Chuck Willis Wails! The Complete Recordings 1951-1956

I finally snagged one of my "holy grail" CD's yesterday - the Sundazed 2-CD compilation of Chuck Willis on Okeh, Columbia, and Epic from 1951-1956. For some reason every time I searched for this one online it was either not available, or was going for $60 and up, even for used copies. I ran across a new one in a local store yesterday for list price. Of course now that I check Amazon, there are a few used ones available for reasonable prices but that's beside the point....


What a voice! So many highlights here - the hard rockin' "Let's Jump Tonight", the haunting "When My Day Is Over", the bluesy "I've Been Treated Wrong Too Long", the cover of Fats Domino's "Going to the River", and best of all - the original version of "I Feel So Bad", which Elvis later recorded and released as a single in 1961. It's a thrill to finally hear the original and a revelation to hear just how close Elvis modeled his vocal after Chuck's style.

And that's just disc 1. Now I'm off to disc 2.

Superb sound by Bob Irwin and informative notes by Bill Dahl.

SH mastered the wonderful Razor & Tie comp that covers Chuck's time with Atlantic (1956-1958), and this Sundazed comp is a must-have as well if you love early Rhythm & Blues.

Get one while you can!

 

Anyone heard of this CD http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Chuck-Willis-1951-1957/dp/B003905M3I

I may get it

 

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