Sugarhill [Live]

Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 1, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Obc
• ASIN: B000000XY7
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,147 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #97 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > East Coast Blues

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An overlooked classic?, March 10, 2003

By 

Mark Sullivan (Eastern Shore, Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sugarhill (Audio CD)

This live album captures a pair of legends at their best. Sonny and Terry fueded through their long careers but perhaps those very emotions fueled their amazing energy on these tracks. If you in any sense consider yourself a fan of the blues, you *must* own this album.

Best line:
(Tie)
"Have to take your Christmas in your overalls"
"Rocks was my mother and father's pillows"
"Hooray, Hooray, this woman is killing me"

Best guitar:
"I Feel Alright Now"

Best Harmonica:
"Born To Live The Blues"

Best Sonny "Whoop":
All of them ;)

Tune That Is Impossible Not To Get Stuck In Your Head:
"Keep On Walking"
(Well, actually just about every track)

Curious factoids for the Brownie McGhee fan -- Brownie in his later years had a bit of an acting career. Brownie played Toots Sweet in Angel Heart and appeared and played some wonderful guitar on an otherwise truly dreadful episode of Family Ties.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Sugar Hill, September 21, 2005

By 

Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sugarhill (Audio CD)

Sugar Hill was an upscale blues joint in San Francisco, and Sonny and Brownie played it just 6 months after it opened, this CD being the results of that engagement. And it's a beauty. Often on record dates with these two giants, Brownie takes most of the vocals, with Sonny singing 2 or 3 songs; on this one, Sonny sings just as much as Brownie. (Early in their career Brownie once told Sonny that if he wanted half the money he was going to have to sing, not just play harmonica.) Sonny is an old-time blues singer, preferring older forms, traditional verses, all done in his raspy, unrefined voice. Brownie is smoother in voice and likes to experiment a bit with the blues form. For example, BORN TO LIVE, sung by Brownie, is 32-bars long, with a bridge, though it's drenched with blues feeling. WORRY, WORRY, WORRY also is slightly different, and includes a "whomp" at the end of each phrase. Sonny sings JUST ABOUT CRAZY, which sounds very much like a work song, while I FEEL ALRIGHT NOW is a secular spiritual. Both men are in excellent form here. Blues fans should find a lot to love on this CD.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another great live date with Sonny & Brownie, October 17, 2004

By 

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sugarhill (Audio CD)

This December, 1961 recording captures Sonny and Brownie at the famous Sugar Hill nightclub in San Francisco.
It ranks among their best albums, alongside "Backwater Blues" and "Live At The New Penelope Cafe", and both men perform some of their best songs.

Brownie McGhee's melodic "Born To Live The Blues" has the audience clapping along, and the swinging "Keep On Walking", the terrific set-closer "Sweet Woman Blues", and Sonny Terry's energetic "Just About Crazy" are also among the highlights.
But that could be said for almost the entire album, actually..."Sonny And Brownie At Sugar Hill" is one of the duo's best original albums, even without classics like "Walk On" and "I'm A Stranger Here" (those can be found on "Backwater Blues", which is sort of a companion volume to this one, having been recorded just a week later at the same venue).

Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee split the lead vocals about equally, and Sonny plays his characteristic sturdy harmonica and sings gritty backing vocals on most of Brownie's songs (listen to the wonderful tough folk/blues shuffle "Baby, I Got My Eye On You" for a perfect example).
Fans of the so-called Piedmont blues genre - or just acoustic country blues in general - should go for this fine album right away. It captures all of what made Sonny & Brownie so great.