Billy 'The Kid' Emerson
Move, Baby, MoveBilly The Kid Emerson Label: Charly SNAP224CD Price: £ 8.80 (£7.65 outside EU)
Combining elements of slashing blues, driving R&B and Rock 'n' Roll, these twenty-nine tracks capture keyboardist Billy 'The Kid' Emerson at his rocking best. Combining elements of slashing blues, driving R&B and Rock 'n' Roll, these twenty-nine tracks capture keyboardist Billy 'The Kid' Emerson at his rocking best. They comprise all of his solo recordings up to 1957 when he was at his creative peak and establishing himself as a both writer and performer of the first order, first at Sun Records and then at Vee-Jay. Of all the black R&B artists who recorded for Sun, none had a greater influence on the label's many white rockabilly recording artists than Billy Emerson. Two of the tracks here, the bluesy 'When It Rains, It Pours' and the storming rockabilly anthem, 'Red Hot' were successfully covered by Emerson's label mates Elvis Presley (a personal friend) and Billy Lee Riley (amongst many others) respectively. The jumping 'Every Woman I Know (Crazy 'Bout Automobiles)' was memorably covered in the Seventies by Ry Cooder. Also includes Emerson's original recording of his jive-talking novelty song, 'The Woodchuck'. Includes four alternate versions, including one of 'Red Hot'.
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