James Booker
RESURRECTION OF THE BAYOU MAHARAJAH/ LIVE AT THE MAPLE LEAF BAR
ROUNDER 2118
available on Amazon
Honestly you don't even want to miss that one odd second of this astounding offering, from one of the New Orleans piano legends, that this disc has to offer. For a man of such talent and influence he is amazingly unrecorded. This disc along with its partner (SPIDERS ON THE KEYS Rounder 2119) offer up some measure of what the folks of The Big Easy might have heard if they caught. James Booker on one of his 'on' nights (he was a known drug user and inconsistent in his playing). He is at his best here (recorded at the Maple Leaf between 1972-1982), focused and intense in his playing, wildly passionate at both keyboards and vocals. The amazing thing here is that though you have songs repeated on the different discs on which he is the leader, the treatment of the song shows his amazing talent (he is reputed to have been a genius who had a photographic memory) by making the song new again so that even what those tunes which are his 'standards' are always fresh and vital. Listen to the embellishments he puts on the very recognizable Fats Domino tune ALL BY MYSELF, as he takes his breaks and turns it into a James Booker tune, but always able to hold that distinctive rolling rhythm of "The Fat Man". See what you think of his version of the traditional St. James Infirmary. Have you ever heard it done so that it was this fresh and vivid, listen as the pain and misery oozes out of this version. If you ever wondered what all the 'to-do' was about with this "New Orleans Piano Legends" hoopla, if you want to see sheer genius at the keyboards, listen to unrestrained heart-felt, and at times gut wrenching vocals, give this one ( my favorite by a mighty slim hair) a listen.
Songs, Times, and Writers
1. Medley: Slow Down/Bony Maronie/Knock On Wood/I Heard It Through the Grapevine/Classified - 9:40 - Larry Williams; Larry Williams; Floyd-Cropper; Whitfield-Strong; James Booker
2. Medley: Tico Tico/Papa Was a Rascal - 7:37 - Abreu-Drake-Oliviera; James Booker
3. Medley: Lawdy Miss Clawdy/Ballad at the Maple Leaf - 7:26 - Lloyd Price; James Booker
4. Minute Waltz - 3:17 - Chopin, arr. James Booker
5. All By Myself - 3:29 - Domino-Bartholomew
6. Save Your Love For Me - 5:05 - Buddy Johnson
7. Junco Partner - 8:34 - Bob Shad
8. St. James Infirmary - 7:04 - trad. arr. James Booker
9. Gitanarias - 2:22 - Ernesto Lecuona, arr. James Booker
10. Medley: Life/Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee/It Should Have Been Me - 7:39 - Allen Toussaint/Warner; Williams-McGhee-Raye; Memphis-Curtis
11. Pop's Dilemma/Irene Goodnight - 9:49 - James Booker; Huddie Ledbetter
Musician
James Booker - piano and vocal
Produced by - Scott Billington and John Parsons