Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #100257 in Music
• Released on: 2008-09-30
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Import

Customer Reviews

THE HERALD/EMBER BLUES AND GOSPEL MASTERS VOL. 1
Two discs 72 and 78 minutes each approximately. The sound generally is ok to good. With tracks of this vintage the sound varies from track to track,but is not really objectionable excepting possibly to audiophiles.
Most blues fans will recognize the Herald label because the well known "Lightnin'" Hopkins recorded a number of red hot singles that have been collected (Rockin' At Herald) which are very fine indeed. This collection deals with blues and a few gospel recordings from roughly 1950-1962,with most being recorded in the fifties. There are only a half dozen sides from the early sixties by "Sticks" McGhee with Sonny Terry,Leon Williams and his band,and Joe Richardson and his group. It should be noted that the guitarist in this last group is "Wild" Jimmy Spruill,a truly unique (for the time) electric guitarist. Recently an album collecting tracks he either led or was a session player on (SCRATCH 'N' TWIST) has been released.
The earliest sides here are by Little Walter with an excellent Chicago band,including Muddy Waters. A personal favorite,Eddie Boyd(v/piano) with a small group makes an appearance on two tracks. He is well known for his recording of the blues standard FIVE LONG YEARS (not included),and also recorded with members of the original Fleetwood Mac in England in the sixties. Other blues artists are St. Louis Jimmy Oden,with the great Roosevelt Sykes on piano,plus a number of lesser known blues artists.
Orville "Fats" Noel (tenor sax) and his small combo were the first to release tracks on Herald Records. He is represented by two ballads and two up-tempo tracks with a swinging little band.
On the gospel side,the Harris Gospel Singers and the National Clouds of Joy share the sacred side of things with several good tracks. The juxtaposition of blues and gospel music makes for an interesting listening experience that only fortifies this music.
This is a good collection of blues that helps fill in the spaces between the major label releases. There are a number of collections such as this (on Acrobat Records) that deal with r&b,gospel,and blues. Anyone with an interest in post-war African-American music will find something to like in any of these collections. Hopefully,Acrobat will continue to release such collections in order to keep this era of music from disappearing completely.