Piano Red had been playing professionally for about a couple of decades before making a proper start to his recording career in 1950, by which time he was almost 40 years old. The six years covered by this 30-track compilation were nevertheless the first six years he was able to make records, landing big R&B hits with "Rockin' with Red," "Red's Boogie," "(Right String Baby But) The Wrong Yo-Yo," "Just Right Bounce," and "Layin' the Boogie." All of them are on this CD, which makes for about as lengthy a survey of his work during this era as is likely to be issued. It's consistently lively, often boogie-based piano jump blues/R&B that occasionally takes steps toward rock & roll, though Piano Red would change his name to Dr. Feelgood by the time he experienced his greatest success with the rock & roll audience. In addition to a couple dozen studio sides, there are also six fine, well-recorded songs from a live 1956 show in Atlanta. This might be too unvarying a dose of piano-based early- to mid-'50s R&B at once for those who don't dig the style intently, but you should certainly check this out if you're a fan of, for instance, Professor Longhair. It's got a similar sense of good-humored bounce, if not as much of an idiosyncratic character.
Diggin' the Boogie 1950-1956
Piano Red
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Diggin' the Boogie 1950-1956 Review
by Richie Unterberger
Track Listing
Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
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1 |
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Piano Red | 02:38 | Amazon | |||
2 |
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Piano Red | 02:19 | Amazon | |||
3 |
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Piano Red | 02:26 | Amazon | |||
4 | Piano Red | 02:07 | Amazon | ||||
5 |
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Piano Red | 02:32 | Amazon | |||
6 |
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Piano Red | 02:38 | Amazon | |||
7 |
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Piano Red | 02:18 | Amazon | |||
8 |
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Piano Red | 02:18 | Amazon | |||
9 |
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Piano Red | 02:18 | Amazon | |||
10 |
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Piano Red | 02:20 | Amazon | |||
11 |
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Piano Red | 02:18 | Amazon | |||
12 | Piano Red | 02:24 | Amazon | ||||
13 |
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Piano Red | 02:16 | Amazon | |||
14 |
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Piano Red | 02:17 | Amazon | |||
15 | Piano Red | 02:23 | Amazon | ||||
16 | Piano Red | 02:49 | Amazon | ||||
17 | Piano Red | 02:09 | Amazon | ||||
18 | Piano Red | 01:56 | Amazon | ||||
19 | Piano Red | 02:40 | Amazon | ||||
20 | Piano Red | 01:57 | Amazon | ||||
21 | Piano Red | 02:40 | Amazon | ||||
22 |
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Piano Red | 02:25 | Amazon | |||
23 | Piano Red | 02:15 | Amazon | ||||
24 |
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Piano Red | 02:20 | Amazon | |||
25 | Piano Red | 02:41 | Amazon | ||||
26 |
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Piano Red | 03:13 | Amazon | |||
27 | Piano Red | 04:00 | Amazon | ||||
28 | Piano Red | 03:38 | Amazon | ||||
29 | Piano Red | 02:06 | Amazon | ||||
30 |
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Piano Red | 04:19 | Amazon |