Name: Black and Blue/Tobacco Road
Brand: EMI MKTG
SKU: 432182
Availability: OutOfStock

Performer Notes

Personnel: Lou Rawls (vocals); Irving Ashby, Ray Crawford, Rene Hall (guitar); Louis Ciotti (flute, tenor saxophone); Harvey "Harmonica Fats" Blackston (harmonica); Joe Maini, Sonny Criss, Charlie Kennedy (alto saxophone); Lou Ciotti, Clifford Solomon, Sid Miller, Teddy Edwards (tenor saxophone); Dalton Smith, Freddie Hill, George Graham, Walter Williams (trumpet); Charles Wilson, Joey Vasquez (trombone); Ronald Smith (bass trombone); Onzy Matthews (piano); Joe Sample (organ); Jim Crutcher (bass instrument); Earl Palmer , Frank Butler, Charles Harris (drums); Gene Edwards (guitar); Alexander Nelson (flute, alto saxophone); Curtis Amy (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Jay Migliori (tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Jack Nimitz (baritone saxophone); Bob Rolfe, Bobby Bryant , Bud Brisbois (trumpet); Horace Tapscott, Lou Blackburn, Lester Robertson (trombone); Bob Knight (bass trombone); Richard "Groove" Holmes (organ); Leroy Henderson (drums).
Audio Remasterer: Ron McMaster.
Audio Remixer: Ron McMaster.
Liner Note Author: Michael Cuscuna.
Recording information: Capitol studios, Los Angeles, CA (10/01/1962-08/07/1963).
Arranger: Onzy Matthews.
This excellent twofer brings together a pair of albums Lou Rawls recorded for Capitol in the early 1960s. Both sessions feature Rawls with a hard-swinging big band and flanked by a three-strong saxophone section and the soul-jazz organist Richard "Groove" Holmes. The results, as one might expect, are both raucous and smoky. And while Rawls wouldn't hit his stride commercially until 1966's LOU RAWLS LIVE, he sounds utterly in command here.
Both BLACK AND BLUE and TOBACCO ROAD focus on jazz and blues standards, including George Gershwin's "Summertime," Hoagy Carmichael's "Rockin' Chair," W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues," and John D. Loudermilk's "Tobacco Road," which would become Rawls's signature tune. The artist's rugged, soulful singing is the perfect match for the well-arranged big band, and the 2006 CD-issue of these classic albums is a welcome arrival.