The Boogie Woogie Boys

The Boogie Woogie Boys, Meade Lux Lewis, Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 29, 1994)
• Original Release Date: February 4, 1939
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Magpie Records
• ASIN: B0000039YU
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #66,889 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #41 in	Music > Miscellaneous > Compilations > Decades > 1930-1939
  #43 in	Music > Jazz > Traditional Jazz & Ragtime > Boogie-Woogie
  #60 in	Music > Miscellaneous > Compilations > Decades > 1940-1949

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Boogie Woogie Collection!, March 22, 2006

By	Noel Elliott (Silver Spring, MD United States) - See all my reviews

Among the bewildering number of reissues of old boogie woogie recordings, this 1994 release is one of the best. There are three parts: Section A consists of historical live recordings made at the 1938-39 Spirituals to Swing concerts.
Section B consists of two-piano boogie by Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson. It is a reissue of the RCA Victor 78 album "8 to the Bar", which has appeared innumerable times on 45, LP, CD, and other media. However, this version is better than other current CD releases because it was remastered from the Victor master pressings, and because it includes an alternate take of "Boogie Woogie Man".
The real prize, though, is section C, consisting of ten tracks that were obtained from 16-inch MacGregor transcriptions. They were recorded by Johnson and Ammons several years after the tracks in section B, and the fidelity is superior. Bass is deeper and treble is brighter, and the pianists introduce some new ideas. My favorite is the remake of "Foot Pedal Boogie" on track 19 - much better than the well-known version on track 13. Finally, the album includes a well-researched set of discographical notes.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Boogie Woogie Was Rockin' The House In The Late 1930s, December 23, 2006

By	Ernest Jagger (Culver City, California) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is a wonderful CD, and I am surprised that there is only one other review of the terrific Boogie-Woogie CD. I purchased this CD about 10 years ago, not really knowing what to expect from the sound. Some of the earlier Boogie that I have in my collection sounds as if it could use a lot of remastering. However, this CD rocks! The sound of Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson are really a delight to listen to. The first part of the track are live recordings, and as such, the sound suffers from it a bit. However, that is to be expected. Most of the recordings I have of Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, and Meadu Lux Lewis [another great legendary Boogie Woogie player] are a bit rough in the sound department.

But don't let that detract you from purchasing these wonderful sounds. As the reviewer below has written, the music on the CD, is basically divided into three parts. With the first part a live performance of Albert Ammons. The middle part goes into Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson [great together] While the last part I found to have a better quality of sound. Some of my favorite tunes are, FOOT PEDAL BOOGIE, BARREL HOUSE BOOGIE, MOVIN' THE BOOGIE, CUTTIN' THE BOOGIE, JUMPIN' THE BOOGIE, and as mentioned below by the other reveiwer, the remake of FOOT PEDAL BOOGIE. All of these sounds are just great. I am looking forward to someone reissuing these remastered someday, as this is really wonderful music. I highly recommend the CD, as it's an important part of music history; but more importantly, the music is just great to listen to. Highly recommended!