3 Shades Of The Blues

 
Side A:
01. Train Done Gone - Eddie Kirkland
02. You Know I Love You - Eddie Kirkland
03. Blood On Your Hands - Eddie Kirkland
04. Love You Til The Day I Die - Eddie Kirkland
05. So Pretty Baby - Eddie Kirkland & The Falcons
06. I Tried - Eddie Kirkland & The Falcons
07. I Am So Tired (Oh Baby Please) - Eddie Kirkland & The Falcons
08. Backbone - Eddie Kirkland
 
Side B:
01. Live My Life All Over - Mr. Bo
02. Until The Day I Die - Mr. Bo
03. Hard Times Once More - Mr. Bo
04. The Train - Mr. Bo
05. Your Love Is Real - Ohio Untouchables
06. I'm Tired - Ohio Untouchables
07. Forgive Me Darling - Ohio Untouchables
08. Hot Stuff - Ohio Untouchables

3 Shades Of The Blues (Mega)

3 Shades Of The Blues (Zippy)

Many thanks to Charlie B. for contributing this LP. You can't beat that Detroit clanging, banging blues racket and this LP is a prime example. It really is all killer, no filler and constitutes one of the best blues / R&B LPs I've ever heard.

Originally recorded for the small Lu Pine label, these sides were compiled by Relic in the 1970s for issue on this LP using the original "Lu Pine" label logo. The Eddie Kirkland sides were recorded between 1959 and 1961 but the whole session remained unissued until this album plus one tie-in single. Prior to this session Eddie had recorded a single for Detroit label Fortune and had previously had a few sides issued on RPM, Cobra and King. In 1962 Eddie recorded for Tru-Sound, a subsidiary of Prestige. You can find out more about that session in this post:

Eddie Kirkland - The Way It Was

Mr Bo (Louis Bo Collins) sounds awfully like B.B. King which is hardly surprising as both musicians hailed from Indianola, Mississippi. His four tracks on this compilation were recorded in 1959 / 1960, with only "I'm Leaving This Town" being issued on a single on another small Detroit label, Northern (see below).

The Ohio Untouchables were an instrumental group started by and led by guitarist Robert Ward. They backed vocal group The Falcons and blues singer Benny McCain on singles on Lu Pine and had a couple of releases of their own on the label with Robert Ward taking the vocals. See below for details. Their tracks on this LP are good roughhouse late R&B / early soul, making for a strong ending to an outstanding album.

Some original issue information:

Lu Pine L110 also L-1010 - Ohio Untouchables - Forgive Me Darling / Love Is Amazing - released in 1962.

Lu Pine L-116/7 - Ohio Untouchables - I'm Tired / Up Town - released in 1964.

Northern 3731 - Mr. Bo - I'm Leaving This Town  / Times Hard (aka Hard Times Once More) - issued in January 1960. Northern was a small Detroit label owned by Johnnie Mae Matthews, one of the first black women to own a record label. She also owned the Audrey, Bon, and Reel labels. Mr. Bo had a single (Heartaches And Troubles / Calipso Blues) issued on the Reel label in 1962.

Lu Pine 801 - Eddie Kirkland - Train Done Gone / I Tried - issued by Relic as a tie-in with this LP in the 1970s.


https://soulfuldetroit.com/archives/3838/3557.html?1054857956

http://detroitsoulsingles.blogspot.com/search/label/Northern 

https://www.buckeyebeat.com/ohiountouchables.html 

Stick around as the Be Bop Wino Autumn Blues Tour USA continues!

Thank you once more to Charlie B for this great album.

Eddie Kirkland - The Way It Was

Side 1:
01. Down On My Knees
02. Don't Take My Heart
03. Daddy Please Don't Cry
04. Have Mercy On Me
05. Saturday Night Stomp
06. I'm Gonna Forget You

Side 2:
01. I Tried
02. Man Of Stone
03. I'm Going To Keep Loving You
04. Train Done Gone
05. Something's Wrong In My Life
06. Baby You Know It's True

The Way It Was (Mega)

The Way It Was (Zippy)

This 1983 Red Lightnin' LP is a reissue of the 1962 Tru-Sound LP "It's The Blues Man!" Tru-Sound was a subsidiary of Prestige so perhaps unusually for a Detroit bluesman of the time, Eddie's LP was recorded in true stereo in a first class studio. The backing band was led by King Curtis and included the great R&B guitarist Billy Butler (of Bill Doggett Combo fame). Eddie's style had developed in Detroit as a member of John Lee Hooker's band with which he recorded for Chess and Modern in the early 1950s.

 True-Sound 15010

Eddie had singles under his own name issued on RPM, King, Cobra and Fortune during the '50s, all in a basic electric blues style, so the coming together of Eddie with the King Curtis led outfit could have led to a clash of styles, but the results proved to be very good indeed.

Recording Details

I Tried; Man Of Stone; Train Done Gone; I'm Going To Keep Loving You; Something's Gone Wrong In My Life; Baby You Know It's True - recorded in Englefield, New Jersey, December 8th, 1961.

Personnel: Eddie Kirkland (vocal, harmonica, guitar) with - King Curtis, Oliver Nelson (tenor saxes); Herman Foster (piano); Billy Butler (guitar); Jimmy Lewis (bass guitar); Ray Lucas (drums).

Saturday Night Stomp; I'm Gonna Forget You; Down On My Knees; Don't Take My Heart; Daddy Please Don't Cry; Have Mercy On Me - recorded in Englefield, New Jersey, March 9th, 1962.

Personnel: as above but George Stubbs replaces Herman Foster on piano. Elise Shoulder second vocal on "Daddy Please Don't Cry."

Hines Farm Blues Club, Toledo, Ohio

The above photo is from the book "I'll Take You There ... an oral and photographic history of the Hines Farm Blues Club" by Matthew A. Donahue, Jive Bomb Press, 1999.

For much more info and the complete 1950s and 1960s Eddie Kirkland output see Gerard Herzhaft's blog Blue Eye here -

Eddie Kirkland: Detroit Blues Masters

The links are now dead, alas, but perhaps if we all ask nicely, Uncle Gerard may be able to provide new links.

Update - there are now 2 links in the comments on Gerard's Eddie Kirkland post.