Track Listing

1. Papa Ain't Salty
2. Why Not [*]
3. T-Bone Shuffle
4. Play on Little Girl
5. T-Bone Blues Special [*]
6. Mean Old World
7. T-Bone Blues
8. Stormy Monday
9. Blues for Marili
10. Shufflin' the Blues
11. Evening
12. Two Bones and a Pick
13. You Don't Know What You're Doing [*]
14. How Long Blues [*]
15. Blues Rock

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51532 in Music
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Top-notch T-Bone
Originally issued by Atlantic Records in 1959, "T-Bone Blues" compiled 11 singles recorded between 1955 and 1957, and the 1994 CD reissue added four bonus tracks, including "Why Not", which Jimmy Rogers would later record as "Walkin' By Myself" and credit to himself, and a soulful rendition of Leroy Carr's "How Long Blues".

Many of these sides are re-recordings of Aaron "T-Bone" Walker's classic 40s sides, like "T-Bone Shuffle", "They Call It Stormy Monday", and "Mean Old World", and while any self-respecting blues collection should include Walker's original Capitol and Black & White singles (Rhino's "Blues Masters - The Very Best Of T-Bone Walker" is a great collection of those early sides), "T-Bone Blues" is perhaps the most satisfying album Walker ever made.

The sound is simply magnificent for mid-50s waxings, wonderfully clear and crisp and realistic, and T-Bone Walker is backed by men like Junior Wells, Jimmy Rogers, Ransom Knowling, legendary arranger/pianist Lloyd Glenn, and saxists John "Plas" Johnson, Jr., Edward Chamblee, Mack Easton, and Earl Hines-cohort Andrew "Goon" Gardner.
And T-Bone's own playing and singing is superb. Just listen to his inspired soloing on "Blues For Marili", "Mean Old World", the classic "T-Bone Blues", and this the definitive rendition of "Papa Ain't Salty". It's a delight to hear him playing with Little Walter Jacobs on the 1955 recordings, which include a swinging "Play On, Little Girl" and the fine bonus cut "T-Bone Blues Special", and Walker's re-recording of "They Call It Stormy Monday" captures the essence of the magnificent original version from 1947, this time with stellar fidelity.

There are a number of amazing instrumentals here, too...T-Bone Walker duels with his nephew R.S. Rankin and highly esteemed jazz guitarist Barney Kessel on the up-tempo scorcher "Two Bones And A Pick", and comes off victorious. He may have been best known for his slow, after-hours blues laments, but T-Bone could cut it with the best of them no matter if the tempo was set at 40 or 140.
The highlights on this disc are too many to mention...among the best of the lesser-known songs are the up-tempo "You Don't Know What You're Doing", sung by Rankin, and the jouyous instrumental "Shufflin' The Blues", but literally everything is worth a listen.
An essential addition to any semi-serious collection of electric blues.

Essential. Period.
While these recordings did little to re-establish Walker's popularity, they might the quintessential T-Bone. His playing is still hot, Atlantic backed him with excellent musicains, and this music is recorded "state-of-the-art" for mid-50s recordings. Which means, in reality, he's recorded with a crispness and detail that far outshines any previous Walker recordings. If your a fan and don't have this one in your libaray, your missing prime T-Bone.

Essential blues.
This recording from the mid-fifties is an absolute must for any blues lover. It fills the gap between jazz and blues in a very clever manner. The sound is absolutely great and it introduced one the most covered blues number of all time : Call it stormy monday. This is a real blues classic : buy it!