 
Nashville should’a sunk into the earth under the weight of all the talent walking the streets in the 1940’s. Known primarily as a the Country Music Mecca on the planet, the city had as much or more in Rhythm and Blues at one point. This collection tries to draw a connection between the two styles and I’m sure there is a similarity but it hardly matters once the music starts. The crackling sounds that emanate from this set is about as genuine as it gets, angelic R&B from Nashville’s independent labels. The #1 party music for the coming autumn, folks; bow down to the masters and then get up and dance. CD one is crammed with some of the finest early R&B and the first words you hear are from Jimmy Sweeney: “If you’re ever down in Nashville on a Saturday night/ And you love to hear the boogie-woogie played just right/ First you set your dial on your radio/ And you hear the jockey getting set to go…” That track, “Boogie-Woogie Jockey” from 1950, is a rollicking piano driven number that sets the scene for the onslaught of music yet to come. Much of these songs were recorded poorly, which only enhances the atmosphere. This is the beginning of rock ‘n roll, and it’s what it sounded like throughout much of the country at the time. The main difference is more of a big band jazz than a blues influence, which makes the music sound HUGE with the horns and the guitars and the deep resonating drums and the pianos. A young John Coltrane even wanders through the set as the tenor man for Gay Crosse & The Good Humor Six who recorded “No Better For You” in 1952. Mostly, though, these are musicians with names washed away by time and we’re lucky to have these sides available to us, thanks to the good folks at the Country Music Hall Of Fame who put this out. Billie McAllister, The Gladiolas (with an early version of the soon-to-be hit “Little Darlin’”), Ted Jarrett, Lillian Offitt, Little Ike (who almost out does Little Richard with a reeling “She Can Rock”), The Neptunes…and this is just disc one. Rough, sometimes clumsy, other times precise, infectious R&B, gospel, and jump blues. The second CD starts with the 1960s and the R&B is slowly replaced by a more Stax-influenced Soul. The musicianship tightens up, the production improves as recording technology improves. The songs are more business-like, not as rough around the edges but retains the pure joy of that is so evident on the first CD. Legendary names (Dr. Feelgood, Clyde McPhatter, Johnny Bragg, Ester Phillips) mix with more genius unknowns (The Spiders, Christine Kittrell, Jimmy Chruch) plus a few on-air commercials thrown in for added atmosphere. This stuff is so good there aren’t enough positive adjectives
for me to use. - Andrew Lau |
Various
Artists