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Ray Sharpe - Linda Lu (Bear Family) (1959)

Track listing:
  1. Linda Lu 2:07
  2. Monkey's Uncle 2:22
  3. Oh My Baby's Gone 2:08
  4. That's The Way I Feel 1:53
  5. Kewpie Doll 2:30
  6. Red Sails In The Sunset 2:11
  7. Silly Dilly Millie 2:16
  8. The Bus Song 2:21
  9. T.A. Blues [Without Overdub] 3:07
  10. Long John [Without Overdub] 2:42
  11. Gonna Let It Go This Time 2:36
  12. Bermuda 2:32
  13. Give'n Up 2:20
  14. For You My Love 2:46
  15. Justine 2:25
  16. On The Street Where You Live [Master] 2:19
  17. There'll Come A Day 2:09
  18. Dallas (For You My Love) 2:39
  19. So Sorry 2:10
  20. Hey Little Girl 2:12
  21. Thank You So Much 2:04
  22. The New Linda Lu 2:03
  23. T.A. Blues [Master] 2:55
  24. Long John [Master] 2:43
  25. Kewpie Doll [Take 20] 2:39
  26. On The Street Where You Live [Full Length Version] 3:18
  27. Red Sails In The Sunset [Overdub, Take 1] 2:10

Notes

Ray Sharpe's biggest and only hit, "Linda Lu," only made it to number46 on the Billboard charts and his music doesn't fit into any convenient categories. He is that anomaly of anomalies, an African-American who made records that sounded like a hillbilly doing rock & roll and pop tunes. Sharpe could pick some pretty bluesy guitar and had a way of vocalizing and stuttering and stretching out syllables with a twang that would have given even Jim Nabors a moment of pause. But producer Lee Hazlewood sure knew how to get the best out of him and rather than a compilation with one hit and a bunch of leftovers, we have a collection of diverse but cool material that deserves a much wider hearing. The sound on this disc is really clean and powerful, some of it in early true stereo, but it's the music that'll win hands down every time and that's the bottom line here. Maybe Ray Sharpe isn't in the Hall of Fame, but if you like Texas music with a distinct twist to it, this collection comes highly recommended.