Sounds that still sound fresh today from the taproot of modern American music.
B.B. King’s (almost) first albums are covered in this two cd set. From 1960, his King of the Blues is essentially a mix of his Crown, Kent and Ember albums, which included his bit hit “Sweet Little Sixteen” as well as “Partin’ Time”, with King’s voice in big toned form on “I’m King”. From the same year, and on the other side of the tracks is King’s take on Christian spirituals, and he’s excellent in front of the pulpit on ‘Precious Lord”, the soulful “Jesus Gave Me Water” and a foot stomping “Gimme That Old Time Religion”. The next two albums have King along with the grooving tenor saxist Maxwell Davis and his earthy orchestra. In 1961, his More includes great shufflers like “Blues For Me” while some strings are added as well for extra feel on pieces like “Lonely”. His 1962 Easy Listening, not only Davis but pianist Lloyd Glenn, is anything but, with King getting into the rock and roll “fad” with tunes like “Hully Gully Twist” and “Night Long” along with belting of “Shoutin The Blues”. Vintage indigo
The late 50s and early 60s saw a revival of American folk music, filled with rich harmonies and messages of both tradition and social change. One of the most popular was The Highwaymen, with their debut 1961 album including campfire singalongs like “Big Rock Candy Mountain” and “Santiano” as well as bel canto pieces like “Sinner Man” and the classic campfire “Michael”(of “row your boat ashore” fame). In 1962, another quartet named The Brothers Four did some nice harmonizing on “Hard Travelin’” and some Four Freshman-styled work on “Darlin’ Won’t You Wait” and “Greenfields”. The venerable and influential Limelighters (which included Glenn Yarborough) put an edge to folk music with pieces like “Hard Traveler” and the rocking “Vicki Dougan” while the team throws in some laughs on “Gunslinger”. The highly influential trio of Peter, Paul and Mary debuted by taking material by Communist singer/songwriter Pete Seeger and making them into pop anthems, such as “Where Have All The Flowers Gone”, “If I Had a Hammer” and “Cruel War” as well as mixing some other pieces such as Noel Paul Stokey’s own “Early In The Morning”. Pre Dylan protesting and the sound track of the Peace Corps years.