Hudson Whittaker, better known as Tampa Red, was a hugely prolific and influential blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, an innovative slide guitarist and the first black musician to play a National steel-bodied guitar. Moving from Florida to Chicago in the 1920s, he started recording in 1928 with Thomas Dorsey, playing in a hokum style as well as blues, over the years incorporating a pop-oriented style with The Chicago Five. Playing electric guitar from the 1940s working with Big Maceo Merriweather, he influenced musicians like Big Bill Broonzy, Muddy Waters and Elmore James, as his Chicago home became a centre for the blues community. This great-value 121-track 5-CD set comprises selected recordings from the 300 and more titles he released during this era on the Vocalion, Bluebird & RCA-Victor labels, as Tampa Red, Tampa Red & Georgia Tom, Tampa Red's Hokum Jug Band and Tampa Red And The Chicago Five, referred to on many of his record labels as "The Guitar Wizard". It features his R&B Top 10 hits "It Hurts Me Too/When Things Go Wrong With You", "Pretty Baby Blues", "Let Me Play With Your Poodle", and "Detroit Blues", and many well-known songs that were precursors of rock 'n' roll. It features performances with Black Bob, Sonny Boy Williamson, Joe Williams, Big Maceo Merriweather, Blind John Davis, Ransom Knowling, Walter Horton, Sonny Boy Williamson II and others. It's a substantial overview of a key quarter-century of his career, and an entertaining showcase for one of the most significant personalities in the genre.
8 I'll Kill Your Soul (And Dare Your Spirit to Move)
9 Mean Mistreater Blues
10 Somebody's Been Using That Thing
11 You Don't Want Me Blues
12 I Still Got California on My Mind
13 Witching Hour Blues
14 I'll Get a Break Someday
15 Happy Jack
16 Singing and Crying Blues
17 If It Ain't That Gal of Mine
18 (Play Your Hand) Keep on Dealing
19 Dark and Stormy Night
20 Waiting Blues
21 Let's Get Drunk and Truck
22 I Wonder What's the Matter
23 All Night Long
- Disc 3 -
1 That's the Way I Do
2 You Stole My Heart
3 Your One and Only
4 If It Wasn't for You
5 Cheatin' on Me
6 I See You Can't Take It
7 It's Hard to Believe It's True
8 Harlem Swing
9 I'm Gonna Get High
10 Wrong Idea
11 Seminole Blues
12 Delta Woman Blues
13 That May Get It Now
14 We Gonna Get High Together
15 A Lie in My Heart
16 That Don't Matter Now
17 Why Should I Care
18 Sweetest Gal in Town
19 When I Had a Good Woman (You Keep on Doggin' Me)
20 Crazy with the Blues
21 My Baby Said Yes
22 Checking Up on You
23 Mr Rhythm Man
24 Forgive Me, Please
- Disc 4 -
1 She's Got the Best in Town
2 You Say It's Love
3 Poor Old Gal Blues
4 Nobody Knows How Bad I Feel
5 Booze Head Woman
6 Sweet Mellow Woman Blues
7 Ready for Rhythm
8 I Got a Big Surprise for You
9 I'm Betting on You
10 Nobody's Sweetheart Now
11 You Say We're Through
12 What Am I Going to Do
13 It Hurts Me Too
14 Don't You Lie to Me
15 She Loves Just Right
16 Forget About Me
17 No Baby No
18 It's a Lowdown Shame
19 So Far So Good
20 Don't Jive It Mama
21 Let Me Play with Your Poodle
22 You Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone
23 The Woman I Love
24 Detroit Blues
25 Better Let My Gal Alone
- Disc 5 -
1 Crying Won't Help You
2 I'll Be Up Again Some Day
3 Please Be Careful
4 Corrine Blues
5 Let's Try It Again
6 You Better Woo Your Baby
7 I Know My Baby Loves Me
8 Poor Stranger Blues
9 When Things Go Wrong with You
10 It's a Brand New Boogie
11 I'll Find My Way
12 It's Too Late Now
13 1950 Blues
14 It's Good Like That
15 Sweet Little Angel
16 Midnight Boogie
17 Early in the Morning ('Bout the Break of Day)
18 Pretty Baby Blues
19 Boogie Woogie Woman
20 She's a Cool Operator
21 Look-A There, Look-A There
22 All Mixed Up Over You
23 I'll Never Let You Go
24 So Crazy About You Baby
25 If She Don't Come Back
Hudson Whittaker, better known as Tampa Red, was a hugely prolific and influential blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, an innovative slide guitarist and the first black musician to play a National steel-bodied guitar. Moving from Florida to Chicago in the 1920s, he started recording in 1928 with Thomas Dorsey, playing in a hokum style as well as blues, over the years incorporating a pop-oriented style with The Chicago Five. Playing electric guitar from the 1940s working with Big Maceo Merriweather, he influenced musicians like Big Bill Broonzy, Muddy Waters and Elmore James, as his Chicago home became a centre for the blues community. This great-value 121-track 5-CD set comprises selected recordings from the 300 and more titles he released during this era on the Vocalion, Bluebird & RCA-Victor labels, as Tampa Red, Tampa Red & Georgia Tom, Tampa Red's Hokum Jug Band and Tampa Red And The Chicago Five, referred to on many of his record labels as "The Guitar Wizard". It features his R&B Top 10 hits "It Hurts Me Too/When Things Go Wrong With You", "Pretty Baby Blues", "Let Me Play With Your Poodle", and "Detroit Blues", and many well-known songs that were precursors of rock 'n' roll. It features performances with Black Bob, Sonny Boy Williamson, Joe Williams, Big Maceo Merriweather, Blind John Davis, Ransom Knowling, Walter Horton, Sonny Boy Williamson II and others. It's a substantial overview of a key quarter-century of his career, and an entertaining showcase for one of the most significant personalities in the genre.