Jimmy McCracklin - Blues & Rhythm Series 5062: The Chronological Jimmy McCracklin 1945-1948 (2003)

A capable and versatile singer, a fine Walter Davis-styled piano player, and a skilled songwriter, Jimmy McCracklin switched labels as often as some people switch channels on their television. This interesting collection assembles his very earliest sides, recorded for independent West Coast labels like Excelsior, Courtney, and Cavatone. Opening with several rather stately piano blues pieces, including the delightful "Baby Don't You Want to Go," before moving on to jazzier jump blues tracks (complete with horns) like "Rock and Rye" (three versions are included here), the album comes nearly full circle with "Railroad Blues," which is straight and unadorned piano blues. The closer, "Blues Blasters Shuffle," released in 1948, flirts with rock & roll, a style still nearly a decade away from even having a name. McCracklin went on to record for a slew of other labels, effectively merging his basic jump blues with a kind of proto-soul approach that prefigured the hard Memphis sounds of Stax Records. But it all begins with these sides. ~Steve Leggett