1. I Got Love If You Want It (2:50)
2. I'm A King Bee (3:06)
3. Wonderin' And Worryin' (2:08)
4. You'll Be Sorry One Day (2:17)
5. Strange Love (2:10)
6. One More Day (2:15)
7. My Home Is A Prison (2:58)
8. Late Last Night (2:40)
9. Harmonica Blues (2:01)
10. What A Dream (3:07)
11. Blues Hang-Over (3:07)
12. That Ain't Your Business (2:16)
13. Bobby-Sox Baby (1:38)
14. Rainin' In My Heart (2:56)
15. Snoopin' Around (2:16)
16. Dream Girl (3:23)
17. This Ain't No Place For Me (4:10)
18. I Got Love If You Want It (Alternate) (2:55)
19. Buzz Me Baby (2:16)
20. Talking Blues (2:13)
21. One Of These Days (2:42)
22. Moody Blues (2:57)
23. Dream Girl (Alternate) (3:10)
24. My Little Queen Bee (2:27)
25. Don't Start Cryin' Now (2:10)

In the large stable of blues talent that Crowley, LA, producer Jay Miller recorded for the Nashville-based Excello label, no one enjoyed more mainstream success than Slim Harpo. Just a shade behind Lightnin' Slim in local popularity, Harpo played both guitar and neck-rack harmonica in a more down-home approximation of Jimmy Reed, with a few discernible, and distinctive, differences. Harpo's music was certainly more laid-back than Reed's, if such a notion was possible. But the rhythm was insistent and, overall, Harpo was more adaptable than Reed or most other bluesmen. His material not only made the national charts, but also proved to be quite adaptable for white artists on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, Kinks, Dave Edmunds with Love Sculpture, Van Morrison with Them, Sun rockabilly singer Warren Smith, Hank Williams, Jr., and the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

A people-pleasing club entertainer, he certainly wasn't above working rock & roll rhythms into his music, along with hard-stressed, country & western vocal inflections. Several of his best tunes were co-written with his wife Lovelle and show a fine hand for song construction, appearing to have arrived at the studio pretty well formed. His harmonica playing was driving and straightforward, full of surprising melody, while his vocals were perhaps best described by writer Peter Guralnick as "if a black country & western singer or a white rhythm & blues singer were attempting to impersonate a member of the opposite genre." And here perhaps was Harpo's true genius, and what has allowed his music to have a wider currency. By the time his first single became a Southern jukebox favorite, his songs were being adapted and played by white musicians left and right. Here was good-time Saturday-night blues that could be sung by elements of the Caucasian persuasion with a straight face. Nothing resembling the emotional investment of a Howlin' Wolf or a Muddy Waters was required; it all came natural and easy, and its influence has stood the test of time.

He was born James Moore just outside of Baton Rouge, LA. After his parents died, he dropped out of school to work every juke joint, street corner, picnic, and house rent party that came his way. By this time he had acquired the alias of Harmonica Slim, which he used until his first record was released. It was fellow bluesman Lightnin' Slim who first steered him to local recordman J.D. Miller. The producer used him as an accompanist to Hopkins on a half-dozen sides before recording him on his own. When it came time to release his first single ("I'm a King Bee"), Miller informed him that there was another Harmonica Slim recording on the West Coast, and a new name was needed before the record could come out. Moore's wife took the slang word for harmonica, added an "o" to the end of it, and a new stage name was the result, one that would stay with Slim Harpo the rest of his career.

Harpo's first record became a double-sided R&B hit, spawning numerous follow-ups on the "King Bee" theme, but even bigger was "Rainin' in My Heart," which made the Billboard Top 40 pop charts in the summer of 1961. It was another perfect distillation of Harpo's across-the-board appeal, and was immediately adapted by country, Cajun, and rock & roll musicians; anybody could play it and sound good doing it. In the wake of the Rolling Stones covering "I'm a King Bee" on their first album, Slim had the biggest hit of his career in 1966 with "Baby, Scratch My Back." Harpo described it "as an attempt at rock & roll for me," and its appearance in Billboard's Top 20 pop charts prompted the dance-oriented follow-ups "Tip on In" and "Tee-Ni-Nee-Ni-Nu," both R&B charters. For the first time in his career, Harpo appeared in such far-flung locales as Los Angeles and New York City. Flush with success, he contacted Lightnin' Slim, who was now residing outside of Detroit, MI. The two reunited and formed a band, touring together as a sort of blues mini-package to appreciative white rock audiences until the end of the decade. The new year beckoned with a tour of Europe (his first ever) all firmed up, and a recording session scheduled when he arrived in London. Unexplainably, Harpo -- who had never been plagued with any ailments stronger than a common cold -- suddenly succumbed to a heart attack on January 31, 1970. ---Cub Coda, Rovi

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex 4shared mega mediafire cloudmailru

back

01 - Star-Time Announcement
02 - I'm A King Bee
03 - Buzzin'
04 - I Got Love If You Want It
05 - You Know I Love You
06 - Lottie Mo
07 - Everybody Needs Somebody
08 - Big Boss Man
09 - Hold Me Tenderly
10 - I'll Take Care Of You
11 - Boogie Chillun
12 - Moody Blues
13 - Sugar Coated Love
14 - Star-Time Theme
15 - I'm A King Bee
16 - I Don't Play
17 - I Got Love If You Want It
18 - Little Liza Jane
19 - When The Saints Go Marching In
20 - Rainin' In My Heart

Slim Harpo – harmonica, vocals
Rudolph Richard – guitar
Sammy K. Brown – drums
James P. Johnson & His Orchestra

This CD is one of the most flukey and important live-blues documents you can find, rating right up there with B.B. King's Live at the Regal and the live Piano Red material from 1955. Recorded off the P.A. system at a 1961 show at the Sage Armory in Mobile, Alabama, it captures Slim Harpo in his only live concert document. Harpo's vocals are a little pushed back in the resulting recording, but his harmonica is caught really well (check out the playing and the clarity on the slow blues "You Know I Love You"), as are the guitars of Rudolph Richard and James Johnson, Willie "Tomcat" Parker's sax, and Sammy K. Brown's drums. Luckily, there's not much audience noise, so what we get is a close-up look at how the blues legend sounded on stage, doing classics like "I'm a King Bee," "Got Love if You Wants It," "Rainin' in My Heart" (his then-current hit), and songs like "Big Boss Man" and "Boogie Chillun," made famous by others. If the sound were slightly better, this would rate even higher, but any real fan should own this. (Note: 11 of the 20 tracks have appeared previously in the United States, spread among two Slim Harpo compilations devoted to his work). --- Bruce Eder, Rovi

download: uploaded yandex 4shared mediafire solidfiles mega zalivalka filecloudio nornar anonfiles oboom ziddu

back

   1. I'm a King Bee
   2. This Ain't No Place For Me
   3. That Ain't Your Business
   4. Strange Love
   5. Late Last Night
   6. Wonderin' & Worryin'       play
   7. What's Going On
   8. One More Day
   9. One of These Days
  10. Things Gonna Change
  11. I Got Love If You Want It
  12. Moody Blues
  13. Wonderin' & Worryin'
  14. Buzz Me Babe
  15. Late Last Night
  16. Rainin' in My Heart
  17. The Scratch
  18. I Don't Want No One (To Take You Away From Me)
  19. Medley
  20. Hold Me Tenderly
  21. Everybody Needs Somebody    play
  22. Big Boss Man
  23. Little Liza Jane
  24. When the Saints Go Marching In
  25. Rainin' in My Heart

A 25-track single-disc compilation loaded with previously unissued sides and alternate takes (the title track is an interesting variant of his hit, "Baby, Scratch My Back"), making it the perfect companion volume to Hip Shakin'. This also has the added bonus of more (and even wilder) live recordings from the infamous 1961 frat party dance in Alabama. Dodgy sound on the live sides, but performances too great to leave in the can either way.---All Music Guide

download:   uploaded anonfiles mega 4shared mixturecloud yandex mediafire ziddu

back

Side A
A1 – Shake Your Hips
A2 – Midnight Blues
A3 – Harpo’s Blues
A4 – Buzzin’
A5 – My Little Queen Bee
A6 – I Love The Live I’m Livin’

Side B
B1 – Baby, Scratch My Back
B2 – I’m Gonna Miss You Like The Devil
B3 – Rainin’ In My Heart
B4 – Wonderin’ Blues
B5 – We’re Two Of A Kind
B6 – I Need Money

Personnel: 
Slim Harpo (vocals, guitar, harmonica); 
Jimmy Johnson , Rudolph Richard, Gabriel Pandy Perrodin, Jr.,
 Mabon "Teenie" Hodges, James Johnson (guitar); 
Willie Parler (tenor saxophone); 
Sonny Martin (piano); 
Katie Webster, Charles Hodges (organ); 
Fats Perrodin (bass guitar); 
Clarence "Jockey" Etinne, Sammy K. Brown, Roger Hawkins, Howard Grimes (drums); 
Lazy Lester (percussion).

Slim Harpo (January 11, 1924 – January 31, 1970) was an American blues musician. He was known as a master of the blues harmonica and the name "Slim Harpo" was derived from "harp," the popular nickname for the harmonica in blues circles.

Slim Harpo is among the most accessible, beloved, and commercially successful artists in blues history. The elements of Harpo's broad appeal included a genre-spanning musical approach (one hears a blend of country, rock & roll, and raucous electric blues), infectiously hooky melodies, a distinctive singing style marked by a nasal tone and careful annunciation, and Harpo's propulsive harmonica playing. Unlike many blues artists, too, Harpo stuck to one label, the Memphis-based Excello Records, whose muscular, echo-driven production and strong promotion helped push Harpo's recordings up the charts.

download:   uploaded anonfiles mega 4shared mixturecloud yandex mediafire ziddu

back

1. I'm A King Bee	 3:03
2. I've Got Love If You Want It	2:47
3. Wonderin' And Worryin'	2:11
4. You'll Be Sorry One Day	2:17
5. Strange Love	2:09
6. Bobby Sox Baby	1:57
7. One More Day	2:26
8. Rainin' In My Heart	2:34
9. Blues Hangover	3:06
10. Buzzin'	2:07
11. Still Rainin' In My Heart	3:01
12. Snoopin' Around	2:16
13. Te Ni Nee Ni Nu	2:07
14. Tip On In, Part 1	2:51
15. Shake Your Hips	2:30
16. Baby Scratch My Back	2:52

There have been many Slim Harpo best-ofs available over the years, some frustratingly incomplete. This one gets all the chart hits together with several of the obscure singles like "Wonderin' and Worryin'," "Strange Love," "One More Day," and "You'll Be Sorry One Day," along with album tracks like "Snoopin' Around" and "Blues Hangover." Transfers are clean and exemplary, and this makes as good an introduction into his music as any currently available. ---Cub Koda, Rovi

download:   uploaded anonfiles mega 4shared mixturecloud yandex mediafire ziddu

back

01 - I'm a King Bee (J. Moore) 1957
02 - I Got Love If You Want It (J. Moore) 1957
03 - Wonderin' and Worryin' (J. Moore, J. West) 1958
04 - Strange Love (J. Moore) 1958
05 - You'll Be Sorry One Day (J. Moore) 1959
06 - One More Day (J. West) 1959
07 - Bobby Sox Baby (J. Moore, J. West) 1959
08 - Late Last Night (J. Moore, J. West) 1959
09 - Buzz Me Babe (J. Moore, J. West) 1959
10 - Dream Girl (J. Moore, J.D. Miller) 1960
11 - Yeah Yeah Baby (J. Moore) 1960
12 - What a Dream (J. Moore, J. West) 1960
13 - Don't Start Crying Now (J. Moore, J. West) 1960
14 - Blues Hangover (J. Moore, J. West) 1960
15 - Moody Blues (J. Moore, J. West) 1960
16 - My Home Is a Prison (J.D. Miller, Green) 1960
17 - Please Don't Turn Me Down (J. Moore) 1960
18 - Snoopin' Around (J. Moore, J. West) 1960
19 - Rainin' in My Heart (J. Moore, J. West) 1960
20 - That's Alright Baby (a.k.a. Don't Start Cryin' Now) (J. Moore) 1960
21 - Lover's Confession (J. Moore) 1960
22 - Buzzin' (J. Moore) 1963
23 - I Love the Life I'm Living (J. Moore) 1963
24 - Boogie Chillun (J.L. Hooker) 1964

The earlist recordings by King Bee bluesman Slim Harpo are documented on this 24 track CD, with liner notes from harmonica ace Paul Jones. 24 original Excello Records recordings dating from 1957 to 1964, including alternate and previously unreleased tracks. ---raucousrecords.com

download:   uploaded anonfiles mega 4shared mixturecloud yandex mediafire ziddu

back