Chicago Blues

Johnny Young | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 1, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Arhoolie Records
• ASIN: B0000001GJ
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #180,595 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #70 in Music > Indie Music > Blues > Chicago Blues

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Young At His Best, October 15, 2000

By 

Mitchell Galinkin (Toms River, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chicago Blues (Audio CD)

Since his recording debut in 1947 Young shines on this one. Originally on Arhoolie lps 1029 & 1037 Young hosts an all star Chicago blues band. With legendary harpmen James Cotton & Big Walter Horton, Otis Spann and Lafayette Leake on piano, SP Leary & Lester Dorsie on drums, Ernest Gatewood and Jimmy Lee Morris on bass and Jimmy "Fast Fingers" on second guitar this cd is a winner. It is the eptiome of the tough Chicago sound of the day (for 1965). Highly recommend for all students and fans of Chicago Blues.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine down-home blues, January 3, 2004

By 

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chicago Blues (Audio CD)

Singer, guitarist and mandolinist Johnny Young was one of the very few post-war blues artists to incorporate the mandolin in his sound. It doesn't excactly dominate this CD, but it is very prominent on "Stealin'", "I'm Doing All Right", and "Keep Your Nose Out Of My Business", three acoustic numbers in the rough-and-tumble string band tradition of the Mississippi Delta.

This fine album brings together the output from two separate sessions, one from November, 1965 with Otis Spann on piano and James Cotton playing the harmonica, and one from November, 1967, which adds Jimmy Dawkins on electric guitar, and which has Lafayette Leake rolling the 88s, and the great Walter Horton on harmonica.
Apart from the three numbers in the classic, pre-war style of the Southern string bands, this is mostly mid-tempo blues with some slow numbers in between. The two piano players and harpists Cotton and Horton steal much of the show with some really fine performances - the instrumental "Walter's Boogie" is a showcase for the omnipresent and hugely influential Horton, and even though none of these songs are as immediately memorable as the music of Elmore James, Muddy Waters or Howlin' Wolf, the consistently fine performances by all the musicians involved makes for an hour of really enjoyable, old-time urban blues.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chicago, With A Touch of Mississippi, July 16, 2010

By 

Mr. Mambo (Burnsville, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chicago Blues (Audio CD)

For blues fans, this is a tremendous, must-own record, for several reasons:
1. Johnny Young possessed a wonderfully melodious yet muscular singing voice for the blues, very much underrated, as well as under-recorded;
2. His mandolin is a rare instrument in blues music, yet it adds greatly to the overall sound;
3. The supporting bands are well-known in blues circles and always keep things moving;
4. Not one, but TWO, of the greatest harp players to ever play are featured: Big Walter Horton and James Cotton;
5. There is magnificent amplified harp as well as phenomenal acoustic harp; Horton and Cotton are both at the top of their game here, and that is saying something;
6. The disc is crammed with great tunes, a good hour's worth of fabulous blues playing.
This should be considered a landmark recording.