Cousin Joe The Complete Recordings 1945 - 1947 Vol. 1
Label : Blue Moon
Release Date: 1995
Format : Flac



Cousin Joe (December 20, 1907 — October 2,1989) was an American blues and jazz singer, later famous for his 1940s recordings with clarinetist Sidney Bechet and saxophonist Mezz Mezzrow. His birth name was Pleasant Joseph and he was born in Wallace, Louisiana, United States. He died in his sleep from natural causes in New Orleans, at the age of 81

Under his own name and a whole host of aliases, including Cousin Joe, Smiling Joe, Pleasant Joe, and Brother Joshua, combined country blues piano with just a bit of New Orleans jazz, and coupled with his everyman voice, which managed to convey a wink and a grin in just about every inflection, he maintained an impressive balance between sounding down-home and uptown, even splitting his time between New Orleans and New York as if to geographically seal the deal

On this CD is compiled his first recordings made in 1945 and 1946 for the King Jazz, Savoy, and Gothic labels. Today Joe is greatly overlooked amongst New Orleans music talent.

Tracklist :
1. Broken Man Blues
2. New Jailhouse Blues
Cousin Joe (vocals), Sammy Price (piano)
Recorded NYC March 27 1945

3. Levee Blues
4. Layin' My Rules Blues
5. Bad, Bad Baby Blues
6. Bad, Bad Baby Blues
7. Saw Mill Man Blues
Cousin Joe (vocals), Oran “Hot Lips” Page (trumpet), Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow (clarinet),
Sidney Bechet (soprano sax), Sammy Price (piano), Danny Barker (guitar)
George “Pops” Foster (bass), Sid Catlett (drums)
Recorded NYC July 31 1945

8. Post War Future Blues
9. Larceny Hearted Woman
10. Just Another Woman
11. My Love Comes Tumblin' Down
Cousin Joe (vocals), Dick Vance (trumpet), Al Sears (tenor sax), Harry Carney (bass)
Leonard Feather (piano), Jimmy Shirley (guitar),
Lloyd Trotman (bass), J C Heard (drums)
Recorded NYC October 5 1945

12. Wedding Day Blues
13. Desperate G.I. Blues
14. You Got It Comin' To You
15. Boogie Woogie Hannah
Cousin Joe (vocals), Leonard Hawkins (trumpet), Pete Brown (alto sax), Ray Abrams (tenor sax), Kenny Watts (piano), Jimmy Shirley (guitar),
Leonard Gaskin (bass), Arthur Herbert (drums)
Recorded NYC February 13 1946

16. You Ain't So Such-A-Much
17. Fly Hen Blues
18. Lonesome Man Blues
19. Little Eva
Cousin Joe (vocals), Tony Scott (clarinet), Earl Bostic (alto sax), Ernie Washington (piano)
Pops Foster (bass),Jimmy Shirley (guitar), J C Heard (drums)
Recorded NYC circa March 1946

20. Baby, You Don't Know It All
21. The Barefoot Boy
Cousin Joe (vocals), Tony Scott (clarinet), Lemon Oler (trumpet), Earl Bostic (alto sax),
John Hardee (tenor sax), George Parker (piano), Jimmy Shirley (guitar),
Jimmy Jones (bass), Eddie Nicholson (drums)
Recorded NYC circa June 1946