Tampa Red
Out of the dozens of fine slide guitarists who recorded blues, only a handful -- Elmore James, Muddy Waters, and Robert Johnson, for example -- left a clear imprint on tradition by creating a recognizable and widely imitated instrumental style. Tampa Red was another influential musical model. During his heyday in the '20s and '30s, he was billed as "The Guitar Wizard," and his stunning slide work on electric or National steel guitar shows why he earned the title. His 30-year recording career produced hundreds of sides: hokum, pop, and jive, but mostly blues (including classic compositions "Anna Lou Blues," "Black Angel Blues," "Crying Won't Help You," "It Hurts Me Too," and "Love Her with a Feeling"). Early in Red's career, he teamed up with pianist, songwriter, and latter-day gospel composer Georgia Tom Dorsey, collaborating on double-entendre classics like "Tight Like That."
Listeners who only know Tampa Red's hokum material are missing the deeper side of one of the mainstays of Chicago blues. His peers included Big Bill Broonzy, with whom he shared a special friendship. Members of Lester Melrose's musical mafia and drinking buddies, they once managed to sleep through both games of a Chicago White Sox doubleheader. Eventually alcohol caught up with Red, and he blamed his latter-day health problems on an inability to refuse a drink.
During Red's prime, his musical venues ran the gamut of blues institutions: down-home jukes, the streets, the vaudeville theater circuit, and the Chicago club scene. Due to his polish and theater experience, he is often described as a city musician or urban artist in contrast to many of his more limited musical contemporaries. Furthermore, his house served as the blues community's rehearsal hall and an informal booking agency. According to the testimony of Broonzy and Big Joe Williams, Red cared for other musicians by offering them a meal and a place to stay and generally easing their transition from country to city life.
Today's listener will enjoy Tampa Red's expressive vocals and perhaps be taken aback by his kazoo solos. His songwriting has stood the test of time, and any serious slide guitar student had better be familiar with Red's guitar wizardry.
© Barry Lee Pearson /TiVo
Ähnliche Künstler
-
Bottleneck Guitar 1928-1937
Blues - Erschienen bei Yazoo am 01.01.1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tampa Red The Guitar Wizard
Blues - Erschienen bei Legacy - Columbia am 01.10.1975
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Presenting Tampa Red
Blues - Erschienen bei Universal Digital Enterprises am 03.12.1928
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Song Collection
Blues - Erschienen bei Jazz Experience am 26.09.2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Slide Guitar Wizard, Chicago - 1931-1946
Blues - Erschienen bei Fremeaux Heritage am 14.04.1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Bluebird Recordings 1934-1936
Blues - Erschienen bei RCA Bluebird am 28.10.1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tampa Red Vol. 5 (1931 - 1934)
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 01.05.1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tampa Red Vol. 2 (1929)
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 01.02.1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Greatest Blues Licks 1931-1946
Blues - Erschienen bei Master Classics Records am 01.10.2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Wizard - Tampa Red
Jazz - Erschienen bei Bela Records am 25.01.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tampa Red Vol. 3 (1929 - 1930)
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 04.03.1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tampa Red Vol. 12 1941-1945
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 10.04.1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tampa Red Vol. 11 1939-1940
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 10.03.1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tampa Red Vol. 15 1951-1953
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 10.09.1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Tampa Red Vol. 9 1937-1938
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 10.10.1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
The best of the guitar wizard (1928-1940)
Jazz - Erschienen bei EPM am 29.10.1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tampa Red Vol. 13 1945-1947
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 10.05.1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tampa Red Vol. 6 1934-1935
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 10.05.1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo