Roosevelt Sykes
Next time someone voices the opinion that blues music is simply too depressing to embrace, expose them to a heady dose of Roosevelt Sykes. There was absolutely nothing downbeat about this effervescent pianist, whose lengthy career spanned the pre-war and postwar eras. Sykes' romping boogies and hilariously risqué lyrics on songs like "Dirty Mother for You," "Ice Cream Freezer," and "Peeping Tom" characterize his monumental contributions to the blues idiom. He was a pioneering piano pounder responsible for the seminal pieces "44 Blues," "Driving Wheel," and "Night Time Is the Right Time."
Sykes began playing while growing up in Helena. At age 15 he hit the road, developing his rowdy barrelhouse style around the blues-fertile St. Louis area. He began recording in 1929 for OKeh and was signed to four different labels the next year under four different names (he was variously billed as Dobby Bragg, Willie Kelly, and Easy Papa Johnson). Sykes signed to Decca Records in 1935, where his popularity blossomed. After relocating to Chicago, Sykes inked a pact with Bluebird in 1943 and recorded prolifically for the RCA subsidiary with his combo the Honeydrippers, scoring a pair of R&B hits in 1945 (covers of Cecil Gant's "I Wonder" and Joe Liggins' "The Honeydripper"). The following year, he scored one more national chart item for the Victor logo, the lowdown blues "Sunny Road." He also often toured and recorded with singer St. Louis Jimmy Oden, the originator of the classic "Going Down Slow."
In 1951, Sykes joined Chicago's United Records, cutting more fine sides over the next couple of years. A pair of Dave Bartholomew-produced 1955 dates for Imperial in New Orleans included a rollicking version of "Sweet Home Chicago" that presaged all the covers that would surface later on. A slew of albums for Bluesville, Folkways, Crown, and Delmark kept Sykes on the shelves during the '60s (a time when European tours began to take up quite a bit of the pianist's itinerary). He settled in New Orleans during the late '60s, where he remained a local treasure until his death. Precious few pianists could boast the thundering boogie prowess of Roosevelt Sykes.
© Bill Dahl /TiVo
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Blues Piano and Guitar (Live)
Henry Townsend, Roosevelt Sykes
Blues - Erschienen bei Omnivore Recordings am 22.03.2019
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Music Is My Business
Blues - Erschienen bei Fat Possum am 25.09.1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chicago Blues Festival '70 (Blues Reference)
Homesick James, Roosevelt Sykes, Eddie Taylor
Blues - Erschienen bei Disques Black & Blue am 01.01.2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Roosevelt Sykes Collection 1929-47, Vol. 1
Blues - Erschienen bei ACROBAT am 09.06.2014
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Blues by Roosevelt "The Honeydripper" Sykes
Blues - Erschienen bei Smithsonian Folkways Recordings am 17.10.1995
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The Return Of Roosevelt Sykes (Album Version)
Blues - Erschienen bei Original Blues Classics am 01.01.1960
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This Is the Blues! Vol. 2 (Mono Version)
Blues - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1962
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Double Barreled Boogie
Jazz - Erschienen bei Universal Music Division Decca Records France am 01.01.2004
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This Is the Blues, Vol. 2 (Recordings of 1939 + 1940)
Roosevelt Sykes, Roosevelt Sykes (The Honey Dripper)
Pop - Erschienen bei Blues Classics am 31.08.2020
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The Honeydripper's Duke's Mixture (Album Version)
Jazz - Erschienen bei Universal Music Division Decca Records France am 01.01.1971
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Roosevelt Sykes Vol. 1 (1929-1930)
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 12.04.2005
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Roosevelt Sykes Vol. 6 (1939-1941)
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 12.04.2005
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Roosevelt Sykes Vol. 10 (1951-1957)
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 12.04.2005
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1929-1941
Blues - Erschienen bei Vintage Masters Inc. am 01.09.2012
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Dirty Mother for You
Jazz - Erschienen bei Jazzology am 23.12.2013
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Roosevelt Sykes Vol. 8 (1945-1947)
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 27.09.2005
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The Way I Feel: The Best Of Roosevelt Sykes And Lee Green
Blues - Erschienen bei Yazoo am 01.01.2003
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Jazz Figures / Roosevelt Sykes, (1944 - 1951), Volume 8
Jazz - Erschienen bei Collector Records Greece am 14.12.2011
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Roosevelt Sykes Vol. 5 (1937-1939)
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 12.04.2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo