Summary
Bummer Road is a compilation album by the American blues musician Sonny Boy Williamson II, released in 1969.[1][2] It achieved notoriety due to the inclusion of 11 minutes of studio outtakes related to the track "Little Village", where Williamson and producer Leonard Chess argue about the song.[3] The album was issued with a label advising that the track was not suitable for airplay, due to profanity—allegedly, it is the first blues album to carry any kind of "explicit lyrics" sticker.[3] "Little Village" inspired the name of Little Village, a band that included Ry Cooder, Jim Keltner, Nick Lowe, and John Hiatt.[4]
| Bummer Road | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | 1969 | |||
| Studio | Chess Records | |||
| Genre | Blues | |||
| Label | Chess | |||
| Producer | Leonard Chess | |||
| Sonny Boy Williamson II chronology | ||||
| ||||
Production edit
"Little Village" was recorded in September 1957, at the Chess Records studio in Chicago.[5] The songs on Bummer Road were produced by Leonard Chess; the album was compiled by T.T. Swan.[6][7]
Critical reception edit
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [7] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [8] |
| The New Rolling Stone Record Guide | [9] |
AllMusic wrote that "every track is a burner," and called the 11-minute "Little Village" studio chatter addition "one of the best examples of enlarging the scope of a musical track by adding auxiliary material that wasn't originally meant for release."[7] Reviewing a reissue, The Age wrote: "The stunning 'Unseen Eye' ventures low-down through understated piano and guitar arpeggios, while the haunting 'Keep Your Hand Out of My Pocket' follows Sonny Boy's admonition: 'You'd better cut it now because if you let it cool, goddam it! It won't be worth a damn!'"[10] The Anchorage Daily News called "Santa Claus" a "sweet and lazy harp blues from a master, backed up by Robert Jr. Lockwood's guitar, and allegedly made up on the studio spot when Sonny Boy was drunk."[11]
Track listing edit
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "She Got Next to Me" | 2:30 |
| 2. | "Santa Claus" | 2:42 |
| 3. | "Little Village" | 11:50 |
| 4. | "Lonesome Cabin" | 3:00 |
| 5. | "I Can't Do Without You" | 2:45 |
| 6. | "Temperature 110" | 2:14 |
| 7. | "Unseen Eye" | 3:00 |
| 8. | "Keep Your Hand Out of My Pocket" | 2:45 |
| 9. | "Open Road" | 2:52 |
| 10. | "This Old Life" | 2:34 |
References edit
- ^ Krampert, Peter (March 23, 2016). The Encyclopedia of the Harmonica. Mel Bay Publications – via Google Books.
- ^ Wagner, David F. (16 Nov 1969). "To the Roots Again". The Post-Crescent. p. S4.
- ^ a b Goldstein, Patrick (24 Feb 1991). "Nasty Blues?". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 64.
- ^ "Little Village a Blend of Talent". The Hartford Courant. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
- ^ London, Justin (2013). "Ephemeral Media, Ephemeral Works, and Sonny Boy Williamson's 'Little Village'". The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. 71 (1): 45–53.
- ^ Herzhaft, Gérard (1997). Encyclopedia of the Blues. University of Arkansas Press. p. 36.
- ^ a b c "Bummer Road - Sonny Boy Williamson II | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8. MUZE. p. 697.
- ^ The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. Random House. 1983. p. 549.
- ^ Reilly, Terry (22 Apr 2003). "Must-have classics". A3. The Age. p. 10.
- ^ Meyerowitz, Robert (December 4, 1994). "Add Soul, Blues to Holiday Soundtrack". Anchorage Daily News. p. E1.