Cat. No. 2723: BOBBY "BLUE" BLAND ~ IT'S MY LIFE, BABY. JASMINE JASCD564.

BOBBY “BLUE” BLAND WAS BORN IN THE SMALL TOWN OF ROSEMARK, TENNESSEE IN 1930. LATER HE MOVED WITH HIS MOTHER TO MEMPHIS AND STARTED SINGING WITH LOCAL GOSPEL GROUPS. HIS IDOL IN THE LATE 1940s WAS SINGER ROY BROWN AND THIS LED HIM TO PURSUE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE SECULAR WORLD WHERE HE BEGAN FREQUENTING THE CITY’S FAMOUS BEALE STREET WHERE HE BECAME ASSOCIATED WITH A GROUP OF ASPIRING MUSICAL TEENAGERS INCLUDING, B.B. KING, JUNIOR PARKER, JOHNNY ACE AND ROSCOE GORDON. SHORTLY AFTER SAM PHILLIPS OPENED HIS MEMPHIS RECORDING SERVICES BOBBY WAS DISCOVERED BY PHILLIPS’ TALENT SCOUT, IKE TURNER. BOBBY’S FIRST RECORDING WAS A DUET WITH ROSCOE GORDON PLACED ON THE B-SIDE OF GORDON’S HIT SINGLE RELEASED ON THE CHESS LABEL CALLED, “CRYING” WHICH WAS A MASTER LEASED FROM PHILLIPS. BOBBY “BLUE” BLAND RECORDED FOR SEVERAL LABELS OVER THE YEARS AND DESPITE HIS STATURE AS ONE OF AMERICA’S PREMIER VOCALISTS HE NEVER REALLY ENJOYED WIDESPREAD POPULAR FAME ON A DOMESTIC LEVEL LET ALONE INTERNATIONALLY. ALTHOUGH HIS EARLIEST RECORDINGS WERE CUT IN MEMPHIS SURROUNDED BY THE CITY’S YOUNG AND ASPIRING BLUES TALENT HE NEVER BECAME POPULAR WITH INTERNATIONAL BLUES CIRCLES WHEN BLUES BECAME AN INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON IN THE EARLY ‘60s. BLAND QUICKLY EMBRACED HIS GOSPEL BACKGROUND AND CAN NOW BE SEEN ALONGSIDE SAM COOKE, RAY CHARLES AND JAMES BROWN AS ONE OF THE PIONEERS OF WHAT WOULD BE KNOWN BY THE EARLY ‘60S AS “SOUL” MUSIC. BOBBY CONTINUED PERFORMING UNTIL SHORTLY BEFORE HIS DEATH IN 2013.  EXCELLENT BLUES AND SOUL*****

TRACK LISTING: DISC 1 – Love You Till The Day I Die / Crying All Night Long / Dry Up Baby / Love My Baby / Drifting From Town To Town / Good Lovin’ / I.O.U. Blues / Lovin’ Blues / No Blow No Show / Army Blues / Wise Man Blues / Lost Lover Blues / Honey Bee / It’s My Life / Time Out / You Or None / I Woke Up Screaming / A Million Miles From Nowhere / You’ve Got Bad Intentions / I Can’t Put you Down.

DISC 2 – I Don’t Believe / I Learned My Lesson / I Smell Trouble / Don’t Want No Woman / Sometime Tomorrow / Further On Up The Road / Bobby’s Blues / Teach Me How To Love You / Loan A Helping Hand / You Got Me (Where You Want Me) / Last Night / Little Boy Blue / You Did Me Wrong / I Lost Sight Of The World / I’m Not Ashamed / Wishing Well / Is It Real / Someday / That’s Why / I’ll Take Care Of You / Hold Me Tenderly / Lead Me On / Cry Cry Cry / I’ve Been Wrong For So Long / I Pity The Fool / Close To You.

2CD SET