Double-Barreled Boogie

SSC3070 2007-10-09

Track List

Introducing The Grinder Man and The Honeydripper - 0:38
Mr. Sykes Blues - 4:24
Roosevelt Sykes meets Memphis Slim in Memphis, Tennessee - 1:16
Eagle Rock - 3:15
Down on Beale Street, "The Midway" - 0:52
Miss Ida B. - 4:23
Talking about Miss Ida B. - 1:02
Going Down Slow - 3:58
Going to Chicago, bootlegging and other things - 2:30
M & S Boogie - 3:13
Talking about the "44 Blues" - 0:45
44 Blues - 2:59
Improvising new Blues - 1:24
Soft and Mellow - 1:35
Introducing the Churning Man - 0:07
The Churning Man - 2:29
The life of Piano players in the South in the late 1930's - 2:32
47th Street Boogie - 2:04
Chicago, the life in the Club, Walter Davis - 4:46
M&O Blues - 3:35
The KMA, hoboing and freight trains - 1:43
Roosevelt Daddy's Blues - 2:03
Lost My Boogie - 2:39

Musicians

Memphis Slim - vocals, piano
Roosevelt Sykes - vocals, piano, guitar

Piano players never play together,or at least very rarely.The size and the cumbersome nature of the instrument must have something to do with it.There have been a number of piano duo recordings throughout the history ofjazz and classical music,but practically none in the blues field.So you are infor a treat,especially if you consider that Roosevelt Sykes was also the mentorof young John Chatman,who would become Memphis SlimThe material on this recording is a bit of a stroll down memory lane,playing the classics of that lost era of barrelhouses,gambling dens and bordellos along Beale,then evoking the two men’s respective moves to Chicago and their days of traveling around the South.The conversationsparkled with recollections,some nostalgic,some funny and some not nostalgic at all whenreminiscing about the perils of life for black musicians in the old racist days of that time,but overall,plenty of fun was had by the two musicians and their privileged guests.Likeold friends joining in the secure salon of their common past,they both brought out theold songs and let the whiskey flow,although it was neither moonshine nor bootleg,like inthem good ol’days! Roosevelt even ventured to pick up an acoustic guitar for a quick salute to his daddy,something he claimed he had not done in a real long time.So sit backand we hope you will enjoy the pleasure of that moment,just as we did back then.Memphis Slim is on your left channel and Roosevelt Sykes on the right.