Tampa Red

Complete Recorded Works (c. May 1928 to 4 December 1953)

Volume 2: 12th January 1929 to 27th June 1929

Featuring the recordings of:

Tampa Red ”The Guitar Wizard”, With Georgia Tom : Tampa Red, vocal / guitar; Thomas A. Dorsey (Georgia Tom), piano / vocal on 2. Tampa Red “The Guitar Wizard”, guitar solo. The Hokum Boys: Tampa Red, guitar; Georgia Tom Dorsey, piano. Tampa Red’s Hokum Jug Band: Tampa Red, guitar; unknown, piano; Bill Johnson, stand-up bass; Herman Brown, washboard; Carl Reid, jazzhorn / jug; Frankie Jaxon, vocal. Tampa Red And Georgia Tom: Tampa Red, vocal / guitar; Georgia Tom, piano. Tampa Red And Georgia Tom: Tampa Red, vocal (except 14) / guitar; Georgia Tom, vocal / piano. Gospel Camp Meeting Singers: Vocal group; acc. poss. Georgia Tom Dorsey, piano; Tampa Red, guitar. Tampa Red, vocal / guitar; Georgia Tom, vocal / piano. Frankie “ Half-Pint” Jaxon, vocal / scraper; acc. prob. Georgia Tom Dorsey, piano; Tampa Red, guitar. Tampa Red, vocal / guitar; Georgia Tom, piano. Lil Johnson, vocal; accompanied by Charles Avery, piano; Tampa Red, guitar.

Genres: Blues, Blues Guitar, Blues Piano, Hokum, Georgia Blues, Early Chicago Blues, Female Blues, Jug Band, Gospel, National Guitar

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. The first session included here is a remake of a session that took place in December 1928. Why the original titles were not released, is not quite clear. Anyway, the January 1929 session showed a mixture of straight, low down blues and so-called “hokum blues”. This was to become Tampa Red’s trademark for the next three or four years. Following the success of “It’s Tight Like That”, Tampa Red and Georgia Tom recorded a couple of titles in mid-tempo with a refrain and double-entendre lyrics, often combined with a tongue-in-cheek-way of looking at things. (What about this as a definition for “hokum”?) On five titles we also hear Frankie “Half-Pint” Jaxon, an enigmatic singer, who fits perfectly in Tampa’s hokum concept. A good example for Tampa’s guitar style is the aptly titled Voice Of The Blues. Georgia Tom handles the vocals here, and Tampa Red can concentrate on his guitar playing. His delicate slide playing, full of subtleties, conveys the right atmosphere for a real low down blues. It becomes evident that Tampa could get across much more of his feelings to the listener by his slide than by his singing (he never was much of a singer). The last session on this album displays another specialty of Tampa Red. Under the name of “The Guitar Wizard” that was to reappear time and again in his long career, he demonstrated all his abilities as a solo guitarist. And a true “guitar wizard” he was indeed!

DOCD-5074