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
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Bottleneck Classics - Sliding with Tampa Red
Blues - Erschienen bei Stardom Records am 15.09.2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tampa Red Vol. 14 1949-1951
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 10.07.1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Tampa Red Vol. 4 (1930 - 1931)
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 05.04.1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Through Train Blues
Blues - Erschienen bei JSP Records am 12.11.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tampa Red Vol. 10 1938-1939
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 10.02.1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tampa Red Vol. 8 1936-1937
Blues - Erschienen bei Document Records am 10.07.1993
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The Best of Tampa Red
Blues - Erschienen bei Platinum Music Libraries am 02.11.2018
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Kingfish Blues
Blues - Erschienen bei Blues Pleasure am 24.09.2018
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When Things Go Wrong with You (It Hurts Me Too)
Blues - Erschienen bei Redwood Records am 17.03.2014
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Don’t Tampa With the Blues
Blues - Erschienen bei Mach60 Music am 12.10.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anna Lou Blues
Blues - Erschienen bei Starsound Records am 26.09.2017
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Essential Blues
Blues - Erschienen bei Vintage Masters Inc. am 01.12.2012
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She Don't Know My Mind (The Bluebird Recordings 1935 - 1936)
Blues - Erschienen bei Blues Classics am 22.04.2023
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Nobody's Sweetheart Now (The Bluebird Recordings 1934)
Blues - Erschienen bei Blues Classics am 22.04.2023
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Worried Devil Blues (The Bluebird Recordings 1934 - 1935)
Blues - Erschienen bei Blues Classics am 22.04.2023
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Brown Skin Girl - Treasury Of Jazz No. 61 (Recordings of 1928 - 1942)
Leroy Carr, Tampa Red, Lonnie Johnson
Jazz - Erschienen bei Jazz Classics am 10.12.2022
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Anna Lou Blues
Blues - Erschienen bei Masterclassics am 13.08.2017
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The Ultimate Jazz Archive 10 (4 Of 4)
Jazz - Erschienen bei Carinco AG am 18.02.2007
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