Smiley Lewis - I Hear You Knocking (Imperial LP 9141)

Side A
1. The Bells Are Ringing
2. Standing On The Corner
3. Blue Monday
4. Down the Road
5. Lost Week End
6. Real Gone Lover

Side B
1. Bumpity Bump
2. I Hear You Knockin'
3. I Can't Believe It
4. Hey Girl
5. One Night
6. Nothing But The Blues

Joan keeps our New Orleans vibe going with this 1961 Imperial retrospective LP. This time it’s the 1950’s sides of Smiley Lewis which get the treatment, and the cover art is slightly reminiscent of the Jesse Allen LP on the previous post. This is a reconstruction of the original LP, with all tracks sourced from vinyl.

Smiley’s career was outlined on the “Caldonia’s Party” post. It was a tale of talent not reaping its just rewards, for Smiley’s best records were overshadowed by cover versions by Gale Storm, Fats Domino and Elvis Presley. Even the title track was a big hit in the UK for Dave Edmunds around 1970, but at least it drew the attention of the public (including me) to the great Smiley.

The music on this twelve track LP is absolutely prime New Orleans R&B, recorded at Cosimo Matassa’s J&M studio with bands mostly led by Dave Bartholomew and featuring a supporting cast which includes Fats Domino, Lee Allen, Herb Hardesty, Huey Smith and Earl Palmer. Although Smiley never quite achieved the success his talent deserved, we can enjoy this taste of his glory years from 1952 – 1956 thanks to Joan.


Ripped from vinyl at 128 kbps.

Download from here:

I Hear You Knocking (Mega)


1. The Bells Are Ringing
2. Standing On The Corner
3. Blue Monday
4. Down the Road
5. Lost Week End
6. Real Gone Lover
7. Bumpity Bump
8. I Hear You Knockin'
9. I Can't Believe It
10. Hey Girl
11. One Night
12. Nothing But The Blues

There are two good Smiley collections currently available on Revola and Bear Family. See the recommended purchases section in the "Caldonia’s Party" post.

And lastly here are label scans of three Smiley singles (included in the download) courtesy of Joan, of course!