Homesick JAMES & The Hypnotics - Sweet Home Tennessee 1991

Homesick JAMES & The Hypnotics - Sweet Home Tennessee 1991

Blues

His correct age may remain in doubt (he's claimed he was born as early as 1905), but the slashing slide guitar skills of Homesick James Williamson have never been in question. Many of his most satisfying recordings have placed him in a solo setting, where his timing eccentricities don't disrupt the proceedings (though he's made some fine band-backed waxings as well).

Williamson was playing guitar at age ten and soon ran away from his Tennessee home to play at fish fries and dances. His travels took the guitarist through Mississippi and North Carolina during the 1920s, where he crossed paths with Yank Rachell, Sleepy John Estes, Blind Boy Fuller, and Big Joe Williams.

Settling in Chicago during the 1930s, Williamson played local clubs and recorded for RCA Victor in 1937. The miles and gigs had added up before Williamson made some of his finest sides in 1952-53 for Art Sheridan's Chance Records (including the classic "Homesick" that gave him his enduring stage name).

James also worked extensively as a sideman, backing harp great Sonny Boy Williamson in 1945 at a Chicago gin joint called the Purple Cat and during the 1950s with his cousin, slide master Elmore James (to whom Homesick is stylistically indebted). He also recorded with James during the 1950s. Homesick's own output included crashing 45s for Colt and USA in 1962, a fine 1964 album for Prestige, and four tracks on a Vanguard anthology in 1965.

Williamson has never stopped recording and touring; he's done recent albums for Appaloosa and Earwig. No matter what his current chronological age, there's nothing over-the-hill about the blues of Homesick James Williamson.
By Bill Dahl, All Music Guide.
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This album was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee on July 1991 with his (in this time) road band, The Hypnotics (Lutton and Flemming). This was produced by Fred James, and give Homesick the opportunity to revisit his back catalogue, the former including remakes of 'Can't Afford To Do It' and 'Woman I Love', also standard like 'Come Back Baby'.
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Homesick James- Guitar, Vocals
Casey Lutton, Fred James, Bleu Jackson- Guitar
Richard Fleming, Walter Ferguson- Piano
Doug Cook - Bass;
Waldo Latowsky- Drums
Billy C. Farlow, Rags Murtagh- Harmonica
**
01. Gotta Move 6:40
02. Meet Me In The Bottom 4:35
03. Crawlin' Kingsnake 6:32
04. Come Back Baby 6:23
05. Can't Afford To Do It 5:12
06. Sweet Home Tennessee 2:49
07. Kissing In The Dark 2:49
08. Married Woman 4:24
09. Woman I Love 4:24
**
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Homesick JAMES - Blues On The South Side 1964

Homesick JAMES - Blues On The South Side 1964

Blues

"Homesick" James Williamson's 1998 album was called "Last Of TheBroomdusters", and he is indeed.
Originally a rhythm guitarist in hiscousin Elmore James' band The Broomdusters, Homesick James playssmouldering slow blues, tough mid-tempo grinds, and up-tempo boogiesbacked by a superb little combo which includes Jimmy Reed's lead guitaristEddie Taylor on bass, Bo Diddley's legendary drummer Clifton James, andHowlin' Wolf's sometime pianist Lafayette Leake, one of the best in thebusiness.
Probably the best album he ever laid down, "Blues On The South Side" isthe reason why Billy Boy Arnold's 1963 album is titled "More Blues On TheSouth Side".
It is not the most original blues record ever released, and Williamson'sstylistic similarities to Elmore James are obvious - as is his apparentfondness for John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson's "Good Morning Little SchoolGirl", which is recycled as "The Woman I'm Lovin'" and the instrumental"Homesick's Blues".
But Homesick's playing is tough as nails, and hisvocals make up in intensity for what they lack in pure power (just listento his rendition of Robert Johnson's "Stones In My Passway").
The sound is excellent, digitally remastered as early as 1990, and everysong is worth a listen...no need to keep the remote nearby. Not everythingis as immediately memorable as Elmore James' best sides, sure, but thereis more than enough good stuff here to keep any fan of classic electricblues with plenty of grit interested for the entire 37 minutes.
By Docendo Discimus.
**
There is a nature of playing blues guitar that has gone out of fashion, so out of fashion that for some artists, the sound has been rediscovered ... that sound is know as as “Bottle Neck” and it comes right from using the neck of a broken bottle to make the strings talk.  Many traditional Blues Men had a series of bottle necks, and due to the nature of the glass, each created its own unique sound.  Soon, manufacturing, and standardization replaced the need for using actual bottles, and just as soon, all of the notes, and all of the musicians began to sound the same ... in order to develop a signature sound, the style of playing changed, and with that change much was lost.  See, blues wasn’t just about the notes, or the attitude, or the lyrics ... when someone talks about Delta Blues, they’re not just talking about a style or where the artist was from ... they are talking about the actual sound, and that sound was and eerie one, full of heat, passion, the crying and chirping of the Delta and mountain insects at night ... bottle necking created the feel of the Delta area, like the sweat that rolls down the back of your neck ... though this traditional style ran as far north as Tennessee.

As with Jazz, and Jazz has its roots in the deepest south, this technique bypassed the frets, allowing for quarter and semi tones to create an emotional tension ... once you hear this style for real, you will understand the true nature of the blues.

One of the best and most recognizable of the traditional artists was Homesick James [James Williamson] the cousin of Elmore James, who may have been one of the first to use a metal tube, replacing the glass, and gaining a much sharper tone [that complimented his vocals perfectly], yet he was still able to maintain the same quality of tonality.  But his differences did not stop there ... for one he was completely self taught and tuned his guitar to and open B, very unorthodox, thus lowering both the treble and bass, creating an instantly recognizable sound.

But this is all technical, and the real point is that this is traditional blues, by a man who had an early, and life long passion for the music.  The songs are bright and spirited, and raucous ... sounding like a religious revival.  This sound and style may seem odd at first, but you will quickly be drawn to the simple passion and grace for the source material.  There is nothing done for show here, this is all about the music, this is the source material.  You may, for the first time in you life, hear the actual essence of what contemporary blues artists have been trying so hard to distill ... and failing at so helplessly.

This is a sweet taste of your grandma’s original apple pie, cooling in the mountain breeze, on an open window sill ... not that store bought stuff.
**
Lafayette Leake
Homesick James
Eddie Taylor and Clifton James
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01. The Woman I´m Lovin´  2:08
02. She may Be Your Woman  2:45
03. Goin´ Down Swingin´  3:50
04. Homesick´s Shuffle  4:18
05. Johnny Mae  3:37
06. Gotta Move  2:37
07. Lonesome Road  3:28
08. Working With Homesick  3:.25
09. The Cloud Is Crying  3:32
10. Homesick´s Blues  3:12
11. Crawlin´  2:10
12. Stones in My Passway  3:21
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Homesick JAMES - Shake Your Money Maker 2007

Homesick JAMES - Shake Your Money Maker 2007
Label: Blue Label

Blues
          
Homesick James' gravelly voice is almost as distinctive as the slide guitar playing that made him a blues revival favorite three decades ago. Cousin to Elmore James and his erstwhile rhythm guitarist James toured well into the late '90s, and kept up his notoriously randy and good-humored schtick while warbling classic, beautifully delivered blues.
By Sarah Bardeen.
**
Homesick James was born in 1910 in Summerville, Tennessee not far from Memphis. It was the title of one of his songs, Homesick , that provided him with the name he was best known to blues fans, "Homesick James". In the early 1930's he hooked up with harmonica player Snooky Pryor and they remained lifelong musical partners. Sometime in the 1940's he ended up in Chicago like many other Delta musicians of the era and in no time was working with the likes of Robert Lockwood, Sunnyland Slim, Little Walter and most importantly, Elmore James, who was a distant cousin and played on many of his best known recordings. When Elmore James died in 1963 Homesick found himself as the successor to the slide guitar throne vacated by Elmore. He toured the world and recorded for a variety of labels over the next 20 years and in the early 1990's Homesick moved back to Tennessee, settling in Nashville. Homesick had relocated to Missouri shortly before he died there in December 2006. The time is now right to release these wonderful live recordings of a great artist, taken from a Swiss club date in 1999 - a fitting tribute to the last of the broom dusters. This is the real stuff!
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Homesick James- (Guitar);
Fred James- (Guitar);
Bleu Jackson- (Guitar);
Jeff 'Stick' Davies- (Bass Instrument);
Andy Arrow- (Drums).

01. Gotta Move 8:05
02. Set A Date 4:29
03. The Sky Is Crying 3:48
04. Cross Cut Saw 6:03
05. That's All Right Mama 7:46
06. Shake Your Money Maker 4:32
07. Homesick Boogie 4:30
08. Woman I Love 5:22
09. Early In The Morning 5:02
10. Bottle Up And Go 4:41

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