Artist: Roosevelt Sykes
Title Of Album: Chicago Boogie
Year Of Release: 2004
Label: Delmark
Genre: Chicago Blues, Piano Blues
Format: MP3
Quality: 320 kbps, 44.1 Khz
Total Time: 47:42
Total Size: 116 Mb
Covers: Front
01. Drivin’ Wheel (2:52)
02. West Helena Blues (2:58)
03. Wonderin’ Blues (2:18)
04. Monkey Face Blues (2:55)
05. Rock It (2:59)
06. Chicago Boogie (1:39)
07. Security Blues (3:03)
08. Soon Forgotten (2:41)
09. Green Onion Top (2:37)
10. Mail Box Blues (2:51)
11. 44 Blues (3:32)
12. Complete This Order (3:28)
13. Blues ‘n’ Boogie (2:32)
14. Winter Time Blues (2:48)
15. Rock It (3:01)
16. My Resolution (2:41)
17. Kickin’ Motor Scooter (2:39)
This Delmark DISC issue is taken from Roosevelt Sykes’ first early-’50s recordings for the Regal label, with a few tracks taken from the early ’60s, and issued by Delmark originally. Sykes was fresh from a long tenure with RCA Victor and Bluebird, and artistically hungry for the first time in at least a decade. The sides here reflect that fresh-start feel. Sykes performs here like a young lion Producer who is trying to blow the doors off the joint to prove himself, rather than as a seasoned veteran. There are three different sessions here: one from March 14, 1950 (with Jump Jackson on drums), another from April 10, 1951 (with J.T. Brown on tenor sax, Ransom Knowling on bass, and Jackson on drums), and a final one from May 17, 1963 (with St. Louis Jimmy on vocals on four of the nine). This stuff is the Sykes’ mother lode. Not only have none of these tracks ever appeared on CD before, nine of them are issued here for the very first time anywhere. Here is the piano-pumping, wailing singer, digging deep and having a ball on the title track, “Drivin’ Wheel,” “Rock It,” “Green Onion Top,” “44 Blues,” and “West Helena Blues,” with 12 others in the mix. Sound Release Format here is pretty much great and the sequencing is primo. This is an indispensable addition to any Roosevelt Sykes’ shelf, and one hell of an introduction for novices. Review by Thom Jurek