The Guitar Wizard

Tampa Red

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 10, 1994)
• Original Release Date: May 10, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000028WK
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #50,657 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Hudson Whittaker polished up the bottleneck-guitar style of the Delta, bringing it with him to Chicago's burgeoning 1930s blues scene. He coaxed wonderfully smooth and melodic sounds from his National steel guitar, favoring emotive phrases over raw power. These 17 tracks stretch from 1928 to 1934 and include a mix of lively hokum and sober blues. The buoyant melodies, humorous narratives, and sing-along choruses of hokum are illustrated by the tawdry "It's Tight Like That," "Dead Cats on the Line," and "You Can't Get That Stuff No More," all with Georgia Tom Dorsey on piano. Rough-edged blues include "Black Angel Blues," which became B.B. King's "Sweet Black Angel," and "Things 'Bout Comin' My Way," featured here as both a vocal with Georgia Tom and as a stunning solo instrumental. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Of The Sources Of It All!, June 15, 2001

By	tin2x "tin2x" (Staten Island, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This is a superb collection of Tampa Red. I don't have all his sides, and as a rule nearly every blues compilation is missing a track or two that someone considers essential, but this is an excellent sampling. You can hear some songs that were hits in the day and you can also hear the man's incredible guitar playing. He was a slide master! And if you're human you'll only want more after listening to this compilation...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, December 13, 2001

By	Humberto (SoCal) - See all my reviews

This is a suberb collection from one of the most underrated early bluesman and would be a great primer for the uninitiated.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly a guitar wizard!, January 23, 2003

By	Steven C. Barr (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

As a blues musician, I often have to research the source of the songs I perform, particularly if I want to record them. I was surprised to see the name "Whitaker" show up again and again. I was vaguely familiar with "Tampa Red" (and have 78's by him) but
unaware that he had written many of the songs that have become blues standards. This CD offers a selection of many of his songs as he performed them for the first time, and also showcases his amazing slide guitar talent, proving that he invented not only standard blues songs but also standard slide riffs and licks.
I'd recommend this to blues lovers...and especially to blues musicians! All four dewclaws up, in my book...
Steven C. Barr
STEVEN C AND THE RED ROCKETS
STEVEN C AND HIS BLACK CAT BLUES BAND
(et al)
Oshawa, Ont'o.