Spider Blues
| Spider Blues | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 1965 | |||
| Genre | Blues | |||
| Label | Elektra EKL-290 (mono) EKS-7290 (stereo) | |||
| "Spider" John Koerner chronology | ||||
| ||||
Spider Blues is the debut solo album by blues artist "Spider" John Koerner, released in 1965. He was a member of the loose-knit blues trio Koerner, Ray & Glover at the time of its release.
History
[edit]As a member of the blues trio Koerner, Ray & Glover, Koerner was recording on the Elektra label. While recording the trio's albums Lots More Blues, Rags and Hollers and The Return of Koerner, Ray & Glover, he recorded a number of solo tracks. These tracks were assembled into Koerner's debut solo album. He also appeared at the Newport Folk Festival that same year, accompanied by trio member Tony Glover.[1]
In his subsequent releases, his style changed as he turned from the blues to traditional folk music. In a 2000 interview, Koerner said, "I finally decided I was not a blues guy. How could I be? I was too young and too white, all that shit. So I took a year off and when I started playing again, I treated the subject in general as folk music. It's a new culture; it's not music being made on a back porch anymore."[2]
Spider Blues was reissued on CD in 2010 by Wounded Bird Records.
Reception
[edit]| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |   [3] |
| Jazz Monthly | (no rating)[4] |
In his 1965 Jazz Monthly review, music critic Albert McCarthy excoriated the album and wrote, "This is, without any doubt, one of the worst records I have had to review for many a long day. In a sleeve note notable for the inane quotes from Koerner himself, Paul Nelson of The Little Sandy Review, which I understand is one of the better folk publications, makes the remarkable claim that 'Koerner's art is like Chaplin's, as great and lasting as it is entertaining'. I nominate this as the most absurd remark of the year in the sleeve note field. In fact, Koerner is a passably competent guitarist, a poor harmonica player and a quite dreadful singer."[4]
On the other hand, in the mid-late 1960s radio station WBCN in Boston used to regularly play "Rent Party Rag" on the first of every month.
Track listing
[edit]All songs by John Koerner unless otherwise noted.
Side one
[edit]- "Good Luck Child" – 2:07
- "I Want to Be Your Partner" – 3:07
- "Nice Legs" – 2:27
- "Spider Blues" – 2:17
- "Corrina" – 3:15
- "Shortnin' Bread" (Traditional) – 2:08
- "Ramblin' and Tumblin'" – 3:12
- "Delia Holmes" (Traditional) – 2:54
Side two
[edit]- "Need a Woman" – 2:05
- "I Want to Do Something" – 3:35
- "Baby, Don't Come Back" – 2:39
- "Hal C. Blake" – 1:42
- "Things Ain't Right" – 3:30
- "Rent Party Rag" – 9:29
Personnel
[edit]- "Spider" John Koerner – guitar, harmonica, kazoo, vocals
- Tony "Little Sun" Glover – harmonica on "Good Luck Child", "Spider Blues", "Things Ain't Right"
- Paul Nelson – liner notes
References
[edit]- ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Allmusic biography of John Koerner". Retrieved May 8, 2010.
- ^ Sokol, Brett (January 28, 2000). "Ensnared in Spider's Blues". Miami NewTimes. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
- ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). "Koerner, 'Spider' John". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. New York: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. p. 899-900. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
- ^ a b McCarthy, Albert (1965). "Spider Blues > Review". Jazz Monthly.
External links
[edit]- Spider John Koerner in the UK Retrieved May 22, 2010.
- John Koerner discography