T-Bone Walker - Stormy Monday (Live 1968) (1992) [CD Rip]

Personell:
T-Bone Walker - Vocals, Guitar
Hartley Severns - Sax, Fiddle
Johnny Summers - Bass
Vinton (Vinnie) Johnson - Drums
Paul Pena - Guitar, Vocals

T-Bone and his ensemble shows us exactly how rock & roll formed in this live album. He is a primary influence for those credited for creating rock & roll, including B.B. King and Chuck Berry.

The recording itself is a bit of an enigma. There's no information whatsoever in the liner notes regarding anything except the track listing. I find one source that suggests it was recorded in 1968 in Paris, yet I found another that flat out states that it was a bootleg recording from the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 1972. The latter makes more sense, since Paul Pena (the phenomenal guitarist on this recording) wasn't active with T-Bone Walker's group until that time. None of the sources I used to come up with this information are concrete, so I just have to make the best guess here.

The music is fantastic and full of energy. Paul Pena is brilliant on guitar and really steals the show. The entire ensemble nails it, including the sax and fiddle players. Yes, fiddle player - this adds an element of country to an already eclectic live performance. Due to the nature of the recording, there are some unnatural fades, but they are only slightly noticeable. There's at least one instance where T-Bone is speaking to the crowd, and you have to lean in to the speakers a bit to hear what he's saying - but the music is there in full force. Overall a decent, but not great, remaster - but that's a good thing considering the source of the recording itself.

Presentation:
I have a real issue with albums that provide no information. The disc comes with a single-fold liner. Open it up, and ... there's nothing inside. It's blank. What I'm able to gather I had to sleuth it up online using unscrupulous sources, or obtain from T-Bone's own words on the recording itself.

Overall, I recommend this to anyone who is a blues or early rock & roll enthusiast. ~Daniel Graham