Search - J.B. Lenoir :: Mojo Boogie: An Essential Collection

Although faded into obscurity, J.B. Lenoir is a legend among hard-core blues fans, mostly for his wealth of protest numbers, such as "Eisenhower Blues" and "Vietnam Blues." But this collection ably focuses on the lighter, lesser-known side of the Chicago singer-guitarist's music: romping boogies and love songs that highlight the playful qualities of his high, almost feminine voice and even higher spirits. His early 1950s hits like "Let's Roll," "The Mojo" (later renamed "The Mojo Boogie" by Johnny Winter), and "I Feel So Good" are party classics. The first two are pure Lenoir--guitar bass notes churning out a boogie feel that underpins the arching phrases of his voice, which trembles with vibrato at its most fevered. "I Feel So Good" swings and jumps, thanks to its brisk tempo and the interplay between Lenoir's quick-chording guitar work and Jarrett Gibson's honking baritone sax. "I Sing Um the Way I Feel" does more than any of this disc's multiple takes of "The Mojo" and "Let's Roll" to prove Lenoir's versatility. He uses bongos to give the song an Afro-Cuban feel and alternates bursts of single-note melodies, bass figures, and choppy blues-jazz chords on guitar to play counterpoint to the beat and in response to his vocal lines. This collection is a reminder that Lenoir's musical and songwriting abilities were clearly topnotch, and he would have attained greater fame if he hadn't died, at age 38, after an auto accident in 1967. --Ted Drozdowski