Shotgun Boogie: Rhythm & Blues Goes Country, Vol.1

by Various Artists

Even casual music fans recognize the seismic impact rhythm and blues made on country music during the mid-1950s as a new generation of performers embraced rockabilly. Yet a reverse effect could also be evident, dating all the way back to the postwar era. After all, a great song was a great song, whether Wynonie Harris was belting Louis Innis' Good Morning Judge and Hank Penny's Bloodshot Eyes or The Griffin Brothers, Fat Man Robinson,and Sonny Knight were individually latching on to one Hank Williams classic or another to give them a snazzy R&B spin. That's the premise behind Bear Family's 29-song 'Shotgun Boogie - Rhythm & Blues Goes Country Vol. 1,' as both B.B. King and The Platters give Tennessee Ernie Ford's immortal smash Sixteen Tons contrasting readings that songwriter Merle Travis could never have envisioned, while the lusty Bull Moose Jackson unfurls his deep-toned pipes on three country classics from his deep catalog at King Records. Who would have ever expected Scatman Crothers, Smiley Lewis, and Joe Liggins to traffic in hillbilly covers, much less Lonnie 'Guitar Jr.' Brooks or boogie pianist Cecil Gant?But they're all here, eloquently illustrating the inexorable connection between R&B and C&W - albeit in the reverse direction from what the history books preach!