Customer Reviews

Boogie My Blues Away

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Bought on a whim, this turns out to be my cd purchase of the decade. Sent a copy to my brother for Christmas. His reaction:

Beautiful low down, gut bucket, honky tonk, juke joint, barrelhouse, bluesabilly thang; I love it!

Add Texas swing to the list and you've got it. This is a gem.

...comes the boogie-woogie country boy, Merrill Moore. While you can sure hear the roots in Pete Johnson, Meade Lux Lewis etc., Moore isn't strictly boogie-woogie, rockabilly, country swing, or country, but there's no question that all of those styles are right at home with him. What's more, he's been at this since 1950, predating most rockabilly artists. But again, he's a mixer that isn't easily pegged down. If you're a fan of Bob Wills, Moon Mullican, boogie-woogie piano, country style rockabilly, newer artists like Wayne Hancock, Dale Watson etc. and you'd like to go to the well, this is the ticket. Merrill believes in speed, so don't expect something cool and jazzy-think hillbilly boogie and you'll be on the right track. His version of "House of Blue Lights" is one of the best ever recorded. Moore never had a real hit, not because the material wasn't there, but in the early 50's Capitol just didn't know what to do with him. You might think of him as something like Jerry Lee Lewis without the baggage. Same ability to cross genres without losing credibility but not quite as unhinged as the Killer can get. If you like any of this style of music you really can't go wrong with this set. Merrill played well into the nineties, and for all we know he's still pounding the keys somewhere tonight. God bless him!