Search - Rosco Gordon :: Very B.O. / Just a Little Bit

This is Rosco's only "forgettable" period

The-Candy-Man | Manila, Philippines | 07/09/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Rosco was wonderful right from the beginning at Sun records with his driving boogie woogie piano playing, and appealing singing. And in his RPM years in the early 50's he was at his creative peak, inventing new boogie rhythms, and practicly inventing what Jamacians would eventually turn into ska. However on this cd you get "Rosco's Rhythm"(which is what they called his unique brand of boogie piano), only on the opening track, and very mellow, played with no energy or enthusiasm. The rest of the songs mostly from the 60's(his Vee Jay period stunk!) feature him as a singer, and there is almost no piano playing. This is mushy pop with doo-wop background singers, and dated arrangements. The songs are WAY overproduced, and Rosco's vocie sounds liek a ghost of the singer he was 10 years back. This cd should never have been released, and Vee-jay should have let Rosco play piano, and have his wailin' horn section taht normally accompanies him. On this cd there si almost not a honk fro ma single saxaphone, that's noticable. A horrible example of Rosco Gordon, Vee Jay captured him at his worst. The funny thing is that he kept playing till his death a few years ago, and I cought him in concert in Europe, and he was energet and rockin' and playing his piano, and sounding so alive and fun, so it's the way Vee Jay recorded Rosco, not Rosco's lack of performance taht makes this cd so unworthy even for the diehard fan(even diehard fans should skip this garbage)."

Go with the Ace or Sun cd's, but skip this

sweetwilliam | Bermuda | 07/09/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This cd in no way represents Rosco Gordon, he doesn't play ,much piano here, and it doesn't even sound like him. I am Rosco's #1 fan, and if you played this for me, I wouldn't recognize it as being him. No boogie woogie beat paino, no smooth vocals. His vocals sound like your typical 60's singer. This is awful. Rosco never even sounded this bad even at the end of his career. This is just awful, try any other cd's, just skip ANY of his Vee Jay stuff, it stinks like 6 month old rotten eggs."