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Roosevelt Sykes Vol 3 1931 - 1933

Roosevelt Sykes vocal, piano

With contributions by;
James “Stump” Johnson, vocal.
Mathew McLure, vocal.
(Artie) Mosby, violin
Eithel Smith, vocal.
Isabel Sykes, vocal.
Clarence Harris, vocal.
Frank Pluitt, vocal.
Carl Rafferty, vocal.
Napoleon Fletcher, vocal.

Genres; Piano Blues, Male Vocal Blues, Female Vocal Blues. “Pre-war Blues”.

Informative Booklet Notes by Chris Smith.
Includes detailed discography.

From this CDs booklet notes:
Roosevelt Sykes' stature as a blues singing pianist of the first order is sometimes undermined by the length of his career and the sheer volume of his recorded output. It's the usual case of familiarity breeding, if not exactly contempt, complacent acceptance.

Listening to the first six volumes of Document's seven volume set of Sykes' pre-war recordings it is easy to recognize the basis of this longevity; quite simply put he was bloody good! His piano style was 'two-handed', virile and variable. He could pound with best of 'em, roll out the forty fours and then supply an accompaniment both delicate and apt enough to enhance (sometimes salvage) any vocal performance. His own vocals lacked the introverted, autobiographical overtones of Carr and his approach to a lyric tended to be much more objective. Nevertheless he had a warm, easily understood voice and knew when to holler and when to reason. It sometimes seems that all the worthwhile blues lyrics that seemed so new in the fifties and sixties, from Jimmy Cotton's "Cotton Crop Blues" to Ray Charles' "Night Time Is The Right Time", had already spent some time in Sykes' mouth, usually competing for space with a huge cigar! Continued...




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