Customer Reviews

Ivory Joe Hunter / Old & Thw New

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My mother,Mary Edwards, wrote 2 of the songs on this album when I was a child. (I Could Fall In Love With You, and One More Memory). Ivory Joe was not only a great talent with a beautiful voice, but a wonderful man who cherished his friends. I called him Uncle Joe until his death and still miss him greatly. I can still see that big, leather house shoe hanging off the end of his foot,patting to the music as he sat at the piano. My father, Howard Edwards, played the guitar and we sang and had so much fun. Of course our little voices were pitiful, but Uncle Joe always told us we were great. I met a lot of famous people who came to his home in Monroe, Louisiana, where he lived for many years. We loved to watch him perform on the Ed Sullivan show. Now days when you say that kids ask "who was Ed Sullivan?" Boy do I feel old then. Well, there is no music today to rival that of the 50s. Ivory Joe was a great talent and even greater man. He is greatly missed.

Brittany Edwards

Monroe, La

With some effort, I acquired Ivory Joe Hunter/The Old and the New, mainly for one of my favorites: Since I Met You Baby. This tune came out when I was in seventh grade.

I got hooked in the mass market rock and roll music as it developed in the mid to late 1950s. So I have not really bonded with some of the more traditional blues songs on this CD. An even older generation can probably appreciate them more. But I am trying, by playing them over and over again, to develop a real appreciation.

Others that I can really go for include the more country type, such as A Tear Fell and Worried Mind.

It is said that Ivory Joe estimated that he wrote between 7 and 8 thousand songs in his lifetime. I have checked with other musicians as to whether this is really possible. To prove it, one of my friends then composed a basic blues tune on the spot. Maybe those songs weren't all fully developed and worth marketing. But he sure left us a lot that were recorded, for their own entertainment value and as influence on others.

First of all, the set collects the two LPS Ivory Joe cut for Atlantic back in the mid 50s. These were his top years as a chart artist, with big hits coming in the way of "Empty Arms," "A Tear Fell," and the immortal "Since I Met You Baby," which kicks off this set. That one song alone - in its original version - is enough to recommend this collection. The fact that the Greatest Hits collection by Razor and Tie, which has many of these tunes, is out of print is another.
The first LP is much stronger than the second. Not only are the ballads sweet, but Ivory Joe mixes in some early rockers like "I Got to Learn to do the Mambo" and "You Mean Everything to Me." The second album is made up of a few new cuts and old standards. These, to my ears, are not in the same class as "Since I Met You Baby," and the arrangements border on the sacherine. There are a couple good cuts on the second album - "Worried Mind" and "One More Memory" being the standouts.
Unfortunately, this collection lacks Ivory Joe's other big hit for Atlantic - "Empty Arms," because with that it would work as a nice greatest hits package. As it is, it functions as a place to find some great classics, but also as a reminder as to how sloppily put together albums could be in the 50s.

Tell me you know of a more talented singer-songwriter and i'll suggest you have been drinking!

The album comprises R&B classics (No other version of 'Since I Met You Baby' comes anywhere close to the perfection of Joe's original) and classic ballads (I'll Take You Home again, Kathleen etc) and represents excellent value. The dissapointment for me is the mastering. Problem is, it will always come out second best to the likes of the ACE label.

Anyhow, let's place this artist where he deserves to be - At the top!

The artistic quality of these two albums are nil, NON-EXISTANT! This is commercial doo-wop inspired garbage. Album filler, at best. The 1st album consists of ballads with muzaky piano playing, that sounds too sickeningly easy listening(considering he was once a boogie woogie great in the 1940's). These albums sound like they were desperatley trying for a hit. The 1st albumn at least has several uptempo numbers taht might have been pretty cool, if they weren't weighed down by obviously white, non-swingign backup singers. The 2nd album is even worst, if that's possible, Joe sings some old gems but the arrangements are so corny and filled with a chior backing him up, that it sounds SO DATED! This is Ivory Joe's lowest point of his career, thsi is really bad, get some of his earlier stuff, but skip this depressign and EMBERESSING Atlantic sides.