Star Time #37: How Blue Can You Get
Woke up this morning -- actually, it was a few mornings ago -- 12 to be exact -- and decided it was past due for Star Time's first Blues Summit. It's wall-to-wall blues, covering more than 30 years (not 40, as I miscounted in the intro) of blues from all corners of the form. It's staggeringly consistent. We got Lead Belly, Lightnin' Hopkins, Magic Sam, Lonnie Johnson, Slim Harpo, Junior Wells, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, and two people I will never do a blues show without: Howlin' Wolf and John Lee Hooker. Also blues from another planet in the guise of George Coleman. I like this show. It's good.
| Artist | Song | Year | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set 1 | |||
| Lead Belly | Good Morning Blues | 1948 | Smithsonian Folkways |
| Marylyn Scott | Straighten Him Out | 1950 | Regent |
| Smiley Lewis | Tee-Nah-Nah | 1952 | Imperial |
| Doug Quattlebaum | Don't Be Funny Baby | 1953 | Gotham |
| Big Mama Thornton | I Smell a Rat | 1954 | Peacock |
| Lightnin' Hopkins | Movin' Out Boogie | 1954 | Herald |
| Brother John Sellers | When I've Been Drinking | 1958 | Vanguard |
| Magic Sam | 21 Days in Jail | 1958 | Cobra |
| Howlin' Wolf | I Asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline) | 1958 | Chess |
| Set 2 | |||
| Otis Spann | Take a Little Walk With Me | 1960 | Candid |
| John Lee Hooker | Leave My Wife Alone | 1959 | Chess |
| Roosevelt Sykes | Jailbait | 1961 | Prestige Bluesville |
| Lonnie Johnson | My Little Kitten Susie | 1961 | Prestige Bluesville |
| Odetta | Leavin' This Morning | 1962 | Riverside |
| Slim Harpo | I Love the Life I'm Living | 1963 | Excello |
| Sally Stanley | What It Means to Be Lonely | 1962 | Excello |
| B.B. King | How Blue Can You Get | 1965 | ABC-Paramount |
| Set 3 | |||
| Junior Wells | Snatch It Back and Hold It | 1965 | Delmark |
| Skip James | Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues | 1965 | Melodeon |
| Buddy Guy | The Things I Used to Do | 1968 | Vanguard |
| Little Brother Montgomery | Up the Country Blues | 1968 | Folkways |
| Mercy Dee Walton | Empty Life | 1968 | Imperial |
| T-Bone Walker | Treat Me So Low Down | 1968 | BluesWay |
| Albert King | If the Washing Don't Get You the Rinsing Will | 1969 | Stax |
| Taj Mahal | Statesboro Blues | 1968 | Columbia |
| Set 4/Outro | |||
| Don Covay & the Jefferson Lemon Blues Band | Four Women | 1969 | Atlantic |
| Luther Allison | Raggedy and Dirty | 1972 | Gordy |
| George Coleman | I Wish I Could Sing | 1969 | Arhoolie |
| Sunnyland Slim | I Had It So Hard | 1974 | GNP Crescendo |
| R.L. Burnside | Jumper Hanging Out on the Line | 1979 | HMG |
| Lee Jackson | Rocks Is My Pillow | 1977 | Red Lightnin' |
| Muddy Waters | I Can't Be Satisfied | 1948 | Aristocrat |
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