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Album Description
Ella Mae Morse would have objected to the title of this box set, appropriated from the name of a 1954 LP, since it was her contention that she never performed "Barrelhouse," but there is little else to fault with this extensive five-disc box set of her complete Capitol recordings from 1942-1957. Beginning with her collaborations with Freddie Slack (including her career-launching hit "Cow-Cow Boogie") and similar jazz and pop novelties, the set follows Morse through pop and jazz standards, her duets with Tennessee Ernie Ford, sessions with Les Baxter and Nelson Riddle, covers of R&B hits, and odd quasi-rock & roll experiments. Perhaps because of her Texas upbringing Morse was often saddled with hillbilly leaning material, although sometimes, as on her version of the Little Jimmy Dickens hit "A-Sleepin' at the Foot of the Bed" and her gender-reversed take on Hank Snow's "The Gal Who Invented Kissin'," the results are much closer to jazz than country. Because of her flirtations with hillbilly music Morse is not taken as seriously as Peggy Lee or Anita O'Day by jazz critics, which is not only a shame because of its marginalization of an obviously talented artist but because it starkly reveals the class and genre prejudices that continue to shape critical opinions of popular music. Cutting away the dross, Morse was a gifted and awesomely bluesy vocalist who was guided through an unusual and sometimes unbecoming musical terrain, and listening to her complete Capitol recordings offers a fascinating microcosm of the stresses and strains resulting from hybridization in popular music in the '40s and '50s. ~ Greg Adams, All Music Guide
Barrelhouse, Boogie & Blues Reviews
Barrelhouse, Boogie & Blues Reviews
| 30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:  Ella was the Best, By Amazon Verified Purchase This review is from: Barrelhouse, Boogie & Blues (Audio CD) I have a much less extensive (and much cheaper) single CD collection of Ella's music that's now out of print, but I may have to ask for this one for Christmas. Owning her entire output sounds like an excellent idea!Ella Mae Morse died this month (October, 1999) after many years of retirement (reportedly living in happy obscurity). She was a white girl from Paris, Texas who became one of the sexiest and most soulful singers of the WW II era. Reportedly when Sammy Davis Jr. first met her, he blurted out "Ella, baby, I thought you were one of us!" To which she replied "I am!" Her music combines elements of boogie, swing, jump blues, and western swing. Like Wynonie Harris and other performers of the era, Morse was fooling around with the parts of what later became rock and roll. Unlike, say, the Andrews Sisters, Morse has an appeal that goes beyond camp and technique -- her music is the real deal, reminiscent of the 40s, but timeless. And because... Read more 13 of 13 people found the following review helpful: FANTASTIC!, By Beth "bethiejw2" (Mesa, AZ United States) - See all my reviews This review is from: Barrelhouse, Boogie and the Blues (Audio CD) A friend bought this for me for Christmas. It is by far the most expensive present I've ever received. I stared at it in a day in wonder before I finally started listening. The Very Best cd does generally collect the best of her but some real gems (Solid Potato Salad particularly) have been left in the background. The booklet is informative and is full of pictures from her sessions. Ella comes across as one dedicated character. She made a start at her music career at 13, getting a spot as Jimmy Dorsey's singer. It didn't last long once the lie about her age got out. At 17 she got together with Freddie Slack and sang the song Cow Cow Boogie which became the biggest song of her career.Ella Mae Morse is described as a lightweight singer by many but this is hardly the case. Sure she was doing boogie woogie music but she combined blues and jazz so effortlessly. (By the way I consider her to be the queen of swing.) She also shows that she could try another genre if she wanted with her... Read more 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful: The Legendary Ella Mae Morse: A Spectacular Collection, By This review is from: Barrelhouse, Boogie and the Blues (Audio CD) Born in 1922, Ella Mae Morse was fourteen when she scored a singing gig with the Jimmy Dorsey orchestra--only to be fired when her actual age was discovered. It proved barely a bump in the road for the vocalist, who signed with Freddie Slack three years later and jumped into the public arena with "The Cow-Cow Boogie." Morse had a long and very successful career, recording until 1957 and still giving personal performances as late as 1987. Even so, she was never a household name in the same sense as such 1940s icons as The Andrews Sisters of Betty Hutton. This was partly due to controversy: with a rich, full voice that anticipates the likes of Patsy Cline and Pearl Bailey, many listeners assumed she was black--a factor hardly calculated to promote her fame in a racially segregated society. But it was more specifically due to her unexpected range and her penchant for fusing jazz, blues, swing, big-band, and all the rest. Then as now, music fans tend to lean toward very... Read more |
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