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REISSUES: NEW THEN. NEW AGAIN
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Vee-Jay: The Definitive Collection
Shout Factory
The contributions made by artists who re
corded for the long-defunct Vee-Jay Records
imprint have generally taken a back seat to those
made by the roster of fellow influential Chicago
label Chess Records. However, as exemplified by
the four-disc box set Vee-Jay:
The Definitive Collection, at
one time Vee-Jay possessed
a talent roster every bit as
powerful and distinct as its
more familiar competitor.
Vee-Jay was the first U.S.
label to license the Beatles'
recordings and, likely due
to cost concerns, the Fab
Four are about the only
"name" Vee-Jay act that
doesn't appear on the set.
Spanning the label's 13-year
run from 1953 to 1966, the
86-track collection pairs up-
and-coming bluesmen with
gospel veterans, street-corner
doo-woppers with obscure
funk pioneers, many of whom
produced a litany of smash
singles for the label.
The set's first disc focuses
on the dapper, uptown brand
of blues and R&B that inau
gurated Vee-Jay during the
early '50s with such suave
sides as Jimmy Reed's "You Oon't Have To Go"
and The Dells' prom-night anthem "Oh, What a
Night." As discs two and three progress, the out
put gets a shot in the arm as the performances
and arrangements become looser, more uninhibit
ed and more distinctive. Shakin' blues from John
Lee Hooker ("Dimples," "Boom Boom"), Elmore
James and Reed appear, as do cuts from soul
shouters like Pee Wee Crayton ("The Telephone
Is Ringing") and the rich Southern gospel of the
Staple Singers and The Original 5 Blind Boys of
Mississippi.
Few label retrospective box sets are as
sembled with the attention to individual style
and diversity seen here. Also included is a
heavy-stock book of
rare photos, researched
liner notes from music
scholar Gerald Early
and individual track/
recording notes. From
well-known slices like
Hooker's "Boom Boom"
and Reed's "Big Boss
Man" to lesser-heards
like Joe Simon's exhila
rating "Let's Do It Over"
and Sheriff & The Revel's
nonsense doo-wop
anthem "Shambalor,"
it paints a broad and
substantial portrait of
the Chi-Town stomping
grounds trod by a stable of future greats along
side just as many used-to-bes that are well worth
remembering.
WAYLON JENNINGS &
THE WAYMORE BLUES BAND
Never Say Die: The Complete Final Concert
RCA / Legacy
ances. Recorded at Nashville's hallowed Rymar
Auditorium, the show paired Jennings with a new
cast of session players that he'd enlisted.
Now released as a resequenced two-CD-plus-
DVD set, the complete Never Say Die unfortu
nately does little to add depth to the Jennings
catalog. By the time it was recorded, much of
Jennings' live repertoire was centered around
covers and material penned by others. Guests like
John Anderson, Montgomery Gentry, Travis Tritt
and wife Jessi Colter join
in along the way, providing
such up moments as Jennings
and Anderson's wily duet on
"Waymore's Blues."
Still, especially now in
flated to two discs, much of
the rousing set ultimately
falls flat. Whether it's the
precision sheen of the
Waymore Blues Band—no
easy substitute for the classic
grit of the steel guitar-guid
ed Waylors—or the fact that
Jennings was nearing the
end of his run as a performer,
the complete Never Say Die is
spotty, and drags particularly
during its final half.
That doesn't mean Waylon
was phoning 'em all in, how
ever. His inimitable voice
commands the sultry "Shakin'
The Blues" and, here, "I've
Always Been Crazy" sounds
more like an old hellraiser
looking back and cackling,
rather than a young buck thumbing his nose at
everything. The set's DVD component breathes
more life into the performances as it's tough to
gloss over seeing Jennings command the old Opry
stage from a center chair—looking tired and sit
ting down, but far from down for the count.
SEBADOH
The Freed Man: Expanded Edition
Domino
The seminal Sebadoh's maiden voyage offers
the skewered personalities of Lou Barlow and
Eric Gaffney (third member Jason Lowenstein
had yet to join) con
gealing, while tossing
mental fragments and
half-ideas against the
wall to see what sticks.
At 52 tracks (upped
from the previous 32),
the revamped The Freed
Man chucks the 'Doh's
homemade debut into
the proverbial Cuisinart
by reshuffling the track
order, adding some new
selections, deleting oth
ers and generally making
a mess of the whole af
fair. But, those who dig
deep enough beneath
the minute-and-a-half shards o f shrapnel will be
justly compensated for their effort.
Freed Man was originally a slapdash cassette
that sold sparsely; do-it-yourself is practically
etched all over the thing. Somewhere along the
way, a disheveled-but-enlightening band was
formed. The deluxe Freed Man presents a greatly
added-onto precursor of better things to come,
as well as Sebadoh's gestational period, womb
exit and afterbirth all wrapped into one.
Originally released in 2000 as an abridged sin
gle disc, Never Say Die was the final live release
from legendary country outlaw Waylon Jennings,
as well as one of Jennings' last public appear-
Michael Andrews
Redux Nation is a monthly column focusing on album
reissues, repackagings and box sets.
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