What's Shakin'

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 21, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Collector's Choice
• ASIN: B000BR6DC6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #179,974 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

When we launched our Elektra reissue program, we honestly didn’t think we would land this legendary 1966 rarities compilation because it boasted a couple of big-name artists, the Lovin’ Spoonful and Eric Clapton, who were not known for their association with the label. But the lawyers checked, the label signed off, and here we are, with one of the decade’s most notorious compilations! The Lovin’ Spoonful tracks stem from the band’s almost having signed with the label; Jac Holzman states in the notes that it was John Sebastian’s way of making amends, and these four tracks, ‘Good Time Music’; ‘Almost Grown’; ‘Don’t Bank On It Baby’, and ‘Searchin’’, were never recorded by the band, not even in different versions. The Clapton tracks, meanwhile, feature him with Powerhouse, a supergroup composed of Jack Bruce, Stevie Winwood and Manfred Mann lead singer Paul Jones; produced by Joe Boyd, the tracks are ‘I Want To Know’; ‘Crossroads’, and ‘Steppin’ Out’. Five Paul Butterfield Blues Band tracks appear here from their ill-fated debut recording session for Elektra: ‘Lovin’ Cup’; ‘Good Morning Little Schoolgirl’; ‘Spoonful’, and two that appear nowhere else, ‘Off The Wall’ and ‘One More Mile’. Tom Rush’s ‘I’m In Love Again’ is an outtake from his 1966 LP "Take A Little Walk With Me", and Al Kooper’s ‘I Can’t Keep From Crying Sometimes’ is something of a rehearsal for the later, fuller Blues Project version. A collector’s dream and a Collectors’ Choice Music exclusive!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best CDs in my collection, March 16, 2006

By 

dalepres "dalepres" (Park Hill, OK United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What's Shakin' (Audio CD)

First let me give a piece of advice or warning. I bought this CD from another page here on Amazon that stated the CD was no longer available new and could only be obtained from third-party sellers. And those sellers were offering it for 35.88. And I bought it, hook, line, and sinker and now I am 24.02 poorer and wiser. Make sure, if you're going to buy this CD, to get it from this page. And before buying anything that seller-created pages state is not available from Amazon, do some more searching first.

Now, about the CD and the music. I found this CD accidentally while searching for more Lovin' Spoonful titles. I guess how easily I was taken in to pay 35.88 for it shows how impressed I was by the lineup here. And can you believe that in 1966, the Lovin' Spoonful, as great as they are, received bigger billing on the cover than Clapton and Butterfield? And Butterfield has 5 tracks while the Spoonful only have 4.

This is such a unique combination of talent with the pop-ish Lovin Spoonful and count them, not one... but two of the top blues acts in history - ok.. THE top blues act, Eric Clapton, performing with one of the finest male vocal instruments in the history of rock, Steve Winwood. The second blues act, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, is one of the top also-rans. Add Al Kooper, the perpetual also-ran but a good talent and a good eye for talent who later produced many great artists and then finish the list with the great folk artist, Tom Rush.

All-in-all, this CD is pure genius. No label today would ever think to create compilation with so much breadth. This CD should be one of the top sellers for Amazon ever. Every 50-something, like myself, should have one and should buy more for each of their children. Then our children would understand why we just never could get into Motley Crue.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mid-60s electric rock 'n' blues from Elektra, February 23, 2006

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: What's Shakin' (Audio CD)

Originally issued in 1966, this compilation pulled together a variety of otherwise unreleased electric rock and blues sides from the Elektra vault. Having developed their reputation in the folk scene, Elektra was just starting to dip their toes into the electrified waters of the mid-60s; Paul Butterfield's debut had been issued the year before, Love was just developing, and commercial rock 'n' roll dominance was still a year away with The Doors. In the interim, Elektra flirted with a pre-Kama Sutra version of THe Lovin' Spoonful, the one-off purpose-built British blues supergroup Powerhouse (Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Jack Bruce, Pete York and Paul Jones), and Tom Rush and Al Kooper making the turn to folk-rock.

Several of these tracks were the side-result of other projects. Paul Butterfield's Blues Band's initial album sessions were deemed a failure in comparison to those which yielded their debut album, but Elektra rethought the earlier works and dropped five of their tracks here, including two covers (Little Walter's instrumental "Off the Wall" and James Cotton's "One More Mile") that don't appear on other CDs covering these sessions. The other three tracks include the superb original "Lovin' Cup," and covers of Willie Dixon's "Spoonful" and Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl." It's hard to imagine how these sessions were rejected in the first place!

The other blues powerhouse heard here is a one-off group built of future Cream bandmates Clapton and Bruce (Baker was originally slated, but away on tour), Clapton's future Blind Faith bandmate Winwood, Manfred Mann lead singer Paul Jones, and Spencer Davis group drummer Pete York. The highlight of their three songs is the Yardbirdsian "I Want to Know" (likely written by Jones), supplemented by a cover of "Crossroads" (which Clapton would record to greater impact with Cream) and "Steppin' Out" (which Clapton recorded with John Mayall and would visit a third time with Cream).

The four tracks from The Lovin' Spoonful catch them before the jug-band inspired folk-rock ascendancy that would follow on te Kama Sutra. In addition to covers of Chuck Berry ("Almost Grown") and The Coasters ("Searchin'"), there are two John Sebastian originals, of which "Good Time Music" (which would scrape the bottom of the singles charts as a cover by San Francisco's Beau Brummels) suggests The Spoonful's coming success. The album's remaining pair of cuts include a Tom Rush cover of Fats Domino's "I'm in Love Again" that appears to be an outtake from side two of Rush's "Take a Little Walk With Me" LP, and Al Kooper's "Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes" that was an outgrowth of his role as a sideman on Elektra sessions. The latter would be re-recorded for the Blues Project's second LP, but this version (with BP's rhythm section) is truly superb.

What ties this collection together is the sense of Elektra's growth into new musical areas. Label head Jac Holzman had a great sense for talent and an organic sense of the label's direction. Though these tracks don't always represent the artists' most superlative efforts, they're all interesting footnotes and essay Elektra's future. This reissue returns to CD all 14 tracks of the original 1966 Elektra LP along with the original LP cover art. [©2006 hyperbolium dot com]

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What It Is!!!, April 28, 2006

By 

chris meesey Food Czar (The Colony, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: What's Shakin' (Audio CD)

For years and years, fans of Eric Clapton have heard of this mysterious collection, entitled What's Shakin', that contained tracks from numerous Elektra Records (and other) artists, but especially contained three tracks from a supergroup known as the Powerhouse, featuring Jack Bruce, Steve Winwood, Paul Jones, and the aforementioned Mr. Clapton. If only we could get ahold of such a collection (we said to ourselves) our musical fantasies would be fulfilled, we would finally get our rocks off, and the heavens would open and reveal the mystery of life to us!!! Great, huh? Well, the fine folks at Collectors Choice Music have done just that for us and reissued this collection on CD, and while even as I speak, the skies have not yet opened, this is still a pretty darn good CD!! The Lovin' Spoonful is also featured and their goodtimey jugband sound is in full evidence, particularly on the fabulous "Good Time Music," a tune which reminds us that the blues is, as with all these artists, at the root of John Sebastian and Co's music. Al Kooper, the Blues Project and Blood, Sweat and Tears founder, NOT the horror-rock guy, weighs in with the delicious "Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes," which sounds exactly as if it were recorded live in a smoky club in the Village. (Sudden thought: Could Al Koopers career and bankroll have been negatively affected just a little by the success of Alice Cooper? Ya think???) Tom Rush contibutes a good version of Fats Dominos "I'm in Love Again" from his Take a Little Walk With Me album. (Fans of Lilian Roxon's old tome Rock Encyclopedia may remember that this album supposedly featured the piano stylings of one Roosevelt Gook, who was rumored to be none other than Bob Dylan.) The Powerhouse's recordings would be frankly disappointing if not for the superb vocals of Steve Winwood (billed here as Steve Angelo). His r and b shouting is in full throttle on "I Want To Know" and makes it the standout track of their set. As for their other tracks, "Crossroads" was, of course, turned into a mega-classic by Cream (the solo on the Powerhouse version was performed by Paul Jones on harmonica, of all things, not Mr. Clapton's guitar), while "Stepping Out" was done much better on the first Blues Breakers album. For my money, the very best tracks on What's Shakin' were performed by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Paul's polished harp playing carries the Little Walter instrumental "Off the Wall," while Mike Bloomfield's stinging leads on "One More Mile" remind us that in the mid-60's, his name was often mentioned in the same breath as Clapton's! OUTASITE!!! Finally, one last word of warning: most of these tracks, except the Butterfield ones, suffer from pretty poor sound quality, about like above-average demos. Still, if you love totally groovy rock, get What's Shakin' right away, and you too, can say with pride, What It IS!!!!