Winter Time Blues Lightnin' Slim

£11.50

Genre:
Blues
Label:
Ace Records
Format:
CD
Catalogue Id:
CDCHD 674

We come with a bang, not a whimper, to the final volume in our Lightnin' Slim reissue series. Just listen in particular to the first nine tracks on this CD, and you will find some of the greatest down-home blues cut anywhere, anytime. It's all there - Lightnin's guttural vocals, Lazy Lester's emphatic harmonica, blues songs that are well-crafted, with sympathetic production work from Jay D Miller in his studio in deepest South Louisiana.

Lightnin' had the remarkable ability to personalise his work to the extent that everything he did was indelibly his own. Take a look at the lyrics of his classic Winter Time Blues (a southern regional hit in early 1963):

Yes, the little girl is just 16 years old
How'd you find out, Lightnin' (interjection by Lazy Lester)
I eavesdropped and heard her mother said
You know, she got a way of huggin' and kissin'
She'll bring livin' back to the dead.

By the mid-1960s the down-home blues was on the way out as a commercial entity with the black audience of the South-.-soul music was sweeping in with the hip young sounds of the day. Producer Jay Miller did try to update Lightnin' Slim's style by introducing organs and breaking away from the standard 12-bar format, which as liner note writer Dave Sax recalls did bring moans of emotional distress' from Lightnin's keen British collectors at the time. However, Dave admits that a retrospective look...reveals positive aspects as well.

Indeed the final Excello session is as blue as can be, climaxing with a remake of his first hit Bad Luck Blues from 1954. As Sax notes, So much had changed and yet nothing had changed...these are songs about jail and the workhouse, restlessness and wondering.

Our booklet contains a discography by Dave Sax of all Lightnin' Slim's Excello recordings. It shows that of the 101 available titles, Ace will have reissued 95 with the release of WINTER TIME BLUES. Of the remaining six unissued titles, Stranger In Town will appear on our GENUINE R&B compilation in February, and the other five are alternate takes of issued cuts. Now that's a comprehensive reissue series!

As a reminder, our other CDs are:

* ROOSTER BLUES/BELL RINGER - 2-on-1 (CDCHD 517)
* IT'S MIGHTY CRAZY (CDCHD 587)
* NOTHIN' BUT THE DEVIL (CDCHD 616)
* HIGH AND LOW DOWN - with Whispering Smith's Over Easy (CDCHD 578)

No blues' collection should be without them, seriously.


by John Broven

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Track listing

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Side 1

Delivery & Returns

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We offer free P&P to UK addresses. For all other territories packaging is free and postage is charged on a weight basis.

We use Royal Mail First Class for UK deliveries and standard Air Mail for all other territories, very large orders will usually be sent via parcelforce. You may cancel your order at any time prior to your order being dispatched by emailing us at orders@acerecords.com ensuring that you quote your name, address and order reference number or by telephoning +44 (0) 208 453 1311 between 9am and 5pm GMT/BST, Monday to Friday. Please note: As music downloads are dispatched immediately after purchase, there is no possibility of cancelling these orders.

In the event that any products supplied to you by us are damaged or defective, we agree to replace or repair the damaged or defective products or refund the amount you paid for such goods (including postage & packaging) providing you notify us (either via post at or e-mail: orders@acerecords.com ) and return the goods within 28 days of purchase. Physical goods should be sent back to us in the same condition you received them to: “Returns” Ace Records, Such Close, Letchworth Garden City SG6 1JF, United Kingdom. Music downloads should be returned to us via the e-mail address above including a copy of your notification.

You have the right to cancel your order within seven days of purchase, or seven days of receipt of the goods (whichever is the longer). If you choose to cancel your order, full payment will be returned to you. Returned items should be sent to: “Returns” c/o Ace Records, Such Close, Letchworth Garden City SG6 1JF, United Kingdom. Music downloads should be returned to us via the email address: orders@acerecords.com including a copy of your notice of cancellation and order number.

Press quotes

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Exquisite fare, as blue as the blues got. ★★★★

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