Critically acclaimed Blues compilation of the music you can find in the clubs around Washington DC

12 MP3 Songs
BLUES: Chicago Style, BLUES: Guitar Blues



Details:
Wayne Kahn, owner/operator producer of Right On Rhythm Records, needs to be cloned and have 400 or so more doubles operating in every major city in the U.S. and copying this great achievement. What Kahn has done is highly commendable and a case study in how to document and present the local blues scene in a given area. A native of the blues-rich Washington, D.C. area, Kahn has recorded several of the area's more notable art artists and bands for this disc, and then inside of the accompanying liner note booklet, he's meticulously listed alphabetically every blues-related musician in the area and part of their biography.

It just goes to show what can happen when you scratch the surface of a local music scene; you never know what surprises are in store. While there are your typical bar bands included here, there are also some exceptional talents as well. Big Jesse Yawn is a great vocalist whose personal history goes back to the late 1950s with Robert Ward, Jack McDuff and Albert King. His one track is a real teaser. Hopefully he'll record more. Steve Guyger blows fine harp throughout and the inter-change-able cast of excellent club veterans is evidence of a long history of playing the blues on local stages. Danny Morris is a fine guitarist and Kevin McKendree is tops on Hammond organ. Another big-voiced singer a la Jimmy Witherspoon is Nap Turner and a couple of names from Black Top recordings surface. Big Joe Maher and Alex Schultz, and the legendary saxman Joe Stanley (who was mentor to Danny Gattton and Roy Buchanan) is still blowing up a storm. Hammond B-3 organ seems to be a very popular choice and one can speculate that the early 1960s were big for organ--led combos on the Washington/Baltimore club scene.

This disc is a perfect example of what good can come out of a labor of love, and a good set of ears. Twelve tracks and each and every one has merit Check out Kahn's fantastic live' Roy Carrier recording as well. Two discs on his label, and two winners!
5 bottles for a fine documentary on a rich blues hotbed. - Andy Grigg
Real Blues Magazine


Reviewer: Kevin Forder from Washington, D.C.
February 22, 2000

Despite its image as a staid government town, D.C. has long been a veritable fertile crescent of roots music, nurturing a vibrant club scene that for 50 years has generated international blues stars, as well as hot regional acts and sidemen touring with national acts. "The Blues You Would Just Hate to Lose, Vol 1" (and Vol 2, for that matter), offers a sharply focused and wonderfully detailed snapshot of that scene, as it played out in small clubs around the city in the late '90's. Right on Rhythm Records' Wayne Kahn did it the hard way, and the right way: He got to know the musicians, the tunes and the clubs, and night after night hunkered down next to the stage under his headphones, memorializing the scene on DAT. And what a scene: Nap Turner, the Godfather of D.C. blues, shows you that Percy Mayfield will never die; The Carey Bell Band's Steve Jacobs, a local boy, lacerates some Albert Collins; Ex-Nighthawk Danny Morris shows that Freddy King and Dick Dale can borrow the same set of fingers for a tune; Big Joe Maher sings like Smiley Lewis was his babysitter; Joe Stanley brings what sounds like 200 years of road experience to his bar-walking sax style, and keyboard virtuoso Kevin McKendree (now w/Delbert McClinton) channels Professor Longhair and Jimmy Smith right into your home. The sound kills, too: It's clean, loud, up-front and full of sweaty club vibes. Most importantly, the scene itself comes through ? young and old, black and white, these musicians generate a lot of passion and a lot of love, and you can hear it.

Blues Access Magazine
An East Coast compilation. The Blues Yo Would Just Hate to Lose Volume 1 (Right On Rhythm), brings a diverse and ferociously entertaining 12 tracks to lucky listeners willing to seek it out. The liner thumbnail biographies are wonderfully homey and informative, and the recording quality of the live gigs are as club-funky as you might expect. But it's the performances that shine.
Outstanding cuts by Joe Maher and Big Jesse Yawn are just two gems among this diamond-mine mother lode of live blues.