Worried Life Blues

Roy Brown reinvents Big Maceo's piano classic, infusing it with his trademark gospel-tinged vocal wails. Brown was a pioneer of the jump blues style, and his emotional, crying delivery heavily influenced B.B. King and James Brown. The brass section on this recording acts as a heavy counterweight to his voice, playing fat, sustained chords behind his acrobatic vocal runs. It's a strong example of how the New Orleans horn tradition reinterpreted standard blues repertoire with swing-era sophistication.