[Harp-L] for download: the best of "Jimmy and Walter" - the Memphis Sessions 1972-73

[Chris C <ccefalu@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hey all - 
   
  While I make a couple of repair tweaks to the Document Solo Harp record, here's another rarity for download to tide you over.
   
  This is a compilation of what I consider to be the "meat" of the Memphis sessions Big Walter did with his old partner Jimmy DeBerry (who is responsible for the somewhat shaky guitar accompaniment on the original "Easy"). These tracks are culled from the two Crosscut LPs "Back" and "Easy" and the 2 records are, like much of Big Walter's recording efforts, on the uneven side. 
   
  The good news is, Walter is absolutely blowing his ass off on these. A bad-ass, very distorted - yet buttery - tone that he never exactly duplicated anywhere else and some really creative ideas. One of the frustrations of being a Big Walter fan is that he often did his best playing and singing in settings where he was accompanied by sideman who weren't really at his level. This is a classic example of that, and as a result there are several cuts that really aren't worth passing around because they amount to little more than "Jimmy trying to find out which key Walter is playing in." On one track you can even hear Walter's patience straining just a tad as he tries in vain to teach Jimmy the intro to "Hard Hearted Woman". Interesting - yes. Worth repeated listens? No.
   
  Add to this the fact that Crosscut apparently issued every single track they had from these sessions (which results in several songs appearing twice, via alternate takes) and you have a lot of filler. So what I have done is: in the case of more than one take, I have chosen what I feel is the best take (just my call of course, but in all cases, I think the best take was extremely obvious). And I have left out one or two tunes where the two men REALLY didn't gell. 
   
  What remains is, I think, a pretty damn good record. I have included several cuts that Jimmy plays solo, without Walter, because I think Jimmy Deberry - although he ain't the greatest accompanist - is a hellofa interesting singer and solo performer. I've always loved the 3 sides that exist from his early 50s Sun recordings and when I first found these records, I was almost as excited to find more stuff from Jimmy as I was to find the Walter stuff. 
   
  One other thing: I've received a few generous offers from folks to host this stuff I'm posting on their own servers, etc. For the record: if anyone wants to make these available elsewhere, go for it! The idea is that this stuff gets passed around - it's been in the hands of only a few for way too long. 
   
  I will, however, continue to post stuff to Rapidshare because 1) it's easiest for me and 2) unlike many other file-sharing sites, RS will keep the links active indefinitely as long as they're still being used occasionally. There may be other sites that are better or easier in various ways, but I've got an account at RS and it just works best for me to put them there. But as I said, feel free to grab them and post them anywhere and everywhere.
   
  Cheers,
  Chris
   
  The Best of "Jimmy and Walter" - Memphis sessions, 1972-73
compiled from the Crosscut LPs "Back" and "Easy"
  1. Take A Little Chance
2. They All Ask For Me
3. Electrocution Blues
4. Bring It On Down
5. Worried, Wondering and Glad
6. Since I Laid My Burden Down
7. Little Walter's Boogie
8. Jimmy's Kansas City Blues
9. Take A Little Chance
10. Easy
11. Before Long
12. Train Of Consciousness
13. Everybody's Fishing
  http://rapidshare.com/files/73697909/Best_of_Jimmy_and_Walter_-_Memphis_sessions_1972-73.zip.html

       
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