Jim Colegrove's Panther City Blues
Artist: Jim Colegrove
Label: Flying High Records
Released: 1978
Number of Tracks: 12
Duration:
Website: http://www.thecoolgroove.com/colegrov.html
Review by Charles "Dutch" Metzker
Jim Colegrove has had a long and distinguished career in American music. He was born in Springfield, Ohio and began playing French horn and trumpet at age nine. He took up the guitar at age thirteen. A few years later, in 1958, he was a cofounder of the rock ’n’ roll band Teddy & the Rough Riders, a popular group in the Ohio/Indiana/Kentucky region in the early ’60s. The group had records issued on the Tilt, Huron and MegaCity labels. Jim graduated from Fairborn High School in 1959, attended Sinclair College in Dayton, then served as staff producer for Huron Records during the early 1960s and produced records in Nashville at the age of 19.
It was 1977 when Jim and Stephen’s brother, the late Sumter Bruton, combined to form the Juke Jumpers, a group that played blues, rhythm & blues, rockabilly and jump music, all in a traditional Texas style. Jim returned to playing guitar. In 1978, Jim, along with the Juke Jumpers, recorded Panther City Blues for Flying High records. In 1979, the Juke Jumpers recorded Border Radio, released in 1980 on the Amazing label. In 1980, they recorded The Joint’s Jumpin’!, released in 1981, also on the Amazing label. The Juke Jumpers can also be heard on the late Robert Ealey LP, Bluebird Open, another Amazing product and one of the best blues records of 1981. Jumper Cables, was issued in March 1984 on Rounder Records’ new Varrick label. Jim wrote a song titled Give Me Somethin’ Fried for this record. Since then, this song has been covered by many blues and R&B bands around the world. In 1988, Amazing records issued The Juke Jumpers, Live! LP recorded on stage at the Caravan of Dreams in Fort Worth. During this time he became an inductee to Buddy Magazine’s Texas Tornadoes. Texas Tornadoes are recognized by the magazine as Texas’ best instrumentalists. Lots more to read at his website: http://www.thecoolgroove.com/colegrov.html
Side 1
Track 1: Why Don’t You Eat Where You Slept Last Night (Zuzu Bollin) – great horns and awesome lyrics, shame on you for what you’ve been doing. You’ll want to get up and boogie! – 2:55
Track 2: Terraplane Blues (Robert Johnson) – old school, this one has been covered many times with good reason, pretty stripped down here. 3:06
Track 3: Ubangi Stomp (Charles Underwood) – this one really rocks in a rock-n-roll style — and the dance should be widely promoted. 2:25
Track 4: Tin Pan Alley (Bob Geddins) – Tin Pan Alley is probably a good place to stay away from, another tune that has gotten a lot of attention. 3:24
Track 5: Sugar Bee (Eddie Shuler) – Get your dance shoes on,violin and accordion complement this down home tune. 3:04
Track 6: Como’s Jump (Juke Jumpers) – This group really hits the ball out of the park, pretty groovy. 2:50
Side Two
Track 7: Sag, Drag and Fall (Massey-Gilliland) – Great beat, guitar work will get your toes tapping. 3:20
Track 8: My Woman Has a Black Cat Bone (Wilson-Semiens) – tried so hard to get along with that woman of mine – oh well. 3:40
Track 9: I’m a Natural Born Lover (Willie Dixon) – one of the greatest harp players-follow the lead on this one. 2:51
Track 10: When My Baby Comes Home (Jim Colegrove) – I’ve been missing you so long, hope you get the message from this one. 3:06
Track 11: She Likes to Boogie Real Low (Sims-Caronna) – On VIN records 45rpm – He went to a party and boy can she dance. 2:37
Track 12: Casablanca (Joe Hutchinson) – if the rest of that album is like this song — Wow what a great pianist. 2:48
Review is 9/10. If you look closely at the bottom of the back cover you’ll see “SHANNON” – yep he brought a box of his albums to BBs a while back and I snagged this one so THANKS, Lindsey!
Interview with Jim Colegrove at blues.gr.
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