T-Bone Walker Sings The Blues (re-up)

Side One:

01. Strollin' With Bones

02. You Don't Love Me

03. You Don't Understand

04. Say! Pretty Baby (Welcome Blues)

05. Tell Me What's The Reason

06. Blue Mood

07. Railroad Station Blues

Side Two:

01. The Sun Went Down

02. The Hustle Is On

03. Evil Hearted Woman

04. Cold Cold Feeling

05. I Got The Blues Again

06. Blues Is A Woman

07. Get These Blues Off Me

Download from here:

http://www5.zippyshare.com/v/bOmEhkV8/file.html

Original post (15th June, 2011) is here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/t-bone-walker-t-bone-walker-sings-blues.html

This is a 1983 Pathe Marconi reissue of Imperial LP 9098, originally released in 1960. The reissue reproduces the original front cover art, but includes extra tracks plus notes by Pete Welding on the back cover. I remember buying this LP second hand in the Grassmarket in Edinburgh, possibly in the early 1990s, so that signature on the back cover isn't mine!

With this LP I feel that we reach peak T-Bone. These Imperial recordings pack a more powerful punch than the earlier Black & White recordings, thanks to superior production and strong backing from groups led by Big Jim Wynn, Maxwell Davis and Dave Bartholomew. The original post has the details of the recording sessions for these tracks and is well worth perusing, particularly as the information on the LP sleeve is incomplete.

As we saw in the previous post (T-Bone Jumps Again), T-Bone Walker left Black & White Records and signed a contract with Capitol Records at the end of April 1949. The contract included the complete master recordings he had made for Black & White, and Capitol started issuing T-Bone Walker singles cut from these masters from June 1949 onwards.

Less than a year later, and without actually recording any new material for Capitol, T-Bone signed with Imperial Records. His first recording session for his new label took place in Los Angeles on 5th April 1950, backed by the Big Jim Wynn band.

Five tracks on this collection are from the April 1950 sessions (held over two days): Strollin' With Bones, The Sun Went Down, You Don't Love Me, Travelin' Blues, and Evil Hearted Woman.

The first single released on Imperial was Strollin' With Bones (b/w Glamour Girl) on Imperial 5071 towards the end of April 1950. As for the rest of the tracks on this LP, the original releases were as follows:

The Sun Went Down / You Don't Love Me - Imperial 5086, May 1950

Travelin' Blues / Evil Hearted Woman - Imperial 5094, August 1950

You Don't Understand / Welcome Blues - Imperial 5147, September 1951

note: Imperial 5147 was re-released as Imperial 5384 in March 1956, with both sides re-titled: "Alibi" / "Say! Pretty Baby"

Cold, Cold Feeling (b/w "News For My Baby") - Imperial 5171, February 1952

Get These Blues Off Me / I Got The Blues Again - Imperial 5181, April 1952

Blues Is A Woman (b/w "Street Walking Woman") Imperial 5202, September 1952

Blue Mood (b/w "Got No Use For You") - Imperial 5216, January 1953

Railroad Station Blues (b/w "Long Distance Blues") - Imperial 5228, March 1953

Tell Me What's The Reason (b/w "Every Time") - Imperial 5247, September 1953

For further investigation:

If you started a serious R&B CD collection 25 years ago, then you probably bought the EMI 2CD set, "T-Bone Walker, The Complete Imperial Recordings, 1950-1954." (EMI Blues Series). Compiled and annotated by Pete Welding, this is probably still the best collection of T-Bone's Imperial sides. It's still available online and at a low price. 52 tracks.

The public domain label Not Now Music has a 2CD set with 50 tracks which covers the same ground as the original EMI 2CD set. It's available at a very low price (I've seen it going in Fopp Records in Glasgow for £3), but I have no idea if there are extensive notes to accompany the CDs.