Similar Albums:
- Artist: Otis Spann
- Rating:
- Release Date: June 21, 2005
- Type: Compilation (best of)
- Genre: Blues
Review
On the one hand, it makes sense that The Blues of Otis Spann and Cracked Spanner Head should be packaged together in a double-disc set, and on the other, it makes no sense at all, since they are essentially the exact same album. Blues was recorded in England with Otis Spann on piano and vocals, Little Willie Smith on drums, Ransom Knowling on bass, and an uncredited Muddy Waters on guitar (Waters is simply listed as "Brother" in the liner notes), and was released in 1964. Aside from a couple of ill-advised harpsichord boogies, it was a solid set, with Spann shining on "Sarah Street," "The Blues Don't Like Nobody," the dramatic and moving "Lost Sheep in the Fold," and the wonderful cover of Arthur Crudup's "Rock Me Mama" that opened the album. For some reason, however, producer Mike Vernon went back to the master tapes four years later and overdubbed horns and additional guitar on the tracks, then remixed, reshuffled, and renamed everything to make the album called Cracked Spanner Head, which was released in 1969. It isn't quite the disaster that blues critics have claimed it is, but it hardly improves on the original Blues set, and it is a little disconcerting to hear songs like "Keep Your Hand Out of My Pocket" (retitled "Crack Your Head" on the Spanner disc) and Crudup's "Rock Me Mama" (given the new title of "Wagon Wheel") under these new circumstances. Blues historians and archivists may be glad that the two albums are now available under one roof, but casual listeners may not be too pleased with hearing the same album twice, whatever the differences. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music GuideTracks
CD 1
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Rock Me Mama | Otis Spann | (3:55) | |
| I Came from Clarksdale | Otis Spann | (4:25) | |
| Keep Your Hand Out of My Pocket | Otis Spann | (3:25) | |
| Spann's Boogie | Otis Spann | (2:05) | |
| Sarah Street | Otis Spann | (3:14) | |
| The Blues Don't Like Nobody | Otis Spann | (3:33) | |
| Meet Me in the Bottom | Otis Spann | (2:58) | |
| Lost Sheep in the Fold | Otis Spann | (4:29) | |
| I Got a Feeling | Otis Spann | (3:32) | |
| Jangleboogie | Otis Spann | (2:56) | |
| T.99 | Otis Spann | (3:05) | |
| Natural Days | Otis Spann | (3:22) |
CD 2
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Crack Your Head | Otis Spann | (2:56) | |
| Iced Nehi | Otis Spann | (2:53) | |
| Wagon Wheel | Otis Spann | (3:54) | |
| No Sense in Worrying | Otis Spann | (3:22) | |
| Dollar Twenty Five | Otis Spann | (3:37) | |
| Everything's Gonna Be Alright | Otis Spann | (2:59) | |
| Lucky So and So | Otis Spann | (3:06) | |
| Sometimes I Wonder | Otis Spann | (4:24) | |
| Mr. Highway Man | Otis Spann | (2:56) | |
| What Will Become of Me | Otis Spann | (4:27) | |
| Pretty Girls Everywhere [*] | Otis Spann | (2:52) | |
| Country Boy [*] | Muddy Waters | Otis Spann | (3:32) |
| My Home in the Delta [*] | Otis Spann | (4:18) | |
| You're Gonna Need My Help [*] | Otis Spann | (3:24) |
