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 fourth volume, and continuing along the same path as the previous 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 4 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 B.B. King with The Vocal Chords and track ‘Please Accept My Love’, classic Otis Williams and His Charms with often covered by other artists of the period ‘Blues Stay Away From Me’, to established unit The Del Vikings and song ‘Woke Up This Morning’. Other areas of great quality reveal themselves in The Enchanters’ ‘Bottle Up And Go’, Hank Ballard & The Midnighters’ ‘I’m Crying Mercy Mercy’, Dorothy Prince ‘I Lost My Love’, The Nic Nacs ‘Found Me A Sugar Daddy’, to spoiling the listener rotten with the inclusion of Baby Washington and compelling ‘Congratulations Honey’.
Littered throughout with gifts from the gods, Blues Meets Doo Wop Volume 4 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 4.
Nathan Olsen-Haines (Koko Mojo)
01. B.B. King (w The Vocal Chords) – Please Accept My Love (Garlow)
02. Willie Dixon (w The Moonglows) – 29 Ways (Broadwater, Dixon)
03. The Wheels (w Tarheel Slim) – Let’s Have a Ball (Bunn)
04. Cookie and The Cupcakes – Close Up The Back Door (Khoury, Thiery) 9
05. The Solotones – Front Page Blues (Louellen, Riley)
06. Baby Washington -Congratulations Honey (Z. Sanders)
07. The Enchanters – Bottle Up And Go (Unkown)
08. Jimmy Reed – Close Together (Reed)
09. The Nic Nacs – Found Me A Sugar Daddy (Unknown)
10. Henry Strogin – I Cried Like A Baby (David, Brown, Herman)
11. Hank Ballard & The Midnighters – I’m Crying Mercy Mercy (Ballard, Toombs)
12. Memphis Slim (w The Vagabonds) – Mother Earth (Chatman)
13. Dorothy Prince – I Lost My Love (Bland, Hayes, Leanor)
14. The Del Vikings – Woke Up This Morning (King)
15. Otis Williams and His Charms – Blues Stay Away From Me (Delmore, Raney, Delmore, Glover)
16. Henry Pierce and His Five Notes – Thrill Me Baby (Vincent)
17. Ray Sharpe – The New Linda Lu (Sharpe)
18. Rockin’ Bradley – I Have News For You (Bradley)
19. The Chanteclairs – I’ve Never Been There (McCay, Newson)
20. The Rams – Sweet Thing (Berry) Flair 1066 1955
21. Pee Wee Crayton (w The El Dorados) – I Don’t Care (Crayton, Bradford)
22. The Clovers – In The Morning Time (Toombs)
23. Four Chickadees – Teenage Blues (Moore)
24. Albert King – Had You Told It Like It Was (Redd, Thompson)
25. Camille & The Creations – Hey Baby (King)
26. Jimmy Witherspoon (with The Lamplighters) – Move Me Baby (Davis)
27. The Continentals – No Money No Luck Blues (Unknown)
28. The Larks (w Tarheel Slim) - Eyesight To The Blind (Williamson)