SuperBee
2255 posts
Nov 01, 2014
7:07 PM
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Reading the Jimmy Rogers bio (Blues all day long) roused my interest in listening to JR's recordings.
For 1 thing, they aren't all that easy to get. i like to get recordings on CD and Jimmy Rogers albums are mostly not in current production. Many of those which seem to be available are 'out of stock'...
but i'm working on it
in 83 (or so...give or take a year) Jimmy made this album with Rod Piazza and (i gather) Rod's band. its an outstanding album, reissued on Blind Pig in 1994.
Jimmy Rogers' voice is appealing, he shares guitar duties with Junior watson, RP is pretty much how you'd expect, good to hear him mainly in an accompaniment role, though he does have 3 songs on this record (on which JR does not play any part! i thought that was interesting, to make a record under Jimmy rogers' name, on which the leader only plays on 75% of the cuts)...and Honey's piano is a real feature.
really good record, one of my favourite discoveries of the past year.
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indigo
11 posts
Nov 01, 2014
10:47 PM
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Yes..a style that Rod doesn't seem to play these days so much..great stuff.
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Kingley
3754 posts
Nov 02, 2014
12:35 AM
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SuperBee - There's quite a few Jimmy Rogers CD's on eBay.au at the moment. Also check out bluebeatmusic.com
I own the album with Rod and it's ok. Although "Ludella" with Kim Wilson is far better in my opinion. Also check out "Chicago Bound", "That's All Right" and "The Complete Chess Collection".
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SuperBee
2258 posts
Nov 02, 2014
1:32 AM
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i have the charly blues album 'hard workin' man, and the 'blues blues blues' album. i have some tracks from ludella, but i havent heard much of it. its on my list. maybe i only have 'mojo' from that record, actually. anyway, i dont know how representative of jimmy reed is 'feelin' good', but i like it. 'chicago bound' and the chess 50 anniversary album are proving a little elusive at the mo....im trying to take it easy on the postage
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Harpaholic
557 posts
Nov 02, 2014
9:19 AM
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IMO, Rod's a better diatonic (amplified), and chromatic player than Kim by far!
A few years ago, Kim and Mark Hummel got their head cut by Rod at a harp blowout in the Bay area. If you know John Clifton, ask him about it. His band was the opener.
Rod is so much more creative when it comes to blues harp. Rod's music has ten times the intro's, hooks, shuffles, and solo's in his music compared to Kim.
No doubt when it comes to Sonny Boy acoustic style, Kim is the King!
I won't get in an argument about who is better, I already know the answer!
When did Kim record on Ludella? my CD shows 1990 Antone Records, is that correct?
Last Edited by Harpaholic on Nov 02, 2014 9:37 AM
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Kingley
3755 posts
Nov 02, 2014
10:19 AM
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I can't remember without looking, but yeah 1990 sounds about right.
I'm a big fan of both Kim and Rod's music and I'd agree with you about Rod being a better chromatic player. I'd disagree about the diatonic though. Rod's music does indeed have a lot more harmonica in it. His band is very heavily harmonica centric. Which is not necessarily a good thing in my opinion. Years ago I couldn't really see why people raved about Kim so much and was far more in the Rod camp. Over the years though as I've listened to both players develop and mature Kim's music has caught my ear much more than Rod's has done. Rod is a great player of that there's no doubt and he has probably turned more people onto the instrument than any living blues harmonica player I could think of. The albums California Blues, Harpburn and Beyond The Source are probably his best works in my opinion. After Beyond The Source most (not all) of Rod's recorded output has just left me cold. Whereas Kim's music on the other hand seems to go from strength to strength.
There's lots of Jimmy Rogers music out there and I'd recommend every player to listen to him. Jimmy recorded a lot of great music and had great taste in harmonica players. Any guy who hires Steve Guyger to back him has great taste in harmonica players as far as I'm concerned. Actually whilst I think about it, are there any recordings with Steve Guyger and Jimmy around that anyone knows of?
Just for comparison here's Kim playing "You're Sweet" with Jimmy Rogers
Last Edited by Kingley on Nov 02, 2014 11:55 AM
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Joe_L
2531 posts
Nov 02, 2014
12:19 PM
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Where do you live? Jimmy Rogers records are pretty easy to track down. My favorite one after his Chess recordings is the album on Analogue Productions entitled Bluebird with Carey Bell on harp
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SuperBee
2259 posts
Nov 03, 2014
12:43 AM
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Hi Joe L, I'm on Tasmania. i know i can find these records online but postage is a killer unless you can bundle them. a lot of sellers list records they dont actually have, which can see you entering into a deal you didnt really want...its justa passing comment really, i found when i wanted to order them they werent actually available or the postage was going to double the price...not insurmountable problems, and there is always non-disc formats. i prefer discs, so i can play them on radio. quality is usually better and copyright issues can occur with copied files.
i also have a local record store proprietor who is one of a dying breed of retailers who knows and cares about the product. his is one of the few remaining record stores of its type left in Australia i believe. i try to do business with him when i can, but his suppliers have not been able to turn up these records...of course, i am talking new product here, stefan is not a secondhand dealer...but for Jimmy Rogers 2ndhand is the only way to obtain most of the catalogue now...
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atty1chgo
1186 posts
Nov 03, 2014
4:55 AM
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"Rod [Piazza] has probably turned more people onto the instrument than any living blues harmonica player I could think of."
-- Really? That's quite a claim. I would venture to say that Adam Gussow has turned more people on to playing blues harp than Rod Piazza, without even giving it much thought.
-- Or are we talking strictly about chromatic?
Last Edited by atty1chgo on Nov 03, 2014 4:56 AM
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Goldbrick
751 posts
Nov 03, 2014
7:10 AM
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Piazza more than Cotton as an inspiration??? I doubt that
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tmf714
2707 posts
Nov 03, 2014
8:05 AM
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