VARIOUS ARTISTS
Swing Party! (Music Club)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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On Swing Party!, Music Club mines the catalog of Swing Time Records, an LA based label that, through the brilliance of Jack Lauderdale, acquired rights in the 1950s to a long list of titles by some of the top names in the jump blues arena. Among those on hand for this recorded soiree are Big Jay McNeely, Johnny Otis, Charles Brown, Floyd Dixon and Jimmy Witherspoon. There are other names, some just as renowned and some just rediscovered, among the 15 tracks assembled for this collection, but the common thread is the up tempo, high spirited party time spirit that each cut reveals.

The audio fidelity is, frankly, not much more than you'd expect from a collection of vintage 45s on a vintage Wurlitzer jukebox, but since that's the way most people were originally exposed to these tunes, that's a perfectly appropriate to hear and appreciate them today. The Swing Time label was closed down in 1954, so the opportunity to capitalize on the rock 'n roll boom that this music was the gateway to was missed, but thankfully you don't have to miss any of these classic sounds.

There's nothing "neo" about this stuff, but it swings so hard that it will swing you off your seat and onto the dance floor every time you put it on.

Track List: Big Jay McNeely/Blow Big Jay * Joe Swift with Johnny Otis/ Alligator Meat * Joe Liggins/Drippers Boogie (Part 1) * Earl Jackson/ Take Out The Squeal (If You Want A Meal) * Sylvester Mike/Fish House Boogie * Charles Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers/Juke Box Lil * Johnny Crawford/Texas Woman * Floyd Dixon with Eddie Williams & His Brown Buddies/Red Head 'n' Cadillac * Felix Gross/F.G. Boogie * Jimmy Witherspoon/Lush Head Woman * Lowell Fulsom/I Love My Baby * Elroy Peace/Onion Breath Baby * Jack McVea/Swing Man * Jimmy McCracklin/House Rockin' Blues * Jim Wynn/Blow Wynn Blow

© 1999 - Shaun Dale