Release Date: 14 September, 2004
Audio CD
Tracks
- Crying Blues (Crying Won't Make Me Stay)
- You're Gonna Miss Me (When I'm Gone)
- Miss Katy Lee Blues
- Rambling Blues
- Fulson Blues
- San Francisco Blues
- Crying Blues
- You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone
- Miss Katie Lee Blues
- Rambling Blues
- Fulson's Blues
- San Francisco Blues
- Trouble Blues
- I Want to See My Baby
- Black Widow Spider Blues
- Don't Be So Evil
- I Want to See My Baby [Alternate Take]
- Don't Be So Evil [Alternate Take]
- Scotty's Blues
- Train Is Leaving
- Jelly, Jelly
- Mean Woman Blues
- 9.30 Shuffle
- Thinkin' Blues
- Fulson Boogie
- Mean Woman Blues
- Thinkin' Blues
- Tryin' to Find My Baby
- Let's Throw a Boogie Woogie
- Highway 99
- Whiskey Blues
- Tell Me Baby
- Fulson Boogie
- Highway '99'
- Trying to Find My Baby
- Midnight Showers of Rain
- So Long, So Long
- Wee Hours in the Morning
- My Gal at Eight
- Blues Got Me Down
- Black Cat Blues
- Just a Poor Boy
- Sweet Jenny Lee
- My Baby
- Television Blues
- Don't You Hear Me Calling You
- Demon Woman
- Tears at Sunrise
- Jam That Boogie
- Blues and Misery
- My Woman Can't Be Found
- Three O'Clock Blues
- Wild About You Baby
- Prison Bound
- My Baby Left Me
- Night and Day
- Double Trouble Blues
- Stromin' and Rainin'
- Good Woman Blues
- Western Union Blues
- Lazy Woman Blues
- River Blues Pt. 1
- River Blues Pt. 2
- I Walked All Night
- Between Midnight and Day
- Blues Is Killing Me
- Did You Ever Feel Lucky
- Ain't Nobody's Business
- Jimmy's Blues (I've Got a Mind to Ramble)
- Every Day I Have the Blues
- Rocking After Midnight
- Rock This House [Alternate Take]
- Cold Hearted Mama
- Mama Bring Your Clothes Back Home
- Low Society Blues
- Blue Shadows
- Back Home Blues
- Baby Won't You Jump With Me
- Come Back Baby
- Country Boy
- Rainy Day Blues
- Miss Lillie Brown
- Sinner's Prayer
- Sinner's Prayer [Alternate Take]
- Blues With a Feelin'
- Why Can't You Cry for Me
- Let Me Ride in Your Little Automobile
- Lonesome Christmas, Pt. 1
- Lonesome Christmas, Pt. 2
- I'm a Night Owl, Pt. 1
- I'm a Night Owl, Pt. 2
- Fillmore Mess Around (Fulson's Guitar Boogie)
- Let's Live Right
- Guitar Shuffle (The Day Is Passing On)
- Mean Old Lonesome Song
- Day Is Slowly Passing [Alternate Take]
- Highway Is My Home (Why Can't You Cry for Me)
- Upstairs
- I Love My Baby
- I've Been Mistreated
- You're Going to Miss Me When I'm Gone [Alternate Take]
- I've Been Mistreated [Different Song]
- It's Hard to Believe [Alternate Take]
- Ride Until the Sun Goes Down
- Christmas Party Shuffle
- Blues Come Rollin' In
- My Daily Prayer
- Juke Box Shuffle (9:30 Shuffle)
- Is Your Friend Really Your Friend
- Let Me Love You Baby
- Cash Box Boogie "Lowell Jumps One"
- Market Street Blues
- Best Wishes
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Rating 5.0
Early Lowell - Modern Texas BluesWhile several fine compilations have already been issued containing Lowell Fulson's earliest material from the late 40's and early 50's, this JSP 4-CD set pulls almost all of the early tracks together for the first time, and for a very easy price.
Fulson is likely best known for his mid-50's stint with Chess where he put down "Reconsider Baby" and "Hung Down Head", then later for some of his more "funky" recordings on Modern-Kent like "Tramp" and "Too Many Drivers" but these early sides define the man and explore the Texas blues sound that had blossomed in California (Fulson was actually born in Oklahoma) during the 1940's.
Lowell was a comtemporary of Gatemouth Brown and Pee Wee Crayton. Each of these 3 guitar titans enlarged and popularized the "Front-of-the-Bandstand" style that T-Bone Walker had carved out his reputation with on the West Coast. On this set we are treated not only to Lowell the "Electric" bluesman but also to the hypnotically simple but effective two-guitar duets with his brother Martin. Those duets clearly show Lowell's south-western roots laying firmly in the tradition established by Lemon Jefferson and Texas Alexander 2 decades earlier.
This set contains a number of superlatives of which there are too many to discuss in a short review. Fulson's bands from this period included Jay McShann, Maxwell Davis (later to become B.B. King's arranger), Lloyd Glenn, Earl Brown, Bob Harvey, and Billy Hadnott, each of them session stalwarts of the West Coast R&B scene. McShann of course, was already an established star from Kansas City with his own big band.
Lowell was not one to stick to a singular format and his 40 year plus career owed its longevity to his ability to adapt his sound to the changing times. It is interesting to note on this set, the influences from the big players of the times like Nat Cole, T-Bone Walker, and Charles Brown.
These sides were culled from the dozens of recordings that Lowell made in San Francisco and Los Angeles for independent record company owners Bob Geddins (Big Town) and Jack Lauderdale (DownBeat/Swing Time). Among the included titles are his earliest hit "Trouble Blues" from 1946, "Three O'Clock Blues" from 1948, and his beautiful rendition of "Every Day I Have the Blues" from 1949, both of which pre-dated B.B.'s versions by several years. Lowell had a big tough voice that was well-suited to singing the blues but he could be a master of the guitar instrumental just the same and this is demonstrated by the fine "Low Society", "Guitar Shuffle" and "Juke Box Shuffle".
Several of the songs from Fulson's early period were to be revisited several years later when he went to Chess although the basic arrangements were little changed on the Chess versions.
Neil Slaven's liner notes to this set detail the problems with attempting to establish the recording chronology for many of the titles since the record companies involved didn't maintain much written history for the sessions and after 30 and 40 years, the participants had forgotten a lot.
Lowell Fulson passed on over 5 years ago. Finally we have a compilation that does justice to the rich legacy that he laid down. JSP needs to be commended for issuing this material. Every Fulson fan will be rewarded with years of pleasure by putting this one in their collection. |
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