Search - Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson :: Old Maid Boogie

Be Selective When It Comes To Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson Compi

09/08/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you're looking for hit singles featuring Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson you have to be selective. For example, while Eddie and his powerfully-pure blues voice did sing hit versions of Is You Is Or Is You Ain't, Cherry Red Blues, and Somebody's Gotta Go, he did so for Hit Records while a member of the Cootie Williams Orchestra in 1944 and 1945.



The versions here are obviously re-makes by Vinson and his own band, as is the b-side to Cherry Red Blues - Things Ain't What They Used To Be. If you want the originals, seek out the CD 1941-1944 Cootie Williams.



It's also unclear as to whether these are the original Mercury Eddie Vinson & His Orchestra renditions of Old Maid Boogie [# 1 R&B in 1947] b/w Kidney Stew Blues [# 5 R&B on its own].



His only other charted hit was the comical 1949 "answer" song to 1944's Cherry Red Blues - Somebody Done Stole My Cherry Red - which, under the billing Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, made it to # 6 R&B that November. Done for the King label, that is not included in this CD, although the original IS available on Vol. 3 - Battle Of The Blues.



Another reviewer was correct in his opinion that there is a "sameness" to many of the selections. Like certain aspects of Country music, this is a fact of the early blues, and if it happens to be coming from a Texas bluesman - as was the case with Vinson - you also get that unique "squeal" which permeates their sound.



Eddie Vinson passed away on July 2, 1988 at age 70.

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