COMPACT DISC REVIEW

By

Jack Rummel

Boogie Woogie Kings

Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, “Cripple” Clarence Lofton, Meade Lux Lewis, Henry Brown, Speckled Red, piano

Delmark DE 804

 Pinetop’s Blues / G-Flat Blues / Streamline Train / Pitchin’ Boogie / Mistaken Blues / Travelin’ Blues / I Don’t Know / Mercy Blues / Doll House Boogie / Whistlin’ Blues / Deep Morgan / 22^nd St. Stomp / Pickin’ ‘Em Out Again / Dirty Dozens / Dad’s Piece / Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie / Right String But The Wrong Yo Yo / Boogie Woogie Prayer / Closing Time.

            There is something about the primitive energy of boogie woogie that attracts listeners wherever it is played.  Based upon the blues and a probable precursor to rock ‘n roll, it can move audiences to moments of deliriousness like almost no other music can.  Certainly it’s a staple of today’s blues festivals, but it can also be found at ragtime and trad jazz events as well.

            Sooner or later, most fans of today’s boogie practitioners develop a curiosity to learn more about the early pioneers of the idiom, and that’s where this CD fits in.  The men listed above, all now deceased, were there when it was born and helped fuel its popularity.  Unlike ragtime, boogie woogie is rarely written down, so most of today’s ticklers learned their trade by listening to recordings such as these.

            These tracks were initially re-released on the late Paul Affeldt’s Euphonic record label.  Affeldt’s masters were recently acquired by Delmark’s Bob Koester, who is in the process of re-re-releasing them in CD format.  Do not expect high fidelity here.  Two-thirds of these cuts were recorded in 1939 (the rest in 1955, 1960 and 1971) and probably on rather primitive equipment.

            What you get, however, is a generous slice of history.  These men were pounding ‘em out in environments they knew all too well – on battered uprights in basement studios and dingy bars – but that didn’t stop them from putting their hearts and souls into the music that they loved and it certainly didn’t deter the devoted believers of the day from going wherever they needed to go to capture these sounds on tape.

            If you like your boogie woogie in pristine digital fidelity on concert grands, then you’re probably not ready for this CD.  Don’t give up, though.  Once boogie snags you it doesn’t let go, and pretty soon you’ll want to know more about where it all began.

            Available from Delmark for $14.99 plus shipping by calling 1-800-684-3480.