J.B. Lenoir "I Wanna Play A Little While" The Complete Singles Collection 1950-1956 - CD2

I've been listening to the blues for many years and I've never come across another singer like J.B. Lenoir (the initials don't stand for anything) ever. His high, clear voice was at odds with all the other blues singers of the era. This great set (about 2+ hours in length) collects his J.O.B., Chess/Checker, and Parrot sides along with a couple of U.K. Decca tracks, and two on the Shad label. His best known singles "Korea Blues", "Mama Talk To Your Daughter" (with it's famous unchanging repetitious guitar solo), "Eisenhower Blues" (both versions because the initial recording was supposedly pulled off the market), and a few others are all here. I rated this five "stars" because I still remember John Mayall singing about Lenoir way back in the '60s, and when I checked him out I heard what Mayall and other English blues performers were talking about. But to each his own regarding Lenoir......Besides his singles there's 22 unreleased tracks from the 1950's that are equally good--they aren't here just for filler--no way. Lenoir was a very fine lyricist and an adequate guitarist in a simple, rhythmic way. But his backing bands were always filled with fine players like Sunnyland Slim on piano, Leroy Foster-guitar, J.T. Brown-tenor sax (hear his album from the '50s), Willie Dixon-bass, and on the two Shad label tunes, Junior Wells on harmonica. He used small combos on these tracks that almost always included piano and a horn or two and drums. Also included are two Decca tracks with Lenoir solo on vocals and guitar (one track is 26 seconds long) for a nice change of pace. There's two tunes under Johnny Shines' name from '53 on the Constellation LP, "Livin' In The Whitehouse", and "Please Don't" with Sunnyland Slim-piano, J.T. Brown-sax, Lenoir-guitar, and bass and drums. Plus there's three tracks under Sunnyland Slim's name also from '53 with a combo similar to the Shines' tracks. Except for the vocals these tracks are similar sounding to the Lenoir tracks.
Lenoir was influenced by Lightnin' Hopkins, Memphis Minnie, Big Bill Broonzy, and Arthur Crudup early on, and their influences can occasionally be heard on some of these tunes. He settled in Chicago and began playing the clubs throughout the city, and he also toured England where British blues artists like John Mayall championed his music and even recorded a song in homage to Lenoir. Bands like Fleetwood Mac assimilated Lenoir's sound into their own music (listen to the horns on Lenoir's "Mama Your Daughter's Going To Miss Me", and the piano and horn arrangement on "What Have I Done") and you'll hear very similar arrangements on some early Mac tunes.
Sadly Lenoir died at 38 in 1967, just before the blues boom really hit both England and the U.S.. He was always better known in England than America (except in the Chicago region) which is a real shame. His music should've been much more well known. Hopefully this great set will alert blues fans to a long neglected artist who deserved widespread notoriety. The remastered sound is very decent--relatively clean yet with some of the period feel to the sound. The booklet lists recording information and personnel for all the tracks where known. Plus there's a short essay on Lenoir and some of the singles included. All in all this is one of the better reissues the Jasmine label has released. Lenoir was a fine composer, singer and performer. His voice set him apart from all other blues singers of the era. If you haven't heard him his recordings are well worth your time and effort to do so. (Stuart Jefferson, Shindig)trax disc 2:

01 Five Years (Checker 874) 02 Daddy Talk to Your Son (Checker 901) 03 She Don't Know (Checker 901) 04 Back Door (Shad 5012) 05 Lou Ella (Shad 5012) 06 Oh Baby (Vee Jay 352) 07 Do What I Say (Vee Jay 352) 08 Move To Kansas City (Decca UK LP LK 4644) 09 I Been Down So Long (Decca UK LP LK 4644) 10 I Have Married 11 Slow Down Woman (Constellation LP CS 6) 12 Livin' in the Whitehouse (Constellation LP CS 6) (Johnny Shines Vocal_Guitar) 13 Please Don't (Constellation LP CS 6) (Johnny Shines Vocal_Guitar) 14 When I Was Young (Constellation LP CS 6) (Sunnyland Slim Vocal_Piano) 15 Bassology (Constellation LP CS 6) (Sunnyland Slim Vocal_Piano) 16 Worried About My Baby (Constellation LP CS 6) (Sunnyland Slim Vocal_Piano) 17 We've Both Got To Realise (We Can't Go On This Way) 18 Give Me One More Shot 19 Sitting Down Thinking 20 I'm Gonna Die Someday 21 Natural Man 22 Don't Dog Your Woman 23 Low Down Dirty Shame 24 Everybody Wants To Know (Laid Off Blues) 25 J.B.'s Rock 26 If You Love Me 27 When I'm Drinking 28 I Don't Know 29 Good Looking Woman 30 Voodoo Boogie

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