I don't know about you, but even though my ears have opened up to music that wouldn't get past the front door when I was younger, I gotta say, the old shit rules, plain and simple. We could go down the list of misfires by legends, later albums made when they updated their sound, whether through a natural evolution, an attempt to stay relevant to younger audiences, or just bad advice from a third party (that means you, Marshall Chess). You know what I'm talking about: Muddy Waters's Electric Mud, Bo Diddley's Black Gladiator and who could forget Howlin' Wolf's The Howlin' Wolf Album? These and others like them may be entirely listenable, but c'mon, you know as well as I do that their earlier stuff blows the pants off the shark jump stuff.
Junior Parker was one that I thought about today. His early stuff, recorded when he was still Little Junior Parker, is my kinda meat. Good solid pre-rock 'n' roll R&B. His later stuff was good, particularly when compared to other similar records from the same era. But check out any of the first three below and stand them up against the last two, recorded after well after he lost the "Little". No contest in these parts.
In my hunt for samples of Parker stuff, I ran into a couple excellent mixes (links below). Both are at Hearsay, both are twenty four songs and both are, how you say, kick ass. They're available streaming, in a single zip, or individual mp3s. I have to tip my cap, Hearsay does it right.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:Little Junior Parker - Mystery Train mp3 at Hearsay
Little Junior Parker - Feelin' Good mp3 at Hearsay
Little Junior Parker - Barefoot Rock mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Junior Parker - Taxman mp3 at Town Full of Losers
Junior Parker - Love Ain't Nothin' But a Busines Goin' On mp3 at New Dust
Bluebottle's choice:
Junior Parker - Tomorrow Never Knows mp3 at Office Naps
The Mixes:
So Many Days - 24 song mix at Hearsay Rhythm & blues, 1946-1965
We're Gonna Rock - 24 song mix at Hearsay Boogie, 1946-1966
Visit:
Junior Parker at Wikipedia
