LIL GREEN BLUES 78 WHY DON'T YOU DO RIGHT / LOVE ME US BLUEBIRD B 89714 E-/V+
£
24
$
32
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Description
NICE BLUES 78 FROM LUIL GREEN ON THE US BLUEBIRD LABEL
WHY DON'T YOU DO RIGHT
b/w LOVE ME
Like so many Chicago blues artists Lil Green first learned her craft in the church and country jukes down in Mississippi. After moving to Chicago in the 1930s, she teamed up with Chicago mainstay Big Bill Broonzy .
In 1941 she had a best selling version of Mississippi Joe McCoy's minor key blues novelty "Why Don't You Do Right?" By then she had outgrown Big Bill and the tavern scene and moved east to work as a rhythm and blues band vocalist. For the next ten years she enjoyed a successful career touring theatres and clubs and recording for RCA, Aladdin and Atlantic, all major R&B labels. When she died in Chicago in 1954 she was only in her thirties yet her experiences paralleled those of her male contemporaries and she made it bigger than most. From southern jukes to Chicago clubs and on to the Apollo Theatre, she participated in the major blues institutions of her time during the golden age of blues history. She was no stranger to trouble. According to R. H. Harris, the leader of the legendary gospel Soul Stirrers, she served time in prison because of her involvement in a juke-joint killing. He also remembered that she sang religious songs beautifully.
Her former partner, Big Bill, remembered her in his autobiography as a deeply religious woman who neither smoked nor drank and as a warm-hearted friend. Today, however few people remember her or her fine work though they may be familiar with Peggy Lee's cover of her big hit "Why Don't You Do Right?" We can only wonder why she has been overlooked while more obscure male guitar players with lesser output have received substantially more critical attention. Whatever the case, during her brief career, she proved to be one of the best blues vocalists of her time and her contemporary African American audience appreciated her art. She deserves her place in history and today's listener would do well to listen to her music.
Sadly Lil Green died after contracting bronchial pneumonia on April 14, 1954 - aged only 34
DISC DETAILS
US 10" BLUEBIRD B-8714 78rpm SHELLAC
CONDITION - E-/V+
"Why Don’t You Do Right?” was originally written by Kansas Joe McCoy in 1936 under the name “Weed Smoker’s Dream”. The song’s composition and lyrics were later edited by McCoy and recorded by Lil Green on April 23, 1941. Peggy Lee's later cover accompanied by Benny Goodman gave the song much wider success and this in turn was sampled and then recreated and electro-swing-fied by Serbian DJ "Gramaphonedzie" in 2010. But this original is still tops IMO.
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