Customer Reviews

Bloodshot Eyes: The Best of Wynonie Harris

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My main squeeze and I were in the Rock n'Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland last year. When you leave the exhibits you can fill out a little questionaire,about the place,etc. My comment was, HEY!!! Where's Wynonie Harris?

His voice was better than Little Richard's. His delivery and phrasing were smoother than Big Joe Turner's. His backing musicians beat Louis Jordan's,especially on Wynonie's early L.A. recordings.And he sang more risque lyrics than Jordan,without being a clown. As an early,pre rock n' roll, jump blues front man,he lived up to his stage name,"Mr. Blues". Any student of the roots of rock should not ignore this man's body of work. The boogie beat was so infectuous,he voice so powerful it just makes you want to dance. Even in the ballads he had a delivery that was as smooth as whiskey and Lucky Strikes could make it.

In his own words:"I'm Mr. Blues! The man's threat,and the woman's pet,and I got enough money to air-condition Hell!"

Do yourself a favor and experience Wynonie Harris. Do us all a favor and write to the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland,and ask: HEY!! Where's Wynonie Harris?

I'm so glad to see that Wynonie Harris is finally getting his due as a lynchpin between the jazz and jump blues R&B of the 40s and the birth of rock n' roll in the fifties. This CD is an absolutely perfect single disc introduction to the blues shouter, who, in my humble opinion, outshone even Roy Brown and Big Joe Turner. Wynonie Harris sings music that is pulse pounding, super swingin', funny, infectiously danceable, and it all rocks hard! Here's where rock n' roll really got its first electric injection, and you can see from where Elvis and the Rolling Stones took their early inspiration. On top of it all, the remastering and sound quality on this disc is superb. The early tracks are a bit muffled, but that's because of the equipment used to record them in the first place. Everything here sounds as good as it possible can, and many tracks sound as if they were recorded yesterday!

I discovered the divine Mr. Harris through the retro-swing movement that started in the late 90s (and, nay-sayers aside, is still going!). Many bands covered his songs and helped get people interested in his music again. Swing Session covered "I Feel that Old Age Coming On," Indigo Swing adapted "Grandma Plays the Numbers" (into "Baron Plays the Horses"), the Senders did "Keep on Churnin'," Blues Jumpers tackled "Good Morning Judge," and it seems as if everyone has taken a crack at "Quiet Whiskey," "Down Boy Down," and of course, "Good Rockin' Tonight." Anyone who has ever heard any of these songs from a modern band, or heard them played by a DJ on a radio station and wondered where it all came from, this is the single best disc to buy.

Really, everything on here is great. Every track is wonder of hard swingin' blues and Harris's shining, fun-loving personality. Although Roy Brown did "Good Rockin' Tonight" first and Elvis would make it one of his earlier songs, Harris's version is the best, the most definitive version. I dare you not to start clapping along when you first hear it. You may never have heard "Grandma Plays the Numbers," but this is a hysterical song with a hypnotic rhythm to it; it's one of the gems of the CD.

Other awesome tracks among this great collection: the risqué and naughty "Keep on Churnin'," the oft-covered "Good Morning Judge" (another example of Harris's sense of humor), "Down Boy Down," and the title track, "Bloodshot Eyes," which is probably the piece I hear swing DJs play the most - there's a reason this whole album takes the name of this one song.

If you love rock, swing, or the blues, but haven't heard Wynonie Harris, grab this CD. It's a great price for CD packed with nothing but the best of the best.

I just wanted to let jazzluverme below (and everyone else) know that Wynonie Harris has at least gotten his due and been acknowledged properly for his tremendous influence at the Experience Music Project museum here in Seattle. I was just there today, for the first time, and that is where I learned about Wynonie (I'm ashamed to admit). They have one permanent exhibit which basically traces the history of rock 'n roll. It ends with Hendrix, but begins with ... Wynonie Harris. So they have at least acknowledged that, as far as you can point to any one person anyway, it all starts with him. Thought you would be pleased to know that!

It is so sad that Wynonie Harris's influence on rock and roll is so rarely acknowledged, and that many people do not know about him, especially his influence upon Elvis Presley(it has been said that anyone who has seen Elvis has seen a mild version of Wynonie Harris, and that is saying something). You can tell by listening to this collection that although he was steeped in the jump blues tradition, there were great changes brewing even then(late 40's-early 50's), and that he was a heavy influence upon them. Everything from his musical style to his onstage(and offstage)antics helped set the stage for what was to come later. He should be enshrined in Cleveland as a seminal influence.

As for the music itself, you really can't go wrong with anything here-most of his biggest hits are here. For anyone interested in getting a handle on Wynonie Harris, this is an excellent place to start.(One note of interest-rock, rockin', and rock and roll meant fornication back in that day, and it was only then that the terms were beginning to be used as a call for all to have a good time[as in "Good Rockin' Tonight])

Not only do I feel that Wynonie was the first Rock n Roll artist I also feel that he had the first Rock n Roll song in 1948. If his "Good Rockin Tonite" aint pure raw- uncut Rock n Roll then grits aint groceries and eggs ain't poultry and mona lisa was a man-(thanks LWJ for that line in song from 1955).Wynonie won't ever be on some rock critics top 100 list of Rock n Roll artists-partly due to the fact that most Rock critics aren't familiar with him or his music and have unfairly relegated him to a category referred to as "Jump Blues"- but that's their problem not Wynonie's. Louie Jordan laid the foundation for RocknRoll and Wynonie began building the house way back in 1948. America's first Rock n Roller ! P.S. Elvis knew Good Rockin Tonite was pure RocknROLL that's why it was one of the first songs he recorded. Wynonie was the first also to even mention the term Rock and Roll in a song-he does it in Good Rockin Tonite from way back in 1948- 7 years before Bill Haley' Rock around the clock. Then he also deserves credit for being the first to use the term "Rock" in a title- yep he did it way back in 1949 with the top 10 R&B classic "All she wants to do is rock"...

I can't believe that I let the music of Wynonie Harris slip by me this long. This is some of the hardest hitting "classic" R & B I've heard in ages, and most of it jumps so hard, you think you're in a dirty 1950's "cross the tracks" juke joint, not the purportedly tamer mid-late 40s. - - The sound quality (remastering ?) incidentally is FANTASTIC... its definitely *not* the low-fi style KING sound you might have heard in the past !. - - Mixing slick hand clapping blues shuffles, dirty lyrics (*well, obviously a bit tame by today's standards), and some hard swinging pre-rock and roll R & B every track on this album is a winner both in terms of music, performance, and the novelty value of the lyrics (they're totally off the wall sometimes... take note if you happen to have your own blues band and are looking for good material.) - - You can think of Wynonie (who passed away at a relatively young age in 1969) as a somewhat "blue-er" funky and rough edged version of Louis Jorgan... As the liner notes demonstrate, Wynonnie lived hard and partied hard just like his music, and when you listen to it, you'll feel it too !

I appreciate that bit of information, it's great to know that Wynonie Harris has gotten some type of recognition, his contributions should not be ignored. To the uninitiated, anyone who has heard Elvis do "Good Rockin' Tonight" will be in for a shock of pure pleasure, and just listen to the way he socks it to this bluesy, sometimes lusty material(even though some of the lyrics may be tame by today's standards, there was no hiding the attitude-you can almost hear him licking his chops). Also note his reading of the ballads.

This CD contains 18 tracks by blues shouter and R&B pioneer Wynonie Harris recorded for King between 1947 and 1954. Included are 10 of his 15 R&B charted hits. Almost all of the cuts are raucous, up-tempo boogies with risque lyrics. This music is a direct predecessor of mid 50's Rock and Roll. The best is probably "Good Rockin' Tonight", his biggest hit which reached #1 and charted for 25 weeks in 1948.

Wynonie Harris was THE jump-blues shouter of the late-40's/early-50's. Crackerjack musicianship, superb, throat-shredding vocals, laugh-out-loud lyrics, and unstoppable grooves make this compilation a must. All his hits and gems seem to be here, except for "Just Like Two Drops of Water"---what happened to that? It would render this set well-nigh perfect. Oh well...Down boy down, I suppose.

Wynonie's lyrics are laugh out loud funny and delivered in a snazzy swing style that will make you want to move. I've turned a lot of people, with diverse musical tastes, onto this album. Everyone...I mean EVERYONE likes it.