The Blues of Otis Spann/Cracked Spanner Head

by Otis Spann

Overview

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

Product Details

Release Date:	07/12/2005
Label:	Beat Goes On
UPC:	5017261206688

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Rock Me Mama
2. I Came from Clarksdale
3. Keep Your Hand Out of My Pocket
4. Spann's Boogie
5. Sarah Street
6. The Blues Don't Like Nobody
7. Meet Me in the Bottom
8. Lost Sheep in the Fold
9. I Got a Feeling
10. Jangleboogie
11. T.99
12. Natural Days

Disc 2

13. Crack Your Head
14. Iced Nehi
15. Wagon Wheel
16. No Sense in Worrying
17. Dollar Twenty Five
18. Everything's Gonna Be Alright
19. Lucky So and So
20. Sometimes I Wonder
21. Mr. Highway Man
22. What Will Become of Me
23. Pretty Girls Everywhere
24. Country Boy
25. My Home in the Delta
26. You're Gonna Need My Help

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Otis Spann   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals
Muddy Waters   Guest Artist
McKinley Morganfield   Guitar
Bud Beadle   Baritone
Steve Gregory   Sax (Tenor)
Roderick M Lee   Trumpet
Spit James   Guitar
Little Willie Smith   Drums
Ransom Knowling   Bass

Technical Credits

Roy Baker   Engineer
Andrew Thompson   Remastering
Michael Vernon   Producer
Gus Dudgeon   Engineer
Tony Russell   Liner Notes
Muddy Waters   Composer