Back on the Scene: Texas, 1966 [Aim]

Performer: T-Bone Walker
Distributor: Allegro Corporation (Dist

Notes: Personnel includes: T-Bone Walker (vocals, guitar, piano); Joey Long (guitar); Arnett Cobb (tenor saxophone); Willard "Piano Slim" (piano). Recorded in Houston, Texas in 1966. According to the liner notes -- which offer a reasonable and lengthy biography of Walker, but only one paragraph about the music on this disc -- these tracks, recorded in Texas in 1966, were released by Jet Stream as an album titled Home Cooking. Walker's post-'50s recordings don't get much attention, but these are pretty good tunes, with Walker in decent instrumental and vocal shape, offering some admirably slashing guitar licks. The recording fidelity isn't so hot, with a hollow, echoed quality, though actually that lends an atmospheric touch that's not displeasing. After all, at least it's not too slick. The sidemen aren't well-known (and, in fact, the drummer is listed as "unknown"), but they swing okay, even if they're on the raw side. This is a little more R&B/rock-tinged than Walker records from previous decades (occasionally an organ is heard), but he doesn't sound ill at ease with that approach. There's a good mixture of upbeat, rollicking numbers and slower, more morose ones (such as "Please Come Back to Me") less indebted to his jump blues roots. So it's not at all a bad addition to the library if you're a Walker fan, even if it's imperfect. ~ Richie Unterberger

Somewhere between the blues-jazz of Lonnie Johnson and Charlie Christian and the electrified blues of B.B. King, Chuck Berry, and Buddy Guy is Aaron "T-Bone" Walker. During the 1930s through the 1950s, the height of his recording and performing career, T-Bone fused influences of the past and reshaped them into modern guitar blues. A master showman as well as a brilliant guitarist and singer, Walker is a performer whose influence cannot be underestimated: nearly every blues guitarist of the past half-century has paid props to the man. His best-known song, "Stormy Monday," is a staple of every bar band's repertoire.

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