The Side Street Steppers from Memphis, Tennessee have a new CD out, and it's a real doozy!
The album takes it's name from a lyric in the track that kicks the record off, Pink Anderson and Simmie Dooley's April 14, 1928 hokum classic, "Papa?s About To Get Mad." From there we travel all around the pre-war genres - there's trad jazz and a Dixieland number, lots of classic blues, Western Swing, a few filddle-less fiddle tunes, and of course some country blues for you Weenies. We do an uptempo version of Bukka White's "Jitterbug Swing," and down low rendition of "Mississippi Heavy Water Blues" by Barbecue Bob. I also play slide 5-string banjo on our take of Robert Johnson's "32-20 Blues." The Steppers are joined on this recording by Madison, Wisconsin powerhouse Christo Ruppenthal, who has laid aside his standard Macaferi gypsy jazz guitar to pick up a National Tricone and add jazz-influenced licks to all but a couple tracks on the record. We even put a couple Western Swing numbers on the record: "Hey, Good Lookin'" and the Cindy Walker classic "Miss Molly." Classis blues songs include Bessie Smith's "Gin House Blues" and "Haunted House Blues." We borrowed "A Guy What Takes His Time" from Mae West's repertoire, and both Logan County and Carroll County lent blues tunes. My wife knocks it out of the park on vocals and ukulele with "I Wanna Be Loved By You," and Emily does the same on Dinah Washington's "Long John Blues."
All in all, just an awesome recording project, and the best news is that you can listen to the record in its entirety, all 16 tracks, FOR FREE on our website. The liner notes are attached to each song, so you can even read while you listen Here's the link to the record:
http://www.sidestreetsteppers.com/music/the-sweetest-peaches-dont-grow-on-trees/If you then decide you must have your own personal copy, I should have the Paypal button working within the next day or two. In the meantime, enjoy the music!
