Customer Reviews

Black Rat Swing

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I thought I'd heard them all, thought I'd them all, vinyls and cds by this great artist, but was I surprised!
Though plenty of reissues, some great things I didn't know about, as the live recordings.
This is a compilation of highest standard. And Jo-Ann Kelly's still unbeaten as the premier white
blues-singer... male or female.

The British blues singer/guitarist Jo-Anne Kelly (1944-90) was a little-known treasure. She was a member of the same generation of musicians as the Rolling Stones, but she was more interested in reviving prewar country blues than in popularizing postwar electric blues. Jo-Anne sat in with the Yardbirds in early in their early Clapton days, had a long association with The Groundhogs, and in the 1970s did a stint in the blues-rock band Tramp. But mostly she played acoustic guitar and performed in folk music clubs. She was a regular support act for American blues musicians of an older generation touring England, such as Fred McDowell and Big Joe Williams.
Jo-Anne didn't record much, and her records were hard to find in the shops - certainly in my country(Australia). Those that that I did lay my hands on revealed a powerful voice and a driving, rhythmic guitar style. Her heroine was Memphis Minnie.
Now she is gone but, courtesy of Castle Records, we can get hold of more of her recordings than ever. "Black Rat Swing" is a superb 2-CD anthology spanning her whole career. On most of the tracks she performs solo, or is backed by piano and/or harmonica. Others show her at ease with electric blues, Chicago-style. The same company have issues three CDs of "Rare and Unissued" recordings, two of Jo-Anne solo and one from her sessions with Tramp. These are occasionally marred by recording glitches, and include alternative takes or arrangements of songs on "Black Rat Swing." But there is no real drop-off in the quality of her performance from the issued recordings to these outtakes. I strongly recommend all these records.
There are several other Jo-Anne Kelly CDs now available, which I haven't heard. Unfortunately these don't include my all-time favourite among her vinyl-issued recordings, the album she cut during a visit to the USA in the early 1970s, accompanied by Stefan Grossmann and Woody Mann on acoustic guitar and Alan Siedler on piano, and issued on the Yellow Bee label.