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Show 13: The Blues Piano Tradition

This is a piano show, plain and simple, but it is also a show about what the keyboard let blues players do. Barrelhouse thunder, rolling left hands, jazz harmony, and church memory all meet here in one long line of black-and-white keys.

Host Narration

I'm Ol' Mr. Read. Up first on our evening show, to fit along with our theme of Piano Blues, that is, songs whose oomph derives most clearly from the musicians' tinkles of the black and ivory keys, is Howlin' Wolf's "How Many More Years." Recorded in Memphis in 1951 by Sam Phillips, this track features Willie Johnson on guitar and, most notably, a young Ike Turner on the piano. Here it is.

38Tracks
33Artists
5Theme Tags
5Genre Tags
SeriesInstrument
Tagspiano bluesbarrelhouseboogie-woogiekeyboardurban blues
Genrespiano bluestraditional bluesblueschicago bluesnew orleans blues
Tracklist
#TrackArtist
1How Many More YearsHowlin' Wolf
2Have You Ever Been to Nashville?Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon with Pete Seeger
3I'm The WolfHowlin' Wolf
4Blue MondayFats Domino
5Hallelujah, I Love Her SoRay Charles
6Well All RightBig Joe Turner
7Sweet Home ChicagoHenry Townsend,Roosevelt Sykes
832-20 Blues bridgeRoosevelt Sykes
9The First Time I Met the Blues bridgeLittle Brother Montgomery
10Red River Dam BluesWashboard Sam
11Ain't Misbehavin'Zutty Singleton,Fats Waller
12Fats Waller's Original E Flat BluesFats Waller
13Ain't Nobody's BusinessOtis Spann
14Willow Weep for MeThe Johnny Watson Trio
15Original Jelly Roll BluesJelly Roll Morton
16Worried Life Blues bridgeBig Maceo
17Anna Lou Blues bridgeTampa Red
18It Hurts Me Too 📖 StoryTampa Red
19My ManBillie Holiday
20One For The HighwayJames Booker
21How Long BluesSpeckled Red
22Someday (Acoustic)Otis Spann
23Hard Feelings BluesChampion Jack Dupree
24Stack-O-LeeChampion Jack Dupree
25Papa's on the House TopLeroy Carr
26Tipitina bridgeProfessor Longhair
27Rockin' with Red bridgePiano Red
28Five Long YearsEddie Boyd
29Roll 'Em PeteBig Joe Turner
30Just a DreamBig Bill Broonzy
32Please Stop Playing These BluesJay McShann,Jimmy Witherspoon
33Sonny's BlueSonny Terry,Brownie McGhee
34Key to the HighwayJazz Gillum,Memphis Slim
35Take It Easy bridgePinetop Perkins
37Eyesight To The BlindMose Allison
38Rhapsody in BlueGeorge Gershwin,Paul Whiteman Dance Band,Paul Whiteman
Get Out Of My Life, WomanAllen Toussaint
Somebody Changed the LockDr. John