Littoral
366 posts
Sep 25, 2011
6:12 AM
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This is only to encourage any players that don't own Jimmy Rogers
"Ludella" with Kim Wilson on harp, get it. Kim plays out of his mind on this and his sound -gear, tone, AND the production/recording- are stellar. I play better every time I listen to it.
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DanP
215 posts
Sep 25, 2011
6:51 AM
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Kim Wilson is great and I have that CD but my vote for the #1 must-have harp CD would be for The Best of Little Walter or the Little Walter CD that was part of the Chess Records 50th anniversary series.
Last Edited by on Sep 25, 2011 7:16 AM
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Bb
277 posts
Sep 25, 2011
8:28 AM
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I totally agree with you, Littoral. Kim kills it on this recording.
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DanP
217 posts
Sep 25, 2011
9:24 AM
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I stand corrected, Littoral. I thought you were talking about the CD called Blues Blues Blues- Jimmy Rogers last album. But after I looked at the liner notes I saw that Taj Mahal played harp on that version of Ludella. Kim Wilson played harp on 6 of the 12 cuts on that album. That's where I got confused. Is there a Jimmy Rogers CD called Ludella with Kim on harp? If so I'll have to get a copy. I know Little Walter played acoustic harmonica on Jimmy Rogers original recording of Ludella.
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hvyj
1798 posts
Sep 25, 2011
10:17 AM
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I've got pairs of albums tied for first place on my personal "must have" harmonica CD list: The first 2 Paul Butterfield Blues Band albums AND/OR The first 2 Sugar Blue albums (recorded in France and long OOP, but currently available as "Another Man Done Gone" on mp3 from amazon).
I do agree that Kim Wilson is an absolutely great harp player, though. A real virtuoso.
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Joe_L
1471 posts
Sep 25, 2011
11:03 AM
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One of my favorite Jimmy Rogers recordings is Blue Bird. It features Carey Bell. His playing on that CD is masterful. He was one of the best that never seems to be fully appreciated. Very few people can do what he did.
In terms of "all time must have" CDs, it Hoodoo Man Blues by Junior Wells. It's damn near perfect. Junior was great. He knew how to deliver a tune and he was at the peak of his game during that recording session. Beautiful tone, flawless execution, incredible vocals, perfect backing by Buddy Guy and a stellar rhythm section.
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bonedog569
389 posts
Sep 25, 2011
12:11 PM
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There was a good 5 or 10(?) best thread a few months ago. I picked up Ludella because of it. Kim and the album are excellent - but for me it's not quite in leauge with Sonny Boy II - The Real Folik Blues being 'the one' if I had to pick. It has to do with that 'S' word discussed in a recent thread - though calling it that seems to reduce 'whatever it is' to something less than the magic it is. For this question it's not about technique or even taste or rhythm. Kim impresses but SB just slays me. LW not far behind.
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DanP
219 posts
Sep 25, 2011
12:12 PM
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After searching the web I can answer my own question. The CD Ludella that Littoral is refering to is on the Antoine's label. Like about all the CDs on the Antoine's label it's out-of-print. There's a couple of used copies on ebay for $25. I don't know how I missed it when it came out in 1990. I bet it's a great album.
Last Edited by on Sep 25, 2011 12:20 PM
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falconer
24 posts
Sep 25, 2011
12:43 PM
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I downloaded the Ludella CD from itunes.
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Joe_L
1472 posts
Sep 25, 2011
1:10 PM
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Out of the Antones recordings, I like the James Cotton CDs the best.
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Matzen
326 posts
Sep 25, 2011
1:32 PM
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Jimmy Rogers "Ludella" probably gets more plays by me than any other harp CD! It's been on of my favs ever since I picked it up years ago.
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groyster1
1431 posts
Sep 25, 2011
2:08 PM
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harp attack with james cotton jr wells carey bell billy branch hard to top it a close second is rice miller goin` in my direction
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KingoBad
937 posts
Sep 25, 2011
5:08 PM
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I have to say I absolutely love Ludella. I was listening to it exclusively right before HCH2 to try and absorb some of the Unbelievable playing. Mastering all of that playing would be an accomplishment.
It is certainly one of my top albums too...
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Danny
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kudzurunner
2704 posts
Sep 25, 2011
6:42 PM
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I love Ludella, too. The thing that makes it an interesting pick--and a great one--for this all-time best category is that it isn't a Kim Wilson album. It isn't an album that features a harp player as front man. Kim is playing strong sideman. He's comping far more than soloing on the album, but his comping is very powerful and stamped with personality. To that extent, he's very much in the Muddy Waters/Little Walter mold.
What I didn't realize until somebody here pointed it out is that some of the stuff he plays on the album is taken directly from Little Walter backing up Jimmy Rodgers on CHICAGO BOUND. Verbatim. That surprised me. I always knew that Kim had absorbed a lot of LW, but I didn't realize just how closely his playing--brilliant playing, by any count--is modeled on LW's playing in the same sideman spot decades earlier.
I think it was Joe L who turned me on to this; he said, on this forum, that CHICAGO BOUND was one of his great all-time picks. I'd never heard the album. So I went and bought it--and was blown away, all over again, by just how powerful and protean a talent LW was. I also had my eyes opened to the extent of Kim's borrowings. I had spent days tabbing Kim's solo on "Got My Mojo Working," off the LUDELLA album, and I never realized where he got that incredible stuff. I was like, "Kim! You mean that's NOT your stuff! You didn't make that stuff up??" But I was forced to admit that LW was, indeed, the baddest of the bad. Everywhere you look, he's left his imprint on the music we play.
Thanks, Joe L, for helping open my eyes. We're never too old to learn something new.
EDITED TO ADD: I should clarify, before others surely will: "Mojo" doesn't appear on CHICAGO BOUND. When I talk about Kim tracking LW, I'm talking about "Sloppy Drunk." LW's playing on that cut is the foundation of what Kim does not just on LUDELLA, but on one of my favorite T-Birds cuts, "Learn to Treat Me Right."
Last Edited by on Sep 25, 2011 6:54 PM
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kudzurunner
2705 posts
Sep 25, 2011
6:49 PM
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PS: It's possible that Littoral, rather than Joe L., raved about CHICAGO BOUND. I honestly can't remember. I'm glad I bought it, though.
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Littoral
370 posts
Sep 25, 2011
7:04 PM
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Chicago Bound, fabulous, but I'm not sure it was me the sent you there. The intro conversation before Act Like You Love Me is for some reason a complete imprint on me. LW punching a short TB on the 3 blow, Chess: you're coming out too loud, LW, I know, I'm just trying to get it... Take 1 falters, Take 2, locked.
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silpakorn
98 posts
Sep 25, 2011
7:15 PM
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@Littoral, I still thank you until now for mentioning the album Ludella in a thread awhile back.
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Joe_L
1473 posts
Sep 25, 2011
7:27 PM
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There are only two guys that I felt really captured the essence of Little Walter's tone and phrasing. Kim Wilson is one of those guys. He also captures that same feeling with Willie Big Eyes Smith. If you want to hear him borrowing heavily from Big Walter, check out his playing on the CD he did with Barrelhouse Chuck. He nails it on the track called, Floyd's Blues.
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LittleVillage
29 posts
Sep 27, 2011
7:41 AM
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Jimmy Rogers Ludella with Kim is by far my number one choice. I too had the same feeling as Adam when i found out much of that cd's harp work was very similar to previoulsy recorded tunes. I am pretty sure James Cotton did the same CD with Jimmy Rogers only featuring James in lieu of Kim and then the same again with Rod P. Going off memory and on the fly so might not be for sure.
Kims stuff was in 3D compared to the other tracks I heard and was by far better than the rest. The same riff, even compared to the greats and Kim is just a bit tighter on the bends, smoother in the transitions, technically "better" playing with the same passion and superior tone. To me, Kim is the perfect blend of both SBII and Walter. And, i think Kim does SBII stuff better than walter did and walter stuff better than SBII could do. Now i am going to buy theChicago bound JR cd!! if you guys love it as much as Ludella...i am buying it right now...
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oldwailer
1728 posts
Sep 27, 2011
5:37 PM
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Well, probably not a popular must have for all people, but my all-time fav harp CD is "Beans Taste Fine" by Papa John Holstead (guitar and vocal) and Wildman Mike Turk (harp). Mike Turk later went to the dark side (Jazz), but he plays some really great stuff on this older CD!
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Always be yourself--unless you suck. . .
-Joss Whedon
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Buzadero
871 posts
Sep 27, 2011
5:41 PM
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"but my all-time fav harp CD is "Beans Taste Fine" by Papa John Holstead"
Amen, bruddah. That gets my vote as well in the Buzadero Top Ten (BTT) (marca registrada)
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~Buzadero
Underwater Janitor, Patriot
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bharper
59 posts
Sep 27, 2011
5:57 PM
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I agree with Littoral about Ludella, and with Joe-L about Hoodoo Man Blues. So many others... How 'bout Blues for Mr. B by Gary Smith?
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bharper
60 posts
Sep 27, 2011
6:01 PM
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Joe-L, who is the other guy who really captured the essence of Little Walter's tone and phrasing?
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schaef6o
74 posts
Sep 27, 2011
6:14 PM
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got to go with william clarke serious intentions.
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harponica
4 posts
Sep 27, 2011
10:52 PM
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Quit messin around like that,everyone knows you have got to have a copy of Muddy's Hard Again with James Cotton and Johnny Winter in the mix.Might be a tossup between Cottons High Compression.Hell anything made out of cotton is good.And I even forgive him for screw'n up Little Walters Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction.
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BeardHarmonica
32 posts
Sep 28, 2011
1:26 AM
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“West Coast Down Home Harmonica”
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