Tuesday 20 February 2018

Let the Boogie-Woogie Roll! Clyde McPhatter, Arthur Smith, Joe Maphis, Chet Atkins, etc.

I'll start with Clyde McPhatter - one the great R&B voices of the '50s - with The Drifters, on the great R&B classics of the '50s,  the joyous "Let the Boogie Woogie Roll", 1953:
I'd always tassumed B. Bumble & The Stingers' "Bumble Boogie" (the flip-side of "Nut Rocker") was the original version of the song - but here's Freddie Martin in 1946:

Some great country guitar boogie now, with The Texas Troubadors' "Leon's Boogie", 1965:
However, the original country guitar boogie number was "Guitar Boogie", by Arthur Smith (not the annoying Cockney pseudo-comedian, in case you were worried) and His Cracker-Jacks, 1948 - often covered, never bettered:
I say original, but the first version of "Guitar Boogie" was probably this 1929 release from Blind Roosevelt Graves and his Brother (ignore the video - Graves was black). Although Arthur Smith's version is still my favourite, Australian acoustic guitar maestro Tommy Emmanuel regularly gives it a hell of a go - here he is live in beautiful downtown Beograd, plucking up a storm with Vlatko  Stefanovski and Stochelo  Rosenberg:
Of the zillions of Arthur Smith-influenced guitar boogie singles, here are two of my favourites - first, Chet Atkins with "One Man Boogie" (which I think was recorded in 1951)...:
...and "Double Neck Boogie" by the great Joe Maphis, from 1965:
As it's a generally recognised fact that man cannot live by boogie-woogie alone, here are three non-boogie-woogie tracks to help cleanse your musical palate. First, Chuck Willis with the delightful "Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes" (1958):
Here's the ever-reliable Slim Harpo with the rocking "That Ain't Your Business" (1958 or 1959, I'm guessing - there should be an internet law that whoever posts or mentions a song has to give either the recording or release date):
Finally, Gary (U.S.) Bonds reveals his main literary influence on "Food of Love" (1962):


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