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Johnny Winter - About Blues (1969)

Track listing:
  1. Parchman Farm 2:42
  2. Livin' In The Blues 2:43
  3. Leavin' Blues 2:55
  4. 38, 32, 20
  5. Bad News 2:44
  6. Kind Hearted Woman 3:44
  7. Out Of Sight 2:24
  8. Low Down Gal Of Mine 3:11
  9. Going Down Slow 4:47
  10. Avocado Green 2:34

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Released in 1969 was Janus Record's ABOUT BLUES. Produced by the infamous Roy C. Ames, it was a more modern set made up of recordings that he somehow managed to get a hold of from Huey Meaux. The critics tended to like this one. And while there were one or two bumps in the road, it was generally good, with "Parchman Farm," "Leavin' Blues," "Bad News," "Out of Sight" and "Livin' in the Blues" leading the pack: "Livin' in the Blues" seemed a predecessor to SECOND WINTER. Janus put out EARLY TIMES, the sequel, that next year.

Going Down Slow

Many of you know this, but Jim Oden was better known as St. Louis Jimmy. The following copyrighted material appeared in a CD preview on the 'net, and I think Johnny Winter fans might find it of interest:

"St. Louis Jimmy Oden was a respected vocalist and one of the great early urban blues songwriters. Born in 1903 in Nashville, he moved to St. Louis around 1917. Oden taught himself piano in the mid 1920's and was working house parties with Big Joe Williams by 1929. Oden next paired with Roosevelt Sykes, the two played St. Louis for a few years then moved to Chicago. They made their first recordings for the Champion label in 1932 and continued to record on and off together for the next several years. Oden recorded two sessions with Big Bill Broonzy in the early 1940's. Oden's classic "Goin' Down Slow" was recorded with Big Bill Broonzy in 1941 and has gone on to become a Chicago blues standard. Oden continued to record steadily through the 1940's, recording for B & W, Columbia, Bullet, Miracle and Aristocrat (with the Muddy Waters Band). The sides from April, 1949 include the classics, "Hard Work Boogie" and "Your Evil Ways''. Unfortunately there is no session information on these sides. The piano is probably played by Oden's long time partner Roosevelt Sykes. Guitar is possibly Jimmy Rogers since Oden had recently been working with him. "State Street Blues" is interesting since the pianist is believed to be Oden himself. It certainly does not sound like the pianist on the first sides and the recording was released under Oden's name. In August of 1949 Oden teamed with Joe Brown to form the record label J.O.B. (James Burke Oden). Oden continued to record until the mid-sixties when his health began to fail. St. Louis Jimmy Oden died on December 30, 1977."