T-Bone Walker: “Stormy Monday Blues”
The title track provides yet another data point in support of my theory that any good song can be ruined by backup singers. Walker recorded more than one version of “Stormy Monday” in his career, and the quiet, gin-joint closing-time charm of the original is utterly absent in this uptempo version. The second side has the record’s three best tracks (“Louisiana Bayou Drive,” “Don’t Go Back to New Orleans,” “Got to Cross the Deep Blue Sea”), two of which are less than two minutes long. A fun record if you like this sort of thing, but it won’t change your mind if you don’t.
