Here we have a delightfully raw obscurity from the Atlantic label in which fans of blues and fans of fast stompers are both satisfied. "Wish I Had Never" is the blues song, punctuated with raw vocals and a loud, brassy arrangement. Yet it perfectly compliments the sad tale of regret that the lyrics encompass. The wailing sax solo is the proverbial frosting on the cake. But for me, the real gem is "Jam Up Twist" in which Ridgley revs up the band for a real dance workout of blastin' horns, pumpin' piano, bashin' drums and a suave guitar solo. All of it is enforced by the bandleaders yells to "Work it out!,"Jam up!" and so on. Don't know if Ridgley recorded anything else, but this sure be a swell little find if I do say so myself.
3 comments:
It looks like Tommy Ridgley recorded as far back as 1950 for Imperial. "Jam Up Twist" is the only record that I own by him.
Ridgley was a fantastic R&B/soul singer from New Orleans. He recorded for a number of local and nationally distributed indie labels, often working with Eddie Bo.
The guide that I use has a list of 24 45s released under Ridgley's name. This one is apparently from 1962.
Post a Comment