Jay McShann - Hootie Swings the Blues 1941-56 / 3CD set

Jay McShann was an R&B, blues and jazz pianist, singer, composer and bandleader, originally hailing from Oklahoma but basing himself in Kansas City. He played an important role during the 1940s and ‘50s scene as a leading performer of a particular style of R&B which spanned the various shades of the genre, and provided an important vehicle for top vocalists of the era like Jimmy Witherspoon and Walter Brown, as well as an early staging post for fellow Kansas City luminary Charlie Parker.

This 77-track 3-CD collection comprises recordings, both solo and with his various line-ups, from these years on the Decca, Capitol, Aladdin, Premier, Mercury, Supreme, Swing Time/Downbeat, Modern, Rex Hollywood and Vee Jay labels.

It includes the No. 1 R&B hit “Ain’t Nobody’s Business (Pts 1&2)” featuring Jimmy Witherspoon, and his other hits “Get Me On Your Mind”, “Buttermilk”, “Hot Biscuits” and Hands Off”. It features performances by featured vocalists Jimmy Witherspoon, Walter Brown, Julia Lee, Numa Lee Davis, Lois Booker, Maxine Reed and Priscilla Bowman.

Although he continued performing through the rest of the century, this collection captures an era at which he was at the peak of his influence and relevance, and is a great showcase for his distinctive style of R&B and blues.

- Disc 1 -
1 Confessin' the Blues
2 Hootie Blues
3 Swingmatism
4 Vine Street Boogie
5 Hold 'Em Hootie
6 Dexter Blues
7 Red River Blues
8 One Woman's Man
9 So You Won't Jump
10 Cryin' Won't Make Me Stay
11 Baby Heart Blues
12 Fore Day Rider
13 Lonely Boy Blues
14 Sepian Bounce
15 Jumpin' Blues
16 Wrong Neighborhood
17 Trouble in Mind
18 Come on Over to My House
19 Moten Swing
20 McShann's Boogie Blues
21 Confessin' the Blues
22 Walking
23 Hard Working Man Blues
24 When I've Been Drinking
- Disc 2 -
1 Hootie Boogie
2 Garfield Avenue Blues
3 Crown Prince Boogie
4 Shipyard Woman Blues
5 Roll on, Katy
6 Ernestine
7 Voodoo Woman Blues
8 Jimtown Boogie
9 I Want a Little Girl
10 Gone with the Blues
11 Have You Ever Loved a Woman?
12 All My Geets Are Gone
13 Strange Woman Blues
14 W.B. Blues
15 Please Stop Playing Those Blues, Boy
16 Barfly Blues
17 Just Thinkin'
18 Lovin' Beggar
19 Frogmore Blues
20 Wee Baby Blues
21 Ain't Nobody's Business, Pt. 1
22 Ain't Nobody's Business, Pt. 2
23 Third Floor Blues
24 Back Water Blues
25 How Long Blues
- Disc 3 -
1 Skid Row Blues
2 Money Eyes Woman
3 Thinkin' About My Baby
4 Spoon Calls Hootie
5 Call My Baby
6 New Look
7 Big Heart
8 M.R. Boogie
9 Drunk Broke and Hungry
10 Destruction Blues
11 Funny Style Baby
12 Cold Blooded Boogie
13 Long About Dawn
14 Lush Head Woman
15 Hot Biscuits
16 Slow Drag Blues
17 Buttermilk
18 Twelve O'Clock Whistle
19 Soft Winds
20 Mello Drag
21 Same Old Blues
22 Cover Up
23 Scotty Can Blow (Kicks)
24 Way Out
25 Hands Off
26 My Darkest Night
27 Jay's Jam
28 Hootie Blues