Rhythm & Western Vol.6 I'm Moving On (CD)

Release Date: 02/03/23

28 great tracks from an era when black Blues artists were pursuaded to record Country and Western classics

The great Mickey & Sylvia open the ball with 'I'm So Glad' and right after that Big Al Downing delivers a great version of the C&W classic 'When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again' a song recorded by Merle Haggard, Elvis, Hank Thompson, Bill Monroe, Jim Reeves and many more. King Curtis follows with a fantastic version of 'Steel Guitar Rag' (I already gave extended info about this song in a previous volume). Little Willie John delivers a heartfelt version of 'She Thinks I Still Care' a number that was recorded by George Jones and many other Country artists. 'Haunted House' has been regarded as a classic C&W song since the early 1960s when Gene Simmons had a big hit with it and many other C&W singers covered it. I included the original 1950s version by Johnny Fuller which sounds just as 'country' as the white counterparts and even features a banjo!
I'm sure fans of this genre are familiar with Tennessee Ernie Ford's version of 'Shotgun Boogie' but I'm not so sure how many heard this song by Cecil Gant, tho. The next tune 'Snap Your Finger' (written by Grady Martin) is a great song that later also became a hit for Country singer Ronnie Milsap and Joe Henderson gives an outstanding performance here. Pretty much the same for Little Son Jackson, Bubber Johnson, Wade Flemons, Richard Berry, Brook Benton, and other artists included here. Louisiana bluesman Lazy Lester (a big C&W fan and scholar) recorded 'If You Think I Lost You' by mistake. His producer and renowned C&W songwriter JD Miller originally wanted a white singer in Nashville to record it, before realising that actually having one of his Country songs done by a black blues artist could have earned him a hit too and he was actually right. Miller scored a huge hit with another C&W song he wrote 'Rainin' In My heart' but with Slim Harpo, not Lazy Laster.