Meeting on a street corner symphony of doo-wop, therefore, is the genre of blues, and The “Mojo” Man tasked with compiling a track list that leans on both genres in equal measures. What is unique about this first volume, and continuing along the same path for the following volumes of this brand-new album series, is that blues and doo-wop are rarely compiled together, let alone seen in the same room together. Yet Blues Meets Doo Wop Volume 1 witnesses their paths crossing, whether knowingly or unwittingly, given that artists of both genres passed along the same corridors of recording studios and record labels, in addition to sharing the same backing musicians when required.
With this latest addition of albums, Koko Mojo brings together said genres where blues communicates directly with doo-wop to present this version of historical events. Look no further than an amalgamated collection of the two styles coming together during Hank Ballard and The Midnighters’ ‘I Got A Mind To Leave You’, The Dominoes’ ‘Chicken Blues’, to notorious blues man John Lee Hooker graciously holding the door open for The Andantes to add textures of silk in the backing vocals of ‘Frisco Blues’. Other areas of great quality reveal themselves in The Holidays’ ‘Irene’, The Spaniels and ‘Hey Sister Lizzie’, the Leiber & Stoller penned ‘Riot In Cell Block #9’ performed by The Robins, to the perfect definition of this album series from The Larks with ‘Eyesight To The Blind’.
Littered throughout with gifts from the gods, Blues Meets Doo Wop Volume 1 is a unique collection of twenty-eight tracks for your listening pleasure, covering a period of history rarely featured, let alone discussed, where blues and doo-wop shared numerous relationships, and the end results being these enigmatic tracks. Such is their nature, Koko Mojo is once again first to the post by delivering a unique slice of music nostalgia with Blues Meets Doo Wop Volume 1.
Nathan Olsen-Haines (Koko Mojo)
01. Ann Cole (with The Suburbans) – Got My Mojo Working (But It Just Won’t Work on You) (Foster)
02. Jimmy Reed – I’m A Love You (Carnegie Hall) (Reed)
03. Hank Ballard and The Midnighters – I Got A Mind To Leave You (Ballard)
04. Lillian Offit (w The 4 Duchesses) – My Man Is A Lover (London)
05. The Spiders – Tears Began To Flow (Smith)
06. Van Walls and The Rockets – Big Leg Mama (The Rockets)
07. Magic Sam (w The 4 Duchesses) – You Don’t Have To Work (Maghett)
08. The Holidays – Irene (Johnson, Johnson)
09. Jimmy Rogers (w The Moonglows) – My Last Meal (Lane)
10. Pete Willis and The Four Royals – Baby Baby Baby (Willis, Duck)
11. Jimmie Witherspoon – Back Door Blues (Leiber, Stoller)
12. The Dominoes (w Rene Hall) – Chicken Blues (Ward, Marks)
13. Bo Diddley (w The Moonglows & Little Walter) – Diddley Daddy (McDaniels)
14. The Spaniels – Hey Sister Lizzie (Unknown)
15. John Lee Hooker (w The Andantes) – Frisco Blues (Hooker)
16. The Golden Gate Quartet – I Wanna Know (Wilson)
17. The Robins – Riot in Cell Block # 9 (Leiber, Stoller)
18. Lynn Taylor with The Peachettes – Sweet Little Girl (Colliins, Seabrook, Taylor)
19. The Thunderbirds – Baby Lets Play House (Gunter)
20. Detroit Junior – Money Tree (Daniels)
21. The Larks (w Tarheel Slim) – Little Side Car (Smith)
22. Memphis Slim (w The Vagabonds) – I Guess I’m A Fool (Simpkins)
23. The Charms – Bye Bye Baby (Peak, Penn)
24. Johnny Acey – Why (Unknown)
25. Jimmy Lee Robinson (w The Medallionaires) – Times Is Hard (Unknown)
26. Pee Wee Crayton (w The El Dorados) – I Found My Peace Of Mind (Crayton, Crayton)
27. Roy Milton – Red Light (Enois, Callender)
28. Eddie Boyd – Save Her Doctor (Boyd)