EU-only release. Champion Jack Dupree was one of the most popular, authentic blues artists to tour the UK and Europe on a regular basis beginning in the late 1950s. In fact he became so regular he moved to Halifax and then later lived in Germany and Scandinavia. As you would expect this CD is chock full of superb blues piano and contains Champion Jack Dupree's hit, "Walking the Blues". This brief look at his career concentrates on a period when he was at a commercial peak in the R&B market in the United States. It is a body of work that never seems to date and no matter how many times you hear it there is always something new to enjoy.
S**N
A BLUES PERFORMER MORE POPULAR IN EUROPE THAN THE U.S.
This is just a small sample of the music recorded by Champion Jack Dupree in the 1950's, and it's a good one. Dupree recorded for many labels during this time and the Jasmine label has chosen some pretty fine singles for this (76 + minutes) collection. Jasmine has released many collections across a number of genres, usually with fairly similar generic cover art. But for this set they've given the cover art the look of a 1950's album--a nice touch. The mono sound is actually pretty good/good--fairly clean but still having the warmth from the era--especially considering that these sides were originally recorded for small labels oftentimes with small budgets. The three page fold-out booklet has complete recording information which is very valuable when dealing with music like this, plus a nice essay on Dupree and his music.These sides are from 1951 through 1957 and were issued by labels like Derby, Red Robin, King, Harlem, Groove, and Vik. Along with Dupree's piano and vocals his sidemen include Brownie McGhee, Sonny Terry, Mickey Baker, Papa Lightfoot, George "Harmonica" Smith, and the fine guitar work of Larry Dale, plus others including some horns on a few tracks. The oldest tune here is "The Woman I Love" (1951) issued as from Brownie McGhee, his Guitar and Orchestra. Also here is a great "Shake Baby Shake" (1952) with some nice guitar work from either Brownie or Stick McGhee. But it's Dupree's vocals and rolling piano style that really stand out here and all these sides. Other good things are "Drunk Again" and "Shim Sham Shimmy" (both 1953), "Somebody Changed The Lock" with the vocal group The Empires (1955), "Two Below Zero" (1955), "Walking The Blues" with Teddy "Mr. Bear" McRae (who also appears on a couple more tunes like the great talking blues "Lonely Road Blues", from 1956) helping out on vocals (1955), "She Cooks Me Cabbage" with Mickey Baker's slippery slide guitar work (1955), "Dirty Woman" (1957), another version of "Shake Baby Shake" with Dale on guitar (1957), and other tunes.Dupree is best known for his classic album "Blues From The Gutter", recorded for Atlantic Records in 1958. But these singles recorded just before that album are a valuable look at more of his work during the '50s when he would record for just about any label for cash. If you like piano blues and haven't heard Dupree's Atlantic album, there's a good 2 CD set on the Avid label (England) that includes that album plus the "Natural And Soulful Blues" album, and a large batch of singles that are just as good. But be aware there is duplication of songs with this Jasmine collection. But that's a small price to pay to hear more music from such a talented performer like Dupree.
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