Various Artists: Belly Full Of Blues

Belly Full Of Blues is the first in an ongoing series of Blues compilations from MVD Entertainment/Catbone Records, which gather together unreleased songs and versions of songs onto themed discs. This first set of releases sees three CD's which hope to illustrate the "upbeat", "mean" and "feel good" side to this genre (Mean Streets and Saturday Night In Shankletown are reviewed elsewhere), although to the uninitiated - that's me - the themes all begin to sound remarkably similar from disc to disc.

Belly Full... begins the series with a mixture of classic Blues in the shape of James Cotton's hard hitting stripped down sound, which resounds with passion and authenticity, right the way through to the altogether smoother, verging on commercial outlook of Nanette Workman and Peter Frampton, via some Howlin's Wolf, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. So from that list there's no doubting the class of the acts on show here and it does have to be said that the performances chosen, highlight the depth and range of a genre that is too often pigeon holed into being music barely relevant in today's world. That said as someone who has more of a passing interest in Blues than a devotion to it, 16 tracks and well over an hour's worth of music is a little hard to deal with in one sitting.

The recordings themselves have been lovingly restored, something that Catbone have done an excellent job with, although the fact that the track listing on the booklet that accompanies the disc has a different running order from the disc itself is more than a little frustrating. Add to that liner notes which while well informed and full of interesting facts on the artists featured, actually reveals nothing about the songs, or recordings featured, also feels like a decidedly missed opportunity. Still as a starting point into rootsy, authentic, timeless music Belly Full Of Blues does its job very well.

Track Listing
1.Don't Star Me Talking - JAMES COTTON
2.Fore Day Blues - JAMES COTTON
3.Sweet Sixteen – JAMES COTTON
4.There Is A Man – NANETTE WORKMAN / PETER FRAMPTON
5.Poor Boy - HOWLIN' WOLF
6.Sally Mae - JOHN LEE HOOKER
7.She Moves Me - MUDDY WATERS
8.Polly Put The Kettle On - JAMES COTTON
9.Red Rooster - HOWLIN' WOLF
10.The Girl Can't Help It - LITTLE RICHARD
11.Polk A Dot and Moon Beams – JACK MILLMAN AND THE HOLLYWOOD JAZZ ALLSTARS
12.Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On - LITTLE RICHARD
13.My Mississippi Queen - BARRY DARNELL
14.Ain't No Winning – THE ORIGINAL FLARES
15.Loving Him Was Easier - TINA TURNER
16.Mississippi - THE ORIGINAL FLARES

Added: November 28th 2011
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Belly Full Of Blues MySpace
Hits: 1808
Language: english

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