I personally like the dead before Keith and (mainly) Donna came on board, but this 4-disc release is generally pretty damn good. Most of their poppy short songs are on discs 1 and 2 (the Playing in the Band is only 10 minutes but we have to remember this is when PITB was still relatively new/young) You will find most (notice I said most) of their jamming on discs 3 and 4. The sound quality on this release is excellent.

I won't go on picking apart each and every song, so go out and buy it and find out for yourself how good this release is. I definately would recommend this over Europe '72 because A. You get twice as much music, B. You get way better songs included on this release, and C. this IS europe (well, england) in the year 1972! You will pretty much find the same quality in this 4-disc set and much more than in Europe '72.

Don't even hesitate, this is definately a worthy collection to be put in your collection.

Dreamgirls in Concert (2001 Concert Cast)

Average customer rating:

Dreamgirls 2001
Not the real "DREAM" experience
Absolutely brilliant!
Amazing!!!!!!
One Night Only

Dreamgirls in Concert (2001 Concert Cast)
Henry Krieger , Audra McDonald , Brian Stokes Mitchell , Emily Skinner , and Darius de Haas
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

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Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

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Dreamgirls (1982 Original Broadway Cast)
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Company (2006 Broadway Revival Cast)
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ASIN: B00005Y4P4
Release Date: 2002-02-26

Tracks:

I'm Looking for Something, Baby
Goin' Downtown
Takin' the Long Way Home
Move (You're Steppin on My Heart)
Scene: Fifty bucks says the Dreamettes don't win
Fake Your Way to the Top
Scene: It ain't working, Marty
Cadillac Car
Cadillac Car (On the Road)
Cadillac Car (Recording Studio)
Scene: I don't believe they can do that
Steppin' to the Bad Side
Scene: I'm working on a long shot
Party, Party
I Want You, Baby
Scene: I'm a woman now
Family
Scene: What are you doing to that girl?
Dreamgirls
Press Conference
Heavy
Walkin' Down the Strip/Scene: Las Vegas
It's All Over
And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going

Tracks:

Opening Act II: Dreams Medley
Scene: Effie White is the best singer you're gonna find
I Am Changing
Vogue Sequence
When I First Saw You
Ain't No Party
I Meant You No Harm
The Rap
I Miss You, Old Friend
One Night Only
One Night Only (Disco Version)
I'm Somebody
Hard to Say Good-bye
Dreamgirls (Reprise)

Amazon.com

A Chorus Line may be better known, but Dreamgirls was a towering achievement for director Michael Bennett. Loosely based on the Supremes' story, the 1982 musical told a typical show-biz tale of fame, backbiting, and survival. As is often the case for one-night only events, the cast in this concert version (recorded in New York on September 24, 2001) is led by an eye-popping assortment of Broadway powerhouses: Lillias White (The Life), Audra McDonald (Ragtime, Marie Christine), and Heather Headley (Ragtime). McDonald reveals a previously undisclosed comic streak, while Headley confirms her status as a rising star. Reprising the role of Effie Melody White (created by Jennifer Holliday), White belts the classic "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going." But the beauty of Dreamgirls is that it's so packed with catchy, Motown-influenced R&B numbers that each lead can sink her teeth into some prime material and get a turn in the spotlight. This double-CD set really makes you wish you'd been there when the show was recorded: you can hear the crowd going berserk at times, and the temptation is strong to do the same thing in the comfort of your living room. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews:

Dreamgirls 2001.......2007-06-27

This was the worst reproduction of Dreamgirls that I ever heard. I was so disappointed the CD went into the garbage. This is one CD that I would not sell to the public because I expect so much and get so little.

Not the real "DREAM" experience.......2007-04-04

Forget about the film sountrack. Get this CD set. And it's far better than the original cast recording which goes lacking. More songs and more everything that makes a live performance just what it is. Live (compared to film where anything can be done to enhance a performance!) -- the energy, the excitement and the performances make this a rare treat for anyone wanting to share in the real DREAM experience.

Isn't a full Broadway revival long over due. But wait: I've heard rumors that a rvial may be "in the works. I certainly hope so. Maybe this time it will receive the Tony award it deserved in the first place.

Absolutely brilliant!.......2007-01-28

There is atleast 5 new songs on this album that were not in the movie! These girls kill it I mean they are just amazing singers, and this all live! This is needed for any Dreamgirls fanatic like me! You are gonna love it! Enjoy! love live laugh :)

Amazing!!!!!!.......2006-12-04

As a theatre lover, this recording is amazing. I actually prefer this recording to the OBC. Sheryl Lee Ralph is okay, but can't touch Audra's Deena. The first time I heard Ms. White's "And I Am Telling You..", goosbumps all over my body. The only weak cast member in my opinon is Heather Headly. Vocally, she just isn't there. Too much Aida, not enough Dreamgirls. But all in all, a great live recording of a great show.

One Night Only .......2006-07-19

I was lucky enough to attend this One Night Only concert performance of Dreamgirls and it was a night I will never forget!! The cast was brilliant and the cd is as good if not better than the Broadway cast recording because it is the entire show not just the songs. Bravo to everyone involved !!!

Average customer rating:

Gettin into Paul!
Hasn't missed a beat...
The Smooth Sounds Will Take You Away
Do not buy this smooth Jazz CD
Definitely worth listening to!!!

Steppin' Out
Paul Taylor
Manufacturer: Peak Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Smooth Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

General | R&B | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Nightlife
Hypnotic
Undercover
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On the Horn

ASIN: B00008V609
Release Date: 2003-04-22

Tracks:

On The Move
Steppin' Out
Long Way Home
Someone Watching Over You
Night Rider
Cantina
Let's Go Out Tonite
Hacienda
Enchanted Garden
Speakeasy
Runaway

Customer Reviews:

Gettin into Paul!.......2007-03-31

I just discovered Paul on Pandora and I sure am glad. Love his smooth jazz...it's my absolute favorite smooth jazz album now...when I really want to get 'back up' after a hard day I play his album. Love the percussion, his expert sax and the background instrumentation works perfectly. There's not a number on the album I don't like...not a dud on here... all soaring, funky, energizing and soothing at the same time!
I'll be buying more of this guy's work!

Hasn't missed a beat..........2004-07-08

Like most people on here, I have to agree that this is another solid cd from PT again. I have 4 of PT's cd's, but this probably could be his best one. The #3 track, Long way home, is quite frankly one heck of a song. Just play this track on your way back from a hard day's work will make you forget everything that went wrong. There's no question PT's works have placed him in a league of his own...

The Smooth Sounds Will Take You Away.......2004-01-10

Paul Taylor is awesome on the horn. This cd is great to come home and relax to after a hards day work, slip into the cd player while riding on the road, and wonderful sounds to cuddle to. If you like great jazz, you must get this cd.

Tonya Howard
http://www.sisterdivas.org

Do not buy this smooth Jazz CD.......2003-10-06

After "Hypnotic" Paul Taylor's 2001 release, I had to have this CD. It was very disappointment. Seemed almost canned. He really jammed on the other CD. This one seems like a computer programmed module with no talent. He can do much better.

Definitely worth listening to!!!.......2003-07-22

I bought this album about a month ago and could not put it down. I first listened to his Hypnotic album and was completely blown away, so when I bought this I knew it was going to be even better and it was. I love his R&B style jazz and his sultry sax. The backround keyboards and the percussion really make this album stand out all on it's own. Every single song on this album could be a hit that I myself would play on the radio. Trust me buyers. If you buy this album you won't be dissapointed. You can listen to it over and over again and never get sick of it. Don't take my word for it. Find out for yourself

Average customer rating:

Perfectly Fred
The Epitome of Cool.
This Disc Swings!
Not a good showcase for Bennett's great talent
Must have

Steppin' Out
Tony Bennett
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Traditional Jazz General | Traditional Jazz & Ragtime | Jazz | Styles | Music

Vocal Jazz General | Vocal Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

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Here's to the Ladies
Perfectly Frank
Hot & Cool - Bennett Sings Ellington
Playin' with My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues
Duets: An American Classic

ASIN: B0000029C2
Release Date: 1993-10-05

Tracks:

Steppin' Out With My Baby
Who Cares?
Top Hat, White Tie And Tails
They Can't Take That Away From Me
Dancing In The Dark
Shine On Your Shoes
He Loves And She Loves
They All Laughed
I Concentrate On You
You're All The World To Me
All Of You
Nice Work If You Can Get It
It Only Happens When I Dance With You
Shall We Dance
You're Easy To Dance With/Change Partners/Cheek To Cheek
I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plan
That's Entertainment
By Myself

Amazon.com

This is the album that transformed Tony Bennett from crooner to hipster, a run that culminated in his 1994 MTV appearance. Steppin' Out is Bennett's tribute to Fred Astaire, who introduced as many American standards as anyone due to his relationships with such songwriters as Berlin, Porter, Kern, and the Gershwins. While Bennett avoids some obvious choices ("Night and Day" and "A Foggy Day" had been covered in his earlier Sinatra tribute), he picks a number of classics from Astaire's 1930s heyday as well as some songs from his MGM years, including the gem of the album, "You're All the World to Me." Bennett is ably assisted, as always, by the Ralph Sharon Trio. Great singer, great songs, great album. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews:

Perfectly Fred.......2006-06-26

Unlike some of Tony Bennett's numerous other "tribute" records, there is little about the packaging of STEPPIN' OUT that screams "dedicated to Fred Astaire!" In fact, not having glanced at the self-penned liner notes before playing this CD, it took me `til the medley that is track 15 (and which makes two overt references to the dancing legend) to realize that, hey, this must be a Fred Astaire tribute! As the kids say, d'oh!

But as I say, the packaging doesn't exactly have Tony tipping his (top) hat here. The Sinatra tribute PERFECTLY FRANK had a mature Tony sitting in the audience watching a young Frankie. It screamed "tribute." On the cover here, we have Tony tripping the light fantastic with an exuberant and gravity defying young lady, in her own white tie and tails, who is quite striking but isn't exactly a Ginger Rogers clone. And while the song roster includes the numerous Great American Songbook titles, you'd have to be of an even older generation than I am to instantly recognize them all as having been intimately associated with Astaire. They've been covered numerous times since, and it's hard to say that any one recording artist "owns" them.

Now I've always enjoyed the old Fred Astaire movies, and I rather liked him as a singer. It surprised me nonetheless to learn that the classic songwriters of the day loved having him perform their tunes--because he performed them AS WRITTEN. But maybe it shouldn't be so surprising, when you think about it,s, that an artist who was primarily a dancer would sing the songs straight and exercise his more interpretive instincts via the dance.

So now you've got Tony Bennett, who--conversely--may be the ultimate interpretive singer, tackling the same tunes that Astaire sang so straightforwardly and serviceably for his films. Is there an irony there? Well, at the very least, there's a stylistic gap that is certainly interesting. Tony's patented warm, husky vocals, elegant as they can be in their own way, are certainly a world apart from Astaire's classic smoothness. And isn't that point? Bringing something new to the equation? Putting a new spin on these old classics?

It's hard to pick a favorite track here. Unlike Amazon reviewer David Horiuchi above who champions the track "You're All the World To Me," I'd have a hard time picking a favorite tune here. The album works brilliantly as a whole. But I do have do have to admit that while I like some of the breezier numbers (the title track, "That's Entertainment, "Shine on My Shoes" and several other fun outings), I am particularly drawn to the slightly melancholy deliveries Bennett offers on such tracks as "They Can't Take That Away From Me," "Dancing In the Dark," "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan," and the wistful closer "By Myself." This is where Tony brings his own distinctive interpretive skills to this tribute project. And it works brilliantly.

The Epitome of Cool........2006-05-29

This cd is down right cool. While his voice doesn't match what it was in the 50's and 60's... who really wants that? People grow older and their voices change. His voice is in fine shape on this cd however. This cd really swings. He comes across as the epitome of cool. The Fred Astaire songs are fantastic. The Ralph Sharon Trio a wonderful choice to accompany him. Like the best of his cd's which honor others (Perfectly Frank), he doesn't try to copy the singer, he doesn't copy the arrangements, he just comes across as Tony Bennett being Tony Bennett.

This Disc Swings!.......2004-08-23

I have rarely heard performances swing like this. Tony Bennett and the Ralph Sharon Trio click perfectly. I want more like this. You don't have to have the chops of a 20 year old to swing and swingin's the thing as these guys show. I have an embarassingly large and varied CD collection and I count this among my favorites.

Not a good showcase for Bennett's great talent.......2004-05-15

Fred Astaire will never be remembered for the songs he sang. These songs were only great while he was dancing to them! I am a huge Tony Bennet fan and felt so disappointed by this CD. The songs gave him nothing to "wrap his voice around" or put his heart into. I listened to it many times, hoping it would grow on me, but after six months I'm still disappointed. His other tributes (to Sinatra and Billie Holliday)are so much better. Sink your money into those!

Must have.......2003-01-07

Have not read anyother reviews so no influence from others. This is a simply great album. Bennett's backup trio really swings and everyone fits together. Unless one is a dodo where music is concerned, this is music one can listen to without getting tired of the performances. So Tony is getting older. Big deal! We all do, but he is a perfect example of how treating your voice with respect can keep one singing for many years. Bennett treats the songs the way they are supposed to be treated. Try it, you'll like it. The whole album is an upper for one's soul.

Average customer rating:

breathtakingly good
Steppin' Up Indeed!!!!
Steppin' Up review
Steppin Up
No sophomore jinx!

Steppin' Up
André Ward
Manufacturer: Orpheus Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Smooth Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Feelin' You
Crystal City
Babysoul
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Ladies' Choice

ASIN: B0001LYFVI
Release Date: 2004-03-30

Tracks:

Keep Running
Warm Passion
All I Ever Ask
Step In The Name Of Love
Utopia
If You Leave Me Now
City Vibe
Heaven In My Life (Andre'a)
Holding Back The Years
Just Chillin
Streets Of Gold
Every Time I Open My Eyes

Customer Reviews:

breathtakingly good.......2007-05-20

The debut was good but this puts andre up there with the likes of meadows and najee great from start to finish

Steppin' Up Indeed!!!!.......2007-04-21

This was the first cd I heard by him and had no idea that it was his second effort. I've had this since it first came out and recently picked it up again and was reminded why I fell in love with it in the first place. A solid performance throughout and its really hard for me to pick favorites because I play it completely from beginning to end. It is my opinion that comparisons to any other saxophonists are unfair. When I listen to him there really aren't any nuances that remind me of other musicians. I hear him and his is a sound that I look forward to hearing more of in the future. Some of the songs that stand out for me are Keep Running, Warm Passion....absolutely gorgeous!! I also love All I Ever Ask which features a young lady I've never heard sing before but she's wonderful! The remakes include Step In The Name of Love and If You Leave Me Now which are both very good. My very favorites are City Vibe and Heaven In My Life (Andre'a). Very shortly he'll be releasing his third project and from the snippets I've heard I believe this will place him in a class by himself. Again I would recommend you adding this to your music library. You'll be very glad you did!

Steppin' Up review.......2006-03-03

The sound is great, Andre truly has come into his own as a musician.

Steppin Up.......2004-07-24

I've had this CD for a few months but last weekend I took the time to give it a serious listen. It blew me away!! Every cut is OUTSTANDING!! This cat is great! He's got his own thing going on and its working!!Don't sleep on this one. I'm calling it like I hear it. Five stars!

No sophomore jinx!.......2004-07-03

Andre Ward is blowing up and for good reason. This second CD follows the debut in grand style, loaded with great tracks throughout. He's completely at home with renditions of classics like "All I Ever Ask" and "Holding Back the Years", as well as his original compositions like "Heaven In My Life", "Just Chillin" and "Every Time I Open My Eyes". It's a wonderful listen and his star is rising.

Average customer rating:

Mr. Johnson's Blues
Every Blues fan needs this record
technique ain't everything
Great Blues !!!!!
Great Blues !!!!!

Steppin' on the Blues
Lonnie Johnson
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Delta Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Blues | Styles | Music

Traditional Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

Acoustic Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Traditional Jazz General | Traditional Jazz & Ragtime | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music

Avalon Blues : Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings
Complete Recorded Works (1928-1929)
The Guitar Wizard
The Best of Blind Lemon Jefferson
The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James

ASIN: B000002756
Release Date: 1990-08-20

Tracks:

Mr. Johnson's Blues
Sweet Potato Blues
Steppin' On The Blues
I Done Told You
Mean Old Bedbug Blues
Toothache Blues-Part I
Toothache Blues-Part II
Have To Change Keys (To Play These Blues)
Guitar Blues
She's Making Whoopee In Hell Tonight
Playing With The Strings
No More Women Blues
Deep Sea Blues
No More Troubles Now
Got The Blues For Murder Only
Untitled
6/88 Glide
Racketeer's Blues
I'm Nuts About That Gal

Amazon.com

Not only did Johnson pioneer single-string, blues-guitar improvisation, he still ranks as one of its greatest practitioners. His playing was remarkably fluent, sophisticated, and melodic, yet he never sacrificed emotion or bite. He was the first bluesman to make his mark as a virtuoso instrumentalist, despite his formidable vocals. These 19 early performances (1925-1932) include low-down blues, buoyant ragtime, and catchy hokum, plus examples of sheer instrumental wizardry. Victoria Spivey joins Johnson for the risque vocal duet "Toothache Blues" and Texas Alexander sings lead on a pair of songs, but the instrumentals inevitably remain the highlights. His two guitar duets with jazz great Eddie Lang plus his solo workout on "Playing With the Strings" are astonishing displays of technique. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews:

Mr. Johnson's Blues.......2006-04-08

Lonnie Johnson (1899(?) -- 1970) had a long, highly successful career as a blues and jazz singer and guitarist. Johnson was a gifted musician who, when he began recording in the mid-1920s, had already appeared as a performer in England. Johnson's early recordings date from the time in which the women "Classic Blues Singers", including Bessie and Clara Smith, Ma Rainey and others were the predominant voice in the blues. Lonnie Johnson soon joined them and became the best-selling blues artist of his era. His recordings influenced the work of the delta blues singer Robert Johnson, among others. There was a great deal of interplay between the urbane, musically sophisticated style of Lonnie Johnson and the sometimes raw and intense blues that later became legendary with Robert Johnson.

This CD, part of the "Roots and Blues" series includes 19 of Johnson's early recordings and shows him as a singer, guitarist, and accompanist. It is an outstanding introduction to the achievement of Lonnie Johnson. I want to mention some of the tracks on this CD that I enjoyed and that are particularly noteworthy for showing the scope of Johnson's early artistry.

The opening track, "Mr. Johnson's Blues" was part of Johnson's first release in 1925 and is justly famous. The song opens with a rolling instrumental passage for guitar and piano followed by a single short blues verse sung by Johnson. The remainder of the recording features a long instrumental take-off on the vocal by Johnson on the guitar together with the piano. This song already shows great originality in the way the brief vocal section is integrated with the the long instrumental solos.

This CD includes several instrumental selections, and the two I want to note are "How to Change Keys (to Play these Blues)" and "Guitar Blues" in which Johnson teams with the white guitarist Eddie Lang (playing under the name "Blind Willie Dunn"). These are outstanding complex guitar solos, showing Johnson's virtuosity on his instrument. The first is a slow, drag with many changes of key while "Guitar Blues" is more uptempo.

The two-track "Toothache Blues" shows Johnson singing with Victoria Spivey, one of the "Classic" blues singers. Spivey had a light voice, and she was known for performing songs with strong sexual innuendos. Her collaboration with Johnson on this song fits that pattern.

Finally, two tracks in which Johnson accompanies the singer Texas Alexander deserve mention for the contrast they show between Johnson's urban blues and country blues. Texas Alexander performed in a country style of the sort that in our day has become better known that the urbane blues style of Lonnie Johnson. One scholar of the blues has written of this collaboration between Alexander and Johnson:

"[Texas Alexander] sang a lot of songs in a loose field holler style, which meant he didn't worry about what the guitar was supposed to be doing. Among the musicians who accompanied him on record was Lonnie Johnson who was one of the finest blues and jazz guitarists of the 1920s. The songs Alexander recorded with Lonnie were brilliant examples of how a guitarist can fill behind a singer who isn't bound much by regular rhythmic patterns."

This CD shows Johnson's musical gifts as vocalist, guitarist, and accompanist, as well as his gifts in developing a blues line and lyric in songs such as "Racketeer's Blues" and "I'm Nuts about that Gal". For listeners wanting to explore the blues and its place in American music, this CD is an excellent choice.

The quotation about Lonnie Johnson's recordings with Texas Alexander is taken from Samuel Charters's recent book, "Walking a Blues Road" (2004) page 221.

Robin Friedman

Every Blues fan needs this record.......2003-10-23

Lonnie Johnson was the first great blues guitarist, along with his partner Eddie Lang, he was the first great Jazz guitarist, he remained a song writer and a vocalist able to hit the charts with R & B hits well intothe late 1940s. He was class as both a jazz and blues folk revivalist when he was "refound" in the 1960s and was popular in the US, Europe, and Canada.

Robert Johnson obviously studied Lonnie's Work pretty well. In fact, Robert Johnson would lie and tell people that he was a cousin of the great Lonnie. Lonnie's records sold in the hundreds of thousands into the 1940s, while Robert Johnson never sold more than 2000 records while living on any tune.

Lonnie was the antithesis of the false folkie-based stereotype of a blues performer. He was a professional performer as a kid violin virtuosi in vaudville touring the world before he ever learned to play the guitar! While born in New Orleans, he based himself in Chicago and New York during his playing career Johnson was not refound in some Mississippi Cotton field, but as a janitor in Philiadelphia. he went on to open his own night club in Toronto, Canada where he was killed byu complications after an automobile accident.

What we see here in these records is a master musician. The guitar playing is unbelievably good, sweet, hot,and very very clean. The singing is always on key, professional, and cuts like a razor. The richness and saltiness of the verses ios tremendous. In the 20s, Johnson once bet someone he could play and compose 300 different blues, and he did with no difficulty and recored most of them!

Even without their historical importance--this is what Blues performers aspired to--the records are just fun as expression and entertainment. I would also recommend the great records Johnson made with Lil Hardin Armstrong and others in Bluebird's Chicago stables in the 1940s, as well as the Verve Folkways recordings he made in the late 1960s. Heck, I would recommend you listem to birdcalls if Lonnie Johnson had recorded them!

technique ain't everything.......2003-10-06

This is a great CD, and so are all of Robert Johnson's records. This debate about their relative merits is rather pointless, and driven by the "better technique means better music" school of thought. Consider this; perhaps the most awesome blues song ever recorded is "Moanin in the Moonlight" by Howlin' Wolf. The Wolf sings paranoid lyrics to a blues melody, singing the chord changes, and Willie Johnson and Destruction play a recurring hypnotic riff behind the singer that stays ON ONE CHORD! They never leave the dominant chord. In my mind it cuts anything by either of the Johnsons, great as they were, and yet technically it is probably mediocre at best. Doesn't mean it ain't great. If you view blues as simply "fast playing", go watch the rubbish movie "Crossroads."

Great Blues !!!!!.......2002-12-09

Just listen to the song "Mister Trouble" off of the Folkway Recordings CD and that will say it all my friends !!! What a song, what a song, what a song !!!

Great Blues !!!!!.......2002-12-09

Just listen to the song "Mister Trouble" off of the Folkway Recordings CD and that will say it all my friends !!! What a song, what a song, what a song !!!

R&B Music:

R&B Music

r&b music

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Men of Country, Vol. 1: Alan Jackson/Toby Keith

Blueprints for the Black [Import]

Balla Balla

Black Gospels Best

Back on the Street

Best of Junoon [Import]

Baroque Music for the Synagogue & The Royal Court

Bloodletting

Breathless

Commander Tom in the Mix, Vol. 4

Mr. D.J., You Know How to Make Me Dance

Jazz Music jazz-music-23