Roosevelt Sykes: Raining In My Heart (Delmark)   Harmonica Blues Kings (Delmark) 
 Jump & Shout (Delmark)   
Long Man Blues (Delmark) 

  Delmark Records has been documenting Chicago's blues and jazz scene for almost fifty years and their latest batch of reissues pays tribute to another pioneering label. Delmark owns the rights to the United label and have been doing a first class job mining the vaults of this important record company. Operated by Leonard Allen, United and it's subsidiary States were the first successful black owned record company. The label operated between 1951 and 1957 issuing some exceptional blues, gospel, jazz and R&B.

  Raining In My Heart collects all 20 tracks pianist Roosevelt Sykes cut for United including some previously unissued sides and one song unavailable since the original 78. Sykes was one of the true giants of the blues recording a remarkable body of work from his his first record in 1929 until shortly before his death in 1983. These sides rank as some of Sykes best playing in a sophisticated city style backed by a great band including some wonderful sax work by Robert "Sax" Crowder, Oett "Sax" Mallard and J.T. Brown. Sykes good time brand of blues can be heard to good effect on "Fine And Brown", "Ruthie Lee" and first rate boogies like "Too Hot Too Handle" and "Walkin' The Boogie."

  Big Walter Horton/ Alfred "Blues King" Harris: Harmonica Blues Kings  is a real treat for fans who dig raw Chicago harmonica blowing. This collection is notable for featuring Big Walter's "Back Home To Mama" and "Hard-Hearted Woman", his first record under his own name. Horton's eight tracks were produced by Willie Dixon featuring great backing including Memphis Slim and Lafayette Leake on piano, Fred Below on drums and Dixon on bass. Alfred Harris is a mystery man but his sides stand the test of time with some fine raw boned harp playing and singing.

  Long Man Blues is an excellent, varied grab bag of talent that recorded for the United and States labels. Best known are Eddie Boyd who's romping "Blue Coat" from 1952 backed his immortal "Five Long Years" and guitarist Earl Hooker who backs singer Arbee Stidham on a pair of fine numbers. Other highlights include L.C. McKinley's four cuts displaying some classy T-Bone Walker styled axe work, the extroverted blues of Dennis Binder on the rockers "I'm A Lover", "Feel So Good"and the humorous "The Long Man" and a pair of numbers by singer Harold Burrage who's cited as an influence by Tyrone Davis and Otis Clay

  Jump 'N' Shout: New Orleans Blues & Rhythm collects some great New Orleans R&B from the De Luxe, Regal and United labels during the late '40s and early '50s. Best known are bandleader Dave Bartholomew who lays down three brassy, big band R&B numbers and Ernie K-Doe who lays down four solid cuts including the the humorous 'Process Blues." This set is chock full of great R&B including fine sides by Larry Darnell, Chubby Newsome, Erline Harris and others.

  All in all a fascinating look at an important label that despite being short lived put out some truly amazing music. All the records feature previously unreleased recordings plus informative liner notes.

[Check out Delmark's United Series page for additional details]

(Jeff Harris)

Willie King: Freedom Creek (Rooster)  

  There are times as a writer when you try to bring music alive in written form, which can be difficult. This is without a doubt one of those occasions where I'm trying to grasp what's here and bring it out in the open. 57 year old Willie King from Noxubee County, MS isn't someone you can pigeonhole as a juke-joint Blues man. He's much more than that, and while this music from Freedom Creek is certainly as down and dirty as any juke-joint standing today, there's a depth, a feeling, a spirituality; that crawls, walks, and jumps from each and every cut here. Blues is a music that has always been a healer; a music to convey frustration and joy and to release those feelings in words and song. King and his Liberators have accomplished something with this CD that is unlike anything else around. What lies inside is an ability to convey feelings and determination that gets under your skin, raises the hairs on the back of your neck, and makes you say "Hell, Yeah!"

  The Rooster Blues label stands out in what they issue and with this CD, they come forward even more. Started by Blues guru Jim O'Neal, some of what's available from Rooster is simply the finest around in terms of "gettin' it down." Records by Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater, Magic Slim, Eddie C. Campbell, and other modern players are among some of the most solid performances waxed, but what separates this label from any other is the 'real' music they put out. The late Roosevelt 'Booba' Barnes, D.C. Bellamy, and a few more including Willie King, stand alone as purveyors of what we'd all be lucky enough to hear if we lived close to juke-joints; the ones Jim O'Neal still visits where he finds amazing talent and manages to capture the essence of what they do.

  Freedom Creek is brand-new and shines like Klondike gold. As O'Neal so ably describes in his informative liner notes, Willie King takes Blues grooves and laces them with words of protest, oppression, determination, and hope and comes up with some of the most raw and honest music recorded. For those unfamiliar, there isn't much to compare this to, but if I had to, I'd draw to the late, great 'Booba' Barnes CD from Rooster in 1995 - The Heartbroken Man.

  One thing that sets this apart is the gut-wrenching approach taken by Willie King and his band; The Liberators. King takes the fore with the lion's share of the vocals, but it's the repetition of lines and asides added by King's 'lieutenant,' Willie Lee Halbert that drives the messages home. What King shouts out in his words are echoed by Halbert on a number of titles here, and that effect is mesmerizing to say the least! Musically, this is juke-joint Blues at its finest; sparse, uncluttered, and forceful. Recorded 'live' to two-track analogue at Bettie's Place in Prairie Point, MS in February of 2000, the sound is crystal clear and the clamor of patrons and friends shouting their approval on some cuts adds to the feeling of having been there.

  Leading off with "Second Coming" from the pen of King (all songs are originals, but as marked in the credits; "with acknowledgements to the records of Howlin' Wolf, James Brown, Eddie Boyd, and others"), it becomes evident that everyone was comfortable playing together. They mesh like a well-oiled machine on everything, including this funky take on the determination to continue on in spirit after the body becomes lifeless. Using examples of leaders in African-American culture, King and Halbert shout loudly about John Brown and Martin Luther King, two specific trendsetters who were at the forefront of equality issues. Willie King's guitar work is harsh and steeped in tradition, clearly influenced by many, but he has developed a style that rings with his own convictions to individualism. "Uncle Tom" is exactly what the title suggests; there are no short-sides or hidden messages, everything is clear from the track listings, and the words are drilled home in repetitive fashion through King and Halbert's insistent lyrics. The attitude of the 'Uncle Tom' has got to go, and it's time to stand up and do away with prejudices; both past and current.

  "Pickens County Payback" (Pickens County lies in Alabama) tells us it's time for restitution from all the years of cleaning windows, mopping floors, and pickin' cotton, then being told your 'services' or presence were no longer needed. "Let's Come Together" rolls off of Wolf's "Smokestack Lightning" groove, and again, it's the ever present force of lyrics being repeated that make things perfectly clear. The band is locked in at every step with the rhythm guitar of Aaron "Hard Head" Hodge, the drums of Willie James Williams, and bass work from three different players, including Mike McCracken in the first four cuts. "Pickens County Blues" is taken solo by Willie King backing himself on acoustic guitar, and his closeness to the traditions of Blues is wonderful. Again, the message is vivid; after continuous oppression due to the color of one's skin, it's time to reverse the outcome. King's vocals (penned by a friend of Willie) clearly turn the tables here, with the outcome in the closing line; "We gonna get the sheriff, call the D.A down, tell them both (and) the circuit judge, penitentiary bound."

   "The Sell-Out" resembles "Twenty Long Years" in the telling of truths about plantation work and backstabbing by those looking to climb 'Uncle Tom's ladder.' Repeatedly, King's voice is backed by Halbert, and the two fuse seamlessly conveying their depth of resolve. The dynamics reach incredible heights as the band pushes ahead and the shouting of juke-joint crowd cheers them on in a continual barrage of approval.

  The final track here is mind numbing and a perfect close to the disc. Sitting alone, Willie King tells us "Why God Sent Us The Blues" in a story of what it has been like for him and decades of descendants who came from slavery and moved ahead to the 'status' of those who sharecropped. Brutally honest are the words of King, and certainly truthful, as we learn firsthand from one who has "been there - done that" and decided not to any longer.

  The outcome is a 60 plus minute CD that bares all, heals wounds, and shows a brighter future if we do, indeed, come together. Hats off to Rooster, Jim O'Neal, Willie King & The Liberators, and all involved in a project that is as raw as a bleeding wound and as heartwarming as a close friend like Willie King! It succeeds on all points with great music, purpose, wonderful sound, and the ability to make the listener stop and think; "What if?"

[Check this and the rest of the chock-full Rooster catalog out by going to: http://www.roosterblues.com]

(Craig Rusky- peachnut01@worldnet.att.net)