1930-31

Cab Calloway

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 13, 1994)
• Label: Jazz Chronological Classics
• ASIN: B000001NIG
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #657,316 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic tunes from a great American band leader, August 19, 2001

By	Michael J. Mazza (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

"Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, 1930-1931" brings together 24 memorable tracks from this great figure in United States music. The songs on this CD are a diverse group. They include "Yaller," a mournful-sounding reflection on skin color and racial identity ("I ain't even black, I ain't even white, / I ain't like the day and I ain't like the night"); the playfully satiric "Is That Religion?", which parodies the "call and response" tradition of African-American churches; the mellow "Dixie Vagabond"; the gentle "Creole Love Song"; and the fun, energetic "Levee Low-Down."

And of course, this CD features "Minnie the Moocher" ("She was a red-hot hoochie-coocher"), which is probably the quintessential Cab Calloway song. This CD is important for serious students of American music, but it is also, all these decades later, still an enjoyable listening experience.

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the first of an excellent comprehensive collection., June 27, 1998

By	Brenna Lorenz ([e-mail]) (Guam) - See all my reviews

This first CD in the Chronogical (sic?) Classics collection is one of our favorites. Cab's voice at this early age is high and sweet, and his style wilder and less polished than his later style. His recording of St. Louis Blues is awesome! The Viper's Drag (a Fats Waller piece), St. James Infirmary, and The Nightmare are haunting and beautiful. This CD also includes the earliest recorded version of Minnie the Moocher. It also has Cab performing I'm Crazy About My Baby; it's fun to compare this to Fats Waller's version. The piece Six or Seven Times is an answer to two earlier songs by other artists: Four or Five Times and Once or Twice. There is little cheese and plenty of good stuff on this CD!