Kid Bailey – “Rowdy Blues”
Enigmatic blues legend Kid Bailey (AKA Willie Brown) left behind scant few recordings, and clean copies are difficult or perhaps impossible to come by. We downloaded the best audio we could find of Bailey’s classic “Rowdy Blues” from Archive.org, and asked producer Michael Rosen to employ his studio magic to reconstruct the audio with glitches and pops reduced and the warmth of the original recording brought to the fore. It’s a great live take from nearly a century ago, and we are happy to be able to share it for new audiences to enjoy today.
Here’s some blistering harmonica boogie from “blues harp” masters Dutch Coleman and Red Whitehead. Expertly shaping the tone with their breath and their mouths, this duo of innovators created a trance-inducing sound way back when, and lucky us, they recorded it. Pure instrumental music goodness with two guys jamming full-on and stompin’ they feet.
What a lovely track by this classy classic performer. Lottie Kimbrough brings a message that rings true through the ages, with humor and a voice of gold.
They sure don’t make ’em like this anymore. One guy with a guitar and his voice, alone except for a tape recorder, making music more deep than a million overdubs could ever conjur up. ‘Scuse me now while I hop this freight train..