Tag Archives: Wolf Records

Snooky Pryor – All My Money Gone

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Title: All My Money Gone
Artist: Snooky Pryor
Label: Wolf
Formats: CD, Digital
Release date: October 1, 2018

 

All My Money Gone is the latest addition to the late Snooky Pryor’s catalog. Released by Wolf Records, this album features previously unreleased studio and live material that was recorded in Austria in October 1979. Also included are unreleased songs that Snooky recorded at other sessions such as “Work With Me, Annie,” “Boogie Twist,” “Blue Bird Blues,” and “Telephone Blues”—titled “I’m Gonna Call Up My Baby” on this compilation. In short, this album contains tracks that will be familiar to Snooky fans, but all of the sessions and live performances themselves will be new to the listener. Continue reading →

Sonny Terry – His Best 21 Songs

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Sonny Terry

Title: His Best 21 Songs

Artist: Sonny Terry

Label: Wolf Records International

Formats: CD, MP3

Release date: September 9, 2015
 

 

The joy of Wolf Records International’s release of a new Sonny Terry compilation is that the harmonica player and singer’s talent is allowed to take center stage. While his later recordings were mostly in a duo format with guitarist Brownie McGhee—who does appear on the album—His 21 Best showcases many of Terry’s recordings released before World War II. The result is a powerful document of the musician’s playful, sometimes falsetto, voice and his mastery of the blues harmonica.

Terry could make the harmonica be an instrument for rhythmic accompaniment, a stand-in for the human voice, and a ready-to-lead melodic instrument for improvisation. A range of collaborators—including Woody Guthrie, Blind Boy Fuller, Washboard Sam, and the aforementioned McGhee—augment this release, to mixed results. The album feels, at times, to be thrown together and under-curated. Many cuts seem to be studio outtakes that would make the diehard fan ecstatic, but leave new listeners underwhelmed. Despite this weakness, the album serves as a strong reminder of just how much Terry’s influence can be heard in blues harmonica players to this day.

Listen on Spotify here

Reviewed by Douglas Dowling Peach