{"title":"Sonny Terry \u0026 Brownie McGhee","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe joyous whoop that Sonny Terry naturally emitted between raucous harp blasts was as distinctive a signature sound as can possibly be imagined. Only a handful of blues harmonica players wielded as much of a lasting influence on the genre as did the sightless Terry (Buster Brown, for one, copied the whoop and all), who recorded some fine urban blues as a bandleader in addition to serving as guitarist Brownie McGhee's longtime duet partner.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSaunders Terrell's father was a folk-styled harmonica player who performed locally at dances, but blues wasn't part of his repertoire (he blew reels and jigs). Terry wasn't born blind -- he lost sight in one eye when he was five, the other at age 18. That left him with extremely limited options for making any sort of feasible living, so he took to the streets armed with his trusty harmonicas. Terry soon joined forces with Piedmont pioneer Blind Boy Fuller, first recording with the guitarist in 1937 for Vocalion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTerry's unique talents were given an extremely classy airing in 1938 when he was invited to perform at New York's Carnegie Hall at the fabled From Spirituals to Swing concert. He recorded for the Library of Congress that same year and cut his first commercial sides in 1940. Terry had met McGhee in 1939, and upon the death of Fuller, they joined forces, playing together on a 1941 McGhee date for OKeh and settling in New York as a duo in 1942. There they broke into the folk scene, working alongside Lead Belly, Josh White, and Woody Guthrie.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile Brownie McGhee was incredibly prolific in the studio during the mid-'40s, Terry was somewhat less so as a leader (perhaps most of his time was occupied by his prominent role in Finian's Rainbow on Broadway for approximately two years beginning in 1946). There were sides for Asch and Savoy in 1944 before three fine sessions for Capitol in 1947 (the first two featuring Stick McGhee rather than Brownie on guitar) and another in 1950.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was the folk boom of the late '50s and early '60s that made Brownie and Sonny household names (at least among folk aficionados). They toured long and hard as a duo, cutting a horde of endearing acoustic duet LPs along the way, before scuttling their decades-long partnership amidst a fair amount of reported acrimony during the mid-'70s. -Bill Dahl\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"walk-on-2","title":"Walk On","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlthough Sonny Terry \u0026amp; Brownie McGhee had a stormy, tempestuous relationship at times, they recorded more than their share of great Piedmont blues during their many years as a duo. Terry and McGhee parted company in the mid-'70s, but Walk On (which Just a Memory\/Justin Time reissued on CD in 2005) finds the two of them reunited on-stage at the Rising Sun Festijazz in Montreal, Quebec, on July 22, 1980 (when Terry was 68 and McGhee was 64).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd despite all of the well-publicized friction that sometimes existed between them in the '60s and '70s, Terry and McGhee don't sound like they are unhappy to be reunited on this 55-minute disc -- not at all. In fact, the two of them enjoy a strong rapport during a six-song set that includes performances of \"Good Morning Blues,\" \"Walk On,\" and \"I'm Gonna Get on My Feets After a While\" (which is a perfect example of why the Terry \u0026amp; McGhee twosome was highly regarded in both blues and folk circles).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWalk On isn't strictly a Terry \u0026amp; McGhee release; while half of the CD is devoted to them, the other half consists of three selections by Lightnin' Hopkins and three by Louisiana Red (who is in good form on \"I'm a King Bee\" and \"Sweet Home Chicago\"). And it is interesting to note the stylistic differences between the artists -- you have Piedmont blues from Terry \u0026amp; McGhee, Texas blues from Hopkins, and a Louisiana-meets-Chicago approach from Louisiana Red.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sonny Terry \u0026 Brownie McGhee","offers":[{"title":"Digital Download","offer_id":39463962443936,"sku":"0068944915552","price":9.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":39463971881120,"sku":"","price":15.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0537\/8477\/2768\/products\/cd97e5c6-546b-45a6-83f1-6f5eea98610c7385638309243026154-LARGE_61ee0d5f-7024-4aff-b194-4dab83bd1400.jpg?v=1615686327"},{"product_id":"live-at-the-new-penelope-cafe-1","title":"Live at The New Penelope Café","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIt sometimes seems like there are about 90 live albums by \u003c\/span\u003eSonny Terry\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e and Brownie McGhee, all from the 1960s. This one, taped at a show in Montreal in 1967, stands out from the rest because the duo are in unusually lively form, and its having been recorded in a more raw than usual manner. As with other releases in this Canadian-taped series by \u003c\/span\u003eMichael Nerenberg\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e, it's possible that the duo weren't even thinking about the fact that they were being recorded, and so were less stiff and formal than they could sometimes sound playing in front of white collegiate audiences.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe result is a record a bit louder and noisier, but also more exciting than most of their other live albums -- the voices mesh together a bit rougher and more honestly than they do on some of their other live releases. The sound is clean mono, with the audience present but not overly obtrusive, and the repertory includes \"Cornbread, Peas and Black Molasses,\" \"Sportin' Life,\" \"Easy Rider,\" \"Pack It Up and Go,\" \"Hooray Hooray (These Women Is Killing Me),\" Champion Jack Dupree's \"Under Your Hood,\" and a medley of stuff like the Broonzy\/Segar \"Key to the Highway\" and \u003c\/span\u003eLeroy Carr's\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \"In the Evening.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sonny Terry \u0026 Brownie McGhee","offers":[{"title":"Digital Download","offer_id":39463984890016,"sku":"0068944830459","price":9.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":39464000258208,"sku":"","price":15.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0537\/8477\/2768\/products\/88c0a632-7220-470c-a75d-782439b366fc16471636667778689795-LARGE_14e84805-1cd4-45d8-b5cf-e446a3b4fa5b.jpg?v=1617042532"},{"product_id":"live-at-the-new-penelope-cafe-vinyl-lp","title":"Live at The New Penelope Café - Vinyl LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIt sometimes seems like there are about 90 live albums by \u003c\/span\u003eSonny Terry\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e and Brownie McGhee, all from the 1960s. This one, taped at a show in Montreal in 1967, stands out from the rest because the duo are in unusually lively form, and its having been recorded in a more raw than usual manner. As with other releases in this Canadian-taped series by \u003c\/span\u003eMichael Nerenberg\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e, it's possible that the duo weren't even thinking about the fact that they were being recorded, and so were less stiff and formal than they could sometimes sound playing in front of white collegiate audiences.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe result is a record a bit louder and noisier, but also more exciting than most of their other live albums -- the voices mesh together a bit rougher and more honestly than they do on some of their other live releases. The sound is clean mono, with the audience present but not overly obtrusive, and the repertory includes \"Cornbread, Peas and Black Molasses,\" \"Sportin' Life,\" \"Easy Rider,\" \"Pack It Up and Go,\" \"Hooray Hooray (These Women Is Killing Me),\" Champion Jack Dupree's \"Under Your Hood,\" and a medley of stuff like the Broonzy\/Segar \"Key to the Highway\" and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.justin-time.com\/en\/album\/8\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\" data-mce-href=\"http:\/\/www.justin-time.com\/en\/album\/8\"\u003eLeroy Carr's\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \"In the Evening.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sonny Terry \u0026 Brownie McGhee","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl LP","offer_id":39730966364320,"sku":"","price":29.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0537\/8477\/2768\/products\/88c0a632-7220-470c-a75d-782439b366fc16471636667778689795-LARGE_29e81047-0d7a-4f31-9da1-4b10e8b071f9.jpg?v=1618322957"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0537\/8477\/2768\/collections\/picArtist328.jpg?v=1616440732","url":"https:\/\/justin-time-records.myshopify.com\/collections\/sonny-terry-brownie-mcghee.oembed","provider":"Justin Time Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}