REVIEW - Billy Wright - "Goin' Down Slow" - SAVOY 870;OCTOBER 1952

https://www.spontaneouslunacy.net/billy-wright-goin-down-slow-savoy-870/#more-93927

YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSntcpaxjPA

SPONTANEOUS LUNACY VERDICT: 4/10

My favorite Billy Wright of the year- definite 7 for me

On 11/20/2023 8:47 AM, Roger Ford wrote:
> REVIEW - Billy Wright - "Goin' Down Slow" - SAVOY 870;OCTOBER 1952
>
> https://www.spontaneouslunacy.net/billy-wright-goin-down-slow-savoy-870/#more-93927
>
> YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSntcpaxjPA
>
> SPONTANEOUS LUNACY VERDICT: 4/10
>
> My favorite Billy Wright of the year- definite 7 for me
-----------
For me it's a decent reading but nowhere near the outstanding versions
by Ray Charles and Nappy Brown.

On Monday, November 20, 2023 at 8:47:37 AM UTC-5, Roger Ford wrote:
> REVIEW - Billy Wright - "Goin' Down Slow" - SAVOY 870;OCTOBER 1952
>
> https://www.spontaneouslunacy.net/billy-wright-goin-down-slow-savoy-870/#more-93927
>
> YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSntcpaxjPA
>
> SPONTANEOUS LUNACY VERDICT: 4/10
>
> My favorite Billy Wright of the year- definite 7 for me

I did not even know of this one, but it doesn't hit me like it does you. It's just a 5, and so are the other two Wright things I have from 1952.

On Mon, 20 Nov 2023 11:15:43 -0500, DianeE <DianeE@NoSpam.net> wrote:

>On 11/20/2023 8:47 AM, Roger Ford wrote:
>> REVIEW - Billy Wright - "Goin' Down Slow" - SAVOY 870;OCTOBER 1952
>>
>> https://www.spontaneouslunacy.net/billy-wright-goin-down-slow-savoy-870/#more-93927
>>
>> YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSntcpaxjPA
>>
>> SPONTANEOUS LUNACY VERDICT: 4/10
>>
>> My favorite Billy Wright of the year- definite 7 for me
>-----------
>For me it's a decent reading but nowhere near the outstanding versions
>by Ray Charles and Nappy Brown.

Nappy Brown - Going Down Slow [Live in Sweden] - 1983
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1G2KjWsZVc
Vocals - Nappy Brown
Guitar - Knut Reiersrud
Bass - Bertil Pettersson
Drums - Karsten Loly
Piano - Per "Slim" Notini
Tenor saxophone - Jan Lööf
Trombone - Fredrik John
Trumpet - Willie Cook

NAPPY BROWN's early heyday in the 1950s:

Nobody sounded much like Nappy Brown during the mid-'50s. Exotically
rolling his consonants with sing-song impunity (allegedly, Savoy
Records boss *Herman Lubinsky thought Brown was singing in Yiddish*),
bellowing the blues with gospel-inspired ferocity, Brown rode rock &
roll's first wave for a few glorious years before his records stopped
selling. But in the early '80s, Brown seemingly rose from the dead to
stage a comeback bid. He became ensconced once again as a venerable
blues veteran who'd stop at nothing (including rolling around the
stage in sexual simulation) to enthrall his audience.

Napoleon Brown's sanctified screams come naturally -- he grew up in
Charlotte, NC, singing gospel as well as blues. He was fronting a
spiritual aggregation, the Heavenly Lights, who were signed to the
roster of Newark, NJ's Savoy Records when Lubinsky convinced the
leather-lunged shouter to cross the secular line in 1954. Voilà, Nappy
Brown the R&B singer was born.

Brown brought hellfire intensity to his blues-soaked Savoy debut, "Is
It True," but it was "Don't Be Angry" the next year that caused his
fortunes to skyrocket. The sizzling rocker sported loads of Brown's
unique vocal gimmicks and a hair-raising tenor sax solo by Sam "The
Man" Taylor, becoming his first national smash. Those onboard New York
session aces didn't hurt the overall ambience of Brown's Savoy dates
-- Taylor's scorching horn further enlivened "Open Up That Door,"
while Budd Johnson or Al Sears took over on other equally raucous
efforts. Novelty-tinged upbeat items such as "Little by Little" and
"Piddily Patter Patter" defined Brown's output, but his throat-busting
turn on the 1957 blues number "The Right Time" (borrowed by Ray
Charles in short order) remains a highlight of Brown's early heyday.

On Mon, 20 Nov 2023 12:04:08 -0500, RWC <letsrock@opbox.com> wrote:

>On Mon, 20 Nov 2023 11:15:43 -0500, DianeE <DianeE@NoSpam.net> wrote:
>
>>On 11/20/2023 8:47 AM, Roger Ford wrote:
>>> REVIEW - Billy Wright - "Goin' Down Slow" - SAVOY 870;OCTOBER 1952
>>>
>>> https://www.spontaneouslunacy.net/billy-wright-goin-down-slow-savoy-870/#more-93927
>>>
>>> YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSntcpaxjPA
>>>
>>> SPONTANEOUS LUNACY VERDICT: 4/10
>>>
>>> My favorite Billy Wright of the year- definite 7 for me
>>-----------
>>For me it's a decent reading but nowhere near the outstanding versions
>>by Ray Charles and Nappy Brown.
>
>Nappy Brown - Going Down Slow [Live in Sweden] - 1983
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1G2KjWsZVc

This track was from this album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXZ321AaE5g

On Mon, 20 Nov 2023 11:15:43 -0500, DianeE <DianeE@NoSpam.net> wrote:

>On 11/20/2023 8:47 AM, Roger Ford wrote:
>> REVIEW - Billy Wright - "Goin' Down Slow" - SAVOY 870;OCTOBER 1952
>>
>> https://www.spontaneouslunacy.net/billy-wright-goin-down-slow-savoy-870/#more-93927
>>
>> YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSntcpaxjPA
>>
>-----------
>For me it's a decent reading but nowhere near the outstanding versions
>by Ray Charles and Nappy Brown.

Ray Charles Trio - I've Had My Fun {Going Down Slow} [Swing Time 215]
- 1949
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxtVFACfCe8

On 11/20/2023 12:13 PM, RWC wrote:
> On Mon, 20 Nov 2023 12:04:08 -0500, RWC <letsrock@opbox.com> wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 20 Nov 2023 11:15:43 -0500, DianeE <DianeE@NoSpam.net> wrote:
>>
>>> On 11/20/2023 8:47 AM, Roger Ford wrote:
>>>> REVIEW - Billy Wright - "Goin' Down Slow" - SAVOY 870;OCTOBER 1952
>>>>
>>>> https://www.spontaneouslunacy.net/billy-wright-goin-down-slow-savoy-870/#more-93927
>>>>
>>>> YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSntcpaxjPA
>>>>
>>>> SPONTANEOUS LUNACY VERDICT: 4/10
>>>>
>>>> My favorite Billy Wright of the year- definite 7 for me
>>> -----------
>>> For me it's a decent reading but nowhere near the outstanding versions
>>> by Ray Charles and Nappy Brown.
>>
>> Nappy Brown - Going Down Slow [Live in Sweden] - 1983
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1G2KjWsZVc
>
> This track was from this album:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXZ321AaE5g
------------
Okay, but this is the 1962 version I was referring to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73jw4lkXGlA

(Note same song different title.)

On 11/20/2023 12:04 PM, RWC wrote:
>[Nappy] Brown rode rock &
> roll's first wave for a few glorious years before his records stopped
> selling. But in the early '80s, Brown seemingly rose from the dead to
> stage a comeback bid. He became ensconced once again as a venerable
> blues veteran who'd stop at nothing (including rolling around the
> stage in sexual simulation) to enthrall his audience.
--------
Nappy Brown died in 2008 at age 78. About a year before that we saw him
live at a venue in Teaneck, NJ. It was a great show, and despite
looking skinny and frail he did indeed perform the
rolling-around-the-stage maneuver. Time had not dampened his voice,
either. So glad we got to see him.

On Mon, 20 Nov 2023 05:47:17 -0800 (PST), Roger Ford
<mariabus@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:

>REVIEW - Billy Wright - "Goin' Down Slow" - SAVOY 870;OCTOBER 1952
>
>https://www.spontaneouslunacy.net/billy-wright-goin-down-slow-savoy-870/#more-93927
>
>YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSntcpaxjPA
>
>SPONTANEOUS LUNACY VERDICT: 4/10
>
>My favorite Billy Wright of the year- definite 7 for me

there are also versions/readings (which Geoff has as mp3s) by:

Ray Charles Trio - I've Had My Fun [Swing Time 215] - 1949
Nappy Brown - I've Had My Fun [Savoy 1616] - 1963
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg2tuOPEFN0
Howlin' Wolf
Aretha Franklin [Atlantic]
Michael Bloomfield (60s blues)
Champion Jack Dupree with Brownie McGhee ('45-'46)
St. Louis Jimmy - rec. Nov 11, 1941, Chicago
Joe Hill Louis - Going Down Slow [Modern 20-828] - 1951
B.B. King - 1959 (slow tempo) and 1962 takes
Guitar Slim [Specialty Unissued] - rec. Dec 12, 1955
Luke Jones (1946-1949)
Little Walter [Checker unissued] - possibly rec. Dec 1959, Chicago
Muddy Waters
Bobby Blue Bland - 1974
James Cotton {with harmonica}
Billy Wright [Savoy 870] - 1952
Bo Diddley with Muddy Waters {slow tempo blues}
Davy Graham
Memphis Slim
Lightnin' Hopkins

On Mon, 20 Nov 2023 13:07:08 -0500, DianeE <DianeE@NoSpam.net> wrote:

>On 11/20/2023 12:13 PM, RWC wrote:
>> On Mon, 20 Nov 2023 12:04:08 -0500, RWC <letsrock@opbox.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On Mon, 20 Nov 2023 11:15:43 -0500, DianeE <DianeE@NoSpam.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 11/20/2023 8:47 AM, Roger Ford wrote:
>>>>> REVIEW - Billy Wright - "Goin' Down Slow" - SAVOY 870;OCTOBER 1952
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.spontaneouslunacy.net/billy-wright-goin-down-slow-savoy-870/#more-93927
>>>>>
>>>>> YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSntcpaxjPA
>>>>>
>>>>> SPONTANEOUS LUNACY VERDICT: 4/10
>>>>>
>>>>> My favorite Billy Wright of the year- definite 7 for me
>>>> -----------
>>>> For me it's a decent reading but nowhere near the outstanding versions
>>>> by Ray Charles and Nappy Brown.
>>>
>>> Nappy Brown - Going Down Slow [Live in Sweden] - 1983
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1G2KjWsZVc
>>
>> This track was from this album:
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXZ321AaE5g
>------------
>Okay, but this is the 1962 version I was referring to:
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73jw4lkXGlA
>
Sorry, Diane, I did not discover this until I later searched thru
my mp3s for variations on the song title.

Here are my ratings on the versions I have.

Howlin' Wolf - 7
Little Walter (Going Down Slow) - 7
St. Louis Jimmy - 6
Nappy Brown - 6
Ray Charles - 6
Aretha Franklin - 6
Little Walter - (I've Had My Fun) - 6
Billy Wright - 5

On Monday, 20 November 2023 at 20:15:36 UTC, Bruce wrote:
> Here are my ratings on the versions I have.

Here's my ten favorites of the ones I have : -

Howlin' Wolf - 8
Little Walter (I've Had My Fun) - 8
Nappy Brown - 7
Aretha Franklin - 7
Little Sonny - 7
St Louis Jimmy - 7
Jack Dupree - 7
Billy Wright - 7
Ray Charles - 6
Joe Hill Louis - 6