Search - Various Artists :: Poor Man's Heaven: Blues & Tales Depression

Exellent cd in a terrific series... Secret History Of R&R!

Rockabilly-Philly16 | RIVERSIDE, CA | 05/17/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The entire series is exellent, and it features great and well known blues artists as well as obscure and forgotten ones, who either influenced rock'n'rollers of another generation, or performed songs that rock'n'rollers covered in the 60's onward. These recordings are generally from the 20's all the way to just before WWII. This particular cd in the When The Sun Goes Down(Bluebird) series, is titled Poor Man's Heaven-The Secret Histry Of rok'n'roll, and thsi cd differs from all the others, in taht is is primarlily white artists and vaudeville entertainers, with the acception of Sonny Boy Williamson and several other blues artists. These recordings all have to do with the great depression and the stock market crash of 1929. Great hot dancebands liek the High Hatters are here doing peppy and energetic versions of "Ten Cents A Dance" also there are some rural country artists and fiddlers, thsi cd has a veriety of unique and obscure eprformances, all are very intriguing. This cd makes a great listening from beginning to end, and si worhty of repeated listenings. From the opening spoken dialouge by Eddie Cantor to the calypso oriented ending song. A well done cd, that makes one realize that rock'n'roll didn't just happen overnight with elvis in 1955! And belive me thsi isn't just a collevtion for old people or people over 30 years old, I'm 16 and a huge rockabilyl fan, and I love this cd and the series, so I thin kit's geared towards younger generations, but evreyone will enjoy it, my Grandpa loves it, and so do my parents and friends. cool music!!!"

Hard Times In Babylon, Again

Alfred Johnson | boston, ma | 03/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Banks are failing. Stock markets are in a nose dive. Unemployment is way up. Housing values are headed toward the floor. More and more people are seeking welfare and food stamps. Consumers are "tightening their belts" waiting for the other show to fall. And that is only the grim news on an average day. Other days ratchet up the doom and gloom from there. Oh, you thought I was talking about today's headlines. No I am referring to the Great Depression of the 1930's which in song is the subject matter of this CD review. Does sound familiar though, doesn't it? The only thing I haven't heard about lately is "Bushvilles" or "Obamavilles" to replace the "Hooverville" shanty towns of the 1930's. But they could be on the way.



Even in the worst of times, at least to this reviewer's understanding of the human endeavor, people have turned to song to relieve what ails them. Sometimes, as some selection here, it could be with a funny twist on the idiocy of the markets like old time comedian Eddie Cantor's "Tips On The Stock Market" or Frank Crumit's "Tale Of The Ticker". Sometimes it could be the pathos expressed in "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?' or "Remember My Forgotten Man"



Other times it can be ironic as on "Hallelujah, I'm A Bum" or the title track "Poor Man's Heaven". Or it can express social or personal reality like "Raising The Rent", "Ten Cents A Dance" or "The Farm Relief Song". And sometimes, it can express just pure desperation or frustration as in Alfred Reed's "How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live?', Daddy Stovepipe's "35 Depression" or Joe Stone's "It's Hard Time". Yes, we need our songs to get us through but here is the kicker. It's not enough. We cannot sing these bad time blues away. For that we need to take social action. By and for ourselves. But that is a question for another day. Today we speak of our hard times musical heritage. Listen up.

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