Tampa Red

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

Vol. 3: 9th July 1929 to June 1930

Tampa Red And His Hokum Jug Band: Tampa Red, guitar; Georgia Tom Dorsey, piano; Bill Johnson, stand-up bass; prob. Jasper Taylor, washboard; Frankie Jaxon, vocal. Tampa Red And Georgia Tom, vocal duet; accompanied by Tampa Red, guitar; Georgia Tom, piano; poss. Bill Johnson, stand-up bass. Tampa Red And His Hokum Jug Band: Tampa Red, guitar; probably Cow Cow Davenport, piano; probably Jasper Taylor, washboard; unknown, kazoo/jug; Frankie Jaxon, vocal. Tampa Red And Georgia Tom, vocal duet; accompanied Tampa Red, guitar; Georgia Tom, piano. Tampa Red “The Guitar Wizard”, vocal / guitar; probably Romeo Nelson, piano. Jenny Pope, vocal; accompanied Georgia Tom Dorsey, piano; Tampa Red, guitar. Tampa Red, vocal / guitar; Georgia Tom, piano. Georgia Tom, Tampa Red And Frankie Jaxon (The Black Hill Billies), vocal; accompanied by Tampa Red, guitar; Georgia Tom, piano. Tampa Red, vocal / guitar; Georgia Tom, piano added on 15. Tampa Red “The Guitar Wizard”, guitar solo. Tampa Red, vocal / guitar; Bill O’Bryant (possibly Eddie Miller), piano.

Genre; Blues, Georgia blues, Early Chicago Blues, Blues Guitar, Blues Piano, Hokum, Bottleneck-slide Guitar, Female Blues, Jug Band, National Guitar, Guitar Solo

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. You might call it a period of transition, for after a fulminate start with their success of “It’s Tight Like That” and a period of follow-ups, the duo of Tampa Red and Georgia Tom gradually left the “hokum” genre and concentrated more and more on two easy things: the swinging, jazz-influenced up-tempo pieces like Easy Rider, and they got deeper and deeper into the real slow blues numbers, exploring several aspects of blues playing, and it is plain to hear that especially Tampa Red was getting more and more self confident in his playing refining his guitar style to a degree that he really became a champion, or in other words, a “guitar wizard”. The very first title included here, I Wonder Where My Easy Rider’s Gone (also known as “Easy Rider Blues), shows him as a leader of a small band that foreshadows his later “Chicago Five“. The flip side of this song was Come On Mama, Do That Dance it becomes evident that the swinging impetus of the two records comes not from the bass and washboard accompaniment, but from Tampa’s guitar. The same can be said for another track called Mama Don’t Allow to a degree that the listener doesn’t miss any rhythm instruments. Another side to Tampa Red‘s playing is revealed in the slow blues numbers such as Moanin’ Heart Blues, Chicago Moan Blues or I.C. Moan Blues. The moaning is not accomplished by his vocals, as is done by so many other blues singers, but by his guitar. Tampa is able to hold long notes with his slide, and then bend them in long melody bows. The two tracks Dying Mercy Blues and Black Hearted Blues have fine piano accompaniment, the later by Bill O’Bryant, a boogie specialist, plays the accompaniment.

DOCD-5075