Vietnam Blues (CD)

Though J.B. Lenoir hailed from Mississippi and eventually became part of the Chicago blues scene, his music was atypical of either area's noted blues style. He sang with a high, almost effeminate voice a la Delta giants Skip James and Robert Johnson, but he backed his vocals with a boogie-influenced sound tinged with traces of jazz. Perhaps most importantly, his lyrics occasionally (especially later in his career) tended toward the political. Songs such as "Eisenhower Blues" and "Vietnam Blues" were unique and powerful socio-political statements in a blues framework. Unfortunately, Lenoir's career was cut short when he died in a car crash in 1967 at the age of 38.

• Category:  Music  »  Blues  »  Chicago Blues
• Format: CD   Learn more about the CD format using Tower WIKI.
• Release Date: June 27, 1995
• Label: Evidence
• UPC: 730182606829
• WAPI (Tower ID): 106271415
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• Tower.com Sales Rank: #74422 in Music (See Top 100 Music Bestsellers)
• #1705 in Blues (See Top 100 Blues Bestsellers)
• #177 in Chicago Blues (See Top 100 Chicago Blues Bestsellers)

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Personnel: J.B. Lenoir (vocals, acoustic guitar), Freddie Below (drums), Willie Dixon (background vocals).

Reissue producer: Jerry Gordon.

Tracks 1-12 recorded in Chicago, Illinois on May 5, 1965 and tracks 13-24 recorded at Sound Studio, Chicago, Illinois on September 2, 1966.

ALABAMA BLUES originally released on L & R (42.001). DOWN IN MISSISSIPPI originally released on L & R (42.102). Includes liner notes by Jonny Meister.

All songs written by J.B. Lenoir.

VIETNAM BLUES combines two full-length albums, ALABAMA BLUES and DOWN IN MISSISSIPPI.

Unlike any blues music released in the 1960s, the idiosyncratic acoustic forms created by J.B. Lenoir during his tenure with L&R Records recall traditional country blues while simultaneously pushing the genre in new directions. Miles removed--in conception and feel--from the electric Chicago blues of his early career, Lenoir's L&R work is wholly acoustic, intensely personal, and seems to pulse and surge to its own uniquely designed metronome. VIETNAM BLUES collects Lenoir's last two albums (before his untimely death in 1967), 1965's ALABAMA BLUES and 1966's DOWN IN MISSISSIPPI, both of which were produced under the supervision of blues icon Willie Dixon.

The music on VIETNAM BLUES is quite stark, with the focus on Lenoir's mesmerizing open chords, syncopated embellishments, and high, soulful tenor. On several tracks, Dixon provides additional vocals and drummer Freddie Below lends his brushwork (on what sounds like a lone snare drum) to the shuffling, driving rhythms, further heightening the intimate, front-porch feel. But what really strikes the listener is Lenoir's songwriting, which fearlessly takes on issues like racial discrimination and the Vietnam War with eloquence and passion. Politically committed and performed with searing intensity, Lenoir's last recordings are the finest of his career, the crowning achievement of his overlooked legacy.

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