Farewell Blues [Import]

George With Digby Fairweather's Half Dozen Melly (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 11, 2007)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: PID
• ASIN: B000UYT93K
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,082,933 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars george melly, November 25, 2007

By 

Mr. P. J. Wells "pete a kid from shoreditch" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Farewell Blues (Audio CD)

I happend to be a regular at the Cooks ferry boat Inn during the time Trad Jaz was enjoying its revival period, I happend to be a jazz fan all my record buying or Cd life I guess George just poped in I guess. sang a number or two had a pint ( maybe a short) then was gone I waited a long time tohear him again, and God the waiting was worth it.
For here was a performer that could put over a song as it should be put over I was sorry to here he had died recently but he brought to jazz what no one else had done before or since entertainment go get your hands on any George Melly recording you can find , for here was a man who sang a tune like no other. a man who new his craft.
Thanks Pete.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Gentleman and a Scholar, October 27, 2007

By 

Stephanie DePue (Carolina Beach, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Farewell Blues (Audio CD)

The Liverpool-born Brit George Melly passed from the scene recently: otherwise you could probably hear him giggle at being called a gentleman and a scholar. But it's what he was: a well-educated man who thought about, and performed, jazz and blues; was a lecturer and a critic; and a prolific writer who specialized in art subjects, particularly surrealism --he left quite a few books behind him. And yes, he was a gentleman, in every sense of the word, despite being a little unorthodox in his sexual preferences.

Melly performed live for many years with John Chilton's Feetwarmers: it was with their backing that, lucky me, I saw him several times at Michael's Pub, in New York. He particularly loved the American blues singer Bessie Smith, and performed many items from her repertory, as he does on "Farewell Blues." These songs, as he performed them, always had an added piquancy, as they had, after all, been written for a woman.

On the album at hand, Melly is backed by Digby Fairweather's band. From Smith's repertory, he gives us "Empty Bed Blues," "Take Me For A Buggy Ride!" "If You'se a Viper," "Send Me To The 'lectric Chair," "Young Woman's Blues," "Down in the Dumps," "I Need A Little Sugar in My Bowl," and "Cemetery Blues." From the more traditional repertory, we get "Salty Dog,""Sweet Lorraine," and "Lulu's Back in Town." Melly also reads, in one of those English plummy voices, from his volumes of memoirs: memories of his schooldays; a favorite landlord; the day he first walked up on stage, as an amateur, to sing with Mick Mulligan and his band; and turning professional with the Feetwarmers. On "Farewell Blues," Fairweather's band, in backing the performer, plays "Sweet,soft and plenty rhythm," as Melly had requested. His singing is poignant: he sounds older, ill, moving,and unmistakeably himself. For better or for worse, they don't make many like George Melly.